Exposed: Grace

Exposed 2

Gratifying Grace

By Daniel Carandang

The word GRACE is no doubt pleasant to the ears. Besides possessing a sweet sound to it, the word's meaning adds to the comfort provided by the word. It's very unfortunate, however, that most of us only know of the word 'grace' and it's powerful meaning. We often say 'grace' but we just don't understand. 

What does it mean to truly understand and experience GRACE?

¹¹ For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. ¹² And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, ¹³ while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. ¹⁴ He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

Titus 2:11-14

Grace is derived from the Greek term charis which means FAVOR. Basically, it is an attitude of approval, bestowing preferential treatment or providing support as a sign of approval. It is one of the ultimate acts of kindness.

Grace is usually bestowed unto those who did not earn it. We can define grace as:

Undeserved

Unearned

Unmerited

FAVORS.

Let's say there's a man who works for Mr. I-Own-Pretty-Much-Everything. Mr. I-Own (as we call it) is the richest man in the city. He owns everything and he has lots of money. He is indeed very powerful. Then comes along mejo bad boy Mr. I-Need-To-Have-Money who works under Mr. I-Own. Mr. I-Need-Money is quite devious and is really in love with money. There were incidents where he was able to trick his boss, Mr. I-Own, to give him money by lies. One day, he decided to steal Mr. I-Own's money from the bank. In the process, he kills the men guarding the vault and runs away.

He succeeds but unfortunately, he was caught. To pay for his selfish and evil deeds, the authorities have decided to punish him with a death sentence. He was to die at sunset via lethal injection. Mr. I-Need-Money panics at the thought of dying in a few hours. He suddenly feels the pain of his choices, regretting them one by one. As the hours pass and he is being led to the room where his death will be finalized, Mr. I-Own appears.

Mr. I-Need-Money is surprised. He first thought that maybe his boss has come to gloat at him for his punishment. But the unexpected happens-

"Let him go," says Mr. I-Own says, "Set him free."

Did he hear right? His boss, whom he had deceived and stolen from, was willing to forgive him?

What his boss said next was even more shocking.

"Let him go and I'll take his place."

SUCH IS GRACE.

That type of GRACE is what our Heavenly Father has provided for us, the unloving and undeserving recipients. 

In the New International Version, Titus 2:11 reads:

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

The grace of God has appeared, meaning it has become tangible, something that we can finally reach. Despite our filth and wretchedness, God has enabled His grace to be visible for us. How so?

Our Heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son to die in our place.

We have to understand that the gravity of our sins is no joke. Being the perfect God He is, God cannot simply withstand the filth of sin. He is perfect. But, despite the fact that we have offended him deeply with our wrongdoings, He still chose to make grace available to us.

...who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Titus 2:14

As describes in Philippians 2:7, Jesus made himself NOTHING. He stripped himself of His divinity and accepted the role of a mere servant, being made in human likeness. 

Sin has enslaved us. We are like the blacks who were victims of the slave market in the early 17th to 18th century. We cannot pay for our own freedom because we are bound to our sins. We were already destined to rot in hell.

But Jesus was sent to redeem us from such fate. Before He came, we were slaves but He arrived with our ransom. Jesus took our sins with Him rather than allowing us to suffer our fates. Similar to Mr. I-Own and Mr. I Need Money, Jesus took the place of the sinner. Sin offered a curse. But in exchange for the blood of the Lamb, we were freed. We were FAVORED.

God made him who had no sin to be sin^[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus died because He wanted us to be His own. He desired to re-adopt us into His loving family. But in order to do so, He had to die a criminal's death to pay the price. 

God demonstrated His grace by coming to this earth and paying for our sins. We were not saved because of our own efforts but because of His love for us.

Have you experienced His grace?

A person who was experienced His grace is filled with excitement beyond words. He is eager to do the bidding of the One who set Him free. Experiencing God's grace radically changes a person from the inside-out.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

Romans 6:11-13

Know your God more in order to experience more of His grace. 

If we do not possess His grace:

- we judge others

- we live immoral lifestyles

- our hearts are unforgiving

- we are apathetic towards the lost

However, if we understand and experience the grace of God:

- we have compassion for others

- we practice holy lifestyles

- our hearts are forgiving

- we are empathetic towards the lost

Don't miss out on the grace of the One who set you free! You were bought with a price, a price that symbolizes the love illustrated through grace of the One who saved us all :)

Blog by: Ashley Bernadette Petallano (c) 2013