Christianity Oasis Forum

[saint701]

Hello Christianity Oasis, All...

Blessings!

...from Be Lifted High...

Grace justifies the ungodly on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus. Grace triumphs over sin, guilt, and condemnation.
Now that alone would seem like enough wouldn’t it? That is unbelievable, amazing, and awesome news! And yet there is much more to grace than that!
In part one I mentioned that 1,000’s of born again, Bible believing, church attending Christ followers were asked to give at least 3 or more definitions or descriptions of grace and most everyone gave answers that covered what we had covered in part one; however less than 2% defined grace as God’s empowerment.
As the hymn “Come thou fount” says, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it”. Even though we are saved by grace we so easily get distracted and lose focus and wander away from what is good, true, and perfect. Since it is by His grace that we have been made righteous, it is also by His grace that we are empowered to say no to ungodliness and to live a righteous life through his power.
Titus 2:11,12 “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches(What teaches? The grace of God teaches) us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age...”
It is by His grace we are empowered to live and move and have our being in Christ! It is by His grace that we are being molded and transformed to be like Christ. We are empowered to live self-controlled lives as we are empowered and directed by this Spirit filled/led life.
This grace also empowers us in other ways:
We’ve all had some rough days, maybe weeks, months or even years. Yet when I look at what the Apostle Paul went through all of my personal trials seem to pale in comparison. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 Paul states that he had received forty stripes minus one five different times. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned(remember he was even left for dead-the people thought they had killed him); three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—and so on. I think we could all agree that Paul suffered beyond compare and so in the following chapter Paul states that he cried out to God, that he pleaded with God. He was sick of the opposition, the beatings, the trials, the lashings and shipwrecks and hunger. I know I would be sick of it-wouldn’t you?
And God responds to Paul. Does God say I see your troubles and I will take them away?-No. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 God responds to Paul by saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Do you hear that? “My grace is sufficient for you especially when you are weak-Why? Because you get your eyes off of your self and you rely on my power. My grace is empowerment. Yes I provided grace to you to bring you salvation, but now that you are my child I continue to pour out my grace to you to empower you to overcome any obstacle, to face loneliness, beatings, hunger, catastrophe. It is God’s grace which empowers you to walk through the darkest valleys. Which allows you to have peace and a different perspective. It truly is only by the grace of God by which I stand!
Zondervan’s encyclopedia of Bible words states this about charis(the greek word for grace): “This grace is a dynamic force that does more than affect our standing with God by crediting us with righteousness. Grace affects our experience as well. Grace is marked always by God’s enabling work within us to overcome our helplessness.”
2 Peter 1:2,3 says “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
Once again grace is linked to God’s divine power. We don’t just receive grace that leads to salvation but it is His grace that empowers us and enables us to face each day and each obstacle. As John 1:16 says, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” Hallelujah, it is not a one time thing. We are receiving grace upon grace. James writes, “when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” It is God’s empowering grace that grants you the power and perspective to have joy even when facing trials.
In Acts 11 Barnabas was sent from the church in Jerusalem to Antioch. And we read that “When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.” He saw that they endured prosecution and that they did not put their trust in their circumstances or themselves but they trusted in God. God’s grace empowering them was visible to Barnabas.
Being empowered by God’s grace is knowing that God is for you and not against you even in your suffering.
So grace empowers us to live upright and holy lives and to handle suffering with power, peace, perspective, and even joy, but does it empower us for other things as well?
When Paul writes about God giving us differing gifts so that we can be a blessing and a help to one another he says, “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us…” It is God’s grace which enables us to minister to one another. Right before saying that in Romans 12 Paul had said, “through the grace given to me I say to everyone…” He is relying on the grace of God just to minister to this church. Back in Romans chapter 1 Paul writes, “we have received grace and apostleship.” It is God’s grace that enabled and empowered Paul to be an Apostle. Why would this be important?
Paul was a leader in the faith. He established many churches and did many great things. When some people were claiming Apollos or Barnabas or others, Paul could have said you should all be listening to me. I am the great appointed leader. I am God’s man so give me your attention. If Paul were to rely on Himself as an apostle then who gets the credit?-Paul does. Now if all of our salvation, all of our ministry, all of our obedience is completely dependant on grace then the giver of that grace gets the glory and not us. Paul could have said look at what I’ve done but instead he says we have received grace. Whatever you accomplish who will you give the glory too?
1 Peter chapter 5 tells us that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. I need His grace/ His empowering. Don’t You? If you are mindful that it is God granting you the grace, that is empowering you, then you will give him the glory.
1 Peter chapter 4 says in everything you do, do it “by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Paul wrote 13 letters which are in our Bibles. Did you know that he begins and ends every single one of these 13 letters with a blessing of grace upon the reader. Every letter starts “grace to you”. He words it slightly differently in Timothy and Titus, but the meaning although worded differently is still grace to you. Paul then ends all of his letters saying “grace with you”. Some of his blessings have love, some have peace, others have mercy, but they all have grace. Are you seeing how central grace is to everything that we are?
If I say Grace to you or grace be with you, I am not speaking about some past event. I am blessing you from that moment forward. Yes God has been gracious to us. Yet may God continue to be gracious to you. Grace be with you. At the end of 2 Thessalonians Paul says, “The Lord be with you all”. That is what it means that grace is with you. Jesus Himself is graciously with you in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Remember in John 1:14 when Jesus came we saw the glory of God, full of grace and truth. I want to be like Jesus don’t you? Then let us be ever mindful-The Christian life begins with grace, is sustained by grace, and will end in grace.
Therefore as Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”


Blessings!
Love, In Christ Jesus, Saint701.