God's Saving Grace

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

-2 Corinthians 4:6-7 (NASB)

Opportunity

Grace is an act derived from God’s love and kindness in which He gives that which is not deserved or earned.  God decided to shine Light into the darkness before we even looked His way or acknowledged His Love. And in His continual grace, after shining that light, He gave each of us the opportunity to receive the works of Christ on the cross, so that we could walk and remain in that Light. The Light that places us into the right relationship with Him. The relationship He intended when He created humanity. A relationship of depth, intimacy, and connection. God’s saving grace gave us the chance and opportunity to be in a close relationship with Him for eternity. God waits patiently and knocks at our heart because He would rather meet us with grace than judgment (2 Peter 3:9). However, if we refuse to utilize the grace of time given, we ourselves choose judgment (Revelation 2:16 and 21-22).

God has given us all this great opportunity to receive His saving grace and enter a relationship with Him. The reluctance to receive God’s saving grace and to repent, so that we remain in the light, reminds me of Cain’s story in the Bible. In Genesis 4, we see a facet of God’s relationship with mankind at that time: they honored Him with an offering. In this incident, Cain decided to bring God something other than what God required. Cain brought to God fruit from the ground rather than firstlings from the flock. After Cain’s misstep, God corrected him and let Cain know that if he brought what was required, he would be received. God followed this with a warning, cautioning him to be mindful that sin is at the door, seeking to overtake him, and to overcome it instead.  When we have a mind that wants to give God gifts and accolades rather than repentance and obedience, we know that sin is at the door, leading us away from alignment in relationship, out of the light.

God’s gift of grace gives us opportunity for relationship, and in the relationship we are given guidance, wisdom, and instruction so that we can enjoy and nurture that beautiful and empowering relationship with Him, Five Hail Mary’s, four prayer meetings, a month’s worth of church services, and a big donation to an organization; none of these contrived forms of sacrifice or offering are what God is asking or requiring of us. He requires a repentant, an obedient heart, which belongs solely to Him. Once we give what is required, we will overcome sin and nurture an intimate relationship with Him.

Conviction

“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

2 Corinthians 7:9-11

Conviction is a gift from God, an act of mercy and grace which calls us to see who we are and where we are and how it has affected our relationship with Him and the condition of our souls. Our response to this great gift should be to realign ourselves with the truth (the guidance and direction of God). The enemy may want to make you feel like Cain did, that his good intentions were enough. Pushing a false narrative that because God loves us, He will take anything that we offer. But that is not the case (Romans 2:4). God has clearly explained what He not only wanted but required, and if we give it, He will gladly accept it and accept us. But we must be aware that daily sin is at the door, seeking to control us, and that we have the authority and ability given to us by Jesus Christ to overcome it. Cain’s pride had him rejecting God’s grace, and instead of responding to the conviction, he chose to realign himself back into the light and chose to run toward darkness, and he allowed sin to incite him to murder. Let’s not give Satan the wheel of our lives by allowing him to dictate the desires of our lives and ignore God’s grace through the conviction of our hearts. Because his only goal and desire is to drive us to places and circumstances and depravity, we never would have envisioned ourselves in.

Treasure

Guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

-2 Timothy 1:14

God’s grace gifts us not only salvation and relationship, but He also gifts us with the gift of the knowledge of Him.  And this glorious knowledge of God gives us power, power to transform and become more like Christ. This grace of knowledge works in us, teaching us how to live, what to desire, and empowering us to do so (Titus 2:11-12). Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that salvation comes to us through grace and is a gift we were never expected to earn on our own; we only need to have faith to receive it. So even in our struggle to walk as new creations, we must remember that God has given us grace, and we are not expected to overcome and maintain ourselves in the Light by our own sheer will. Instead, we are to practice abiding (John 15:5), remaining (1 John 2:28), and trusting and leaning (Proverbs 3:5-6). So, then we can function with divine help and enablement.

God’s great grace gives us a treasure that empowers us to walk in purpose, walk in the Light, and shine bright to impact the world around us. God’s grace equips us to take on and walk in the titles and purposes He has given us as citizens of the Kingdom of life. He has called us ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), children of the Most High (Romans 8:16), Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-14), Friend (John 15:15), Soldier (2 Timothy 2:3), Witness (Acts 1:8), and Servant (Ephesians 6:6-7). And to be able to carry the weight of those titles and purposes, we must do them with fear and trembling, meaning we must maintain a humility and reverent awe of God. He is the one who both works in us the desire to maintain and hold these titles and purposes in

righteousness (Philippians 2:12-13), and He also gives us the ability to walk out these titles and purposes to completion.

God's saving grace is so profound that it covers us with the blood of Christ, so that when we stand before the throne of Christ, we are seen as His righteousness. And in His grace, He only requires us to obediently walk with Him in the light, so that we experience the maturing of our faith as He intended (Hebrews 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18) and shine brightly where we are (Matthew 5:14).