The Bible actually calls God’s throne the “throne of grace.” The Lord rules the world by grace. I pray I can help us see how this actually happens and gives meaning to salvation by grace. The hope is we will see God’s grace is not to be confused with God’s mercy. Grace, as we will see, is the Spirit of God moving upon our hearts with abilities and gifts allowing us to accomplish the things God saved us individually to achieve. However, so many people have no clue to what God’s saving grace actually is. We are saved by grace when we do what grace enables us to do.
God’s grace is of most importance. The Bible says we are saved by grace, but we ask, “What is grace?” If it saves us we need to know what grace is? What does a preacher or a teacher mean when using the term grace? Usually, it sounds as if they are talking about God’s mercy. I ask, when we think of grace and compare our definition for mercy, are we thinking the same? If so, then what is the difference between grace and mercy?
I hear Christians say something like, “I am not under the law, but under grace. Hallelujah!” What did this mean? Does it mean we are lawless?
The apostle Paul said, “I am what I am by the grace of God.” What did he mean? Is God’s grace responsible for what we do and who we are? Or, does it mean that God converted Paul from being a hater into an lover by a great power called grace?
Then, there is this grace gifting I read about in Romans 12:6 – the “grace gifts.” How does this fit into God’s mercy, liberty, or my being what and who I am?
Paul understood grace and how it saves. It always seemed I should be able to understand what grace is and how it can. It seemed important to discover the definition for Biblical grace and how it had the power to save. Why did the apostle Paul and James, the brother of Jesus seem to dispute grace? A serious question for me became, “What is grace?” This led into a study to find a Biblical meaning of grace.
I preach this message as did Paul and James. I weave it into my life and attempt to weave it into the lives of those I teach. I trust in these next pages, I can share some thoughts and truths to help you settle the question of what is grace into your life. What is God’s grace? It’s the most powerful, transforming, life changing obsession ever happening to me. It changed my life. It changed every molecule of my life from my occupation to how I operate my finances. Nothing in my life is hidden from God’s grace. When God’s grace saves us, it’s just this way.
