The Study of Grace Part 3

So we’ve now learned that God’s grace is the undeserved gift of salvation that all people need. We could not earn it ourselves, but rather, by the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we are given faith to accept this gracious gift. We’ve learned that God’s grace is limitless and all-sufficient. So, what else can we say about grace? Romans 6:14 says, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” So, we who sinned and could not do any good, who “were once slaves of sin” (Romans 6:17), now, “Having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18). So we see that grace transforms us! We go from being slaves to sin to being slaves of righteousness. 

Titus 2:11-12 tells us, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” When God gives us His grace, He also gives us the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and help us to seek to do better. We cannot do anything to change our own hearts or pay for our sins but by grace; God provides the solution at a terrible cost to Himself. By the working of the Holy Spirit, we are born again into a new and living hope. “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).

In John 3:3, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” We need to be transformed by the grace of God, and it is only through His grace that we can be transformed! Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” Again, God graciously gives us what we need to receive salvation and to do what He asks of us. By grace we are made new, “and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). God created us in His image, and when we chose sin over righteousness, He graciously gave us a way to come back to Him. God’s grace saves us and transforms us by His Holy Spirit, making us “heartily willing and able, from now on, to live for Him” (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1). 

The word grace now humbles us and puts us in awe of such an amazing God. Before we were born, before we had even known God, He wanted us and was willing to do everything to ensure we could spend eternity with Him. God did not look to see if we were worthy in some way; He knew we weren’t. God already knew all the sins we would commit and that we were powerless in ourselves to change. Seeing all this in us, God sent His only Son to die for such a people. There is no deed we have done or could do that could change our sinful status. God provides the only solution, but at a horrible cost to Himself. What do we do with such knowledge? Praise God from whom all blessings flow! The Scriptures wisely counsel us on how to let us mirror this grace towards others. Let each of us be so filled with the awe and wonder of God’s love and forgiveness towards us that we act generously and kindly to all who come in our path. We can guard our tongue, give others grace and time to change or understand, we can be so filled with our humble place as servants to others that quarrels and sin find no room. In the words of Colossians 2:6-7, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding in thanksgiving.”