EVERYTHING BY GRACE:
The Manifold Grace of God

Under this headline we will in the coming months look at the functions and importance of grace for the believers. It will be a short and concentrated illumination of how grace works when we put our trust exclusively in what Jesus did on the cross.

What grace doesn’t do in our lives will never be done in a way that honours and pleases God. At the same time we must make it clear, so nobody misunderstands: Grace is no license to sin or live in promiscuity. Rather, it is a force to triumph over sin.

Let us consider the expression the Apostle Peter uses in his first letter, Chapter 4. Verse 10: “As good stewards of God's manifold grace, any of you serve one another with the gift he has received.” Verse 11: "Whoever speaks, must speak with words from God (speaking as God's word), one who serves must serve with the force that God gives so God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ. Honour and the power is His forever and ever! Amen.”

SALVATION:

Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God -- not because of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has previously prepared for us to walk in.”

God's grace and our faith is the only way to be saved. No acts of law or religious exercises and sacraments will contribute to salvation. The mere belief in what Jesus did on the cross – when he went in the sinner's place and took the punishment for our transgressions – can bestow upon us the righteousness of God, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal salvation.

SANCTIFICATION:

Titus 2:11-13:  “For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, while we wait for our blessed hope, be fulfilled and our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ will appear in glory.”

Just as fruitless as it is to try to save ourselves, so it is to try to sanctify ourselves. Again, we must put our trust in the grace as the force that through the Holy Spirit is going to work out holiness and godliness in our lives. God wants a holy people, but he has never left it up to us to bring about this holiness. God himself will take care of that by the force that given to us in grace. As we sing in an old gospel song: “Stop doing it by your willpower and receive by grace, as you are surrender yourself, then He will fill you with His Spirit, so it will flow over.”

I Peter 1:13-16: “So be vigilant, making the mind ready, gird your loins and put all your hopes for the mercy (grace) be given to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not adapt  the desires which ye before following in your ignorance; but like him who hath called you is holy, you also be holy in all your life; for it is written: ' Be holy, for I am holy. "

Peter agrees with Paul's statement, reiterating that obedience and holiness are not induced by statutes and requirements, but of grace. It is simply impossible for the law (all laws) to create sanctification. Law creates the opposite of what it mentions: namely, sin and offenses ("the power of sin is the law", cf. I Corinthians 15:56). The law calls for sin and awakens it.

STRENGTH:

II Corinthians 12:7-10: “And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness… for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

You will not be strong in the Lord until you have seen how weak you are in yourself. Only when you have stopped trying to succeed in your own strength and by your own effort, the power of God will work in you and through you, so you can endure adversity and hardship. The devil could not break Paul, because the apostle lived in grace. Notwithstanding the prosecutor's repeated attacks (probably reminders of Paul’s past persecution of the Christians), Paul chose to rely on grace. II Timothy 1: “And you, my child, be strong in grace (obtain power from grace) in Christ Jesus!”

The power of grace was to help Timothy to fight, work, and run the race (see verses 3-7). Grace is not just an emergency exit or a measure of safeguard when everything goes wrong, but it is a power to face all life’s challenges and end up with victory in all difficulties.

Hebrews 13:9: “Do not be lead astray by all sorts of strange doctrines, for it is good that the heart be strengthened by grace and not to any particular kind of food that have never benefited those who insisted on it.”

If you put your trust in what you do and what you can, you might become proud but never strong. The author warns us against finding strength in anything else than the grace of God (the expression of the cross of Christ).

A WAY OUT OF TEMPTATIONS:

Hebrews 4: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

We all experience temptations in one or several areas of life, and when this happens it is important that we don’t trust our own willpower or character but exclusively count on the help we receive by grace from him who was tempted in all things yet without sin, which is Christ. Only through this we can have victory in our temptations.

MINISTRY:

II Corinthians 5:10-11: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me. But whether this is me or the others: This is how we preach, and this is what we believe.”

The reason that Paul worked more and harder than the others, was not due to his self-discipline and solid character, but the love of Christ (the reason for mercy) was the driving force in his life. Because he had received so much grace, it was natural that it drove him to do his utmost for Him who had loved him so much.

END OF LIVE – THE RAPTURE:

I Peter 1:13: “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

When everything is said and done at the end of life, it is important not to build on what we've done and accomplished, but rely on what Jesus did on the cross. For who has done enough? How much will it take before we can be satisfied with our efforts and God will be pleased with us? The answer is: God is never fully satisfied with anything other than what Jesus did on the cross. And we must make our hearts happy with the same.

(This was the first part of a series on God's grace and its implications for all parts of our lives and our service to God. To be continued.)