God's Grace is something that is found only in Christianity. God's Grace is God extending his love, salvation, and favor to us even though we have done nothing to deserve it. All religions, except Christianity, require earning the acceptance of the god, deity, or entity worshiped. In Christianity, there is nothing we can do to earn God's favor except to accept the salvation he has provided.
The definition of grace is unmerited favor. The definition of mercy is unmerited compassion. Grace and mercy are part of the same team: one rarely exists without the other.
When God chose to show us Grace, at the same time, he was showing us his eternal mercy. By sacrificing his only Son, Jesus, God the Father made it possible for anyone who believes and accepts this sacrifice (the death and resurrection) to have eternal life.
The only requirement of salvation is to believe and accept God's act of Grace and mercy - the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus, on the cross.
Have you ever thought about what salvation actually means? Most people believe that salvation means that they are saved from hell. Salvation is much more than that.
To illustrate, I would go so far as to say that if the promise of heaven and hell did not exist, I would still worship God, accept Jesus as my personal Savior, and seek to live the life that God planned for me.
1. Eternal Life
Eternal life is much more than "eternal existence." The truth is that:
will spend eternity
somewhere!
Jesus said:
John 10:10 NLT
We know that eternal life is a rich and satisfying life. We also know that it begins at the moment of salvation. The Greek word here for "life" is " zóé," meaning spiritual life AND life in the here and now.
It's not financial wealth, as the Prosperity Gospel proclaims; it is a richness and satisfaction concerning our world and our future world. It is the wealth of family, friends, purpose, and being of consequence in other people's lives.
Moreover, everything that enters our lives were either created by God or allowed by God. It's not a life free of pain, sorrow, suffering, or unfairness. It is a life of storms and shadows, of sunrises and sunsets, just like everyone else. The difference is that we have the eternal rock to hold onto in times of trouble and someone to thank in times of deliverance.
Our future life in heaven is also a part of this package. We don't have a clear picture of what life will be like for us in heaven. We have glimpses and umbra. I'm sure that part of the reason for this obscurity is that we simply can't understand it.
2. Freedom from God's Wrath
Revelation 19:15 NLT
We, as physical beings, do not have the capability to understand the horror and the heinous nature of sin, especially in relation to a perfect God. We lack the ability to understand both perfection and imperfection.
We were born sinners. We were born enemies of God. We were born to love sinning and to love sinful ways - it is our nature. Envy, lust, greed, sexual immorality, hate, lies, deceit, corruption, and the seeds of all types of perversion exist within every one of us.
There are approximately 200 billion trillion stars in the universe. God created every one of them. He made everything with his spoken word. God hates sin! This is the God we will stand before on our last day on earth.
All sin is despicable to God - a little white lie is just as loathsome to him as murder or rape. Without Jesus, we are the enemy of God. Without Jesus, we do not have access to prayer, blessings, purpose, strength, peace, joy, or understanding. Without Jesus, we have no hope. Without Jesus, God has no plan for our lives. Without Jesus, our lives are meaningless and futile.
3. We are Children of God
John 1:12-13 NLT
Jesus reconciled us with God. We are no longer enemies. We are not only reconciled but we have been adopted, by God, into his family as sons and daughters. We are heirs to the Kingdom of God. What an incredible transition. What a wonderful gift.
Galatians 4:7 NLT
Every religion, except Christianity, requires a penance to get into their god's good favor - salvation must be earned!
Christianity starts with the understanding that it is impossible for us to please God, so it is futile even to try! The Gospel says that Jesus is our perfection. Jesus paid the price for every one of our sins - past, present, and future. The Gospel says that we are perfect in God's eyes because of the price that Jesus paid for us.
on an eternity scale!
Before God placed the first star in the sky, he foreknew that he would have to give his Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for our sins. He foresaw that we would disobey him before the day the earth was made. He knew that all creation would fall under his curse. Yet he created it and us anyway! God's love and mercy are all over this plan.
On the last day, we will fully understand the mystery of God's plan. On the last day, we will fully understand perfection, we will fully understand sin, and for the first time, we will fully understand Grace.
Here is the truly amazing part, on the last day, Jesus will give the restored creation back to God the Father.
1 Corinthians 15:24 NLT
This whole thing, creation, 200 billion trillion stars, sin, the Law, Jesus, the Bible, the Holy Spirit, judgment, etc., was created to demonstrate to heaven and earth God's love for his people. Every creature on earth and in heaven will praise and worship God because of this.
Every facet and nuance of his plan will be uncovered. Every secret and hidden thing will be revealed. The great revelation will be our understanding and clarity of God's Grace - the magnitude, sovereignty, and reach of his wisdom and love.
It should also help broaden and make us appreciate our salvation differently.
If we lack this basic understanding of God's Grace, we lack the perspective of how God views us. We regress in our faith to performing "acts that please God" as a means to get in God's favor.
that we already have
God's favor.
There's nothing we need
to do to earn it.
When we try to win God's favor, we enter the roller coaster ride of saved...not saved...saved...not saved!
God's love for us is NEVER based upon our behavior! There's nothing we can do to win more of God's love. There's nothing we can do to lose some of God's love.
By yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit, we can have a better experience with God! When we submit to the power of God in our lives, through the Holy Spirit, we will grow spiritually. Our spiritual lives will be enriching, but God will not love us more or less if we do or don't.
Yielding to God simply renders more blessing - not more favor. Yielding to the Holy Spirit produces a closer walk with God - not more love.
Ephesians 3:19 NLT
There is nothing improper about wanting to understand and serve God as long as the context of our desire is fellowship and worship. When the context of our desire becomes winning God's favor, then we have lost sight of God's Grace.
Understanding God's Grace, enables us to spend our time serving in God's purpose for our lives. We are not wasting away our spiritual lives trying to please God, earning his love or his favor.
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