What is Grace, and how can we become more?

[Jennie@ifish]

What is God's Grace? Let's hear it from some of you who lead bible studies, as well as everyone else!

How awesome is it? How can we lead our lives so that we are more GRACEful to others? How can we apply Grace in our own lives?

What are some of the bible verses that mention God's Grace?

Jen

[happybrew]

From the CCC:

1996 Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is
favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to
his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the 153
divine nature and of eternal life.46

1997 Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us 375
into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian 260

participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted
son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only
Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him
and who forms the Church.

1998 This vocation to eternal life is supernatural. It depends 1719
entirely on God's gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and
give himself. It surpasses the power of human intellect and will, as

that of every other creature.47

1999 The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes
to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal
it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace 1966
received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification:48


Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old
has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from
God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.49


2000 Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and super-
natural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live
with God, to act by his love. Habitual grace, the permanent
disposition to live and act in keeping with God's call, is distinguished
from actual graces which refer to God's interventions, whether at the
beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification.

2001 The preparation of man for the reception of grace is already 490

a work of grace. This latter is needed to arouse and sustain our
collaboration in justification through faith, and in sanctification
through charity. God brings to completion in us what he has begun,
"since he who completes his work by cooperating with our will
began by working so that we might will it:"50


Indeed we also work, but we are only collaborating with God
who works, for his mercy has gone before us. It has gone
before us so that we may be healed, and follows us so that
once healed, we may be given life; it goes before us so that
we may be called, and follows us so that we may be glorified;
it goes before us so that we may live devoutly, and follows
us so that we may always live with God: for without him we
can do nothing.51


2002 God's free initiative demands man's free response, for God
has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with
freedom, the power to know him and love him. The soul only 1742
enters freely into the communion of love. God immediately
touches and directly moves the heart of man. He has placed in man
a longing for truth and goodness that only he can satisfy. The
promises of "eternal life" respond, beyond all hope, to this desire:


If at the end of your very good works . . ., you rested on the
seventh day, it was to foretell by the voice of your book that
at the end of our works, which are indeed "very good" since
you have given them to us, we shall also rest in you on the
sabbath of eternal life.52 2550


2003 Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies 1108
and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit
grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate
in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ,
the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different 1127
sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called

charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor,"
"gratuitous gift," "benefit."53 Whatever their character - sometimes
it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues
- charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended 799-801
for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of
charity which builds up the Church.54


See also Romans 5&6, Romans 11:1-7, Romans 12:1-8, Ephesians 2&3.

happybrew

[Grantspastor]

Greek word Charis...generally understood to be the unmerited favor of God. I am SO thankful for God's grace!
-We are saved by grace through faith
-We are what we are by the grace of God...that
is to say, the abilities and talents we have
come from God and are designed to be used for
His glory, and to advance the kingdom of God
-The Gifts of the Spirit are the charisma...or
gifts of grace.
-It is possible to grow in grace...in fact the
Bible says even Jesus as a child grew in grace
-It is available to all who seek...whether for
salvation, or for growing in the Lord
-I have thought about this a great deal, and
think that the chief ways God's grace is
poured into our lives is through prayer and
through the Word
-Grace is a revelation of the nature and
character of the Father. It is the way that He
wants to be known (read Exo 33 & 34 regarding
God's self-revelation to Moses who wanted to see
His "glory". God described His glory as "slow
to anger, forgiving, compassionate, full of
GRACE...etc)

I think that pretty much everything we receive from God is via His marvelous grace.

Amazing Grace! How can we show God's grace in our lives? By allowing the Holy Spirit to change us from glory to glory in the image of Christ. Ephesians 3 says "unto Him be glory in the church". With an Exo 33-34 understanding of "glory"...then it means that we grow contunually in our Christlikeness...even unto the standard of Eph 4:13 "attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ"

God said "learn what it means...I desire mercy not sacrifice". The reason many people are more comfortable talking to a bartender about their problems than a Pastor is that too many Pastors want "sacrifice" when God is saying come to Me just like you are.

I know this is an expansive topic...but it all
emanates from God's grace

[ 11-04-2003, 06:19 PM: Message edited by: Grantspastor ]

[Jennie@ifish]

I LOVE the bartender example!

Jen

[happybrew]

GP: I just got done preparing to teach tomorrow, and the material we are covering, while it doesn't deal specifically with God's grace, does deal with how we worship God, and "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is one of the bits of Scripture we'll be going over. We'll also be going over Hosea 6:6 "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.", and Malachi 1:11 "11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering". The fact is, there is only one pure offering that we can offer to God, and that is the atoning sacrifice of His Son. That is the wellspring of all grace, and the source of all salvation. It is truly a gift, not a reward.

If we don't know God, then we can't receive this gift. We come to know God through prayer and through Scripture, as you pointed out, but I think we also come to know God through the poor.

