The Grace Of God

I have been thinking about the grace of God today.

His Grace. It is completely undeserving. It’s something so vast, so never-ending. It’s so readily available to us, if we would just reach out and take it. The Bible says it is a gift:
Ephesians 2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

These few simple thoughts are a microscopic part of the whole.

I once heard grace put into a situation in our practical lives something like this:
If I am in a situation and I am about to knowingly sin, I can turn to God right then and ask Him right there to give me the strength to turn away. For example – if I am watching TV and something comes on that is definitely not suitable for me as a child of God, I could simply reach forward and switch it off. Straightforward enough. However, should I choose to linger a little longer, (the heart is willing, but the flesh is weak -”I want to switch off, but hey, I can handle this.”) two things are guaranteed to happen next.

Firstly, the Holy Spirit speaks and He doesn’t just say “OK, I’ll watch with you”. He says very strongly “NO! This is not for you to watch. Turn it off!”

Secondly, my reaction to His voice. I am now faced with a crossroads and I am the one who makes the choice, the Holy Spirit does not force. What do I do? I can respond in three ways:
1, “Yes, Lord”, ask His forgiveness, and switch it off .
2. Or, if I am really struggling to obey, I really want to but am weak, I can call upon the Lord for His Grace right at that moment and ask Him for His strength to turn it off, accept His grace at that moment and so I am able to turn it off.

If this happens, I am ashamed and on my face before Him in repentance. What does He do? Whip me? No. He sees me on the floor and says, Yes, that’s where you rightly belong in your sin, but because of My son, Jesus and what He has finished on the cross, and has done in your life, get up, take My hand and let’s carry on together. God is gracious in His handling.

It is nothing to do with me or what I have or have not done, it is only to do with the life of Jesus in me. It is His grace alone. Again, it is the gift of God.

If I am truly born again, I know immediately when I sin. I am sensitive to my sin. In His love and mercy and holiness, He checks me. He wants a holy child. It is His grace that allows this. Not my goodness or cleverness. It is God and God alone who opens my eyes and heart to be sensitive to Him.

I know from a few times in my life that when I have neglected my relationship with the Lord, things that used to really bother me don’t quite bother me the same as before. I don’t get quite so shocked at things and shocked at my sin.

How do we do this? Again with the help of His saving grace.
Galatians 5:16-17
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

We have been called to be separate from the world – to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to renew our minds – again, the grace of God
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We all have the potential to slide back into the world if it were not for the Lord’s grace. I want to be checked and if I don’t listen, I want Him to get tough on me. I want Him to do whatever it takes to keep my life in the palm of His hand. I am so grateful when He does, so incredibly thankful, no matter how painful an ordeal it is to go through and it can be excruciating to go through at times.

The joy in it is that He draws you so close to Him as only He can and if you are willing to go through all this, right until He is finished bringing about whatever it is He is doing in you, you grow another step in your relationship with Him. His grace will do it.

3. Should I choose to ignore Him and carry on watching, I am in serious trouble spiritually and the Lord will have to deal with me His way.

The Bible says He chastens those whom He loves. This is also His incredible grace:

Proverbs 3:11-12
My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

Hebrews 12:7 – 11 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.