The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying grace. The title of the study is "What's So Amazing about Grace"
Grace is the most important concept in the Bible, Christianity, and the world. It is most clearly expressed in the promises of God revealed in Scripture and embodied in Jesus Christ himself.
God’s love for you is unlimited and unconditional. It is because of God's grace and nothing else that we are saved. We think that we can get there and have the security of getting there (salvation) by doing all the religious things; giving our tithes and offerings, and obeying the rules. These things are great, but they are useless in solving the biggest problem--and that is that our sinful hearts make us unfit for a relationship with a holy God. All the good we do can’t erase even one of our bad deeds.
There could have been no grace whatsoever for us but for the fact that God the Son volunteered to take our place and redeem us: Grace... came through Jesus Christ.
Grace will bring the freedom to want the highest good for and expect the highest good from one another. It will make us want to obey and prompt us to love each other.
However, when we don’t embrace grace for ourselves, we have no grace to offer others.
These are the notes to Session 2 of our study.
We will be using the books, "The Grace Awakening: Believing In Grace Is One Thing. Living it is Another", and "The Grace Awakening Workbook" by Charles E. Swindoll. You can study along with us by clicking the above links or the images after the notes.
God's Grace Takes Many Forms
Common Grace
Saving Grace
Securing Grace
Sanctifying Grace
Serving Grace
Sustaining Grace
Common grace
The kindness or favor God give to all mankind, believer or not.
Matthew 5:44-45 (NKJV)44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Emphasis mine)
Saving grace
The provision of salvation through Jesus
Romans 1:5 (HCSB) We have received grace and apostleship through Him to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations, on behalf of His name,
Romans 3:24 (HCSB) They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Securing Grace
The favor of God by which the Christian's salvation is kept secure in spite of sin.
John 10:27-29 (NKJV)27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.
Sanctifying Grace
Sanctifying grace works within the true believer causing them to grow and mature and progress becoming more Christ-like.
Romans 8:28 (NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Serving Grace
The Spiritual Gifts that believers have been given by the Holy Spirit are serving grace. In God’s Grace – Part One I wrote that the Greek word translated grace charis (pronounced cars) is the root of the word charisma which is the word Paul used for spiritual gifts.
Ephesians 4:7 (NKJV) But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV) As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Sustaining grace
Grace given at special times of need, especially during adversity or suffering.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV) And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
What is Grace?
Romans 11:6 NIV And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
Grace is mentioned about 130 times in the New Testament alone. Paul begins and ends each of his epistles with it. It turned the western world upside down in the sixteenth century – we call this pivotal event the Reformation.
Grace gives hope to the hopeless, joy to the sorrowing, faith to the faithless, and life to the dying. The word charis (“grace”) comes from a root meaning "to be joyful," and the word is always associated with happiness and joy.
Grace refers to the active love of God streaming continually and generously as sunshine from the sun. Augustine said it is not grace unless it is gratis, that is free. The word “grace” carries the meaning of generous gifts which have to do with redemption and all that goes with it.
Grace means that God is for us even when we are against Him.
Romans 5:7-11 NIV Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Grace is a word set in contrast to law, works, and human merit.
Romans 11:6 NIV And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
However, it is only when you understand that grace is essentially for the graceless ( immoral, unregenerate) that you can taste its sweetness.
John 3:17 NIV For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Matthew 12:31 NIV And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
John 6:37 NIV All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will
There could have been no grace whatsoever for us but for the fact that God the Son volunteered to take our place and redeem us: Grace... came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:17 NIV For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
I Am What I Am
Paul said “By the grace of God, I am what I am”
1 Corinthians 15:10 NIV But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
What is it that makes Paul “Paul” and not “Saul”? It’s the grace of God. Saul, a man of learning, privilege, and power, bent his knee in awe at the foot of the cross. When he did that, he became Paul – a completely new person transformed by grace.
Acts 9:1-6, 15-19 NIV Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
The only response to the grace of God is to choose to become its servant. Grace brings us all down to the same level because at the foot of the cross, there’s no economy class, and no first class; there’s only kneeling class.
