What is sovereign grace?

Sovereign grace combines two of God’s attributes, His sovereignty and His graciousness. Both of these characteristics of God are so vast that many volumes have been written about each. Briefly though, sovereign grace is the melding of the two into a thrilling truth that gives us a glimpse into the mind and heart of our great God. The sovereignty of God means that He has total control of all things past, present and future. Nothing happens that is out of His knowledge and control. All things are either caused by Him or allowed by Him for His own purposes and through His perfect will and timing (Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6). He is the only absolute and omnipotent ruler of the universe and is sovereign in creation, providence and redemption.

The grace of God is His unmerited favor toward those who have not earned it. There are numerous examples of God’s grace in the Bible, both to His people and those who rejected Him. Mary found grace in the eyes of the Lord who bestowed upon her the privilege of bearing the Savior of mankind (Luke 1:28). She may have been a godly young woman, but nothing she could have done would have made her worthy of such a blessing. She was the recipient of God’s grace. The Apostle Paul admitted that he was a servant of God by His grace and it was by that grace that he labored effectively for the cause of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:10). As Christians we, too, benefit from God’s grace. “For by grace are you saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). Our very salvation and position in Christ is due to His grace through the faith that He gives us (Hebrews 12:2). Even those who hate God receive His grace in every breath He allows them to take and through His common grace to all creation: “For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Even the atheist enjoys the effects of God’s grace through His beautiful creation and His provision of the resources necessary for food, clothing and housing. God doesn’t owe these things to us, but He provides them to exhibit His grace.

The sovereign grace of God is noted most often by theologians in the matter of election. We see it best explained in Ephesians 1:5-6: “he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” God sovereignly chose those He would save through His gracious act of sending His Son to die on the cross for their salvation. They were unable to save themselves or—like Mary—to merit God’s favor because of their transgression of His Law. “But the Law entered so that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20). Therefore, Christians are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

God in His sovereign grace has chosen to save those on whom He has set His love (Romans 9:8-13). They are picked out of the stream of helpless men and women cascading into hell. That is a humbling truth and should result in immense gratitude on our part. Why did God bestow His sovereign grace on believers? Not because we deserve salvation but to demonstrate “the riches of His glory” (Romans 9:14-23). Therefore, our only proper response is “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

What does it mean to grow in grace?

  Second Peter 3:18 tells us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” To grow in grace is to mature as a Christian. We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9), and we mature and are sanctified by grace alone. We know that grace is a blessing that we don’t deserve. It is God’s grace that justifies us, sanctifies us, and eventually glorifies us in heaven. The sanctification process, becoming more like Christ, is synonymous with growing in grace.

We grow in grace by reading God’s Word and letting it “dwell in us richly” (Colossians 3:16) and by praying. Those actions by themselves don’t mature us, but God uses these spiritual disciplines to help us grow. Therefore, maturing in our Christian life is not about what we do, but about what God does in us, by His grace. Understanding and applying God’s grace in our lives is important. We are not to impair it by being proud, because God says that He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Grace is that attribute of God that enables us to break free of our sinful nature and follow Him. It gives us strength and protects us. Without God’s grace, His favor, we would be hopelessly lost in this world. The more grace we have and ask God for, the more mature as Christians we will be.

To grow in grace does not mean gaining more grace from God. God’s grace never increases; it is infinite, it cannot be more, and according to the nature of God, it could never be less. He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him should be saved (John 3:16). How much more grace could there possibly be than that? But to grow in grace is to grow in our understanding of what Jesus did and to grow in our appreciation of the grace we have been given. The more we learn about Jesus, the more we will appreciate all He has done, and the more we appreciate His love and sacrifice for us, the more we will perceive the never-ending grace of God.

Peter also confirms that we need to grow in our knowledge of Jesus and to have that intimate relationship with Him because the more we know of Him, the more of Him will be seen in our lives. Paul said in Colossians 3:1–4: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

The Scriptures contain all the knowledge we will ever need to learn of God, His Son, and His Spirit, at least in this life. God`s desire for those He has saved is their sanctification and transformation. He wants us to become more holy like Himself. He wants to transform us into the image of His Son. The way to do this is by meditating on the Scriptures and applying their principles to our lives as we yield to the conviction and power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Then we will prove 2 Corinthians 3:18: “We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord.”

Grace on Display

1 Timothy 1:12-17

I. Introduction: What are the limits of God’s grace? Are some people so deeply entrenched in wickedness they can’t turn to the Lord? Amazingly, the answer is no. God can transform lives and circumstances no matter what kind of sins someone has committed.

