Grace cannot act where there is either desert or ability. Grace does not help-it is absolute, it does it all. All thoughts below originate with William Newell
A life without grace will lead us to wrongdoing — either through the short skirt of shamelessness or the long skirt of controlling self and others. Both encourage sin, one by giving it up, the other by holding it back. Grace is vital for people who kill their neighbor, but also for the finger pointing busy-body across the street — or anybody else for that matter.
First, grace is God acting freely.
Is your life happy with letting God do anything He wants? Has your whimpering manipulated God, or your bizarre flip-out? Can your smug religious works move Him? Not this God. He “doeth whatsoever He will in the army of heaven.” Do you have a sense of privilege? — Entitlement? This attitude can never know God. Nobody has rite of passage without God’s free giving.
Second, God works only after His own nature of love.
God cannot take on another person’s character. We take on His. God put Jesus on a cross out of a love for you and me. God didn’t care who was offended by it (many were), because He did it for the ultimate salvation of mankind. Any prayer to God that violates His grace giving nature will fall on deaf ears. Forget about the old “call down fire from heaven” stuff.
Third, God has no obligations or promises to fulfill.
God is not counting money and filling orders from heaven’s warehouse. God is not pressured to do anything. He isn’t catching up on fixing things, healing people, saving us. We can’t nag God. Do we remember “What is man that you are mindful of him?” Do we demand things from God? We’re barking up the wrong tree. Get used to it; God does as He will because He wants to.
God works righteously in view of the cross.
Everything and anything He does is right. Righteousness has one definition — whatever God is and does. We do not need to hold God accountable. God is tuned in to something which He esteems supreme. It is the cross of Calvary; a major factor in our unraveling of God. The cross has removed every opposition to Gods’ grace/nature by placing these hindrances to death with His own Son. Now grace can flow freely into places never before filled. Self worth goes up.
What kinds of people oppose grace? Gainsayers, Pharisees, guilt obsessed, suspicious; do-gooders, people pleasers, idol worshippers, humanists, and those living in an anti-God spirit resist grace. Most of us.
Next, grace is uncaused in the recipient.
Anything in me or you that thinks it can cause God to jump into motion kills God for us. I am deceived. We deserve nothing. First-causes stem from God alone. When our will lines up with God’s will, this enables us to patient functioning.
Sixth, God is sovereign.
Grace has neither debts to pay nor conditions in man to fulfill. We can’t get God to owe us because of so many nice things we did. Grace can act toward whom and how it pleases. God does not answer to man’s will. God often drives us crazy by showing the highest favor to the people we hate. (Jonah) That strong inward yearning for “equal treatment” that infuriates us is anti-grace.
Grace does not circumstantially help our life, it provided for our present life from past foreknowledge. Any ability that I have that views God as aloof, knows how to hinder grace. Anything that would qualify me a would-be recipient of grace-on-demand destroys grace.
The creature must be brought off from trying to give cause to God for His grace.
Quit trying, it is futile. Quit, quit, rest. Die and stay dead. Does this mean that unless God resurrects, there will be no life? Exactly. Who then can be saved? All that God pleases to save get saved. That is not fair. I beg to differ; God’s fairness is of a higher order. God foresees (pre-creation), men’s will deciding to accept His sovereign gift and saves those men in time. He uses the foolishness of preaching and we are commissioned to go still. God does the saving.
Next, man’s believing is God’s gift to him, and mans seeking is God’s drawing him. Man’s belief in God’s existence is God’s revealing Himself to man. God rewards His own working in man and man’s response to Him. See what I mean?
Grace must be given for grace, or we could never receive it.
A capacity for grace-receiving is the entrance of God Himself into fallen man. This displaces our natural man that resists the Bible doctrine of grace. If I wish to work for grace and ignore the new capacity, grace is hindered. If I seek sovereign self rule, the plan will resist me. If I am angered at the grace given to undeservers, guess what? That anger gotta go. If I think I am too unworthy for grace, chuck it; God’s gonna root it.
Humility happens when grace dawns.
What is humility? — When I don’t look inside so much since my whole subjective world, including opinions, notions, plans, and inward focus is killed. Subjective means “me” is the source, but that “pride” is dead as God came alive inside. God’s nature of grace becomes my new subjective, conscience and will. He takes over my thought life.
Lastly, grace is hated by my uncrucified flesh.
In order to continue in daily grace I must take sides with something which my flesh hates. Paul exercised himself to have a conscience void of offense before God and men. The offence or “skandalon” is Greek for a scandal, a stumbling block. Grace in its fullness appears a scandal to men’s depraved flesh. Romans 5:20 says, “Where sin does abound grace does much more abound,” So, is Grace a license to sin? You might be accused of believing it. Do you care for accusations? When we find acceptance as another seems to be rejected, do we feel like a fraud? Perhaps they get acceptance and we wait. Do you mind?
I begin to love grace, fellowship with it, apply it, enjoy it, give it and keep receiving it in all of my ups and downs. I grow in it, am strong in it, manage its inflow and outflow. Finally, I labor more than them all, yet not I but the grace of God in me.
Beloved, God’s love, faithfulness, mercy, and compassion are all because of who He is. His freedom works for us because He loves Grace and delights in mercy. God did everything for us in His totally benevolent nature. This is the point. God is fully dependable, cannot lie, loves unconditionally, and redeemed every man, conditioned only on believing, simply because He acts according to His awesome nature. Love ya
