How Do We React To God's Grace?
God has been so patient with me. Through my many years of trying to control the things around me, living for my accomplishments, striving for my will in life, and doubting every move God made in my circumstances, He never gave up on me. Instead of giving up on me, He extended me grace upon grace. Grace is a gift we are freely given from God that we do not deserve. It is God’s voluntary and loving favor given to those who accept Him and are saved through Jesus Christ. God’s gift of grace describes His love for creation and is a direct correlation with His personality.
The past two weeks, we have reflected on how we receive God’s grace and then how we respond to the free gift of grace. This week focuses on our reaction after accepting God’s grace. We can’t help but act when we are passionate about something, and God’s grace should be a passion of ours because it is what brings us salvation. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” It is only through the grace of God that we are saved and redeemed. Our sins are forgiven, and we receive the gift of God’s love and mercy. In no way can we earn salvation. One commentator says, “No religious, intellectual, or moral effort can gain it, because it comes only from God’s mercy and love.” He goes on to say that the only way we can receive God’s grace is to acknowledge the fact that we cannot save ourselves, that only God can save us, and that our only way to receive this loving favor is through Jesus Christ.
It took me to mature into adulthood to fully realize this truth and place into action in my life. I lived constantly feeling like I needed to earn God’s grace. I needed to perform a certain way, continuously be in a Bible study, be at church every time the doors opened, bring at least one person to Jesus, tithe in order that God would in return bless me, and live a life that is free of the big sins that are in the world; I mean I couldn’t keep myself from falling into sin every day but I categorized what the big sins were versus the small sins. Have you ever fallen into this trap of feeling like you need to live a certain life so that you can earn God’s grace?
As I studied the book of Matthew one year, I began to truly see who Jesus is. My heart was forever changed when I realized He loves all people regardless of their past. Mary Magdalene did nothing to earn Jesus’ grace, but He offered it to her anyways. The disciples did not live perfect lives before or after they met Jesus, but God chose to extend grace to them and to use them to glorify His Kingdom. The people who benefitted from Jesus’ healing did not have to earn His grace before they were healed, they simply had to believe that they could be healed by the Messiah. Every one of these people realized they could not save themselves; they could only be saved through Jesus. It was a huge burden lifted off of me when I came to this realization. I no longer had to work for God’s grace, I only needed to receive, respond, and then react to it.
When we receive God’s grace, something in us changes. We no longer are acting to save ourselves; we are acting because we are saved. Sanctification, the maturing of our faith as we grow closer to Christ, begins to take root. Sanctification is the process that changes us and places a desire in our heart to glorify God and to live out His will in our lives.
Because of the change that overcomes us through God’s grace, we should want to act a certain way. There are three actions I think are important as we react to God’s gift of grace:
Thank
Teach
Turn
We are to act in a way of thankfulness to God. We thank God by praising Him, placing Him above all things, and remembering that all good comes from Him. We are to set aside our old ways of thinking we are powerful and in control and come to the realization that God is the One who makes all things happen. He is sovereign and has control of everything on the earth. He has a plan, and it will not be thwarted. When we understand the depth of His power, we seem very small. We can praise Him because we trust in His Almighty plan. I am thankful for the generosity He has bestowed on me through His gift of grace. Thankfulness for the gift He gave us is an act of worship, but also realizing the power of the Godhead is worshipful.
Spreading the gospel is a huge reaction to God’s grace. We are called to spread God’s Kingdom and what better way to do that than by sharing God’s grace with others. We can do this by telling our story of how God blessed us with grace and by showing grace to individuals in our lives. As we talk about Jesus and demonstrate His love and grace, we are being the hands of feet of Jesus. If you are unsure how to spread the gospel, you don’t even have to have the big “talk” of whether they are a Christian or not, you can show them the gospel by example. The Holy Spirit that dwells in us helps us live as an example of Christ.
Lastly, we are to react to God’s gift of grace by having a desire to turn from our sinful ways. God’s grace leads us to want more out of life than our sinful desires. We no longer feel the need to perform for salvation, but now we want to walk the walk as a Christian out of gratitude and responsibility with the gift we have been given. We stand taller with the gift of grace. We remain humble because we did not earn it, it was freely given to us, but are proud of the God we follow and the salvation He has gifted us. Because God gives us grace upon grace does not mean we can continue to sin, it means we turn from our sin because of His loving kindness to us.
Digging Deeper:
How is God calling you to thank Him, teach His Word, and turn from sin?
How can you show gratitude to the Giver of grace?
What understanding of grace has God given you these past three weeks?