Amazing Grace. Marvelous Grace of Jesus.
Grace Greater Than Our Sin. (Composed August 29, 2021)
Our hymnals contain so many lyrics about grace, and the older I get the more I appreciate God's grace. And the more convicted I become when I fail to extend grace to others of God's children. I really believe that the “sin that so easily entangles us as Christians, or trips us up,” is when we are judgmental of others instead of extending grace to those who might have fallen by the wayside. There is an old saying about the church which is often referred to as the army of God - that it is the only army that shoots its wounded.*
One of my new favorite preachers, Jentezen Franklin, has a fantastic sermon taken from a rather obscure passage in the Old Testament - Zechariah 4:7 about “grace, grace”.
Reminds me a little bit of John’s writing in his gospel where he says: And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. John 1:16 Grace is like the waves of the ocean beating up against the shore. One wave crashes over us and before we can even take a breath, another wave comes in and washes over us, and it is a continuous process throughout our life. Grace upon grace upon grace, a never-ending ocean of grace.
#1 Saving grace: By grace ye are saved through faith. Ephesians 2:8-9
#2 Justifying grace: Romans 3:24 all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. I love the word justification. It’s easy to remember if we pronounce it slowly and think about it this way - just as if I had never sinned. It’s a legal term used in a court of law. The accused was declared innocent because he was justified in whatever he did.
#3 Enabling grace. When Paul was suffering from the thorn in the flesh as he called it, and begged God to remove it, God told him He would not remove it but would give Paul enabling grace - promising that His grace would be sufficient - enabling Paul to go through this terrible thing that was taking place in his body. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
All through this life, we will encounter times when we need God’s grace, first when we are saved, or justified, and then many times when we need enabling grace just to make it through.
We Christians have our own language and that’s true of any institution or profession whether it be medical or legal or any other group of people, so we bounce some of these terms around among ourselves, and people who haven’t been in church all their lives get so confused, and rightly so.
So just a short Bible lesson here.
Grace is what God gives us that we don’t deserve. We don’t work for it, we couldn’t earn it if we wanted to. It is the unmerited favor of God. It is the only means whereby we can be saved from our sins and make heaven our home.
Justice is when you get what you deserve.
Mercy is when you don’t get what you deserve.
Grace is when you get what you don’t deserve.
MARVELOUS GRACE OF GOD
God’s grace is unlimited like the waves on the shore
An ocean so boundless, rolling in evermore.
God bestows it upon us although we are flawed
We can’t comprehend it, but receive it with awe.
That marvelous grace, so wondrous and free
So full and complete that it reached even me
It’s God love everflowing, Unconditional love
As high as the heavens and the sky far above
It rings with the music of sins all forgiven
It’s hope for redemption when life’s not worth living
It’s poetry with lyrics that speak to my soul
It’s just what I need to be completely made whole.
It’s food for my spirit, cool water so sweet
It’s rest when I’m weary, a soothing balm for my feet
Yes, this grace is amazing, and so undeserved
It’s knowing my home is in heaven reserved.
Written by Joan Hart, January 2019
Copyright January 2019 Joan Rowden Hart
Essay and Poem by Joan Rowden Hart 2019
© Joan Rowden Hart January 2019
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