Understanding Grace

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 2:7

In the beginning, God created man in His own image and created a perfect world for man to live in where man would be in continual fellowship with God.  Man sinned, and as a result his fellowship with God was broken, making the world he lived in no longer perfect.  Then God enacted His plan to redeem man back into relationship with Him through the work of His Son Jesus Christ.

Understanding what Jesus did to reconcile man back to God allows one to understand God’s grace which enables us to better grasp God’s love for each of us personally.
 

God’s Plan of Redemption

 
It is God’s plan of redemption that demonstrates God’s profound favor towards man which the Bible calls “grace”. The biblical definition of grace is “giving a free gift to someone who does not deserve it”.

God’s plan to reconcile man back to Himself through Christ is a free gift born out of God’s great love for us that, because of our rebellion through sin, we do not deserve. Reconciliation is freely given by God to undeserving man, making it the greatest gift of grace for all time.
 

The Law

 
Let’s explore God’s plan of redemption further in the light of grace.

After man sinned, which broke relationship with God, God initiated a plan to restore man back to Himself. The Bible teaches that what God did first was to help man to see that his sin was the problem that was alienating him from God. If man could understand that sin was the root of his problem, then he would understand his need to be saved from sin.

God gave the law, which included the 10 Commandments, so that man would grasp what sin is, and realize that he is a sinner. In addition, the law made it evident that man needs a savior because there was no way anyone could keep the law perfectly all of the time in their own strength.  The law worked well to do its job, because it continually condemned man: no matter how hard man tried to meet the requirements of the law, he was doomed to fail.

The law still clearly reveals man’s sin nature and establishes the fact that there is no way for us to correct the destructive power of sin through our own efforts in order to get back in right relationship with God. We can never be good enough to meet the righteous requirements of the law.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
Romans 3:22-24

Grace Gives the Answer

 
But the Bible tells us there is more to God’s plan of redemption than just introducing the law to point out our sin nature. God provided a solution, which we could not provide for ourselves, that solved our sin problem completely and then offered it to man as a free gift. That is, God Sent His Son Jesus to live on the earth as a man to completely fulfill all the requirements of the law perfectly so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for the sin of the whole world.

As the perfect sacrifice, Jesus suffered, took all sin upon Himself on the cross, died and was buried, but rose again proving that He had paid the penalty for sin in full because death, which is the penalty for sin, could no longer hold Him.

This free gift that God offers man is salvation from our sins through faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Having such a free gift offered to us by God to resolve our sin problem demonstrates the great favor of God towards man, which is grace.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

The Great Exchange

 
Jesus’ completed work on the cross enables, for those who believe in Him, a great exchange of righteousness that trades our just punishment for God’s blessings. That is, all the punishment and judgment that was ours was put on Jesus, while in exchange, His life, love, righteousness and power was given to us.

All our sin, all our sickness, all our poverty and all our curses were put on Jesus and he paid for it once and for all.  Anyone who accepts Him as Lord and Savior has the righteousness of Jesus in exchange for their sin.  This is really GOOD NEWS!

Furthermore, the Bible teaches that when we come to faith in Christ, God gives us a new nature in Christ that desires to serve Him wholeheartedly so that we are empowered to live righteously to honor God.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17

Here’s an Example of Grace

 
You can understand God’s plan even better by considering the following analogy…

Imagine that you go to see your bank manager because you cannot pay your house mortgage.  The manager could suggest ways to refinance, take a second job, sell your car, etc. – all good advice to help you get through on your own – but you would still leave the meeting with a big debt.

Now suppose that you went back to your bank the next day and your manager says: “I have really good news.  Someone came into the bank after you left yesterday and paid off your mortgage in full.  More than that, he left $100 million in your account to cover all your needs for the rest of your life!”

Now that is GOOD NEWS!  That is way beyond good advice.

Religions of the world are good advice … but Jesus is good news!  He has paid the price in full for you so that you are free of all sin-debt. More than that, he has put in your account the full deposit of his own righteousness and power to cover all you need in your life.

“For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:10-11

Saved By Grace

 
We have been taught that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. But when we’re talking about a perfect God who loves perfectly and is perfectly good, it makes all the sense in the world. Wouldn’t you do everything possible to rescue your own child regardless of the cost?  Even more so, our perfectly good Heavenly Father has already paid the price to rescue us through Jesus.

God knew that no amount of human effort could ever deal with the destructive force of sin in your life and in the world. He sent Jesus to deal with sin once and for all. Anyone who believes in Him can have their sin-debt paid off in full and receive the gift of His own righteousness (right standing with God).

God knew that even that would not be enough so he gave you a new nature in Christ so that you naturally love to honor God – it’s in your new nature. He knew that even then it would not be enough so he sent the Holy Spirit as a guide, a comforter and to give you power.  He also knew you would still sin so he went to the ultimate step and He took an oath that He would never hold your sin against you again.  He knew it would take this much to set you free and give you an incredible life filled with His grace in Jesus.

Religion is man’s attempt to reach God through self-righteousness.  Christianity is God reaching out to man and removing the sin issue once and for all in Jesus.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”… Romans 8:1-3