God’s Grace
Sep 30, 2021 2696
God’s Grace Is His Merciful Love for Those Who Don’t Earn It
God has shown incredible grace to human beings since the beginning of human existence. Despite the fact that people have often not loved God, he loves us anyway. God’s gracious love is greater than any human love.
Have you ever loved someone who did not love you back? How did you feel? God keeps loving and forgiving, and hoping we will love him back.
Let’s look more into the definition of the word grace as it is used in the Bible. The ancient Greeks had four words for different types of love. Agape was the word for the greatest kind of love: the selfless love that God has for us. It is a love for those who do not earn love by what they do. Agape can also be translated as charity. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary gives these words as synonyms for grace: “MERCY, CHARITY, CLEMENCY… LENIENCY”
The famous Christian theologian C. S. Lewis wrote about Agape love in his book The Four Loves saying; “Charity (agape) This is our chief aim, the unconditional love of the Father”. The word grace is translated from the Greek word “charis” (from which we also get our English word “charity”) meaning gift, favour, gratitude and joy. There are dozens of uses of “grace” in the Bible, and they are associated with the mercy and forgiveness of God.
We don’t earn God’s grace or love. The apostle Paul writes this in his letter to the church in Rome,
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:8)
God delights in his children. Seeing kids play in the park reminds us that they are delightful just as they are. Parents love their kids just because they are little pieces of them, not because children earn love.
Let’s Explore More About God’s Incredible Grace & Love For Us!
The Apostle John writes this in his epistle;
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9)
God’s Grace is the essence of the Gospel. In Acts 20:24, the apostle Paul refers to “the gospel of the grace of God.” It is a gift: “…all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).
A gift is free to the receiver, but not to the giver, who bears the cost. The gift of salvation is free to everyone who accepts it by faith, but Jesus died in our place in order to offer it to us.
How extraordinary is this grace, because the gift of salvation is ours to keep! God’s grace is ours for as long as we choose to accept it. But while the cost to Jesus was extreme — he died in our place so we could live — he did this willingly for our sakes. Grace is a fundamental aspect of the nature of God. The Bible describes Jesus, the Son of God as,
…full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
While Jesus did not abolish the law, but he contrasted it with the gift of grace. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
Elsewhere in the New Testament, writers such as Paul explained that God’s grace does not cancel out the law, but justifies believers before God because Jesus’ sacrifice covers their sinfulness:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God… (Eph. 2:8).
Having received the grace of God, our grateful and Spirit-led response will be to become closer in our relationship to God, and to become more obedient to him.
God’s grace is the greatest miracle of the universe for Christians. It is the reason to live a joyous, hopeful life.
In the end, every good thing that we receive from God is of grace. It is all of grace.
Dan
Nov 14, 2024
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