June 16, 2008

What is Grace? (Part 2)

In writing my last post, I learned that the word "grace" can have a bunch of different meanings. One of those meanings was the divine favor of God toward undeserving people through Christ. That definition can be found by reading some references about God's grace toward His people. Take Ephesians 2:8-9 for example, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (ESV). And Romans 5:2, "Through him [Christ] we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (ESV).

I also said that Jesus Christ is the fullest manifestation of the grace of God, and He is the One from whom all grace flows to us. He is "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14), and "of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16 NKJV). So grace is really all about the Lord Jesus.

I have been starting to notice how God uses different illustrations and examples in the Scriptures to show the power of His grace. Such as Ephesians 2:5, which says, "even when we were dead in trespasses, He made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)." (NKJV). Grace is defined by the powerful work of God in giving life to the spiritually dead through the resurrection of His Son. That is an awesome illustration! God raises dead and undeserving sinners to spiritual (and on the last day, physical) life. It really shows the strength and might of God, and moves my heart to worship Him "in humble adoration" when I consider it.

Grace is more than we can imagine or comprehend now. In fact, God will be showing for all eternity "the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7 ESV).

There is so much more to say, but I will end with this question: should we ever stop meditating on this wonderful grace of God?

Grace and peace to you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

4 comments:

Margaret Braun said...

Should we ever stop meditating on the grace of God? Absolutely not.

Penn Tomassetti said...

Margaret,

Amen!

Kade said...

Great chalenging post! Sorry I haven't been on here more. I be back though.

-Kole

Penn Tomassetti said...

Kole,

Thanks for stopping by again. I can't say what a blessing it is to have people reading my posts. Especially fired up teens! Wow, what an honor!

By the way, what about this post was challenging?
Thanks,
Penn