Grace Is A Gift

Titus 3:5: “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”

Most people know about the Grace of God or at least they think they do. God’s grace is where He has forgiven us of all our sins and has even declared us not guilty so that we can stand in His presence someday.

Yes, Grace is a gift but it is much more than that, and too many mistakenly think that they can now go live their life however they want to. What many don’t understand is the power of God’s Grace, and yes, we are forgiven, and God takes the righteousness of Christ and places it upon us.

God’s grace is a power, it is the God given ability to live life the way the Lord wants us to. Everyone knows Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Ephesians tells us what Grace is not. Grace is not of yourself, it is all about Jesus and it’s not of works. He also tells us that if it were by ourselves or by works then what we would have is some big mouth person bragging about what they had done to get there. So yes, that it is not of yourself and not of works that is true.

But what we must realize is that the Grace of God has a power to it that the person who comes to Christ and surrenders to the Lord and allows God’s grace to apply to their life, they will never be the same. Ephesians 2:8-9 talks about God’s grace but if you read on to the next verse, listen to what it says about what God will do for the person that is asking for God to apply His Grace to their life.

Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Verse 10 tells us that God has applied His Grace to our lives and now we have invited the God of the universe to make and mold us into what He wants. That we were created for good works and God has prepared a plan for our lives before we were ever born. If we miss the plan that God has for us, I believe the day will come where we will experience a great deal of disappointment.

God’s grace has a power to it that propels the child of God to greater heights and greater works. Even for those who have named the name of Jesus to accomplish things they never thought that they could. 

The Apostle Paul talked about this very thing in I Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Did you get that? Paul was saying that when it came to works, he labored more than anyone and then he said, yet it was not him but the Grace of God which was with me. 

Are we saved by works? No! But are works important? Yes! While works will not save you, they demonstrate that you belong to Jesus. Jesus Himself said “by their fruits you will know them”. The book of James tells us that faith without works is dead. 

While works do not save us they are a confirmation to us and the world that we are saved. There is a verse that says “he that continues to the end will be saved”.  The person who continues to the end is saved not because they continue to the end, but because they continue to the end because they are saved.

Pastor Lee Cruse who believes that Our Father in Heaven has outlined a trip for each one of us and that trip can be a great adventure.