Читать книгу Walking in God's Grace - Inc World Prayr - Страница 7

What is Grace?

God has many qualities and gifts, but of all His qualities none express His character or does He have a better gift than His grace. All grace originates with God. Grace can be classified into two main categories. These categories are often classified as common grace and special or what we might refer to as transforming, saving grace. Common grace is that which everyone experiences whether they believe in it or not. Common grace is not relevant to us placing faith in it or even believing in God to experience it. It is God at work in the very world around us as we live in our day to day lives. It reveals God’s character in the very beauty, function and existence of every living thing. Yet, it is not only in every living thing. It is in the sunshine, in rainstorms, in the laughter we hear, the health we enjoy, the food we eat, friends and family. It is what meets our needs, answers our prayers, opens the doors of opportunity, employment and closes those same doors (Jeremiah 14:22, Matthew 5:44-45, Acts 14:16-17). It is in His common grace where we see God actively working to control every molecule. A god who did not control every molecule would never be big enough to be worshipped (1 Samuel 2:6, 1 Chronicles 29:11-12, Job 12:23, Job 42:2, Psalms115:3, Isaiah 46:9-10, Ecclesiastes 7:13-14, Isaiah 45:7, Daniel 2:21, Acts 17:24-28). If He did not control every molecule then He could also never offer transforming, saving grace. The Bible is full of God’s common grace but it is also full of God’s transforming, saving grace which is always given freely to all men. This is grace (favor) that saves man from the wrath of God and His need for justice. We never deserve it or are we worthy of it. It is given so that everyone might be in a relationship with Him and know Him (Nehemiah 9:17, Psalms 78:38, Jonah 4:1-2, 1 Pet. 1:10-12). God never changes and every good and perfect gift comes from Him (James 1:17).

Before the first man was ever created, God set a plan in existence (Acts 2:23, Ephesians 1:4). A plan to show first His character and glory, and second His love towards His creation, US. This is the purpose of the Bible, tell who God is, how we relate to God, what the blueprint is and about the One who would bring the blueprint to completion. It is a story telling not ours (it involves us), but God’s. That is why it is an error when it is said that there is a different God in the Old Testament than there is in the New Testament, or that grace does not exist in the Old Testament part of the Bible. It is through this story that we see man choosing to alienate himself and as a result end up being an enemy of God (Colossians 1:21). We see this in the story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:4-3:24) choosing not to listen to God, but instead choosing to become best friends with God’s enemy and serve themselves (Ephesians 2:2-3). Yet, it is also the story of how God desired to show His glory, mercy and love but most of all His grace (favor) to those He created to be His excellent ones (Psalms 16:3). It is the story of how He chased them, redeemed them and as a result restored His relationship with them, through His grace (Colossians 1:23).

It is in this story we find God’s greatest gift, the gift of His transforming, saving grace first being given to man, through Jesus Christ. It is here where we find the words of Paul in Romans 5:6-11 come alive,

Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful. No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person. But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful. But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger. Even when we were God’s enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son’s life. And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us.” Paul would simply express this to Titus as “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people (Titus 2:11).

God does not just stop with His transforming, saving grace in bringing us back to a relationship with Him. No, He continues with His transforming grace in what some call His “securing grace.” This is the grace that keeps us in this relationship of which He started (Philippians 1:6). We do not just come to Him through grace, but we are kept and move forward in His grace (Galatians 3:2-3). This is why we can know without a shadow of a doubt that through His securing grace we have eternal life (1 John 5:13). Through His sanctifying grace He is making us new (2 Corinthians 5:17), returning us back to not only our original created designed purpose but making us Christlike (1 Peter 2:9-10, 2 Corinthians 5:17). We find His securing and sanctifying grace in the category of His transforming, saving grace. Also through His transforming, saving grace we find His empowering grace. (God not only saves us but He freely gives us the strength to make choices that reflect a heart of gratitude for saving us.)

Empowering grace is the grace that He gives us to live not like we used to or make the same old choices, but to make choices now that represent that we are filled with His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13,14; 4:30). The Holy Spirit points us to truths and reminds us of the truths God has already shown us (John 14:26). As this occurs we are able to produce characteristics and act in ways that represent God (Ephesians 4:25-32). His empowering grace allows us to make choices that produce qualities that represent our identity now that we are in Christ (Galatians 5:16-25). Yet it is not in our strength we are able to do these things but through the Holy Spirit working through the empowering grace of God (Colossians 1:11, 2 Timothy 2:1). This is the beauty of God’s transforming, saving grace that is given unmerited to all who place their faith in Christ for eternal life.

In grace both common and transforming, saving we see a quality of God’s character that does not exist in man. Because God is pure, His grace must be and that is why grace is 100% God’s work. At no time can grace be dependent on how the one who it is given to responds to it, otherwise it would no longer be pure. At a time when we were the first walking dead, when we thought every day should be happy hour and where we desired nothing less than to be left to ourselves, God extended His grace to us to rescue us from Hell. Even when we did not know we needed to be rescued. If we could contribute towards grace or we could do something to merit it we would always want to brag about it and more than likely exaggerate our side of it to make us feel important. Like the fisherman who catches the big fish as he spins his story we would be no different. We would tell others “You ought to see how I helped God with my grace.” This is why Paul said in, Ephesians 2:9, “not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (ESV). Having our impure hands (Job 25:4) in it would then make it impure and God is pure, so grace must be.

Grace given freely at God’s expense through Christ (Isaiah 53) does not do away with God’s other qualities of justice and holiness (Romans 5:10-21). Yet, where the law could not fulfill those qualities or enable us to fulfill those qualities, grace brings to fulfillment those qualities (Galatians 2:21). God’s law is what the Bible tells us to do, which goes way beyond the Ten Commandments. God’s justice demanded that someone pay the penalty for our failure to live in a way that pleased God or was representative of His character of perfection. This is what we call sin and here is where the story of transforming saving grace begins, through Christ. Christ was the only one who could pay the penalty that God’s justice demanded, which He did through the cross. It is through grace that God accepts Christ’s obedience to what God requires, as ours (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). This is how grace fulfills the demands of His holiness.

The more we look at grace we discover why it is not only the greatest gift God has given to man but that it is God’s overriding quality in how He deals with men in all of life. Whatever happens in our lives comes through this wonderful gift, no matter if it is in His giving or in His denying. Both are precious gifts from God designed for our best. Grace is such a powerful theme that Paul opens and closes each letter with grace and the Bible ends with John wishing God’s grace on all who read his letter. Yet the greatest gift to us is the thing we despise, reject and misunderstand the most because the way we are used to thinking and living is completely opposite of the entire concept of grace. Even there we find what grace is, as it expresses that God character of Gods that is not only opposite of man but not found purely in a man. In fact whatever man thinks or does God’s ways are not only different but better, beginning with grace (Isaiah 55:9).