“Grace Rules!” that was the theme of the past week of summer camp. Our theme verse was Romans 6:14 which reads “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.” What a great week we had being reminded about the amazing grace of God. In this verse we are reminded that the Law (and laws) exposes and even produces sin in us when placed over our sin nature. The Law was given to show us our fallen condition and our inability to do what God requires of us. Grace on the other hand is God giving us what we don’t deserve and can not earn or pay for. I think however that grace is not fully understood by a lot of people. First it is important to note that grace is not just an emotion or disposition that God has. Jesus is the grace of God given to us. He is literally the good gift of everything we need that we don’t deserve and can not earn. He is the grace of God. Ephesians puts it like this “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” In Jesus we have every spiritual blessing. We have all we need in Christ. That is grace. With that being understood it is important to realize the two complimenting faces of grace.
1. Grace shows us that we are not capable of pleasing God on our own. We don’t measure up and there is nothing we can do to fix our problem. We are helpless left to our own. Therefore God’s grace is needed. In Jesus he did on our behalf what we could never do for ourselves. Most of us get that. The second aspect is also critical and must be understood to really be ruled by grace.
2. God’s grace is the power of God within me to be and do all God created and called me to be. It is not enough just to let grace tell you that you don’t measure up and stop there. Colossians reminds us that it is Jesus in us, the hope of glory. In other words God’s grace, the Lord Jesus Christ lives within to be everything you need. You as a child of God are now empowered through Christ to live out all God designed you to be. You were “created in Christ Jesus for good works.
If you have either aspect of grace without the other you have an incomplete view of grace. Grace must first humble you to realize you can’t but then you must also be empowered by grace to be all God requires you to be. Where does that leave you are you being ruled by God’s grace? Have you quit striving to please God in your own strength and are you resting in His grace? Are you empowered by grace to live out His righteousness in your life? Is there anything you are facing that seems to hard? Won’t you say yes to Jesus and allow Him to be all you need? That is good news for us all, whether we are student or adult!
In Grace,
In Christ,
Eric
