God's Grace
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We have covered these attributes so far:
We have covered these attributes so far:
God's Infinitude
God's Infinitude
God's Immensity
God's Immensity
God's Goodness
God's Goodness
God's Justice
God's Justice
God's Mercy
God's Mercy
God’s Grace:
God’s Grace:
Key Point: Remember that an ATTRIBUTE is something GOD IS, NOT something God has! So Grace is something God is!
Key Point: Remember that an ATTRIBUTE is something GOD IS, NOT something God has! So Grace is something God is!
The meaning of Grace is very similar to the meaning of Mercy, but not the same. Just as Mercy flows from God’s Goodness, so does Grace....
The meaning of Grace is very similar to the meaning of Mercy, but not the same. Just as Mercy flows from God’s Goodness, so does Grace....
Grace flows from God’s Goodness
Grace flows from God’s Goodness
Mercy is God’s goodness confronting human guilt- Grace is God’s goodness confronting human DEMERIT.
Mercy is God’s goodness confronting human guilt- Grace is God’s goodness confronting human DEMERIT.
We need to recognize that there is a difference between merit and demerit. Merit is simply a LACK- Demerit means that there is not only NO MERIT there but that there is the opposite of merit.....Demerit is this- a mark against a person for misconduct or deficiency, the quality of being censored, punished, at fault, culpability. (does this sound like our condition?)
We need to recognize that there is a difference between merit and demerit. Merit is simply a LACK- Demerit means that there is not only NO MERIT there but that there is the opposite of merit.....Demerit is this- a mark against a person for misconduct or deficiency, the quality of being censored, punished, at fault, culpability. (does this sound like our condition?)
Remember- When JUSTICE confronts this moral situation, it pronounces death, there is divine disapproval to the point of condemnation.
Remember- When JUSTICE confronts this moral situation, it pronounces death, there is divine disapproval to the point of condemnation.
God must stand against the man, because the man stands with his SIN; JUSTICE must Judge!
God must stand against the man, because the man stands with his SIN; JUSTICE must Judge!
Still, the goodness of God yearns to bestow Grace, even to those who do not deserve it.
Still, the goodness of God yearns to bestow Grace, even to those who do not deserve it.
GRACE IS GOD’S GOOD PLEASURE, AND IT IS WHAT GOD IS LIKE!
GRACE IS GOD’S GOOD PLEASURE, AND IT IS WHAT GOD IS LIKE!
**It seems that the church has lost the proper concept of what God is like! If we could restore and get a grasp on what God is like, it would radically change us and correct false concepts of Him and eliminate wrong theology.
**It seems that the church has lost the proper concept of what God is like! If we could restore and get a grasp on what God is like, it would radically change us and correct false concepts of Him and eliminate wrong theology.
A definition of Grace- Grace is God bringing into FAVOR one who is justly in disfavor.
A definition of Grace- Grace is God bringing into FAVOR one who is justly in disfavor.
This definition is very close to the original Hebrew and Greek definitions! You will find that GRACE AND FAVOR are often used interchangeably in the English Bible. There is 4 times as much said about MERCY in the Old Testament as in the New. But there is 3 times as much said about GRACE in the New Testament as in the Old.
This definition is very close to the original Hebrew and Greek definitions! You will find that GRACE AND FAVOR are often used interchangeably in the English Bible. There is 4 times as much said about MERCY in the Old Testament as in the New. But there is 3 times as much said about GRACE in the New Testament as in the Old.
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Christ is the channel through which grace flows!
Christ is the channel through which grace flows!
*this has been often misunderstood- some people have made this to mean that Moses knew only law and Christ knows only grace. This is a typical teaching today, BUT it is not a biblical doctrine.
*this has been often misunderstood- some people have made this to mean that Moses knew only law and Christ knows only grace. This is a typical teaching today, BUT it is not a biblical doctrine.
To think that because the law was given by Moses, therefore Moses knew no grace, is to misread John 1:17!
To think that because the law was given by Moses, therefore Moses knew no grace, is to misread John 1:17!
Genesis 6:8 says, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Genesis 6:8 says, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
*NOTICE! This is Noah! Before there was any law given!
*NOTICE! This is Noah! Before there was any law given!
AND AFTER the law was given, after Moses had been on the mountain forty days and forty nights, and God had reached down out of the fire and storm and with His finger had chiseled the ten commandments on tablets of stone......Exodus 33:17 says, So the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
AND AFTER the law was given, after Moses had been on the mountain forty days and forty nights, and God had reached down out of the fire and storm and with His finger had chiseled the ten commandments on tablets of stone......Exodus 33:17 says, So the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
QUESTION: How could it be that God should act only in law in the old testament and only in grace in the new testament if God doesn’t change?
