All about Grace...

Lately, I've been thanking God, daily, for His grace to me (and you).

 

Read Ephesians 2:1-10 (most of us know 2:8-9, but read the whole context...it is awesome!)

The first version I've copied below is the "English Standard Version (ESV)" and is a pretty spot on translation from the original Biblical text; the 2^nd version I've copied is a paraphrase called "The Message."  I don't normally like "The Message," but, this particular paraphrase of this passage helps us get the gist of what God, through the Apostle Paul was trying to convey to us.

 

Ephesians 2 (ESV) - By Grace Through Faith

 ¹ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

Ephesians 2(The Message) - He Tore Down the Wall

 ^1-6It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

 ^7-10Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

 

Did your heart jump!?

Did your pulse race!?

Did your spirit warm within you and reaffirm that deep, knowing assurance you belong to God because of Christ Jesus!?

 

So, what is the difference between "Grace" and "Mercy?"

 

Grace is favor or good will towards us.  Some define it has unmerited favor.  Meaning, we did nothing to deserve this good will or divine favor towards us.  In the case of God's grace to us, He reached out to us, in our ugliness and sin, called us to Him and rescued us from certain eternal death by the finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross.  We place our trust, faith in Jesus for salvation.  It is still a mystery to me how, but it is even God who grows or "quickens" our faith to trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins (past, present & future) and to make us in a right relationship with Him.

 

Mercy is compassion shown especially to an offender.  It is not getting what we deserve.  God is Holy, sinless and perfect.  We offend Him in our sin.  Our sin deserves the just punishment of His eternal wrath against us.  Helpless, ripe, if you will, in our sin, He saved us from His wrath by accepting Jesus' death on the cross, in our place, as the blood price paid for our sin.  This is also still a deep mystery to me, but one I trust completely for my eternal salvation and right relationship with God.

 

And, God does it all to us, for us, and for His glory and praise.

 

Amazing grace indeed!

 

Are you alive in Christ Jesus?

Or, are you still dead in your sin?

Simply trust Him today for your salvation.  There are no magic words.  There are no magic rituals.  There are no steps or lists of things you have to do first.  That's not how God works.

 

He calls you today to trust in Christ Jesus.  Check this out:

 

Romans 10:8-13

⁸But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

 

Trusting in Christ brings you peace with God.  Not trusting in Christ brings God's wrath on you.

 

Won't you trust in Christ Jesus today?  Then you too will begin to grasp God's incredible grace and mercy towards you (and me).

 

If you do place your trust in Christ today, let me know!

 

And, if you have any questions, Frank and I are here to help answer those questions.

 

We love you all and pray for you daily!

--
Mary E.Hickcox
www.CalvaryBaptistSM.org
http://mary-neotes.blogspot.com/