2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
The Grace of God is PERFECT, SUFFICENT and shall I say AWESOME!
It is an undeserved free gift, undeserved favor, and undeserved love from Almighty God. And I am so thankful for it. Because, apart from it, there is no Salvation.
Every other religion of the world offers salvation by works. They say if you become good enough you can work your way to God, you must go through procedures and sufferings and rituals to get to God. Some religions even say that you can become a god. This lie is a direct approach by the enemy to appeal to man's pride. Just as when pride entered into Satan and he said, "I will be like the Most High God", and he became God's enemy.
The new age religions all pickup on this theme, that you can become a god. This ideology is not new; even in the Garden of Eden, Satan tempted Eve by telling her that if she ate the fruit, she would become like God.
Only through Jesus Christ we are offered grace, a free gift. This is contrary to human nature, which says with pride, I can do it myself. Our attitude is, "my life is my own and I will do with it as I please." Jesus says yes I gave you life and I gave you power to choose, it is your choice. So we either choose love and give our life to Jesus and rest in Him, or we choose pride becoming God's enemy, trying to work our way up to heaven apart from Jesus. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
The deeper I get into knowing and experiencing the presence of God in my life, this one thing becomes more and more clear. All that I am, all that I ever have been, and all that I ever will be is totally one hundred percent a result of God's awesome and perfect Grace. Every failure I experience causes me to humbly become more dependent upon God's grace! The result causes me to decrease and Jesus to increase in my life. Every form of success I have experience in life is not because of me, but rather a result of God's grace at work in me.
Spiritual success has nothing to do with me or the things that I do or don't do. Except for the choice to accept and live in grace, or reject the free gift by rejecting God and His Love. You see, I can't add anything to grace and I can't take anything away from it.
There is just one requirement from God; which is that we abide in Him!
John 15:4-5 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:4-5 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Apart from God, we can do nothing. Therefore the fruits of being a Christian are a result of God's work of grace in our lives, not by our efforts. What we are required to do is simply abide in Christ as a branch in a tree. The only work that a branch does is remain in the tree. Then the life giving sap and nutrients come up through the tree giving it life and producing fruit. This represents the work of the Holy Spirit flowing from God, through us, producing fruits in our life. Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Now, Many of the New Testament epistles begin and end with a salutation such as this: Grace, compassion, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord be upon you, and abound in you, and be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. This should be our prayer for ourselves and for those we love. Probably the best thing we can ask God for is His grace and compassion to be found in us, for us and through us.
God’s Mercy & Grace is for you today, therefore trust in Him for every need. I pray for you as well, that His Grace will be revealed to you and that you will gain a deeper desire to serve Him, and a desire to know Him in a more intimate way.
Blessings,
~Matt
