An Explanation of Christian Grace
A PLACE FOR GRACE...
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) KJV
What is Christian Grace? Who needs to be encouraged in it? Do you personally feel that you could use some encouragement in Christian Grace? These are some of the questions/topics which I hope to address on this page. And by relying on God the Father's love and on His guidance, by the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the empowerment of His Holy Spirit, this is what I hope and pray that I will be enabled to do.
Note: (I would very much appreciate your prayers for me in regards to this endeavor. It is my hope to edify other Christians by presenting these things - and also [by attempting to do so] to more effectively grow in Christ myself.) --- Von
1) What is Christian Grace?
God's Grace, at its most basic level, is the UNMERITED FAVOR which God offers to (and which He confers upon) each and every person who receives the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." (Titus 3:5) KJV
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) KJV
But Grace can also refer to the spiritual empowerment which God has made available to Christians through the Lord Jesus Christ and by His Spirit.
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15:10) KJV
Yet, being under God's Grace does NOT provide a "license" for a Christian to freely sin with impunity.
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:1-2) KJV
"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Galatians 5:13-14) KJV
And now, an aspect of Christian Grace that may be difficult to understand. Under God's Grace we are NOT to "work for God," and yet we ARE to "walk" in God's good works! Does this sound like a paradox? Well frankly, perhaps it is, but the key issues in our Christian walk are whether or not our actions stem from... 1) "...faith which worketh by love." (Galatians 5:6) and also whether or not we are... 2) walking by faith as new creatures (i.e., new creations) in Christ Jesus. (please see: Galatians 6:15)
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) KJV
"...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13) KJV
The Lord Jesus Christ, by HIS faithfulness, will faithfully walk out the Christian life through those Christians who actively trust in Him and who then actively yield themselves (and their lives) to the Lord's leading - by obeying and following Him ... in accordance with His Word, by the motivation of His love, and by the leading of His Holy Spirit.
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20) KJV
"...that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." (Galatians 3:22) KJV
Perhaps I could use an example to try to illustrate this. Two people, a leader and a partner, are dancing together to music. The leader leads, and basically provides the energy and the direction, while the follower follows - relying on the leader's guidance and on his strength to direct, motivate and sustain them. And all the while, what they are doing is being done in time to the music. In similar fashion, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Leader in our Christian "dance of faith." And we are to be the follower. And the "music" which we are to be dancing to is the Word of God, the love of God, and the leading of God's Holy Spirit. (And by using this example, I do not mean to present dancing as being either good or bad; I am simply using this as an illustration.)
Today, we are beginning to see a Grace awakening in the Church of Jesus Christ - and how much we Christians have been needing this!! Grace is once again being preached ...even as it was in the early Church. And as more and more churches are beginning to hear the Grace message, it is beginning to become better known and better understood.
Incidentally, if you happen to sense that your Christian pastor may not yet be preaching Grace, then pray for him! (because love "...believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things..." [and also] love "...never faileth") (see: 1 Corinthians 13:7-8) ...Besides, it's "lonely up at the top," and sometimes it's the encouragers who are the ones who most need the encouraging! And I honestly believe that God can truly work with a humble, God-fearing Christian man: who is open to God and who really wants to be teaching God's truth to his Christian flock.
2) Who Needs to be Encouraged in Christian Grace, and why?
I truly believe that each born-again Christian needs to be encouraged in Christian Grace. And why do I believe this? To answer this question, it is important to realize that even though God's Grace to us in Christ, (and also His love), is CONSTANTLY available to us, it is nevertheless possible for us as Christians to "steer off" into the darkness (of sin, worldliness, and/or of religious legalism) and in so doing, to effectively hide ourselves from the light of God's Grace and His love to us in Christ.
