JUST A FEW THOUGHTS

Over the last few weeks we have touched upon the subject of God’s grace. We have seen how grace was shown to Zacchaeus who was a taxman and thief, to Peter after he denied Jesus and how when Saul was on his way to persecute the Christians, Jesus turned his life around, forgave him and made him new.

Grace is at the very heart of the gospel message so you will see it many more times in the studies that we do I’m sure.

And how can we not be amazed at this grace shown to us. After all, it’s written all the way through the Bible.

This may surprise you, but God’s plan to save us was even mentioned in the very first book of the Bible. You see, we are all not very good at being human beings, and God knew this, but through Jesus he gave us a way to be forgiven and made new.

So let’s take a little look again at the word “grace” and make sure we understand the awesomeness of it! (Is that even a word?! 🤣)

BIBLE READING

Let’s remind ourselves what the apostle Paul said (yes this was originally Saul, the murderer!)

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5) NIV.

Or as The Message version says:

Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! (Ephesians 2:4-5)

Here are a few quotes from different people which I think sum up these verses quite well:

“Grace is love that cares and stoops down and rescues.” (John Stott)

“Grace is God reaching downward to people who are in rebellion against Him.” (Jerry Bridges)

“Grace is unconditional love toward a person who does not deserve it.” (Paul Zahl)

WHAT'S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?

God’s grace towards us is mind-blowing! You see, as sinful humans, we don’t deserve forgiveness, none of us. We will never be good enough for God.

So - What’s so amazing about grace?

Everything!

You don’t deserve it.

You can’t earn it.

All you can do is accept it.

It’s Gods free gift to you.

Accept it today if you haven’t already!

And here is a great song by STORMZY, filmed at Glastonbury in 2019.

BLINDED BY YOUR GRACE