Tag Archives: grace
Putting That Effort Into Grace
Grace is wonderful but we cannot stop there. If we think that grace alone is sufficient without us playing any part in our salvation then we are completely mistaken. Salvation as an ongoing process is grace accompanied with our decisions made by our free will. That is why the Bible says that we can despise and neglect this grace given to us. After we receive grace we need to exercise our will and move in the direction that God wants us to move in. By ourself we can do nothing but grace alone without the exercise of our free will can also achieve nothing. We have to choose to do right by receiving the grace to do right. Our efforts don’t come first but grace does. We must first receive the grace of God to do right and then we must exercise our will and do that which is to be done. That is when our human will merges with the Divine will of God. God does not force us to do anything. Nor will He stop us from doing something wrong against our will. We have to be empowered for our task by the grace of God and then instead of waiting for God to do something we need to do our part by obeying the voice of God for the task ahead of us. We surrender and God empowers and then we take the step of faith knowing that the power of God is behind us. Grace is not passivity but the power for every activity we do for God. You will know when the grace of God is there, then it is your responsibility to act from that grace given by God and please God with your faith by taking that step which comes from your own will. First it is grace and faith and then the works follow as we do our part by obeying the will of God.
Not Taking The Grace Of God Lightly
Proverbs 16:6 says that by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. After we experience the grace of God and overcome sin in our lives, we are warned not to take the grace of God lightly. Because now we are ones who have tasted the goodness of the Lord and experienced the resurrection life of our Lord. We are now mature believers in the Lord understanding the goodness of the Lord. If after experiencing all these, we return to a life of sin, then our plight is indeed miserable. Because the Bible says that it would have been better if we had never known the Lord. This is where the fear of the Lord comes. We have to fear the Lord as fear in a real sense because it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. By the fear of the Lord, Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife when she tempted him to commit adultery with her. We fear God because we know the goodness and the severity of the Lord. To those who have been given much, much is expected from them. Similarly we have to fear the Lord and depart from evil lest the day comes when we find no place for repentance. The Lord is merciful and gracious but let us not take His grace lightly.
Tagged grace