God's Great Grace

Perhaps the biggest problem people have with understanding grace is that they look at it as a onetime event when they got saved. Certainly this is a part of grace but by no means the full extent of it. Grace is as eternal as God for God is gracious and pours out His grace continually upon us.


Grace has been defined, in its least common denominator, as simply receiving something you did not deserve. Mercy, on the other hand, is NOT receiving something (judgment/punishment) you did deserve. Of course there is much more to these words than this simple definition, but it would serve us well to use this during this study: Grace is receiving good you do not deserve and mercy is not receiving bad you did deserve.

There are numerous references to grace in the Bible, especially in the epistles written after the Day of Pentecost. Grace defines the age in which we are living for we have been given exceeding great and precious promises by God that we most assuredly do not deserve. These promised extend far beyond salvation and include the power we have in Christ Jesus and the hope of eternal life. The truth is that the only reason we have a life worth living is because of God's grace. God gives us, free of charge, everything that makes this life worth living.

Grace is so valuable and expensive that God had to offer it freely or else no one could afford it. Grace is so extravagant, beautiful and awesome that if God affixed a price upon it, that price would far exceed all the wealth of the world. Yet, there are millions of people who seem intent upon working their whole lives hoping that their good works will pay for God's grace. This is so sad and breaks the Father's heart.

Grace is free and cannot be achieved by good works. God's Devine favor (grace) is absolutely and entirely FREE. It cannot be purchased but can only be accepted. Just as people tend to reject gifts because they “don't accept charity” , so people reject God's grace because they feel they need to pay for it through good works. You cannot buy grace for it is free.

Certainly our salvation was freely given to us through grace but so is our ability to live without sin consciousness and condemnation in this life. God's forgiveness as manifested through His grace and mercy defines His love. All three of these great qualities of God (grace, mercy and love) define who God is and what He desires to share with those He loves.

Herein is a truly great element of truth; the more you grow in God's grace, accept God's mercy and cherish God's love, the more you will abhor sin and seek to please the God who is so very good to you. Of course the oppose is true also; the more you refuse to accept God's grace, reject God's mercy and deny God loves you, the more you will either forsake God or live a life of trying to work for the very things God gives freely.

Blessings!!!