Defining Grace.

[derpytia]

So it was recently brought to my attention (by my own wandering thoughts, thanks brain) that if I was asked to clearly define what exactly God's grace is and how it works and where one can find it and how it shows up in life for the believer to a nonbeliever, I wouldn't know how exactly to define it for them (and I'm a little fuzzy on a correct definition for myself). I'd be interested if you guys could help me find a good answer not just for me but if it comes up in a conversation with someone who has questions...

 

[Wolfe]

Gods grace? Well that's very well simple, he loved the world even in it's wicked sin, and by his good grace he sent his son to provide a savior for us.

Gods grace is the only thing that saves us, no amount of being good will get you into Heaven.
And most importantly, Gods grace is a free gift for anyone, no matter how depraved they've been, to receive.
Not a popular thing to say, but I would even say Hitler could have been forgiven.
I don't believe he was actually a Christian, but I don't believe grace is out of anyones reach.

 

[derpytia]

Gods grace? Well that's very well simple, he loved the world even in it's wicked sin, and by his good grace he sent his son to provide a savior for us.

Gods grace is the only thing that saves us, no amount of being good will get you into Heaven.
And most importantly, Gods grace is a free gift for anyone, no matter how depraved they've been, to receive.
Not a popular thing to say, but I would even say Hitler could have been forgiven.
I don't believe he was actually a Christian, but I don't believe grace is out of anyones reach.

Good and correct answer but not quite what I was looking for. I mean like if you had to write a new dictionary definition for the word grace what would it be.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

So it was recently brought to my attention (by my own wandering thoughts, thanks brain) that if I was asked to clearly define what exactly God's grace is and how it works and where one can find it and how it shows up in life for the believer to a nonbeliever, I wouldn't know how exactly to define it for them (and I'm a little fuzzy on a correct definition for myself). I'd be interested if you guys could help me find a good answer not just for me but if it comes up in a conversation with someone who has questions...

Suppose (if YHWH permits)

someone owes #3 MILLION DOLLARS to the IRS (for back taxes or current ones),

Their credit cards are maxxed out and 6 months overdue to #7 MILLION DOLLARS,

Their 3 houses have all been foreclosed in the last 3 weeks,

Their BMW'S , Mercedes, AND VW Bugs have all been re-possessed,

Their family won't even answer their phone calls,

They are sitting in jail with no phone calls left and no attorney,

Their video store card was cancelled,

and their cell mates all want to borrow $500 cash or they will die in their sleep....

See the need for GRACE ?

 

[Wolfe]

Good and correct answer but not quite what I was looking for. I mean like if you had to write a new dictionary definition for the word grace what would it be.

The act of saving a humans soul.

Gods eternal mercy.

Gods infinite love for mankind.

The ticket to Heaven.

Christs love

I aint good at this ._.
But take your pick

 

[twin1954]

The actual definition of grace is unmerited favor. You simply cannot earn grace.

God's grace is the absolute unmerited favor of God to undeserving sinners. It can only be found in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and no where else.

God's grace is the total and complete forgiveness and justication of the believing sinner who is united to Christ by faith.

That faith is itself a gift from God to chosen and redeemed sinners.

God's grace is unfailing and never diminished by our sin for it is all in and of Christ. He loved us and gave Himself for us bearing the sin of His people on the cursed tree.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

God's grace is unfailing and never diminished by our sin for it is all in and of Christ. He loved us and gave Himself for us bearing the sin of His people on the cursed tree.

Wonderful Wonderful Grace, never diminished by our sin,

but it can (and often is) forfeit - refused - abandoned willfully by people.

 

[derpytia]

The actual definition of grace is unmerited favor. You simply cannot earn grace.

God's grace is the absolute unmerited favor of God to undeserving sinners. It can only be found in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and no where else.

God's grace is the total and complete forgiveness and justication of the believing sinner who is united to Christ by faith.

That faith is itself a gift from God to chosen and redeemed sinners.

God's grace is unfailing and never diminished by our sin for it is all in and of Christ. He loved us and gave Himself for us bearing the sin of His people on the cursed tree.

Ah, there we go; that's the answer I was more or less looking for. Thank you!

 

[twin1954]

Suppose (if YHWH permits)

someone owes #3 MILLION DOLLARS to the IRS (for back taxes or current ones),

Their credit cards are maxxed out and 6 months overdue to #7 MILLION DOLLARS,

Their 3 houses have all been foreclosed in the last 3 weeks,

Their BMW'S , Mercedes, AND VW Bugs have all been re-possessed,

Their family won't even answer their phone calls,

They are sitting in jail with no phone calls left and no attorney,

Their video store card was cancelled,

and their cell mates all want to borrow $500 cash or they will die in their sleep....

See the need for GRACE ?

I am sorry but that isn't the need for grace. It is a poor analogy at best.

