GRACE
If grace is
undeserved pardon
from God, then why do we need to grow in grace? This is
quite an interesting
question and one that needs to be looked into. Let’s look
at how God felt
about man in the time of Noah. Mankind was just a
cesspool of sin; everyone
just did what they wanted to without any thought
of what God had commanded. Gen 6:6 And
the LORD was sorry that He had made man
on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Noah was
different and he
found grace in God’s eyes. Gen 6:8 But
Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. Why did Noah
find grace?
Because he was righteous. Gen 7:1 Then
the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the
ark, you and all your household, because I have
seen that you are righteous
before Me in this generation. 2Pe 2:5 and
did not spare the ancient world, but
saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of
righteousness, bringing in the
flood on the world of the ungodly; Moses also
found grace with
God. Exo 33:17 So the
LORD said to Moses, “I will also do
this thing that you have spoken; for you have
found grace in My sight, and I
know you by name.” The way the
world knew Israel
found Grace was that God was with them. Exo 33:16 For
how then will it be known that Your
people and I have found grace in Your sight,
except You go with us? So we shall
be separate, Your people and I, from all the
people who are upon the face of
the earth.” So how do we
get grace, what
do we have to do to obtain it from God? Notice the
following scripture shows
that we need to walk uprightly. Psa 84:11 For
the LORD God is a sun and shield; The
LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing
will He withhold From those who
walk uprightly. We need to
hear instruction
and follow the law. Pro 1:8 My
son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not forsake the law of your mother; Pro 1:9 For
they will be a graceful ornament on your
head, And chains about your neck. We need to
be humble. Pro 3:34 Surely
He scorns the scornful, But gives
grace to the humble. We need to
have wisdom, which
will then lead to grace. Pro 4:7 Wisdom
is the principal thing; Therefore get
wisdom. And in all your getting, get
understanding. Pro 4:9 She
will place on your head an ornament of
grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to
you.” Notice that
Christ waxed
strong in spirit and was filled with wisdom, and
grace was upon Him. Luk 2:40 And
the Child grew and became strong in
spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God
was upon Him. Grace and
truth came by
Christ. Joh 1:17 For
the law was given through Moses, but
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Rom 5:15 But
the free gift is not like the offense.
For if by the one man’s offense many died, much
more the grace of God and the
gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ,
abounded to many. We must have
faith. Rom 5:2 through
whom also we have access by faith
into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God. Because of
grace, Paul was
able to achieve much. 1Co 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. Notice we
are saved by grace
through faith, this is a gift of God. Eph 2:8 For by
grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God, It is
important that we set a
good example to those around us. Eph 4:29 Let no
corrupt word proceed out of your
mouth, but what is good for necessary
edification, that it may impart grace to
the hearers. It is
important to be able to
answer people properly. Col 4:6 Let
your speech always be with grace,
seasoned with salt, that you may know how you
ought to answer each one. We are
called according to
the Fathers own purpose and grace before the world
began. 2Ti 1:9 who
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, We can find
grace at the
throne of God. Heb 4:16 Let us
therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. We have
shown that we need
grace and that we should grow in grace, this will
mean that God will show us
favour. The
following is from the
Strong’s Concordance showing what grace means. Devine
influence upon the
heart and its reflection in our life, includes
gratitude and favour. |