Grace…

 

Grace….

I had to pull this blog yesterday….there is a vast difference between God’s grace, his unmerited favor and my/our grace we give, our graciousness to others…ours is an attitude….God’s is an attribute of His Character….his never changes….and He displays it in his gift of Salvation…there is not anything  we can do to earn his favor, we can’t perform, work our way to salvation…He loves, he saves us through faith…

Our graciousness to others is a fruit bestowed by the Holy Spirit…we cannot save with it…we can use it to be kind, good, gracious to those around us…

I kept using “grace” interchangeably in this blog and I don’t want to mislead…there is definitely a difference between His grace and ours…

“I was reading an article about the life of a former cult member…the word, grace, was nowhere to be found in her  life….but, “coercive control “ was the operating lifestyle…now she follows nothing at all…the trauma has scarred her for life…

grace

: unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification

: a virtue coming from God

: a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine assistance.Merriam Webster 

“coercive control, which is defined as a pattern of behaviors that enables someone to exert power over another person through fear and control.”

Reading through Ephesians, grace is brought up 11 times to these people….the word, peace, 7 times…

I don’t understand the full flavor of grace…I know that in myself I don’t have it…I can be ungracious, sarcastic, demeaning , judgmental, hateful, unloving, unkind, insensitive, etc, etc, etc….but grace is a virtue coming from God…and I want it to permeate my life…I want to draw on his unlimited source to show grace, to give grace to those around….to be kind, to be sensible, to be loving, etc…

He is the only one who give grace to be saved….and it is not through works or “coercive control” …

Thank YOU… 

 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. 

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. 

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Eph.2.4-9

 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

Eph.1.2,6,7

 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ,

Eph.3.2, 7,8

 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may give grace to those who listen. 

Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Eph.4.7, 29,Eph.6.24

Grace, grace…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-rW7jyN_7M

gracious

: marked by kindness and courtesy

: characterized by charm, good taste, generosity of spirit

gracious living

: GRACEFUL

: marked by tact and delicacy : URBANE

: MERCIFUL, COMPASSIONATE 

Merriam Webster 

https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/grace/