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Spirituality Information |
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What Exactly is Grace?
This question, "what is grace" plagued me more into knowing the answer and being sure beyond a shadow of a doubt. In the beginning of time, It was God's intention to be in fellowship with His people. We all know that sin took us right out of that equation. But, since God is always way ahead of Satan, He already had a plan set in motion to bring us back to Himself, all was not lost. He told Satan that the seed of the woman would crush his head. That seed was Christ who would be sent to redeem God's children and set them free from captivity to sin. Through Christ's sinless life, death and resurrection, He alone healed all our diseases and freed us from Satan's trap of death. This is the doctrine of Atonement. Christ came to earth as God in a manly form to show us the way to become "at one" with Him. This atonement increases our desire to enter into God's Kingdom with righteousness and virtue. This "at one" experience is God's free gift of grace. Yes, it is undeserved, it's unmerited but He gave us His all in order to humble us and give Him all our praise. God gives this free gift of grace to those who are truly repentent of their sins. Not everyone will take it. This is not a gift for the faint of heart. God is just and holy and therefore He will not wince at our sins, He will punish those who do not accept this gift. We can either pay for our own sins, but that would take forever and then some as we would spend our eternity in hell. It is a serious crime against God. Or...we can let someone else pay the price for our sins. We all have them and Jesus is the One Who paid that price already. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16 This is the ultimate gift of unconditional love that God so freely gives us. It's ours for the taking when we truly confess Jesus with our mouth and mean it with our whole heart. Upon this confession, God then makes new creatures out of us. His grace isn't ever having to go through life on our own. Even though things seem overwhelming, His grace is sufficient to carry us through the tests so that they may become our testimonies in giving Him all the glory. Salvation is not to be presumed however. It's not just doing good works. Being a good person who has no faith will not earn you a place in God's Kingdom. Only true faith through His gift of grace will get you there. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephes. 2:8-10 In the end times, people will listen to false doctrine and they will ask "Where is God?" But know this, He is in you, He will never leave you nor forsake you. "You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away be the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen" 2 Peter 3:18-19 We will have to face God on judgement day, first those of us who are saved through grace. We will have to answer for the deeds we did while here on earth and then those who remain unrepentant will have to answer to Him at the Great White Throne of Judgement before He casts them into the lake of fire forever. Just as He did in the days of Noah, those who weren't prepared were destroyed in the flood. The second time around He says He will destroy us with fire. This is something I don't care to test Him on. He is giving us all a chance to come into fellowship with Him by giving us His grace and mercy. He is very patient, but make no mistake, His patience is going to run out and when we hear that blast of the trumpet, it will then be too late as Christ will be on His way to collect His bride, the church, those who accepted God's grace through repentance of sins. God's grace covers our sins, they are thrown away in the Sea of Forgetfulness, and never shall they be remembered. But it doesn't end there. We may still fall into sin and God can't keep us from sinning, but He can give us the power to resist them. We can't blame God for our shortcomings, they are our own fault. But He will give us the grace to be released from the sins. His grace is also a divine protection. His grace gives us peace in the middle of life's storms, it's walking in holy sincerity with Christ and among humanity. We are God's pioneers. We are willing to leave all, in order to gain all! His grace also gives us knowledge and wisdom to do what is right and then leave the rest up to Him and rest assured that He will meet all our needs. "I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." Esther 4:16 God's grace was shown throughout the book of Esther although His name was never mentioned. His hand was throughout the pages. God had hidden Esther away until He could use her for His glory and purpose to save His beloved children. When the time came, He positioned Esther in such a time as this, and used her for His divine plan. As it turned out, Esther saved her people from destruction in order that Christ could come. All throughout history, God protected His chosen ones for the very purpose of saving us all through His grace. The whole Jewish nation could have easily been wiped off the face of the earth before Christ came but for this reason, God kept His covenant with Abraham. God's grace is truly amazing, it's truly undeserved, it's truly unmerited, and to knowingly turn aside from a Creator Who loves us all without measure is truly a mystery. I write this in hopes of reaching anyone who has not been saved by grace and doesn't know what that undeserved, unmerited love is truly like in their lives. God doesn't care what you've done, He doesn't measure a man by his deeds, He measures them by what's in his heart. Only God can fix the mess that you made, just ask Him and leave the rest up to Him. This is His job. If you are need of healing and need grace just say this simple prayer from your heart. God's gift of grace will be delivered immediately. "Dear Lord, I have sinned, I am a sinner. I can't do this on my own. I recognize Your Son Christ Who died and rose again to pay for these sins as my Savior. Please come into my life as I give it totally unto You. I accept Your free gift of grace for my life and will continue to live for You. Amen." Jesus took our place that we might have His peace. What is grace? It's Amazing!!! Vivian Gordon inspired to teach and write by the power of the Holy Spirit. She has been called to be a warrior for the Lord in bringing lost souls and ones who have fallen away back to the Lord.
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