Matthew 25:37-40
37 Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? 38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? 39 And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' 40* And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'

How many times, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus do we fail to recognize our Lord? When we do, we lose wonderful opportunities for receiving grace. It is by living the Christian life, as well as by study and prayer that we come to know God, and when we do, our study and prayer become more fruitful and more meaningful for us.

When I was younger, I stopped going to church because I didn't feel I was getting anything out of it. This is a common thing. It wasn't until I stopped expecting to be served, and started to serve that a lot of things came together for me. There's book knowledge, and practical knowledge. You could read a book on how to ride a bike, and understand every word in it, and talk to all sorts of people who ride bikes about the subject, but that doesn't by any stretch mean that you know how to ride a bike. I think it's the same thing with faith. We come to know it in its practice more than we do in its study. I'm by no means trying to minimize the importance of Scripture study, but trying to point out that it's only a start. At some point, the the reading and praying needs to become doing in order for the understanding and expression of faith to become complete.

happybrew

[Grantspastor]

Good points HB. There are people who understand Greek and Hebrew better than I ever will....who study the Bible extensively...but don't know the Lord. Going to church and reading the Bible never saved anyone...those things only become meaningful after the relationship with the Father through Jesus and His atoning sacrifice are realities in our lives.

[happybrew]

Amen!

[duckcall]

Grace is when you have been really bad and your Mom comes in at bedtime with a fresh chocolate chip cookie and a glass of warm milk and tells you that she loves you because you are her child.

[letsfish]

Good one duckcall, I think we can all relate. As your example illustrates there is a lot of mercy going on.But wasn't that true with the writer of "Amazing Grace" he was humbled that such a great God would accept him a slave-trader, shipper. That God would die for him.
That's grace- that God takes you where you are at, not where someone thinks you should be.
HB and GP thanks for your input real to the core stuff with great scripture support.

[FM2]

What is God's Grace? Let's hear it from some of you who lead bible studies, as well as everyone else!

How awesome is it? How can we lead our lives so that we are more GRACEful to others? How can we apply Grace in our own lives?

What are some of the bible verses that mention God's Grace?

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">This is a deep topic and is often times misinterpreted by today’s terms much like the word “Love” is. There are many translations for Grace as have been mentioned, “How can we lead our lives so that we are more GRACEful to others” and “How can we apply Grace in our own lives”. These are two related but distinct interpretations of the word Grace.

In one sense there is the word Grace according to God and there is the word grace according to human translation.

First let’s look Grace according to God:

Grace first appears in Genesis 6:8 “But Noah found Grace in the eyes of the Lord”. Other translations indicate “favor”.

So given these two translations of “what is God’s Grace” by the earliest translations we can see this indicate what God is free to do in us and with us. In other words God has virtues such as love, humility, patience, faith, integrity, kindness, service, wisdom, generosity and many more. God, in the beginning has these to freely give to us once we accept and surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. These virtues translate into moral and ethical behavior to others in the love of Christ. Because of the depth of God’s virtues this is how the word Grace can be translated into other definitions and even into area’s that people can be comfortable with.

Ever wonder why people say “grace” before eating a meal. I do. I have thought of this over the years and have noticed some people “pray” before meals and some say “grace” before eating their meals. Is this the same thing? I think we have blended the two meanings of which both mean “giving thanks” for what we have to eat so this is a variation of what the word "Grace" can mean.

“How can we be more Graceful to others” This goes back to the virtues of the original Hebrew meaning of Grace, “chen” pronounced “khane”. The meaning is favor, pleasant and precious. These go back to the virtues of God that he has bestowed in each of us. If we love God with all our heart, all our mind and all our soul then we become Christ like in having these virtues towards others. Of course sometimes it’s hard to love our neighbors as we love ourselves but just letting down the guard one time to show this love can bring rewards beyond what could be expected. There is one scripture I recommend everyone memorize and I know this is not easy to do as I struggle with it myself but if a person can memorize Galatians 5:22&23 one of these fruits, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control can apply to nearly every situation a person may find themselves in. Not all of these will apply but at least one will and the next time you find yourself in an uncomfortable or even a comfortable situation try to remember these fruits and you will have the grace of God in you to apply to the situation.

“How can we apply Grace in our own lives” I guess if we were all like Jesus this would be easy but unfortunately we are human and make mistakes. Believe me I have eaten my share of leather and it doesn’t taste very good but as I age and learn more about Christ the less I have to eat that nasty, chewy stuff! God’s virtues are a gift we receive and if the recipient uses those gifts then Grace will become embedded into hearts and will become obvious by others.

If we remember by the earliest definition of Grace, we are “precious” to God so as a body of Christ each person is “precious” to each other. But this doesn’t just apply to believers, this applies to the non-believers also as children of Christ are called to display the love or “virtues” of Christ to everyone.

