Grace is most needed and best understood in the midst of sin, suffering, and brokenness. We live in a world of earning, deserving, and merit, and these result in judgment. That is why everyone wants and needs grace. Judgment kills us and only grace makes us alive.
Grace is a constant theme in the Bible, and it culminates in the New Testament with the coming of Jesus, “The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)[1]. The word translated as “grace” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word (χάρις) charis, which means ‘favor, blessing, or kindness’ and the Hebrew wordחֶסֶד. We can all extend grace to others; but when the word grace is used in connection with God, it takes on a more powerful meaning. Grace is God choosing to bless us rather than curse us as our sin deserves. It is His kindness to the undeserving.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” The only way any of us can enter into a relationship with God is because of His grace toward us. Grace began in the Garden of Eden when God killed an animal to cover the sin of Adam and Eve, 21 And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21).
He could have killed the first humans right then for their disobedience. But rather than destroy them, He chose to make a way for them to be right with Him. That pattern of grace continued throughout the Old Testament when God instituted blood sacrifices as a means to atone for sinful men. It was not the physical blood of those sacrifices that cleansed sinners; it was the grace of God that forgave those who trusted in Him (4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Hebrews 10:4; 6 And he believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6). Sinful men showed their faith by offering the sacrifices that God required.
A shorthand for what grace is – “mercy, not merit.” Grace is the opposite of karma, which is all about getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve, and not getting what you do deserve. Christianity teaches that what we deserve is death with no hope of resurrection.
Remember, in Jesus’ resurrection, He was there to see His leaders, our leaders, and the people He was close to. As we walk to Emmaus (35 Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24: 13-35 See the end notes), Jesus is busy ‘reliving’ all that he told the disciples. And now, they start to get it!
While everyone desperately needs it, grace is not about us. Grace is fundamentally a word about God: his un-coerced initiative and pervasive, extravagant demonstrations of care and favor. Grace, then, is not a substance mediating between God and sinners, but is Jesus Christ in redeeming action.
Christians live every day by the grace of God. We receive forgiveness according to the riches of God’s grace, and grace drives our sanctification. Paul tells us, 11“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,12training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:11-13).
Spiritual growth doesn’t happen overnight; we “18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18). Grace transforms our desires, motivations, and behavior. In fact, God’s grace grounds and empowers everything in the Christian life.
Mercy withholds a punishment we deserve and grace gives a blessing we don’t earn. In mercy, God chose to cancel our sin debt by sacrificing His son in our place (5 he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5; 21 For our sake God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21). But He goes even further than mercy and extends grace to His enemies (10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. Romans 5:10).
He offers us:
forgiveness (Hebrews 8:12; Ephesians 1:7),
12 “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”
7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses, according to the riches of his grace”
reconciliation (Colossians 1:19-20),
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through
him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth
or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
abundant life (John 10:10),
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may
have life and have it abundantly.
eternal treasure (Luke 12:33),
33 Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do
not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near
and no moth destroys.
His Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13),
13 If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those
who ask him!”
a place in heaven with Him someday (John 3:16-18)
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the
world but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those
who in him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are
condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the
only Son of God.”
when we accept His offer and place our faith in His sacrifice.
Humbleness
All these things are available to us through God’s grace. As we have these wonderful opportunities, and these are all listed above, and they are the promises of God to each of us as we live here on earth, however, we must also do something to gain these resources. You might ask yourself, “Why can I not get all these resources for myself I desperately want them?” What is it about me that makes me stutter and stumble to grasp these things? The answer here is simple, it is an opportunity for us to be humble.
What does humble mean? Humble is not proud, haughty, not arrogant, or assertive, and also reflects the offered in a spirit of deference or submission to God. (6 But God gives all the more grace; therefore, it says, “God opposes the proudbut gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6)
Here, God affects our humble hearts, just as James said we must have a humble heart in order to understand what our Lord is telling us. We cannot join into God’s world with a proud or haughty heart, and we can’t be aggressive. If we are aggressive in our movements, we can’t see God’s world on our own. Therefore, we lose track of it, God’s world, and move on with our own. This is the problem that many of us have as we move through our lives, even if we are in God’s world, we cannot get the blessings of our good Lord, because were not humble.
From this, we learn: 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4) Why is this so important? If we look to others before we look to ourselves, then we have a chance of working through other people’s problems as we work through our own. Remember, discipleship is not about our own work, but the work of ourselves with others involved in our work. Therefore, we must be a community, a community based on God’s word. With this, we can understand what others need and then we can understand what we need as well. As we look to others, with humility, God will grant us, through the Holy Spirit, what we are really looking for.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, 12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:11-13)
With the reading of Titus, above, we must understand why we would not get this grace if we ask for it. If we don’t have a repentant desire to receive the grace of God, though the tragic alternative to receiving God’s grace is to remain in hopeless alienation or to pursue sterile attempts to merit God’s favor through human efforts doomed to futility (Romans 1:21). God’s unconditional acceptance of sinners may be conditioned only by their rejection of his acceptance. How do we reject the presence of God? By not being humble. If we are not humble, we get nothing. Nothing means a rejection of God, even if for in God’s world. This is the problem that we have. We can go to church, and we can go through prayers, but if we don’t have a humble heart, we still have nothing.
Conclusion
Grace is provided to us from God’s perfect will, not for what we do, but for what we could do better. Grace is a form of his “goodness” that transpires into beauty in our eyes. Grace provides us with many things, elegance, and beauty in our lives. As Christians, we want this grace, because life without grace would be a detriment to ourselves and the people around us. But grace is not given freely! Grace is provided when we ourselves are humble. Humbleness is the way that God wants us to understand each other because humbleness is how we can forgive and we can accept others around us when we’re hurt in our own world. So, we must be humble, but when we are humble, God will give us grace, so that we can understand the world and His cares around us.
The End Notes
The Walk to Emmaus –
Luke 24: 13-35
13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant – Matthew 18:23-3523 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him, 25 and, as he could not pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
[1] This, and other Bible verses in this text, are taken from the New Revised Standard Version – Updated Edition. If you have any questions, please ask them at mallminister.com.