The Hit and Miss of Grace
Believers in Jesus Christ know well that we are saved by God’s unmerited and undeserved favor. Many can quote Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Unfortunately, for most believers that is where their knowledge of grace both begins and ends. Here are some of the things about grace you need to know.
By His grace, God not only saves us from the penalty of sin, He empowers us to do His will. In other words, although we don’t earn it or even deserve it, God gives us power to obey Him. When the Lord told Paul that He would not remove the thorn in his flesh, but would give him grace, Paul’s response was that he would gladly boast in his infirmities “that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9, italics added). By His grace, God supplied Paul with the power to endure his hardship.
The grace available to Paul is available to you. The writer to the Hebrews says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). Moreover, the writer to the Hebrews wants this to become the habit of our heart until we are “established by grace” (Heb. 13:9).
The proper use of grace is to trust Christ to be saved from the penalty of sin and to seek God’s grace for the power to live for Him. It’s also possible to miss out on grace.
The writer to the Hebrews warns believers not to fall short of grace (Heb. 12:15). We fall short of the grace of God when we attempt to please Him by living by law, which is what the book of Hebrews is about and we also fall short when we try to obey Him in our own strength without relying upon Him. You can live by law without the Lord. Even people who don’t know the Lord can honor their parents, not commit adultery, and not lie, but to do all that God has told us to do is impossible without Him. Try loving your enemies without the Lord, or not letting the sun go down on your wrath without the Lord, and you will see what I mean.
Paul says it’s possible to fall from grace (Gal. 5:4). This is usually taken to mean that if you sin, you lose your salvation. That’s not what Paul has in mind. He is not talking about sinning. Read the verse. “You who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” If, after you have trusted Christ to save you from the penalty of sin, you try the keep the law to be justified before God, you’ve fallen from grace into legalism.
It is even possible to insult the grace of God (Heb. 10:29). By the grace of God, Jesus tasted death for everyone (Heb. 2:9). So to think, as some of the Hebrews apparently did, that you could go back to Judaism for a sacrifice for sin is to insult the grace of God.
Don’t fall short, fall from, or insult the grace of God. Go to the God of grace for grace to help in time of need. Don’t miss out on grace.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 4/29/2010
By His grace, God not only saves us from the penalty of sin, He empowers us to do His will. In other words, although we don’t earn it or even deserve it, God gives us power to obey Him. When the Lord told Paul that He would not remove the thorn in his flesh, but would give him grace, Paul’s response was that he would gladly boast in his infirmities “that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9, italics added). By His grace, God supplied Paul with the power to endure his hardship.
The grace available to Paul is available to you. The writer to the Hebrews says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). Moreover, the writer to the Hebrews wants this to become the habit of our heart until we are “established by grace” (Heb. 13:9).
The proper use of grace is to trust Christ to be saved from the penalty of sin and to seek God’s grace for the power to live for Him. It’s also possible to miss out on grace.
The writer to the Hebrews warns believers not to fall short of grace (Heb. 12:15). We fall short of the grace of God when we attempt to please Him by living by law, which is what the book of Hebrews is about and we also fall short when we try to obey Him in our own strength without relying upon Him. You can live by law without the Lord. Even people who don’t know the Lord can honor their parents, not commit adultery, and not lie, but to do all that God has told us to do is impossible without Him. Try loving your enemies without the Lord, or not letting the sun go down on your wrath without the Lord, and you will see what I mean.
Paul says it’s possible to fall from grace (Gal. 5:4). This is usually taken to mean that if you sin, you lose your salvation. That’s not what Paul has in mind. He is not talking about sinning. Read the verse. “You who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” If, after you have trusted Christ to save you from the penalty of sin, you try the keep the law to be justified before God, you’ve fallen from grace into legalism.
It is even possible to insult the grace of God (Heb. 10:29). By the grace of God, Jesus tasted death for everyone (Heb. 2:9). So to think, as some of the Hebrews apparently did, that you could go back to Judaism for a sacrifice for sin is to insult the grace of God.
Don’t fall short, fall from, or insult the grace of God. Go to the God of grace for grace to help in time of need. Don’t miss out on grace.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 4/29/2010