The need for grace is clearly seen in the person of Barrabas. He was not only a convicted insurrectionist but one who justly deserved death on the Roman cross. ( BTW the Roman cross was the most cruel and shameful death ever devised in the depraved minds of human history)

I can imagine the sheer terror when he heard the footsteps of the soldiers coming to take him from the prison he was in. But imagine the extreme emotion that he knew when they told him that he was free to go because another had taken his place on the cursed tree. Especially since that one who stood in his place had no guilt of his own to die for. Do you think he understood what grace was?

 

[twin1954]

Wonderful Wonderful Grace, never diminished by our sin,

but it can (and often is) forfeit - refused - abandoned willfully by people.

A legalist never quite grasps the meaning of grace does he?

Grace doesn't depend or is given because of what a person does or does not do. That would be reward not grace. Grace is doing that which is entirely undeserved or earned. Grace is God doing something in us and for us that we never would or could do for ourselves.

 

[Soyeong]

So it was recently brought to my attention (by my own wandering thoughts, thanks brain) that if I was asked to clearly define what exactly God's grace is and how it works and where one can find it and how it shows up in life for the believer to a nonbeliever, I wouldn't know how exactly to define it for them (and I'm a little fuzzy on a correct definition for myself). I'd be interested if you guys could help me find a good answer not just for me but if it comes up in a conversation with someone who has questions...

According to Psalms 119:29, David asked God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey His Law. According to John 1:16-17, grace was added upon grace, so the grace of Christ was added upon the grace of the Law. According to Romans 1:5, we have received grace to bring about the obedience that faith requires. According to Titus 2:11-14, our salvation involves being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, Lawless, and sinful. According to Jude 1:4, ungodly people pervert God's grace into a license to sin, which is defined as Lawlessness (1 John 3:4). According to Strong's "grace" is defined as "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life" and when God's will is reflected in our lives it takes the form of obedience to His commands. So God's grace is not opposed to His Law, as though a house divided against itself could stand, but rather God is gracious to us by teaching us how to rightly live.

 

[4x4toy]

I always figured Gods grace is when you face those times when you have no control over a bad situation and at the right time God shows up on your behalf and instantly get through, the problem or situation just doesn't matter because you receive divine assurance and comfort in spite of the problems . Kinda like Stephen when he was stoned received grace to be strong and at peace . But that's just one attribute to Gods grace ..

Need to add how many times I fretted and worried way before the thing I feared was on me then God delivered, all that time wasted worrying , hope I learn one of these days but it's getting better ..

 

[zippy2006]

According to St. Thomas divine grace can either mean a gift from God or God's eternal love for us:

Accordingly when a man is said to have the grace of God, there is signified something bestowed on man by God. Nevertheless the grace of God sometimes signifies God's eternal love... (ST Ia IIae, Q 110, A 1)​

 

[twin1954]

Wonderful Wonderful Grace, never diminished by our sin,

but it can (and often is) forfeit - refused - abandoned willfully by people.

God's grace is never an offer to us as is implied in your statement. God's grace is a gift by which God in Christ has completely and forever removed our guilt of sin and given us a righteousness that God will accept in the substitution of Christ for His people. He has done all that was not only required but necessary to bring His elect into the presence of the thrice holy God without fear and welcomed. He bore our sin in His own body, as if it were His own, and suffered the full penalty according to absolute justice. He took away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself and now God, in His three Persons, can never charge the believer with sin again. He lived a perfectly righteous life which we needed in order to be justified and freely(without charge) gives it to all who come to Him in faith. He never offers salvation to the sinner he freely gives it.

He gives it to whom He will and withholds it from whom He will. It is His grace to give and belongs entirely to Him. Man does not forfeit grace or abandon it he simply receives it as a glass does water.
No one who has ever received the grace of God refused or forfeited it.

 

[frienden thalord]

Yes the wonderful grace of GOD
that brings salvation has appeared to all
teaching us to deny ungodliness and wordly lusts
to be living RIGHTEOUSLY and soberly and godly.
His grace first draws us to the SON, then by faith in the SON
we have access into the continued grace of GOD.
all is by the grace of GOD. only let us obey this grace .
be looking diligently lest any man FAIL of the grace of God.
Since paul who labored more abundantely than them all
yet not he , but the grace of GOD
which was in Him , who had even been given special powers
by the Lord as said in acts,
and who also though he had done many good things
by grace , had this to say
I keep my body under subjection lest even after I have preached the gospel
I too be cast out , I think a real good question is
WHO is really under grace and who is still under wrath.
because many are going to tell him, LORD
in your name did we not cast out demons
and n your name do many good works
and HE will say I never knew you , who worked INQUITY.
remember the grace of GOD teaches us something
HOW to walk
and as pual said IF we follow the SPIRIT ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh
or those who are Christs have crucified the affections and lusts of the flesh.
just thought maybe someone would like to post that.
since JESUS made sure to say they said IN YOUR NAME..........and yet still were cast out.
just something to ponder . be blessed and praise the Lord.

