Musings on Faith #19
Amazing Grace
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound." The word "grace" is, for a Christian, one of the most important words in the English language. But what is grace? My favorite definition is "the unmerited favor of God." Grace manifests itself in many ways. The first, and foremost, is that it allows us to receive eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. "No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved (Acts 15:11, NIV)." And not just that we have salvation by grace, but that it is God’s grace which allows us to choose salvation! "On arriving, [Apollos] was a great help to those who by grace had believed (Acts18:28, NIV)."
 
But grace follows us all through our Christian lives, blessing us day by day and moment by moment. "From the fullness of his grace we have received one blessing after another (John 1:16, NIV)." The word "grace" appears over one hundred twenty-five times in the New Testament alone, in numerous contexts. Just a few examples: Witnessing: ". . . if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace (Acts 20:24, NIV)." Justification: ". . . and we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24, NIV)." Promise: "Therefore the promise comes by faith, so that it may be
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by grace and may be guaranteed to all (Romans 4:16, NIV)." Peace: " . . . we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this [state of] grace in which we now stand (Romans 5:2, NIV)." Righteousness: ". . . how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17, NIV)." Freedom: "And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace (Romans 11:6, NIV)." Humility: "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you (Romans 12:3, NIV)." Self-confidence: "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect (1st Corinthians 15:10, NIV)." Sincerity: ". . . we have conducted ourselves in the world . . . in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. . . . not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace (2nd Corinthians 1:12, NIV)." And we could go on and on. Yes, "amazing grace, how sweet the sound!"
 
Yours in Christ, Tom Woodard
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