Why Do We Need God's Grace?

Last week, we learned that the two ways we can receive God’s grace is through faith and humbleness. It is important that we remember that as we continue through today’s topic because without faith and humbleness, nothing said today really matters. It is like knowing how to survive in the desert when you live in New York City – it goes into the category of trivia. So we need to remember that this message is only important if we have faith and are humble.

The question we raise today is, why do we need God’s grace. So now that we know how to receive it, what does it mean, what does it do for us?

The answer is that God’s grace justifies us and it sanctifies us. What does that mean? To be justified is to be saved from eternal death. It literally means that we are made right, in this case, made right with God. If we are justified in the courts, we are found “not guilty”. With God’s grace, we are found “not guilty” in His judgment. Being found “not guilty” is our entry into eternal life. Being found guilty leads to eternal death. So those who are not justified will find themselves in Hell separated from God for eternity. Those who are justified find themselves in heaven with God for eternity. And it is by God’s grace that we are saved from eternal death and we receive that grace by faith and humbleness. The faith that saves us is our faith in Jesus.

When we recognize that we cannot save ourselves, no matter how many good things we do, we realize that we are at the mercy of God. God in His righteousness will give us the punishment we deserve. However, God in His mercy also provided a way for our punishment to be paid for, so that we do not have to pay for it ourselves with our own lives. That way is Jesus. Jesus is the way and he is the eternal life for us. By his sacrifice on the cross, he paid the price of death that was due to us. Now our debt has been paid and all we need to do is accept the free gift of God to receive eternal life. If we choose not to accept this gift, then we still owe the debt and the righteousness of God will need to be meted out. But if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then we receive the gift from God and we live with Him for eternity. The choice is ours.

But we also said that God’s grace sanctifies us. Being sanctified means to be made holy, to be purified, to become approved. When we do what Jesus did, lived like Jesus lived, love like Jesus loved, we are being sanctified. We will never become like Jesus because he was the only perfect person who has ever walked on this earth. The old saying, “Nobody’s perfect” is appropriate here. Since no one is perfect, what we need to do is repent of those things that make us imperfect and trust in God’s grace to continue working in us to keep perfecting us.

Acts 20:32 "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” We who have faith and humble ourselves are committed to God’s grace. What does God’s grace do? It builds us up and gives us an inheritance. What does the Bible mean by an inheritance?

We see in John 1:12-13 “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.” An inheritance is something that is usually given to the children of the person who owns the property. In cases where there is no family, someone who is close to the person receives the property – someone who is like an adopted family member. When we receive Jesus, believe in his name – we are given the rights to become children of God.

Rom 8:17 “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,” If we are children of God, then we become heirs. What does that mean? It means that we become owners of what God has. God’s property is His heaven. We become the rightful heirs to heaven. This is the picture of justification, of being made right with God, of being saved and gaining entrance into heaven.

Acts 20:32 also tells us that we will be built up. Col 2:6-7 “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” To be built up is the act of being sanctified, being made holy, approved and purified. We are built up, allowing us to live in him, walk in his shoes. We are strengthened in our faith and we are overflowing with thankfulness. We are to be thankful in all circumstances, whether good or bad, but the obvious thinking here is that we will be thankful for the good things that God is doing for us, providing for us.

Too often, we fall for the thinking of the world which tells us that all good things come from our own hard work and smart thinking. We fall to recognize that God is the one who has provided these things for us. We think it is we who went to work, slaved all day and earned our paycheck. That may be true, but who is it that worked in your boss’s heart and mind to hire you over the other candidates? Who was is that gave you the words to say in the interview? Who was it that gave you the ability to do the work? Why weren’t you born with mental or physical handicaps that would not have enabled you to do these things? Why hasn’t the guy who hates our guts become our boss and fired us? How has our companies continued to survive to even be around to pay us? If any of these things were off, you could be jobless right now. You could not control any of these things, yet here you are. It is not our hard work and smart thinking that has blessed us, it is our God. And we need to be thankful for all these things.

It is by God’s grace that we are saved and that we are able to continue to be blessed through our lives. Without His grace, we are headed for eternal death and a life of hardships. Those of us who have accepted Jesus, placed our faith in Him and humble ourselves before our God, we receive the grace of God – the grace that saves and the grace that continuously provides. Those of us who have not faith or humbleness will continue to struggle. Receive the Grace of God – believe and place Him above yourself. Your life will never be the same again.

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Last modified: Feb 11, 2007