Episode 14: God’s amazing Abounding grace

In this episode Saso and Ben cover the topic of God’s amazing abounding grace.

GRACE, n. [L. gratia, which is formed on the Celtic; Eng. agree, congruous, and ready. The primary sense of gratus, is free, ready, quick, willing, prompt, from advancing.]

1. Favor; good will; kindness; disposition to oblige another; as a grant made as an act of grace.

2. Appropriately, the free unmerited love and favor of God, the spring and source of all the benefits men receive from him.

1828 Webster’s Dictionary

We’ve all heard the acronym God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense which is a pretty good definition of grace, but grace is so much more!

John 1:14

Here we see that Jesus is described as full of grace and truth. This is important because the origin of grace is Jesus. This is why the song writer John Newton called it amazing grace because God’s grace truly is amazing.

According to the book of Titus, grace is two part. God’s grace redeems and restores us.

Titus 2:11-12

In this episode we will focus on restoration by God’s grace.

Romans 3:23

According to this verse we are redeemed by Jesus. We are justified by His grace which is a gift. Remember, if you have to pay for a gift, it’s not a gift.

It’s the same way with God. God chose to offer us salvation by means of a gift.

Ephesians  2:4-5

Maybe you’ve heard of the 5 solas of the faith to which grace is reffered to as sola gratia meaning that we are justified and saved through grace alone. It’s the idea that we are saved not on the basis of our good works, or because of our good merit or because we are worthy. According to this verse we were dead in sin. You see we are saved because God chose to save us. It’s this idea of unmerited favor, a free gift. 

Ephesians 2:8

Romans 11:6

Circling back to Titus, grace redeems us, but grace also restores us.

But what does this look like?

How is it that grace restores us or enables us to live out the Christian life?

How do I gain victory in a world full of sin?

Romans 5:20-21

We live in a sinful world where it seems sin abounds everywhere even in some churches across the world. Sin is in the world but it is also in our heart and life, and we need a remedy to combat these evils inside of us. Whatever sin issue we deal with in life God’s grace abounds more than that sin. We don’t have to be enslaved to our sinful habits and ways but we can accept the same grace that gave us salvation through Christ Jesus. Amen!

Because of God’s grace should I continue in my sin? 

Romans 6:1

I look at this like presuming upon the grace of God. Example: Room service on a ship…Just because you may does not mean you should and in this case, it should be something we forbid in our life.

This all goes back to the enabling power of God’s grace.

Titus 2:11-12

These verses in Titus tell us that grace is the new teacher in town. Remember back in Galatians, we read about the law being our school master.

Galatians 3:24

Once you are saved Jesus is our teacher and he teaches us through His means of grace.

It’s sort of like salvation. We don’t have the means nor the power to save ourselves therefore we must place our faith in God for salvation. However, the Christian walk is no different. We don’t have the power nor the means to live godly lives. It’s only by God’s grace. 

Jesus is clear about this in the book of John.

John 15:5

In the book of 2 Peter we read about God’s grace enabling us to live godly lives.

2 Peter 1:2-3

So if God’s grace enables and gives us everything we need to live out the Christian life, this begs a question…

Why do I still struggle with my sin nature and my besetting sins? 

Romans 6:16-20

We do not see victory in our spiritual lives because we simply do not yield to the sins of our flesh. We pursue our flesh rather than pursuing our God. As someone has said if you have two dogs in a fight, the dog you feed the most will win the fight. Sadly, the flesh dog is the one we feed the most, and we wonder why we cannot obtain victory in our Christian lives. Are you yielded to your flesh or is all you see green lights when in essence they should be red lights and stop signs? If you do not yield you will not see victory.

The reason we aren’t victorious over our sin is because we are the problem. We are our worst enemy.

James 1:13-15

Preacher Steve Pettit once said, “We sin because we like it”.