We all search for identity.
Philippians 3:3-9 NIV For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
After making a great list of all of the things that would have been considered assets in society, the apostle Paul says that he writes them all off as a loss in comparison to knowing Jesus. Paul refuses to be identified by the apparent advantages in his life and hen refused to be identified by the tragedies in his life.
2 Corinthians 11:23-27 NIV Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
How do you weigh your successes and your failures? You think that when you succeed that you are more approved of by God? When you fail do you think that God stops loving you or withholds His grace from you?
Grace Means that it’s not Where You Begin That Counts
Although your former state was ordinary, your future will be extraordinary (Job 8:7, CEB).
What can you say to drug addicts and ex-convicts, who think they’ve come to the end, to give them hope?
The wise man said in the Bible: The end of a matter is better than its beginning (Ecclesiastes 7:8).
It doesn’t necessarily matter how you begin; it matters how you end. The Bible is full of examples of how this is true. Consider the stories of Joseph, David, Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, and Paul. God’s endings for us are always better than our beginnings:
Although your former state was ordinary, your future will be extraordinary (Job 8:7, CEB;
Haggai 2:9 NIV ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
How do you make sure that you end up well? By believing and trusting in what God has promised you, and allowing Him to do what He wants to do with your life. It will always be something wonderful!
Are you in a bad place right now? Have you been there for a while? Remember the Cross, and remember the resurrection. Remember: where you begin doesn’t count, only where you end up. You have been redeemed and you are now defined by the endless riches of God’s goodness.
What’s a grace killer?
At first glance, grace killers hardly look threatening. They often carry Bibles, lead ministries, and sing in the choir. But their small view of God keeps them chained to rules and regulations they think will keep them and you in right standing with Him. Grace killers use shame, fear, and intimidation to drive themselves and others to please God.
We often call grace killers hypocrites. A hypocrite is often right in their theology but wrong in its application.
Romans 10:1-4 NIV Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
Head knowledge without heart transformation is just as real a threat today as it was in Jesus’s and Paul’s day. There is likely no greater menace to the testimony of a Christian than hypocrisy.
Grace Explained
But what exactly is grace?
To understand the full meaning of grace, we need to return to the Hebrew word chen, meaning “to bend or stoop.” Over time, the term came to include the idea of “condescending favor.”
Snapshots of grace fill the pages of the Old Testament. Take a moment to refresh your memory or to look up these great moments that display grace.
Joseph’s showering the brothers who sold him into slavery with grain, land, and a renewed relationship. (Genesis 45)
God’s delivering His grumbling people (who strayed from Him often) out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.
(Exodus 12; Joshua 3)
David’s restraint not to kill Saul—the man who hated him, hunted him, and hungered for his destruction—when he had the chance.
(1 Samuel 24; 26)
God’s choice to send Jonah to Ninevah, giving a godless people the opportunity to turn to Him.
(Jonah 1; 3)
Grace is favor extended fully and freely to those who don’t deserve it. It’s unmerited and unearned. It’s firm, persistent, and steadfast.
The ultimate New Testament picture of grace is Christ Himself. He literally embodied grace, bestowing favor on those who didn’t deserve or earn it.
John 8:3-11 NIV The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
How did Jesus’s response turn the Pharisees from judging the adulterous woman to examining their own hearts?
Luke 23:33-35 NIV When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
How did Jesus demonstrate grace to those who mocked and killed him?
The One we could call “Grace Embodied” never tires of extending it to us. When we fully embrace His gift of grace, we will
have a greater appreciation of God’s gifts.
spend less time and energy concerned about others’ choices.
become more tolerant and joyful, less prejudiced and judgmental.
take a giant step toward maturity.
Grace will bring the freedom to want the highest good for and expect the highest good from one another. It will make us want to obey and prompt us to love each other.
However, when we don’t embrace grace for ourselves, we have no grace to offer others.
Bible Study Audio
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