II. Message:

A. Life Before Grace

1. Before we trusted Jesus as our personal Savior, we were sinful (Eph. 2:1-3).
2. Saul of Tarsus, better known as the apostle Paul, called himself the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).
3. He was highly educated, well trained in his career, and zealous about Judaism. But he violently persecuted the church and blasphemed the name of Jesus (Acts 7:58-60; 8:1-3; 9:1-2; 22:3-4; 26:9-11).
4. Paul is the perfect example of God’s grace. No sin is too great for the Father to forgive (1 Tim. 1:13-14, 16).

B. Life by Grace

1. Grace is possible only because of Christ’s death on the cross. It’s impossible to do enough good deeds to earn salvation.
2. God instantly made Saul into a new creation on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-6).
3. Salvation happens at God’s initiative, not ours. No one can take credit for getting saved (Eph. 2:8-9).
4. Jesus’ death covered the sins of the entire world—no one is an exception. If you trust Christ as Savior, you cannot have sinned so badly that God won’t save you.

C. Life in Grace

1. After his salvation, Paul’s actions changed (1 Tim. 1:8-12). Grace isn’t about adding good deeds to your life; it’s about inner transformation (e.g. caterpillar to a butterfly). God makes us new people and transforms our thoughts, actions, and desires.
2. After his salvation, Paul’s attitude changed. He had humility because of his past, gratitude for God’s grace to him as a sinner, and compassion for those who didn’t yet know the Lord (1 Tim. 1:15; Rom. 9:1-4).
3. When we experience God’s grace, we want to serve Him on a daily basis (1 Tim. 1:12). This doesn’t have to be in an official church setting or role. Instead, it can happen as we simply reach out to others throughout the day.
4. We must be willing to suffer persecution in our service to the Lord.
5. Although we are forgiven in God’s eyes, we still face the natural consequences of our sin.

III. Closing: Before his conversion, Paul would never have imagined that one day his teaching would impact the entire Christian church. No one is so evil that he or she cannot be transformed by the grace of God. His forgiveness is life-changing!

Grace and Ongoing Sin

Romans 6:11-13

God’s mercy is everlasting. Sometimes, though, a Christian becomes convinced that His forgiveness has limits. This usually happens when the person has repeatedly confessed a sin but finds himself returning to the habit anyway. Satan whispers that the Lord must surely be weary of this constant sin/admission cycle. As always, the Enemy lies. The truth is that a believer cannot sin his way out of God’s grace, no matter how many times he confesses the same wrongdoing.

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross paid our past, present, and future sin-debt. This means that no matter how great our offense or how often we sin, God’s grace covers every transgression. He forgives as often as necessary.

Anytime I post on this topic, a few people will ask if I am promoting grace as a license to sin. The Lord’s mercy is not a “get out of jail free” card. His forgiveness is infinite, but that does not mean we can get away with sin. As a loving Father, God disciplines His children. He shows us where we have gone wrong and how we can correct our actions to return to the path of righteousness.

God desires that each of His children grow in righteousness and reflect the nature of His Son Jesus Christ. He understands that maturing our faith is a lifelong process. Sometimes we will make mistakes and fall into sinful patterns from which we must be restored. Our Father is pleased to draw us back into a right relationship because His grace in infinite. No sin will ever be greater—or more frequent—than His capacity to forgive.

What is saving grace?

According to the dictionary, the phrase “saving grace” refers to a “redeeming quality or factor” that makes a person or a thing acceptable. The word grace on its own has another set of definitions. It is an “unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification” as well as “a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace.” These definitions are from the dictionary, but they were first found in the Bible.

Scripture says that grace is unmerited assistance from the Lord which is necessary “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:20 NASB), so He gives us His assistance: “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested . . . the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (Romans 3:21-22 NASB). Grace also results in our sanctification by what is called the “means of grace.” The means of grace are those things, like prayer or reading the Bible, which appropriate God’s grace into our lives. For example, according to Acts 20:32, the word of God builds us up and gives us an inheritance among those who are sanctified. Second Corinthians 9:8 also shows that God’s grace is what enables us to do good deeds. Grace is understood to describe the act of God giving man that which man does not deserve. Grace and mercy (which is the act of God sparing man from the punishment which he does deserve because of his sins) are the major components of what the Bible calls “salvation.”

