Choose Grace
Ephesians 1:7-8
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us…” NASB
Lately I have been thinking a lot about the grace of
God. I am referring to an extravagant,
expensive, costly grace- a grace that breaks chains, delivers from bondage and
sets a person free from all the sinful works of the flesh. In the Church world-
or should I say, “worldly Church”, you will hear a lot of talk about
grace. But it is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer
often calls "cheap grace" in his book “The Cost of Discipleship". It is a counterfeit, a substitute, a fake type
of grace that frustrates and is a reproach to Christ’s sacrificial death. If one has every truly experienced the true
grace afforded by God through Christ, you will never have a desire to cheapen
or tarnish it with your own fleshly desires.
True grace doesn’t allow us to live the way that we
want. It is NOT a license to sin or at
the least to live on the “edge” between salvation and our unregenerated state. It doesn’t
give us the right to live loosely or yield to the flesh and declare that “grace
covers all”. That is a cheap substitute
for true costly grace. For those who have truly experienced the rich, lavish,
expensive blood-bought grace- they would never intentionally do anything to
frustrate that grace. (Galatians 2:21).
In the King James Version, the word grace is mentioned
122 times. We have probably all learned,
early on in our Christian life that grace means “God’s unmerited favor”. In other words, it is something that God
bestows on us even though we don’t deserve it.
We have all learned that we “are saved by grace” and not by works
(Ephesians 2:8). Grace plays a vital
part in our salvation experience.
Recently I have received new revelation in my own
personal life on that word “grace”. I have been experiencing some grief and pain. Coming through this triggered a lot of
emotions- some of which were not godly.
But God has brought me to the point to realize that living in this grace
is a choice. Initially it is God’s grace
that saves us- but sometimes we lose the fact that this very grace carries us
through into eternity. It isn't a one time event. The verse quoted
at the top of this blog states that God has lavished His grace on
us. That word means “expending or
bestowing profusely, profusion of excess, an abundance.” [1] He poured out His grace upon us, lavished us with His grace and He has made this grace available
to us every day.
We often hear the phrase: “Today I choose joy.” But we need to also choose grace to live
a godly life each day. I am so thankful,
so privileged to walk in God’s grace- His forgiveness of my sin, new life in
Christ. I am thankful that through God’s
grace to me I can walk in love, forgiveness, peace, joy, etc. I am NOT chained to bitterness,
unforgiveness, hate, wrath, anger, grudges, etc. I am truly set free! Those chains were broken when
grace- true grace- entered in. I am free
from my past, my old life. I now have
the responsibility to choose the path of grace, every day. It isn’t always easy to choose forgiveness or
love for someone who has hurt you- but the rewards are priceless in this life
and the next.
Choose to walk in that wonderful, marvelous, expensive
grace. It cost Someone His life- a
cruel, heartless, bitter death- but through the shedding of Christ’s blood- we
were given the opportunity and responsibility to be cleansed and to receive,
live and walk in the grace that God so lavishly poured on us.
Choose grace
1 Timothy 1:14 “And the grace (unmerited favor and
blessing) of our Lord (actually) flowed out superabundantly and beyond measure
for me, accompanied by faith and love that are (to be realized) in Christ Jesus.”
Amplified
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace
abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may
have an abundance for every good deed;” NASB
Ephesians 1:6 “to the praise of the glory of His
grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” NASB
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