THIS WEEK EPISTLE
THE CONCEPT OF GRACE AND MERCY.
One is assuredly dependent over the other, Both Ephesians 2:5 and 2:8 state it is “by grace you have been saved.” God’s salvation comes from His grace. Some describe grace as unmerited or unearned favor. Though Gods mercy remains the oldest virtue on humanity, In Habakkuk 3:2 , the prophet asks the Lord to “in wrath remember mercy.” Despite God’s judgment, He asked for God to relent and not pour out the full wrath they deserved. King David sought this mercy in Psalm 51:1-2 in confessing his sin: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” Despite his many failures, David asked God to relent and not bring upon him the full consequences of his sin. In this view, mercy is God not giving us what we deserve, the punishment that is supposed to follow the break down of the law, the wages of sins, deliberate or in deliberate. Even the ignorance of men could have been counted for us as grief offence.
Grace on the other hand is God giving us what we do not deserve, is God extending favor toward us that we do not deserve. Both Ephesians 2:5 and 2:8 state it is “by grace you have been saved.” God’s salvation comes from His grace.
Two kinds of grace are often distinguished. Common grace is defined as God’s grace given to all humanity regardless of their response to Him. This can include the beauty of creation, the provision of food and other essentials, and every good thing that happens to a person regardless of whether the person is a believer or unbeliever.
Saving grace is grace from God that provides salvation to a person. This is the grace described in Ephesians 2:8-9 that states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Both perfect mercy and perfect grace are found in Jesus Christ. Through His sacrifice on the cross, He has provided a way of escape or mercy from the consequences of sin (John 3:16 ; Romans 5:8 ). God has extended grace by providing salvation and proclaiming salvation to us through the Son, His teaching in Scripture, and through the Spirit of God at work among us. Hebrews 4:16 blends these two ideas in one powerful statement, teaching, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
BENEFITS OF GRACE.
Our Christian identity: “By the grace of God I am what I am.” (1 Corinthians 1:10 )
· Our standing before God: “this grace in which we stand.” ( Romans 5:2 )
· Our behavior: “We behaved in the world … by the grace of God.” (2 Corinthians 2:12 )
· Our living: those who receive “the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ,”( Romans 5:17 ) by the “grace of life.” ( 1 Peter 1:7 )
· Our holiness: God“called us to a holy calling … because of his own purpose and grace.” (2 Timothy 2:9 )
· Our strength for living: “Be strengthened by the grace that is in Jesus Christ” ( 2 Timothy 2:1 ) for “it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.” ( Hebrews 13:9 )
· Our way of speaking: “Let your speech always be gracious.” (Colossians 4:6 )
· Our serving: “serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” ( 1 Peter 1:10 )
· Our sufficiency: “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Corinthians 2:9 ) “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” ( 2 Corinthians 2:8 )
· Our response to difficulty and suffering: We get “grace to help in time of need,” (Hebrews 4:16 )
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