2 Peter 1:12 – “So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.” I am going to do this, this morning. It is to stir you up by way of reminder. As we hear God’s truth, we get refreshed and stirred.
People say, ‘by the grace of God’. Even people who don’t know Jesus will say this. But I want to remind us about the wonderful Grace of God. Grace is the air of Heaven. we are in heaven only by Grace.
What is the Grace of God?
This world is caught up in sin and evil. Reading the newspaper is not a pleasurable experience. We are aware of sin- outside in the world and within us. Sin is all over the place. The atmosphere of earth is sin. That is where the world is heading as we see it.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Because we sin there is punishment and penalty. There is physical death on earth and eternal death. It is the same for each and every one of us.
3 things that the Grace of God does:
1. The Gift of Justification: Romans 3:24 “and we are justified by his grace as a gift”. Because of sin we have negative marking. We deserve punishment. But the good news is that Jesus saw us in that state and came down from heaven and took the form of a man, lived a sinless life and he paid the price for our sins. Justification means God looks at us and instead of saying guilty, he says not guilty.
If we believe in who he is and what he has done, he promises that our sins will be completely forgiven. Not only is our negative marking forgiven, he gives us the grace marks he achieved.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” God sees us as righteous- positionally and not in performance. We are as righteous as Jesus in our position. But we are not there in our performance as yet. He enables us to become righteous. We need to cooperate in that process. One of the signs that we are truly saved is that we want to become like Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” God sees us as righteous- positionally and not in performance. We are as righteous as Jesus in our position. But we are not there in our performance as yet. He enables us to become righteous. We need to cooperate in that process. One of the signs that we are truly saved is that we want to become like Jesus.
2. The gift of Eternal Life: Everyone wants to live. Eternity has been placed in the hearts of men. When people desire death it is an abnormality.
When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, they could eat from the tree of life but they sinned and chose the other tree. What happened in the Garden of Eden has been reversed in Jesus. Now we have eternal life through Jesus. 1 John 5:13 “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, they could eat from the tree of life but they sinned and chose the other tree. What happened in the Garden of Eden has been reversed in Jesus. Now we have eternal life through Jesus. 1 John 5:13 “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
The creator of the world wants to gift us eternal life. We cannot earn salvation. Sometimes we start by grace we try to live by law. We try to earn God’s favor and pay for our salvation. We can’t do that. We are called to live a righteous life, not to earn our salvation. If you put your trust in Jesus today you will have eternal life right away.
3. The Gift of redemption: If something has been re-purchased or a buy-back, it is called redemption. Everyone is a slave to sin, but Jesus came and set us free. 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” If you have trusted Jesus for your salvation, we are purchased with a price.
So how we live our lives is important. Law doesn’t have any hold on us. He placed us into his family. Everything Jesus owns is ours- we are co-heirs. He has delivered us from the bondage of sin.
Titus 2: 11- 14 “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
The Grace of God s not a license to sin. We are able to say no to sin and worldly passions and live upright in this present age.
So how we live our lives is important. Law doesn’t have any hold on us. He placed us into his family. Everything Jesus owns is ours- we are co-heirs. He has delivered us from the bondage of sin.
Titus 2: 11- 14 “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
The Grace of God s not a license to sin. We are able to say no to sin and worldly passions and live upright in this present age.
This is our great hope. So how should we live? We are eager to do what is good! There are so many needs in the world. There are all kinds of needs. God has a plan and a destiny for each one of us.
Let’s pray.
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If this message has encouraged you or you think it will encourage someone please do share this link on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or whatever other social media you use.
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
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