GRACE is the gift of God by which He extends mercy, loving-kindness, and salvation to people.
God’s grace enables Him to confront human indifference and rebellion with His unlimited capacity to forgive and to bless. God is gracious in action.
The Bible tells us how God has extended grace to us by offering us salvation — eternal life with Him – for free! We don’t have to do anything to earn it.
In fact, we can’t earn it or buy it. We simply accept it by believing that Jesus, God’s Son, died for our sins so we wouldn’t have to.
God’s ultimate act of grace is an example of how we are to extend grace to others. We are to be quick to forgive, hasty in extending kindness, generous in love, even when others don’t deserve it.
In Old Testament times, God gave a code of laws to show His people how to live for Him until Jesus and the Holy Spirit came. Following these laws didn’t earn salvation, but simply illustrated what a life transformed by the Holy Spirit would be like.
With the coming of Jesus, we no longer have to slavishly follow these laws because, by God’s grace, we have been transformed on the inside so that we want to live pure lives for Him.
Hebrews 4:16 . . . “Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it”. When we arrive at God’s very throne through prayer, we must linger to receive His grace.
We are expected to grow in grace, and not merely accept it as a stagnant gift. Philippians 1:6 . . . “I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus returns”. Grace involves self-sacrifice, giving something up in order to give it away.
2 Corinthians 8:9 . . . “You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was very rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich”. Like Daniel in the Bible, we need to be humble to request God’s grace in any area of our lives we desire it. Daniel 9:18 . . . “We do not ask because we deserve help, but because you are so merciful”. Grace is purely divine and it is a sacred thing. It is sufficient for all human needs. “And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me”-II Cor. 12:9.