Recall: The relationship between God and Man (mankind) hinges on Grace and Faith, respectively. We are told that it has to be so (there is no other way) especially since “the Fall” in Genesis 3…. Simply put, Man’s Faith and God’s Grace combine into one road, as it were, that takes Man up to God (Faith) and brings God down to Man (Grace)….
What is Grace?
Grace simply means God’s unmerited (undeserved) favour to Man (Humankind).
We are told that God can deal/relate to Man (Humankind) only on the basis of Grace. If you’re like me you know how humbling it feels to be told it so bluntly., but it is the truth and liberating on that account. Glory to God!…
See, we hear the sound of one aspect of grace in Psalm 103:10 (NIV) when the psalmist, talking about the Lord (God), remarks: “he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”….Remember God’s word to Cain prior to killing his brother? Genesis 4:7 (NIV), “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.””
Simply put, God warned Cain about Sin’s desire to treat him a certain way: God said, (1) sin desires to have you (rule over you) if you do not do what is right (i.e sin) and (2) but you must rule over it by doing what is right (i.e, not sin). No wonder apostle Paul wrote about “the dominion of darkness” (Colossians 1:13, NIV)….
See, God’s treatment of us (God’s punishment/judgment) is one thing, but sin’s treatment (the wages of sin, Romans 6:23) is another. We are told that godliness is mindful of both. It is good that God doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities, but it is even better when we don’t allow sin to rule over us, isn’t? Grace is relevant in both.
Interestingly, John 1:14 (NIV) states: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Here we need to recall the Son (Jesus Christ) himself responding to Philip’s request in John 14:9 (NIV): “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?…
The concept of grace runs throughout the Bible, that is, in both the Old and New Testaments. We see grace in God’s kicking Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden (see Genesis 3:22) after the Fall. We also see grace in the giving of the “law of Moses” (see Romans 7:7)….However, the revelation of God’s grace reaches its climax in the New Testament, namely, in the Christ Event (life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ).
Please Read Ephesians 2:1-10 and take notice particularly of verses 4 and 5 as foundational to understanding grace.
We note Ephesians 2:4-5 (NIV), “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.” The word “But” here linking verse 4 to previous verses recalls Psalm 103:10….
Please note, the statement “it is by grace you have been saved” is in apposition to what is written from the beginning of the chapter. Simply put, it is a nutshell statement of Ephesians 2:1-10 making the point that we didn’t merit/deserve to be made alive with Christ by God, which is the essence of our Salvation.
What did we deserve? Apostle remarks that “Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:3b). God’s wrath stands for His judgment, that is what we deserved! However, God chose to save us instead!….
The context of the passage clearly suggests that grace (of God) and works (of us) are mutually exclusive. We need to understand that God’s grace always intervenes out of necessity, that is, because everything else from below (from us), even all our righteous deeds/acts (Isaiah 64:6, NIV), cannot /couldn’t deliver. God’s grace tells us that apart from God we can do nothing! (See John 15:5)
See, the real problem is primarily ontological -our being, “dead in transgressions…and by nature object of wrath”, which describes Man’s real predicament. However, it becomes behavioural (our deeds/acts or works) mainly on that account, like the difference between a cause and its consequence(s) or effects….
Simply put, our “Being” corrupts our deeds before God and alienate us from Him on that account (see Isaiah 59:1, 2). Here we recall that an animal to be offered to God had to be presented alive and without blemish (Leviticus 3:6) and anyone who touched a corpse or the carcass of a dead animal was considered unclean (Leviticus 11:39) -Yet, the Bible says, “we’re dead in transgressions!…
The ontological problem has to be dealt with first if any of us is to have a relationship with God, and only God can/could do it given that we’re all dead!…Hence, Ephesians 2:6-9 (NIV) reveals: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.”
We’re told that any form of boasting in this context not only exposes ignorance of Man’s real predicament and the nature of God’s salvation but, even worse, takes credit for what God has done and consequently denies (robs) Him the glory due Him as the goal is for God to show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us…in the ages to come, even this age!
Please note, God’s grace is expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus by raising us up with Christ (see Romans 6…) or changing our (spiritual) predicament -salvation is the work of God in raising us, who were dead in our transgressions, up with Christ. Anyone who is/was raised with Christ is no longer dead, isn’’t? And, to be raised with Christ implies that the person is in him (Christ), isn’t? Think of Noah and the Ark (see Luke 17:26f).
Obviously, it seems that God’s grace, although essential in the process, is not enough to make salvation effectual for Man (Humankind): Grace (of God) calls for faith (of us as response) for Salvation. The simple biblical truth is that God takes credit for both His grace and our faith for thanks to being made alive by Him we can/could hear his calling and respond to it by faith as to be saved through it (faith).
The relationship between God and Man hinges on Grace and Faith. We need God for both, and we cannot do without Him. Grace is evident in the fact that God doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities and faith empowers us so that we can act upon His word to the extent that “sin” cannot rule over us (steal, kill, and destroy…).
We are told that faith is dynamic by nature, it can grow strong or weak. The more we are immersed in God’s word (the Bible) the more our faith grows for, according to Romans 10:17, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ”.
May God help us all