QUESTION: How could it be that God should act only in law in the old testament and only in grace in the new testament if God doesn’t change?
If immutability is an ATTRIBUTE OF GOD, then God must always act like Himself- that means:
If immutability is an ATTRIBUTE OF GOD, then God must always act like Himself- that means:
before the flood and after the flood, when the law was given and after the law was given!
before the flood and after the flood, when the law was given and after the law was given!
THERE WAS ALWAYS GRACE IN THE HEART OF GOD, AND THERE ISN’T ANY MORE GRACE NOW THAN THERE WAS, AND THERE WILL NEVER BE ANY MORE GRACE THAN THERE IS TODAY.
THERE WAS ALWAYS GRACE IN THE HEART OF GOD, AND THERE ISN’T ANY MORE GRACE NOW THAN THERE WAS, AND THERE WILL NEVER BE ANY MORE GRACE THAN THERE IS TODAY.
GRACE: THE ONLY MEANS OF SALVATION
GRACE: THE ONLY MEANS OF SALVATION
TWO IMPORTANT TRUTHS:
TWO IMPORTANT TRUTHS:
1. No one was ever saved, no one is now saved, and no one ever will be saved EXCEPT BY GRACE!
1. No one was ever saved, no one is now saved, and no one ever will be saved EXCEPT BY GRACE!
a. Before Moses nobody was ever saved except by grace. During Moses’ time nobody was saved except by grace. After Moses and before the cross and after the cross no one has been saved except by grace.
a. Before Moses nobody was ever saved except by grace. During Moses’ time nobody was saved except by grace. After Moses and before the cross and after the cross no one has been saved except by grace.
2. Grace always comes by Jesus Christ!
2. Grace always comes by Jesus Christ!
a. Grace didn’t come at His birth, but it came in God’s ancient plan. No grace grace was ever administered to anybody except by and through and in Jesus Christ.
a. Grace didn’t come at His birth, but it came in God’s ancient plan. No grace grace was ever administered to anybody except by and through and in Jesus Christ.
* When Adam and Eve had no children God spared them by GRACE! When they had their two boys, Abel offered a lamb! By his action he was saying this, I am looking forward to the lamb of God! Abel accepted the grace of Christ thousands of years before Christ was born, and God gave witness that Abel was justified.
* When Adam and Eve had no children God spared them by GRACE! When they had their two boys, Abel offered a lamb! By his action he was saying this, I am looking forward to the lamb of God! Abel accepted the grace of Christ thousands of years before Christ was born, and God gave witness that Abel was justified.
Grace did not come when Christ was born in a manger. It did not come when Christ was baptized or anointed of the Spirit. It did not come when He died on the Cross; it did not come when he rose from the dead. It did not come when he sat down at the Fathers right hand! GRACE CAME from eternity past through Jesus Christ the eternal Son and was made manifest on the cross of Calvary, in fiery blood, sweat, tears and death! BUT GRACE has always been operative from the beginning!
Grace did not come when Christ was born in a manger. It did not come when Christ was baptized or anointed of the Spirit. It did not come when He died on the Cross; it did not come when he rose from the dead. It did not come when he sat down at the Fathers right hand! GRACE CAME from eternity past through Jesus Christ the eternal Son and was made manifest on the cross of Calvary, in fiery blood, sweat, tears and death! BUT GRACE has always been operative from the beginning!
If God had not operated in grace He would have swept the human race of off the planet he created. He would have crushed Adam and Eve under His heel in awful judgement, because they had it coming! But because God is a God of grace, He already had an eternity planned—the plan of Grace- Revelation 13:8
If God had not operated in grace He would have swept the human race of off the planet he created. He would have crushed Adam and Eve under His heel in awful judgement, because they had it coming! But because God is a God of grace, He already had an eternity planned—the plan of Grace- Revelation 13:8
The New King James Version Chapter 13
All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Closing Thought:
Closing Thought:
So the grace of God is operated toward everyone. But THE SAVING GRACE of God is different.
So the grace of God is operated toward everyone. But THE SAVING GRACE of God is different.
When the saving grace of God becomes operative through faith in Christ then there is the new birth. But the grace of God nevertheless holds back any judgement that would come until God in His Kindness has given everyone a chance to repent!
When the saving grace of God becomes operative through faith in Christ then there is the new birth. But the grace of God nevertheless holds back any judgement that would come until God in His Kindness has given everyone a chance to repent!
