Grace

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OUTLINE

GRACE 

 Acts 20:24 NLT
"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."
Acts of the Apostles 20:24 NLT

The grace of God is wonderful because it is not a system of merit through good works

It is about the good works of God to man through his steadfast love and mercy to man. 

But this unearned grace of God was corrupted by Christian religion 
That is why the grace of God is not always easy to find.

the Christian religion has imposed many rules as any other belief system. 

Martin Luther wrote, “If ever a monk could get to heaven through monastic discipline, I was that monk. And yet my conscience would not give me certainty, but I always doubted and said, ‘You didn’t do that right. You weren’t contrite enough. You left that out of your confession.’ The more I tried to remedy an uncertain, weak, and troubled conscience with human traditions, the more I daily found it more uncertain, weaker, and more troubled.” 

Romans 3:28,  “a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”
 
God's grace is wonderful and Amazing!

There are many amazing things in this world, but the most amazing thing of all is God’s grace. 

What is grace? 
The English word “grace” comes from the Latin word gratia, which means “pleasing or thankful.” 

The Greek word for grace, found throughout the New Testament, is charis. 

The word grace describes a King who, having conquered rebellious people, but allows them to live despite their opposition.

“Charm” is another aspect of the meaning of Grace

When the credit card company gives you extra time to pay your bill they call it a “grace period.” 

A beautifully coordinated dancer is called “graceful.” 

Grace is often referred to as the “unmerited favor of God.” 

A dictionary says grace is “the condition or fact of being favored by someone.” 

Strong’s Concordance- - that grace is the “divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in life.” 

Grace has been defined as “God’s unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor, blessing, and ability.” 

The word “grace” has even been transformed into an acronym: 

G.R.A.C.E., or God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. 
Or
G.R.A.C.E  God's Redemption At Christ Expense

Because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, 
we experience all of God’s blessings: His mercy, His forgiveness, His help, His resources, His love, all given to us freely.
 
What does grace do for you? 

Look at all the things grace does for you. 

Because of grace
… …You are called: “[He] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Timothy 1:9)
. …You believe: “…[Apollos] greatly helped those who had believed through grace” (Acts 18:27)
. …You are saved: “…by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:5). “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11)
. …You are justified: “...being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). 
…You are accepted by God. “…the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). 
…Your sins are forgiven: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7)

. …You overcome sin: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

 …You overcome every weakness: “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’…” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

. …You are sanctified: “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10)

. …You are empowered to live for God: “…let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). 

…You learn how to live a holy life: “[Grace teaches] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13)

. …You receive miracles: “Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands” (Acts 14:3)

. …You have a spiritual gift: “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:6-8)

. …You have hope: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)

. …You can be thankful: “For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15)

. …You have an inheritance: “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32)
. …You have eternal life: “…so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:20)

. …You are an heir with Christ: “… by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7). 
…You reign with Christ: “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). 


Where does all this grace come from? 

How does this grace become available to you? 

Grace is all about what only God can do. 

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:17 NKJV

In what ways can we experience the grace of God in our Lord Jesus?

1. Forgiveness in Jesus
 
“Your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2)

. “…whoever believes in [Jesus] will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43)

 “...through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 13:38).

 “In [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

 “…God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32)

. “…we have redemption through [Jesus’] blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14).

 “…your sins have been forgiven through Jesus Christ (1 John 2:12). 


2. Salvation in Jesus 
Jesus proclaimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). 

He also told the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).

 Jeremiah 31:31-33, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 

3. Victory in Jesus 
As believers, we are not fighting for victory, we are fighting from a position of victory. 

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). 

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). 

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14).

 4. Blessing in Jesus 
old testament  -  Exodus 19:5, “If you obey my commands, you will be blessed.” 

New Testamnet - Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing


God's blessings - there are three things we need to understand. 
First, we do not have enough money to purchase the blessing of God. 
Second, the blessing of God is not for sale. 
Third, if you are a Christian, you are already blessed. 

As Jesus died on the cross, He proclaimed, “It is finished.” 
We don’t need to do anything more in order to be blessed, 

all we need to do, is 
1. believe what Jesus has done for us
2. Receive by faith 
3. And Say  “Thank you, Jesus!” 

Matthew Barnett:
 “The saying, ‘You get what you pay for’ should be replaced by, ‘We get what Jesus paid for’.” 

I5. Rest in Jesus 
In Jesus, there is no straining and striving.
Jesus says Matthew, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” 



“For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest…” (Hebrews 4:10-11). 

6. Riches in Jesus 
In the ages to come, God will reveal all the riches of His grace. For all eternity, and we will be reigning with Christ

Through Jesus, we walk in abundance, both in this life, and in the life to come. 

“…when we were dead in trespasses, [He] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-7). 

Grace is amazing! 
But we only understand God's Grace,  When we abandon our misplaced trust in good works and in any religious ritual and works, 
and place our trust in Jesus Christ and embrace what Jesus has done for us at the cross.

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