Download grace - Great Barr Church of Christ

THE
IMPORTANCE OF
GRACE
Part 3
God’s mercy and justice.
Why not take the concept
one step farther why can’t
God just offer amnesty?
" If God offers us amnesty
instead of justice, it would
undermine the entire social
and moral order.
"How much restraint can we
expect people to observe if they
are exempt from satisfying
God’s requirements in any way?
" Just as God has bound Himself
to consistency in the laws of
nature, He must also be
consistent with the application
of moral law.
God HAS to extend
both grace and
mercy in ways that
are consistent with
His justice.
Romans 3:19-31
God’s mercy and
justice.
Why not take the
concept one step
farther why can’t God
just offer amnesty?
Our need for justification
What is justification, and why
should we be interested in it?
In order for us to be justified,
what do we need?
Mercy? Is that enough?
Paul wrote that we have been
“justified freely by His grace…”
Let’s look further into Romans
3:24.
“…justified freely…”
The thought begins in v. 22:
“There is no difference, 23 for
all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God, 24 and are
justified freely by His grace
THROUGH the redemption that
came by Christ Jesus.” So that’s
the full thought, but let’s center
in on v 24
“…and are justified freely by His
grace through the redemption
that came by Christ Jesus.”
“…justified freely…”
Neatly sandwiched in between
“justified” and “by His grace” is
the adverb “freely”.
“The word literally means
“gratuitously”, or “without a
cause”.
“…justified freely…”
This is where the problem usually comes
many people understand from this
phrase that our salvation is a free gift
there is nothing we need to do God has
done it all.
But that passage is not saying our
justification or salvation itself is free but
the statement is QUALIFIED BY through
the redemption that came by Christ
Jesus. it has been made freely available
“…justified freely…”
Back in Ephesians 2:4-10; “For
it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith and this
not from yourselves, it is the
gift of God not by works, so that
no one can boast.”
Back to the word “grace”
(charis) – it means “gift”.
The word “grace”
“…justified freely”
Grace – a summary
It’s God giving us
something we don’t
deserve – eternal life.
Mercy is God not giving
us what we do deserve –
eternal damnation.
Taking all the verses where "charis"
occurs, and viewing grace in its
broadest meaning, the following
statement can be made regarding
Grace.
The Grace of God is the time that
God has shed forth all of His mercy
and favour extended to us a period
of time, by which we have
opportunity to redeem ourselves
from our sins.
This time period is given so that we
might be redeemed from our debt of
sin.
Our debt is due, yet God extends the
payment period to allow us to obtain
redemption
If we do NOT redeem ourselves within
our lifetime, by taking advantage of
God's grace, then we shall suffer the
consequences - eternal life in hell.
We see this principle used in modern banking. Our
loan is a debt that is due every month.
The day arrives, and we do not have the means to
pay off that debt. The bank extends to us a short
period of time in which we can redeem our debt
without suffering any consequences.
If we do not redeem that debt within this "grace
period," then we shall suffer the consequences.
God has granted to each
of us time.
Time in which we can
redeem ourselves from
our debt of sin.
God has given His Son as
the means by which we
might redeem ourselves
(cf. John 3:16).
Two circumstances will govern
our own period of Grace.
The first circumstance is our
lifetime.
We do not know how long we
shall live. God gives to all men
opportunities to know His will,
and to obey the gospel.
The second circumstance is the RETURN
of Christ. If we are alive then, and have
not yet taken advantage of this Grace,
then it will be too late.
That will be the end of Grace for all time.
There will be no more time extended for
us to be redeemed by God's Grace.
Peter expresses this nature of Grace
when he penned the following words:
"The Lord is not slack
concerning His promise, as
some men count slackness;
but is longsuffering toward
us, not willing that any
should perish, but that all
should come to repentance.“
(2 Peter 3:9).
Yet, if we fail to do
this, then we only
have a fearful
expectation when we
stand before God in
judgement.
Paul gives a similar warning to those
who heard him in Athens (Acts 17:3031).
Paul warned that a time would come
when men would have to face the
consequences of their sins.
God commands us to repent, now,
and not delay.
That day will come when Christ will return
and judge the world. That day will end
this period of Grace.
THE GRACE OF GOD IS WHAT
WE RECEIVE THROUGH CHRIST
What is Grace? That is the real question.
We can define the meaning of Grace, yet
never really know what Grace actually
consist of.
We KNOW that it is the favour of God.
We KNOW that it is something that we
have not deserved.
We KNOW that it possesses the
opportunities for our salvation and
redemption from sin.
We NEED to KNOW what Grace embraces.
(what is involved in God's Grace)
Without Christ Jesus,
we would NOT have
access to the Grace of
God.
The Grace of God comes
THROUGH Jesus Christ
and the sacrifice that
He made on the cross.
Without HIS sacrifice who
could ever know or receive
the Grace of God.
A fact that all agree on is
that we cannot by ourselves
or through our own means
obtain the favour of God.