When Willie was here preaching on grace he said that nobody, not even the devil can make a Christian sin. Christians sin because we choose to sin.

It boils down to our fleshly desires and the war that rages in our mind. If we have our mind set on fleshly desires, those desires will conceive and we will give birth to sin.

It’s like we read in the book of 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

According to this verse we are to destroy arguments and opinions set against God. Basically any lie. And we take our thoughts captive. When we get a thought that inclines us to sin, how do we battle? We battle just like Jesus did. In prayer and with God’s word. 

The key to all of this is meditating on God’s word. Our problem is we meditate on our fleshly desires which eventually will lead us into sin. We must replace our earthly thoughts with thoughts of God and His word.

Colossians 3:2

How can I be victorious?

Take the grace has given you as discussed in Romans 5:20-21

Ephesians 2:7-10

What reason have sinners, then, to seek earnestly for that grace which will make them, of children of wrath, children of God and heirs of glory! God’s eternal love or good-will toward his creatures, is the fountain whence all is mercies flow to us; and that love of God is great love, and that mercy is rich mercy.

Matthew Henry

Titus 2:11

God’s grace is not just for Ben and Saso but it is for everybody. There is no secret club. You can experience the same grace we have experienced. 

God is rich in mercy and grace. However, according to the book of James, there is a stipulation.

James 4:6-7

In other words you will never have victory over your sin unless you surrender to God. This verse tells us that God opposes the proud bug gives grace to the humble and it all starts by submitting yourself to God by means of humility. 

This is easier said than done. Even the apostle Paul dealt with the conflict of him doing what he shouldn’t do and not doing what he should do. The war against our flesh is a constant battle.

Two of our greatest motivators for becoming victorious by means of grace is found in Titus 2.

Titus 2:11-14

The first one we see here is waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. This isn’t some pie in the sky hope, like “I hope we get some more rain”. Here in Phoenix Arizona, rain is basically a miracle of God, and yes we always hope it will rain. Hope in the Bible is a confident assurance in things that will happen. Jesus is coming back! It may or may not be in our lifetime, but if we live our life like He will come in the next 5 minutes, in the next month, in the next year or 10 years, our lives will look much different than a life without hope. If you want to see what life without hope looks like, then just watch the 5:00 news tonight. You will see a world without hope.

The other motivation found in the Titus verse is that Jesus gave Himself to redeem us from all lawlessness, and to make me His possession. This is Grace! He gave Himself for us, even though we are vile, filthy sinners.

Testimony of God’s grace in the midst of a wicked world 

Genesis 6:8-11

Noah did not find favor in the eyes of the people of his day but he did find favor with almighty God? In our society today, we get ever closer to the line in the sand where we cannot be comfortable in our Christianity and it may cost us something. Are you willing to pay the price to find favor with God? Or are you too concerned with what man may think of you? 

Are you praying for God’s grace? 

Hebrews 4:15-16

Are you coming boldly asking for His help or are you good? How is that working out for you?

Besides our daily dependence upon God for present supplies, there are seasons for which we should provide in our prayers, times of temptation, either by adversity or prosperity, and especially our dying time. We are to come with reverence and godly fear, yet not as if dragged to the seat of justice, but as kindly invited to the mercy seat, where grace reigns. We have boldness to enter into the holiest only by the blood of Jesus; He is our Advocate, and has purchased all our souls want or can desire.

Matthew Henry

God’s grace is sufficient for you even when it seems like it is not.

II Corinthians 12:7-10

God does not always say yes to what we ask for or even a bad thing we may ask to be taken away. Grace is always a sign of God’s good will towards us and it is sufficient in all things and for all things. We would not go to Him if we felt capable of being successful within ourselves. True victory is only found in Christ Jesus and only through His grace are we truly strong. 

Will you allow His grace to abound in you?

Will you come boldly before Him and ask for His grace and will you take it when He gives it to you?

Are you sinning and presuming upon God’s grace? God forbid!