Grace – the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. A gift that cannot be earned, free and undeserved.

God’s Grace: Jesus sent for us

John 1:14 and 16-17 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” “Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from His fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

God’s Grace: Saves us

Romans 3:23-24 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

God’s Grace: We have access to the Father through Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:2 “We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

Although faith is necessary for salvation, it is God’s grace, not the believer’s faith, that has the power to save and keep us saved. We are not saved by divine grace and then preserved by our own human effort.

AND Because Jesus is alive, we are alive!

Ephesians 2:5-8 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast.”

Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.”

Salvation – the greatest gift of God’s Grace.

His Grace is continual…

Hebrews 4:16 “Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.”

God’s throne of judgment has been transformed to a throne of grace and mercy. Because Christ is our high priest at the throne of God, He will meet our every need and this continual help is instantly available to every believer who calls upon the Name of the Lord. We can approach the throne of grace with boldness anytime we want.

2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.”

Jesus gives us such a beautiful example of how to walk in Grace and how to extend Grace.

John 8:2-11

Early in the morning he (Jesus) came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” ⁶ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

I think sometimes we want to give justification to condemnation and we point to this last verse and say “but Jesus said go and sin no more!” Oh, I believe in telling the truth, the truth is what sets people free but brothers and sisters, we have to give the truth in love, with grace. I bet she felt loved because He rescued her. Do we love and rescue others before pointing out their sin even with the best intentions?

Do we really think the stone in our hand will change their mind? Do we think the Facebook post or comment is going to bring them closer to Jesus and seeing the truth? That’s not what Jesus did, He saw the woman’s need for Him and loved her where she was, He rescued her from the stones and then gave her the truth.  And yet we keep hurling those stones at those who desperately need rescued by the grace of Jesus. My husband always says “lost people act lost”. And…let’s face it, none of us have arrived, none of us are perfect, we who ARE followers of Christ are being sanctified, we are continually being changed if we are in His Word and communing with Him. I know that I am a different person than I was when I first got saved and if you are a believer I imagine you are too. So whether we are speaking to the lost or new Christians, we have to share the truth in love with them. We have to show and give grace.

We all are the Pharisees – we’ve sinned and we need His grace.

We are the woman – we’ve sinned and we need His grace.

Put down the stone – Give others grace

Put down the stone – His grace is for you too

Receive and embrace the grace God so freely wants to give you.