An illustration of this could perhaps be seen in something like a solar-powered car. A solar-powered car will run effectively by the sun's empowerment - unless it drives off into shaded or darkened places where the sun's rays can not get through to it. In similar fashion, Christians (who ALWAYS have the daylight of God's love and His Grace available to them), can also "drive off" into the shaded and darkened places of sin, worldliness and/or of religious legalism, and in so doing block themselves off from the motivating influence and the empowerment of God's love and of His Grace! But to clarify this point: this is NOT to say that God, at ANY time, stops loving the Christian. No, I am not saying that! Rather, what I am saying here is that when a Christian chooses, (of their own free will), to steer off into the darkened areas of sin, worldliness, or religious legalism, ect., then that Christian will in effect be blocking themselves off from the continuous light of God's love that is available to them at ALL times: i.e., the light of the strengthening and motivating empowerment of God's love for them and of His Grace to them in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because Christianity is NOT just a matter of "religion;" rather, it is a RELATIONSHIP - a relationship with the true and living God through the Lord Jesus Christ. (Please see: 1 John 1:5-10)
(the Apostle Paul speaking): "We then ...beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain." (2 Corinthians 6:1) KJV
"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light; (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord." (Ephesians 5:8-10) KJV
"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." (Acts 20:32) KJV
In conclusion: The Lord Jesus Christ WILL be returning for His true Church, and also to share His spiritual inheritance with those Christians who have been walking in the light. And this event could happen at any time - for no person knows the day or the hour! (see: Matthew 25:13) And then, just after this event there will come a time of judgement from God upon the whole earth. (The Bible refers to this period of time as "the Day of the Lord.") Therefore, Christians really DO need to be encouraging one another to continue to abide in the Grace of God and in the light of His love. (see: 2 Peter 3:10-14; Jude 1:17-21)
"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." (1 Thessalonians 5:4) KJV
Note: (Please do try to read the verses which I have shared in context from the Bible. And in so doing, you can be like the "Bereans" were!) (see: Acts 17:10-11)
Space is too limited to continue to discuss all these things here. So... please try to read each of the New Testament epistles in the Bible, and also please try to read the book of Revelation in the Bible - particularly the Lord's letters to the seven Churches. (Revelation, chapters 2 and 3) And then, let's pray for and encourage one another to be walking in Christian Grace.
Note: there may be some Christains out there who find themselves feeling separated from things that are going on in the Church. And they too need our prayers and our encouragement - in order for them to be better aware of God's continued love and His concern for them, and also so that they too may be encouraged to more effectively walk in God's Grace.
3) Sharing some personal encouragement in Christian Grace:
There are times when I have felt like I am in a hurry with regards to my own spiritual growth in Christ. But God is never "in a hurry" with me. God is working towards all eternity with me, and with my spiritual growth as a Christian - just as God is also working towards all eternity with YOU, and with your Christian spiritual growth.
So, at those times when I find myself feeling especially pressured, or else when I find myself to be coming to the end of myself, then I just pray to God and I admit to Him: "Lord, I just CAN'T do it!!" But then, a peace comes over me as I realize in my heart that even though I CAN'T... God CAN, and He WILL!
"Be still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10) KJV
Learn to just behold the Lord Jesus Christ - through praise and prayer, through His Word, through fellowship with other Christians, and in each and every situation which comes into your life. Don't work so hard at "struggling to be like Him." Rather, learn to just be confident in Christ, rather than trying so hard to rely on yourself. Then you can begin to learn to practice His presence - by walking out your Christian faith in accordance with God's Word: in each and every situation which comes into your life. "(For we walk by faith, not by sight)" (2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV) (please also see: Ephesians 2:10)
And remember, the Lord Jesus has said:
"...I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13:5) KJV
Note: a link has been provided below to a very helpful online study version of the King James Bible (the KJV version of the Holy Bible). Just click on the link at the bottom of this page called: "the Blue Letter Bible - Project Website."
(Suggestion): To view a specific Bible verse in context on that page, just enter in the particular book of the Bible in which the verse is located (using the pull down menu provided), then enter the Chapter number and the verse number in the appropriate sections. (replacing any numbers which may already be in those sections) Then click on "Go to Bible." To find the places where a specific word is used in the Bible, just enter the word in the appropriate section and then click on "Word Search." And if you would like to return to this page after having used the "Blue Letter Bible," (or else to just link back to any other pages from this page), then just by clicking on the "Back" (or equivalent) button of your browser it should hopefully bring you back here without any problems.
A special note of thanks: I have personally been very pleased with the folks at WebSpawner for allowing me to create these free web pages through their free webpage offer. And I'm simply mentioning this here because I happen to believe in giving credit where due. The people at WebSpawner seem to be both good business-persons and also very nice people. They even helped me with a "technical problem" which I had - and this was with my free page(s)!! At any rate, I just thought that I would mention it.
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http://www.webspawner.com/users/vonsgrace/
Thanks for stopping by!
...A GRACE-CENTERED BIBLE VERSE - [updated 07/15/00]
(Featuring a "Grace-centered" specially chosen Bible verse to simply edify and/or to encourage Christians in God's Grace) *a regular feature of: "An Explanation of Christian Grace"
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) KJV
Send E-Mail to: vontl@ccpc.net
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