There are many beautiful and rich words in our Christian vocabulary that stimulate our minds and move our hearts. I think the word "grace" is one of the richest! If you truly understand "grace", (the unmerited favor of God) it will excite you and pierce the heart of your faith. Grace is a term that has a definite meaning by itself, but is also comprehensive, gathering many other words of truth around it. Faith is one of those words that we find closely related to grace. Grace and faith are both necessary for salvation as God grants repentance to the sinner who humbles himself before Him. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).
God is a God of grace. He acts graciously and both the Old and New Testaments bear witness of His grace. Grace comes from God freely to us. We cannot do anything to deserve it. That is what makes grace so wonderful. Grace is central in Jesus Christ. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are supreme expressions of God's grace. We have not done or accomplished anything that has made us deserving of salvation. Yet God graciously gave His Son, Jesus to the world as an atonement for our sins and to provide a bridge for us to be able to have access to Him.
The apostle Paul is primarily responsible for making grace so central in our faith and vocabulary. Paul understood grace more clearly and spoke of it more forcefully than any other person. Paul's understanding of grace grew out of a radical and dramatic deliverance from the bondage of the law. For the first time Paul experienced the peace for which he had long sought but had always eluded him. For the first time Paul felt forgiven and accepted by God. He was no longer caught in the meshes of the law, but was free. What else could Paul do but talk about grace?
Paul constantly was aware and acknowledged the grace of God in his life. Have you ever acknowledged the same grace? Of course you have! In the evening have you thanked God for the peace and comfort of your home? Have you found pride in your children and thanked God for them? Do you find yourself thankful for your parents and your friends? In these things mentioned do you realize you have them because of God's grace? Unfortunately, many of us don't realize the grace of God in the sunlight and only seem to find it in the shadows. Grace strikes us when we are in great pain. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life. It strikes us when we feel that our separation from God is deeper than usual, because we have fallen and sinned. Grace strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction have become intolerable. It strikes us when the perfection we long for year after year does not appear. It strikes us when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, and when despair destroys all joy and courage. Grace breaks into our darkness as a wave of light and as a voice that says, "you are accepted". You realize that you are accepted by that which is greater than you.
It was the apostle Paul that made us aware of the manifold grace of God, but it was the apostle Peter that calls us to be stewards of the same grace. Peter experienced and understood the grace of God as Paul did, and his understanding of grace encouraged Christians to be agents of grace through Christian service in view of the coming again of Jesus. We are still under that calling today and are not just recipients of God's wonderful grace. Have you ever been comforted of God in some great sorrow? Then be a comforter of other sorrowing ones. Have you been made strong in a disaster or found an unexpected power so that you were able to face the future unafraid? Then share your courage with others that are afraid.
In our human situation we desperately need God's grace. God's grace is not detached but gets involved. It is a grace that speaks to the human situation and addresses us in our need. As humans we are very weak and fragile. Paul talked about a weakness or handicap he had which he referred to as a thorn in the flesh. He asked Christ three times to remove it, but rather than removing it Christ gave him the strength to accept it and live with it. What was the enabling strength Christ gave Paul? It was grace. Christ said to Paul, "my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Grace turned Paul's weakness into strength, and it can do the same for us today. Not only are we weak but we are sinful. Sin separates us from God and destroys. What is our answer to sin? It is grace. One of the greatest Scriptures is Romans 5:20, "But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." There is more grace than there is guilt. There is enough grace in Jesus to cover all the sin in the world.
The Christian religion is a religion of grace, although we are shocked to see how often Christians keep slipping back into legalism. We need to realize what legalism does to us. It makes us harsh, proud, and judgmental. Legalism dries up our compassion for others. It enslaves us and tries to destroy us. Let us not take the gift of God's grace lightly. When you need a reminder of how important grace is, sing the words of the old hymn "Amazing Grace". It will remind you that it was amazing grace that saved such a wretch as you. It will remind you that grace was greater than all your sins. It will remind you that once you were lost but because of grace you have been found, that once you were blind but now you can see. It will also remind you that though you have come through many dangers, toils and snares, it is grace that has brought you safe thus far, and grace will lead you home!
