GREAT BIBLE WORDS
GRACE
Ephesians 1:7, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”
Ephesians 1:7, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”
Introduction:
The Grace of God is a vast subject and one of the great doctrines of the Word of God.
Most men think of themselves as SELF-MADE men, however, for every Christian God is to be thanked. Every believer is a GRACE-MADE man or woman. Paul writes in Romans 1:8, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” Also in Romans 6:17, “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.”
An old Puritan once cried out, “Oh, where had I been if I had not spied out Christ?” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
I. GOD’S LOVING FAVOR TO THE UNDESERVING
A. Grace is not the sinners due, Romans 3:9-12, “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10- As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11- There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12- They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
B. Grace and Love are essentially the same.
1. Love has no limit or law such as grace has, 1 John 3:1, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” “Love may exist between equals, or it may rise to those above us, or flow down to those in any way beneath us.” — Alexander Whyte
2. But grace, from its nature, has ONLY ONE DIRECTION it can take. Grace always FLOWS DOWN to the sinner, Ephesians 2:5, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”
II. HOW TO BETTER UNDERSTAND GRACE
A. It is contrasted with LAW in its origin and nature, John 1:17, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
1. It is the nature of the law to make demands, — it is the nature of grace to BESTOW BLESSINGS, Psalms 84:11, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
2. The law condemns the best man, — grace SAVES the WORST man, Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
3. The law says, “do and live,” — Grace says, “BELIEVE and LIVE,” Acts 16:31, “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
4. The law curses, —- Grace redeems from the curse, Galatians 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”
B. Grace is contrasted with sin.
1. Sin reigns unto death, — grace reigns unto eternal life, Romans 5:21, “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
a. Sin gets its damning power from the law, 1 Corinthians 15:56, “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.”
b. Grace robs sin of its damning power by giving Christ for the satisfaction of the law, 1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2. The one and only source of real danger is from violated law, — Christ satisfied the law, Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
III. GRACE IN THE TRINITY
A. The Father is the SOURCE of all Grace, Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5- To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
B. The Son is the CHANNEL of grace, John 1:17, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
1. Christ rejecters need not think that they will be the beneficiaries of God’s grace, for His work reconciled Grace and Justice, Psalm 85:10, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
2. John Bunyan’s thoughts: “O Thou Son of the Blessed! Grace stripped Thee of Thy glory; grace brought Thee down from heaven; grace made Thee bear such burdens of sin, such burdens of curse as are unspeakable; grace was in Thy heart; grace came bubbling from Thy bleeding side; grace was in Thy tears; grace was in Thy prayers; grace streamed from Thy thorn crowned brow! Grace came forth with the nails that pierced Thee, with the thorns that pricked Thee! Oh, here the unsearchable riches of grace! Grace to make sinners happy! Grace to make angels wonder! Grace to make devils astonished!”
C. The Holy Spirit is the Administrator of Grace, John 6:45, 63, “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 63- It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” “Without the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit in conversion no sinner would ever become a beneficiary of grace. He takes of the things of Christ and gives them to the sinner.” —C. D. Cole.
CONCLUSION