Understanding Grace
God’s grace is simply beyond words. Ephesians 2:4-5 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith He loved us, EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS, has made us alive together with Christ, by grace you are saved…” Do you know what makes someone dead in sins? It is because they are completely without Christ which means they are completely with the devil. There is no middle ground. Notice that God loved us even when we were in league with the great thief and liar. Satan was the great mutineer and apart from Christ, every sinner has joined Satan’s plot to overthrow God. Even then, God was still in love with you. God did not begin loving you the moment you accepted Christ; He began loving you before the creation of the earth when He saw your future sins and decided that His Son must die on the cross to cleanse them. It’s like this: Imagine a loving husband goes to great lengths to give his wife the best birthday party of her life. Months ahead of time he arranges for her family to fly into town, he buys expensive decorations, hires a caterer, and buys her an expensive gift. When she walks into the room on that day her heart melts when she realizes the planning and effort that went into her special day. She is more motivated than ever to be the wife that her husband deserves to have.
God looked ahead to your birthday. At the moment you asked Jesus Christ to come into your heart to be your Lord and Savior you were Born Again with the life of God. It is your spiritual birthday. God began planning that day in the eternal past. He hoped you would notice the effort He spent in putting His perfect Son on the cross for you. He hoped that you would understand that you were on eternal death row when He loved you and took your place. We deserved to be cast down yet He lifted us up to life. We deserved our seat with the father of lies yet he reserved a seat for us with Himself. He did all of this while the drunk was still drinking, the liar still lying, and the gambler still gambling. Before you ever did one act of kindness, before you attended one church service, and before you ever gave one nickel to the poor, God did this for you. You couldn’t perform for it; you couldn’t earn the credits. It was already done before you even existed.
Grace is the unveiling of God’s kindness and character. Who and What He is saved you; not who and what you are. He saved you from what you did; what you did has not saved you. Do we dare to believe that grace excuses us from works of obedience and holiness? No, we have no excuse to be disobedient. Grace is not the absence of works; it is the present reminder to get to work. We do not accept Christ “just in case” hell is a real place. Hell is a real place and I live for God to prove my case that I appreciate what He did for me.
Pastor Tim
Family Church Jamestown is a non-denominational church located in Chautauqua County in Jamestown between Lakewood and Busti, NY. The senior pastor of Family Church is Pastor Tim Stahlman a native to the Jamestown, NY area.
