Day 18: The Grace of God

“Grace is His goodness directed toward human debt and demerit. It is by His grace that God imputes merit where none previously existed and declares no debt to be where one had been before. Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines Him to bestow benefits upon the undeserving.” – A.W. Tozer

All of mankind experiences God’s grace; this would be called “common grace.” It is God’s grace that restrains the full effect of sin and enables us to enjoy the good and beauty of things like creation, culture, society, and relationships (i.e., one does not need to be a Christian to enjoy good-tasting food of another culture or to have a deep friendship). And yet, common grace is not enough to bring us to salvation. It can never renew the soul, remove guilt, nor redeem fallen humanity.

A grace also exists that Christ-followers exclusively experience called “special” or “saving grace.” Through this unmerited and irresistible grace, God demonstrates his favor by redeeming sinners and restoring creation through the work of Christ by the power of the Spirit. Only when we understand the depth of our sin and its impact on our relationship with God and others can we fully understand the free gift we have in Christ Jesus. 

Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” Faith does not save us, as it is the human response to God’s grace in Christ. “For by grace you have been saved” indicates that God saved you by grace. Because payment for sin was made through Christ’s atoning work on the cross, God can show favor to undeserving sinners. And what a gift it is, both now and for all eternity.

Prayer:

God of all grace, whose thoughts toward us are ever thoughts of peace and not of evil, give us hearts to believe that we are accepted in the Beloved; and give us minds to admire that perfection of moral wisdom which found a way to preserve the integrity of heaven and yet receive us there. We are astonished and marvel that one so holy and dread should invite us into Thy banqueting house and cause love to be the banner over us. We can not express the gratitude we feel, but look Thou on our hearts and read it there. Amen.  – A.W. Tozer

Response:

Reflect: Consider God’s grace through the lyrics of “Grace Greater than Sin”:

Grace, Grace, God’s grace
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, Grace, God’s grace
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Act: Tell someone, Christian or non-Christian, the story of God’s grace in your life.