There are many examples of God’s grace in the bible and I would recommend a concordance to look up the 170 times the word “Grace” is used in 159 different versus. Also there is a Hebrew and Greek definition to “Grace”. The Old Testament will contain the Hebrew definition and the New Testament will have the Greek definition.

So to sum it up "Grace" is the power of "God".

Sorry to ramble, just had to give a few $$$$ worth!

[Grantspastor]

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:4 to people that were embracing "another" Gospel...he said "you who are trying to be justified by the law have FALLEN from grace"

-Pointed
-Powerful
-Definitive

Grace is the opposite of legalism

On the other hand...the Book of Hebrews says that
the grace of God "teaches us to say no to ungodliness"...the Book of Jude says there are
those who change the grace of God into a "license" for sin.

Amazing isn't it? How balanced God is! If only all of His church were that balanced. I tell people that I have been perfectly balanced in my life...but usually it occurs as I'm crossing the center line from one extreme to the other

[SMC]

Very good stuff. I enjoy theological discussions. One other way I see God's grace at work. I see him using the US and other countries to rescue an Islamic nation from a dictator (Saddam Hussein)who has killed millions of innocent people. He has also opened the door to have the gospel preached in that previously closed nation.

[happybrew]

GP: I'm reminded of Matthew 23:23

23"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Justice, mercy, faithfulness are how we are to exhibit our love. Furthermore, because we cannot lay claim to the grace God gives us to make it possible, we should truly be, as the Gospel says prior to that in the same chapter,

11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

If we are servants, we cannot claim ownership of what we have and use. They belong to the Master. A servant who claims it's all his will certainly get in trouble with the boss!

happybrew

[happybrew]

Originally posted by Jennie@ifish:
Men and women must take a feminine place
of yielding before him. That anyone could discover this in themselves is
evidence of grace.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">This is so true! It reminds me of Eph 5


22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[2] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[3] 32This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church.


While Paul was talking about husbands and wives, at the same time he was talking about the relationship between Jesus and the Church. This relationship is also referred to in Revelation, where there is reference to the Lamb and the bride of the Lamb. When we yield, and accept God's grace, then, as a husband and wife becoming one flesh, we become members of the body of Christ. As Paul says, it's a profound mystery, but there it is.

happybrew

[Jennie@ifish]

In my search for the true meaning of Grace... :smile:
I asked our very own ifish tech, Vaughn.

Here is his reply: (I always love his stuff. When ifish is down, or we are in the process of moving hosts, I always learn so much! This man is a wealth of knowledge!)

Some thoughts:


Grace is something that can't be seperated from a person giving it. There must
be a relationship between two people in order to consciously experience grace.
Some in the history of the church have distinguished between common and special
grace. God works through his church on the larger culture. The benefits of
this are called "common grace". Something like this is described in the
passage in Timothy where Paul says Christ is the saviour of all men (even those
who don't believe). They don't know why things go well for them, they aren't
conscious of reality.


But as people awaken to their own sinful condition, they must have an answer
for their condition, or they must despair or become monsters. One who awakens
to what Christ has done for him, even while he was an enemy, begins to know
grace. Like Mary Magdelene, who because she had sinned much, she loved much.
She knew her sin, and knew that Christ's grace covered it. She knew that
Christ knew her condition and yet he accepted her. He wasn't requiring her to
perform in any way. Only that she see her condition and come to him without
pretense. We so often want to be ok and self-contained, godlike. But we are
needy creatures, and health can only come as we acknowledge that to him.
Otherwise we are playing god like Adam and Eve.


Rom 2:~5 speaks of Christ's long suffering, that we would repent. This is an
aspect of grace.


As I see the depravity of my own soul, and the general mess out in our society,
the only way I can act is if I know God is sovereign over it all, and that he
brings good things for us, his children. He is saving me, not the strength of
my actions. There is an aspect of grace here. The more I go through the
internal paranoias, the more I learn that they are a symptom of lack of faith
in Christ. So instead of trying to protect myself, I can meditate on "Christ
has brought this for my good. He is in charge, and I can trust him in it. I
can yield to what he has ordained." Men and women must take a feminine place
of yielding before him. That anyone could discover this in themselves is
evidence of grace.


Some thoughts... Hopefully they spark some insight for you. His grace is far
beyond words to communicate. If we have understood it (I Cor 8:2), we realize
that we really don't comprehend it at all yet. But somehow, a key part of it
is that God is active recovering us from the dead, regardless of our ability to
perform.


vaughn

[SKP]

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Ephesians 2:8-9, For by Grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

God's amazing grace is saving a sinner from eternal punishment, giving him what he doesn't deserve, and that's a home in heaven for eternity. I don't understand how God could save me, I've sinned. Now that's grace, God's forgiveness of sins!

SKP