The phrase “saving grace” fits nicely with the concept of our worth being found only in Christ. He is that “redeeming factor” that makes us acceptable. We have nothing in ourselves that will commend us to God (Romans 3:10-11). And if we are fundamentally unacceptable to God, and if all our righteousness and good works are like a “filthy garment” in His sight (Isaiah 64:6), we will ask, along with Jesus’ disciples, “How can we be saved?” Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:26-27). The Bible tells us that through belief in Christ—belief in His perfect life (which was fully acceptable to God) and His substitutionary death for His sheep (John 10:11)—we will be saved. Therefore, our “saving grace,” or that which makes us acceptable, is Christ Himself. His work on the cross is what saves us and not our own merit. He is the only thing about us that makes us acceptable to God. He Himself is our worth in God’s sight.

Simply put, saving grace is a grace that saves us, and the only grace that can save anybody is the grace which is applied to the soul through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8). His work is the only merit we have, and His work is our salvation. Be careful of the pitfall here: it is easy to think that, by our faith, we contribute in some small way to our salvation. After all, Christ’s merit must be “applied” to us by faith, and it seems our faith is coming from us. But, don’t forget Romans 3:10-12 which says that none of us seeks after God and Ephesians 2:8 which says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that (faith) not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Hebrews 12:2 also tells us that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, so our faith itself and our ability to believe and accept His grace is just another gift from God.

To sum up, we have no merit before God. But God, in His mercy, has chosen to author a faith in the hearts of His sheep which, when combined with the sacrificial death and blood atonement provided by the Good Shepherd, results in salvation. The saving grace of the sheep is that they are loved by the Shepherd and that He has laid down His life for them, to give them eternal life.

What is common grace?

The doctrine of common grace pertains to the sovereign grace of God bestowed upon all of mankind regardless of their election. In other words, God has always bestowed His graciousness on all people in all parts of the earth at all time. Although the doctrine of common grace has always been clear in Scripture, in 1924, the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) adopted the doctrine of common grace at the Synod of Kalamazoo (Michigan) and formulated what is known as the “three points of common grace.”

The first point pertains to the favorable attitude of God toward all His creatures, not only toward the elect. “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (Psalm 145:9). Jesus said God causes “his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45) and God “is kind to the ungrateful and wicked” (Luke 6:35). Barnabas and Paul would later say the same thing: “He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy” (Acts 14:17). In addition to His compassion, goodness, and kindness, God also sheds His patience upon both the elect and the non-elect. While God’s patience for His own is undoubtedly different from His patience with those whom He has not chosen, God still exercises “longsuffering” toward those whom He has not chosen (Nahum 1:3). Every breath that the wicked man takes is an example of the mercy of our holy God.

The second point of common grace is the restraint of sin in the life of the individual and in society. Scripture records God directly intervening and restraining individuals from sinning. In Genesis 20, God restrained Abimelech from touching Sarah, Abraham’s wife, and affirmed it to him in a dream by saying, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her” (Genesis 20:6). Another example of God restraining the wicked hearts of evil men is seen in God’s protection of the land of Israel from being invaded by the pagan nations on their border. God commanded the men of Israel that three times a year they would leave their plot of land to go and appear before Him (Exodus 34:23). To ensure the protection of God’s people from invasion during these times, even though the pagan nations surrounding them desired their land year-round, God promised that “no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God” (Exodus 34:24). God also restrained David from taking revenge on Nabal for scorning the messengers that David sent to greet Nabal (1 Samuel 25:14). Abigail, Nabal’s wife, recognized God’s grace when she pleaded with David not to seek vengeance against her husband, “since the Lord has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands…” (1 Samuel 25:26). David acknowledged this truth by responding, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you…” (1 Samuel 25:34).

This second point of common grace not only includes God’s restraining of evil, but also His sovereignty releasing it for His purposes. When God hardens the hearts of individuals (Exodus 4:21; Joshua 11:20; Isaiah 63:17), He does so by releasing His restraint on their hearts, thereby giving them over to the sin that resides there. In His punishment of Israel for their rebellion, God gave “them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices” (Psalm 81:11-12). The passage of Scripture best known for speaking of God’s releasing of restraint is found in Romans 1 where Paul describes those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. God “gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another” (Romans 1:28).