 

[twin1954]

According to Psalms 119:29, David asked God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey His Law. According to John 1:16-17, grace was added upon grace, so the grace of Christ was added upon the grace of the Law. According to Romans 1:5, we have received grace to bring about the obedience that faith requires. According to Titus 2:11-14, our salvation involves being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, Lawless, and sinful. According to Jude 1:4, ungodly people pervert God's grace into a license to sin, which is defined as Lawlessness (1 John 3:4). According to Strong's "grace" is defined as "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life" and when God's will is reflected in our lives it takes the form of obedience to His commands. So God's grace is not opposed to His Law, as though a house divided against itself could stand, but rather God is gracious to us by teaching us how to rightly live.

The legalism continues. Law and grace can never mix. You are correct in that we are taught to keep His commandments but His commandments are not found on Sinai. They are found in 1
John 3:22-23. You might notice that there are only two:

(1Jn 3:22) And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

(1Jn 3:23) And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

If you are going to keep the commandments given on Sinai then you will have to keep them all including the sacrifices as well as the temple, the priesthood and all that are found not just the Ten.

If you keep the sacrifices Christ shall profit you nothing. Gal. 5:2.

If you go back to Sinai then you go back to bondage and seek to do that which the Jews never were able to do.

The Law is not just the Ten Commandments but the whole given on Sinai and is never once separated in the Scriptures. There is no such thing as the ceremonial, civil, moral and dietary law but simply the Law and it means all of them.

 

[frienden thalord]

NEVER look to the law as a means of earning righteousness or salvation.
ye who do so have fallen from grace.
HOWEVER
shall we SIN because we are under grace. GOD forbid
do we make void the law , GOD forbid yeah we establish the law.
WE don't earn salvation , but we don't transgress either.
and the HOLY SPIRIT is our guide ,
FOR it is HE in YOU , working that which is well pleasing in HIS SIGHT.
and sin aint well pleasing in HIS sight.
we need the rightly divided truth to just be said .

 

[twin1954]

Yes the wonderful grace of GOD
that brings salvation has appeared to all
teaching us to deny ungodliness and wordly lusts
to be living RIGHTEOUSLY and soberly and godly.
His grace first draws us to the SON, then by faith in the SON
we have access into the continued grace of GOD.
all is by the grace of GOD. only let us obey this grace .
be looking diligently lest any man FAIL of the grace of God.
Since paul who labored more abundantely than them all
yet not he , but the grace of GOD
which was in Him , who had even been given special powers
by the Lord as said in acts,
and who also though he had done many good things
by grace , had this to say
I keep my body under subjection lest even after I have preached the gospel
I too be cast out , I think a real good question is
WHO is really under grace and who is still under wrath.
because many are going to tell him, LORD
in your name did we not cast out demons
and n your name do many good works
and HE will say I never knew you , who worked INQUITY.
remember the grace of GOD teaches us something
HOW to walk
and as pual said IF we follow the SPIRIT ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh
or those who are Christs have crucified the affections and lusts of the flesh.
just thought maybe someone would like to post that.
since JESUS made sure to say they said IN YOUR NAME..........and yet still were cast out.
just something to ponder . be blessed and praise the Lord.

Yes Paul clearly taught us how to walk. He taught us to walk in and by faith not by sight. Walking by faith is not keeping a set of rules it is simply looking to the complete and finished work of Christ.

Yes believers ought to seek to honor their Lord and Master in their daily lives but we are nowhere told to look at others to see if they are walking according to what we think is right. Even when we are told to look at ourselves it isn't to see if there is sin in our lives, for there surely is, but whether we are in the faith. We are to examine ourselves to see if we are trusting in the finished work of Christ alone or in something we do.

 

[frienden thalord]

and the HOLY SPIRT is our witness for it is written
in their minds and on their hearts I will write me law
and I shall be their GOD , dwell in them and they shall be my people.
Jesus is NOT the minsitir of SIN
for if I , PAUL, build again the things which once I destroyed I make myself a transgressor.
oh I think it would do us a heap of good
to flee them denominations and just go back to bible reading.

 

[twin1954]

NEVER look to the law as a means of earning righteousness or salvation.
ye who do so have fallen from grace.
HOWEVER
shall we SIN because we are under grace. GOD forbid
do we make void the law , GOD forbid yeah we establish the law.
WE don't earn salvation , but we don't transgress either.
and the HOLY SPIRIT is our guide ,
FOR it is HE in YOU , working that which is well pleasing in HIS SIGHT.
and sin aint well pleasing in HIS sight.
we need the rightly divided truth to just be said .

No one is promoting sin because we are justified. That would be ridiculous. What I am saying is that we must recognize that everything we do is mixed with sin and that we can no more act righteously in ourselves than we can save ourselves I am simply pointing out that faith looks to Christ not to self in any sense. Faith rests in what He has done in every moment not what we think we ought to be doing. Faith is to be free from both the penalty of sin and the fear of God's wrath because of it. God does chastize His own to be sure but He can never again punish them for their sin.