Gods Grace!

Based on the scripture from Ephesians 2:1-10.

At our church service this morning we were given the message on the above scripture which made me really think a whole a lot about the way I think. I thank God for my brother in Christ and our minster at Northfield Methodist, Trevor Hudson for putting this scripture in such a way which has given me all the ideas for this blog article.

 

Just  how much do we need to try and do to gain the favor of God?

Often we think that we haven't done enough, and its true...we haven't!
We never have, we never can and we never will!
We cannot be saved by our works and our doings.

But then why do we think this. Why is it that we wake up every morning and think that we need to "impress" God,  make Him think that we are good people and he more we do, the more He will think of us.

I can tell you, from personal experience, that I feel this. I feel that if I say certain things, do certain things that God would notice and I end up having a closer relationship with Him.

We will not be saved by our works and our doings.

We are a sinful people. None of us are even close to standing right with God. We are controlled by the power of the air, the prince of evil. Satan continues to work in our lives to try and turn us away from God and He tries very hard at convicting us against the things that we do, thus making us feel that we never are good enough for God.
In verse 4, there is a very big turn around for what was written in verses 1-3. This is done by the word BUT. The verse starts with the word BUT......and this BUT is really what saves us. This one word, really takes all the doom and gloom that is written in verse 1-3, and shows us that this world is not what will save us and that this "prince of the air" is not the be all and end all.

There are 2 very important words between verse 4 and 7 which is what God is. GRACE and MERCY. Without the grace of God, we are dead. Without Gods mercy we are dead in this world. It is throw Gods grace that we live.

We were dead in sin, but God through His grace, had raised us up to be able to sit with Him in heavenly places. It is Gods grace that created the difference between us and this world. Through Gods grace, we a saved from this evil world.

In verse 4 again, it says "for His great love". This is the reason why God has so much compassion for us....because He loves us so much.

Their is nothing that you or I can do that will make God love us anymore or any less. NOTHING!!!! 

It is through this love of God that we have salvation, not that we had any claim or delved His favor, but just because He is a loving God, a compassionate God and a graceful God.

Man, as I write this, I just think in awe at how much our God is for us. He doesn't punish, he doesn't drop us and he doesn't leave us alone. Would you do that to a child that you love so much. Together through Gods grace, He has made us alive, together with Christ and by grace we are saved from death.

Everywhere in the New Testament, our connection with Christ is affirmed:

We are crucified with Him
We die with Him
We rise with Him
We live with Him
We reign With Him
We are joint heirs with Him
We share His sufferings on earth.

And, here's the very important one that through Gods grace we can partake in........"we share His glory with Him on His throne!"

How do we receive Gods grace?

We have faith. That's pretty much it.
We learn to trust God in everything that we do. We need to stop young to accomplish everything ourselves. We need to repent for our sins, because no one is going to do it for us. Even the Holy Spirit doesn't repent for us, we need to do it ourselves. We need to trust that our lives are safe in Gods hands and whatever we do or wherever we go, we know that God has our back.

There is nothing we can do to earn Gods merit. We are His workmanship, He created us. It's up to us to know know this. Know that Christ is our Saviour and know that He has our back.

Trust Him, believe Him, know him.......and His grace will coming flooding towards you in such a wonderful fulfilling way.

Blessings and Amen to Gods Word for this.