Christians don’t understand grace or the Grace of God although we hear about it often. We equate grace with just another gift that God gives us because of his love. We hear the scripture in 2 Cor 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you…” but really have no concept of what that actually means. But grace is an essential aspect to our faith, for without it we would not be saved (Eph 2:8)
I was struck by the word “Grace” this morning and had to understand more.
The definition of grace is 1.) Simple elegance or refinement of movement. 2.) Do honor or credit to someone because of someone’s presence. Synonyms that follow the word grace include: favor, mercy and charm. The verbs surrounding grace are embellish, adorn and decorate.
In Ephesians 2:8 we learn that “It’s by grace, through faith” that we are saved and this is “not from ourselves but a gift from God.” Clearly, grace is a gift from God and paves the way for faith to even be possible for us. “Without faith it’s impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6) but we cannot have faith unless we accept the gift of grace first.
There are many believers and unbelievers that shy away from God at times. They’ve done something or gone through something which they feel God could never accept or forgive. They feel something about themselves is “unworthy” and turn their face from God. It’s these people that do not accept grace. When you don’t accept grace you can’t live a life of faith. Where there is no faith there can be no mercy and with no faith there will be no favor. These gifts are all given because of grace and grace alone.
For my own understanding I re-wrote the verse found in 2 Corinthians 12:9 with the description of grace as I now understand it. The original verse states: “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” ” My new version reads: But he said to me, ” My favor and mercy adorns and decorates you to complete the course before you with elegance and refinement of movement.” Oh, I think I get it now….
Simply stated, it’s the grace of God to get you through everything in life and He has all ready given that to you. Although you’ve done nothing to deserve it, accept His gift so mercy and favor can follow.
Becoming Invincible 