Ephesians 2:1-5; Ephesians 1:3;
Colossians 2:10
Though in Adam and dead in sin
before salvation, grace means the believer in Christ has a new position in
Christ which brings every spiritual blessing into the believer’s life.
This means the provision of
such things as:
1. Every believer is a
priest—members of a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5,9).
2. Citizens of heaven and
thereby left here on earth as ambassadors for Christ (Phil. 3:20; 2 Cor. 5:20).
3. Children of God,
members of God’s family (Eph. 5:1).
4. Adopted as adult sons
with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities (Gal. 4:5).
5. Gifted for ministry (1
Pet.
6. The provision is there
for life Eph 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3.
1 Peter 1:4
Finally, though
previously cut off from God and bound for hell, grace means the blessings of an
eternal inheritance, one which is untouched by death, “imperishable,” unstained
by evil, “undefiled,” and unimpaired by time, “will not fade away.”
1 Peter 1:2-9 Read
This
is illustrated in John 6 by the response of the Jews to Jesus’ words in John
6:27.
Grace orientation
and its multiplication comes through knowledge of the
Word coupled with faith.
Not only do we need
to be oriented to grace, but we need to grow in our understanding of the
multiple facets of grace in all of life.
Again, because of
our works mentality, we tend to fail of the grace of God .
Hebrews 12:15; Galatians 5:1-5, 13
a. There are several
biblical pictures that warn of the danger of failure to exploit the awesome resources
we have in Christ:
1. Leaning on the arm of
the flesh which leaves one in desert like conditions (Jer. 17:5-6)
2. Hewing out cisterns,
broken cisterns that hold no water (Jer.