The third point of common grace as adopted by the CRC pertains to “civic righteousness by the unregenerate.” This means that God, without renewing the heart, exercises such influence that even the unsaved man is enabled to perform good deeds toward his fellow-man. As Paul said of a group of unregenerate Gentiles, they “do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law” (Romans 2:14). The necessity of God restraining the hearts of the unredeemed becomes clear when we understand the biblical doctrine of total depravity. If God did not restrain the evil that resides in the hearts of all men, hearts which are “deceitful and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9), humanity would have destroyed itself centuries ago. But because He works through common grace given to all men, God’s sovereign plan for history is not thwarted by their evil hearts. In the doctrine of common grace, we see God’s purposes stand, His people blessed, and His glory magnified.

What is the difference between mercy and grace?

Mercy and grace are often confused. While the terms have similar meanings, grace and mercy are not the same. To summarize the difference: mercy is God not punishing us as our sins deserve, and grace is God blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Mercy is deliverance from judgment. Grace is extending kindness to the unworthy.

According to the Bible, we have all sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). As a result of that sin, we all deserve death (Romans 6:23) and eternal judgment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-15). With that in mind, every day we live is an act of God’s mercy. If God gave us all what we deserve, we would all be, right now, condemned for eternity. In Psalm 51:1-2, David cries out, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” A plea to God for mercy is asking Him to withhold the judgment we deserve and instead grant to us the forgiveness we in no way have earned.

We deserve nothing from God. God does not owe us anything. Anything good that we experience is a result of the grace of God (Ephesians 2:5). Grace is simply defined as unmerited favor. God favors, or gives us good things that we do not deserve and could never earn. Rescued from judgment by God’s mercy, grace is anything and everything we receive beyond that mercy (Romans 3:24). Common grace refers to the sovereign grace which God bestows on all of mankind regardless of their spiritual standing before Him, while saving grace is that special dispensation of grace whereby God sovereignly bestows unmerited divine assistance upon His elect for their regeneration and sanctification.

Mercy and grace are best illustrated in the salvation that is available through Jesus Christ. We deserve judgment, but if we receive Jesus Christ as Savior, we receive mercy from God and we are delivered from judgment. Instead of judgment, we receive by grace salvation, forgiveness of sins, abundant life (John 10:10), and an eternity in Heaven, the most wonderful place imaginable (Revelation 21-22). Because of the mercy and grace of God, our response should be to fall on our knees in worship and thanksgiving. Hebrews 4:16 declares, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

“What is the grace of God?”

Grace is a  constant theme in the Bible, and it culminates in the New Testament with the  coming of Jesus (John 1:17).  The word translated “grace” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word  charis, which means “favor, blessing, or kindness.” We can all extend  grace to others; but when the word grace is used in connection with God,  it takes on a more powerful meaning. Grace is God choosing to bless us rather  than curse us as our sin deserves. It is His benevolence to the  undeserving.

Ephesians  2:8 says, “For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of  yourselves.” The only way any of us can enter into a relationship with God is  because of His grace toward us. Grace began in the Garden of Eden when God  killed an animal to cover the sin of Adam and Eve (Genesis  3:21). He could have killed the first humans right there for their  disobedience. But rather than destroy them, He chose to make a way for them to  be right with Him. That pattern of grace continued throughout the Old Testament  when God instituted blood sacrifices as a means to atone for sinful men. It was  not the blood of those sacrifices that cleansed sinners; it was the grace of God  that forgave those who trusted in Him (Hebrews  10:4; Genesis  15:6).

The apostle Paul began many of his letters with the phrase,  “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7; Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:3).  God is the instigator of grace, and it is from Him that all other grace flows.  Grace can be easily remembered by this simple acrostic: God’s  Riches At Christ’s Expense.

God shows both  mercy and grace, but they are not the same. Mercy withholds a punishment we  deserve; grace gives a blessing we don’t deserve. Consider this illustration:  you were stopped in your old clunker for going 60 mph in a school zone. The  ticket is high, and you can’t pay it. You appear before the judge with nothing  to say for yourself. He hears your case and then, to your surprise, he cancels  your fine. That is mercy. But the judge doesn’t stop there. He walks you outside  and hands you the keys to a new car. That is grace.

In mercy, God chose  to cancel our sin debt by sacrificing His perfect Son in our place (Titus 3:5; 2  Corinthians 5:21). But He goes even further than mercy and extends grace to  His enemies (Romans  5:10). He offers us forgiveness (Hebrews  8:12; Ephesians  1:7), reconciliation (Colossians 1:19-20), abundant life (John 10:10),  eternal treasure (Luke 12:33),  His Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13),  and a place in heaven with Him some day (John  3:16-18) when we accept His offer and place our faith in His  sacrifice.

Grace is God giving the greatest treasure to the least  deserving—which is every one of us.