3Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in
Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in
love, 5having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus
Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6to
the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted
in the Beloved. 7In Him we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
8which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and
prudence, 9having made known to us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself (Eph.1:
3-9)
[i].
What is grace? We
often hear it throughout our studies of God’s word, but what exactly
is it? Grace is listed some 148 times in the New King James Version,
and this does not count its derivatives of graceful, gracious, and
graciously! By definition it is “favor or kindness shown without
regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it and in spite
of what that person deserves. Grace is one of the key attributes of
God. The Lord God is “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and
abounding in goodness and truth” (Exo. 34:6). Therefore, grace is
almost always associated with mercy, love, compassion, and patience”.[ii]
In the Old
Testament, the supreme example of grace was the redemption of the
Hebrew people from
Egypt
and their establishment in the Promised Land. This did not happen
because of any merit on Israel’s part, but in spite of their
unrighteousness (Deut. 7:7–8; 9:5–6).
The grace of God was
supremely revealed and given in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was not only the beneficiary of God’s grace:
40And
the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and
the grace of God was upon Him. (Luke 2:40),
but was also the very
embodiment of it:
14And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14),
bringing it
to mankind for salvation:
11For the
grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (Titus 2:11).
By His death and
resurrection, Jesus restored the broken fellowship between God and His
people, both Jew and Gentile. The only way of salvation for any
person is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts
15:11) and
4I thank my God always concerning you for the
grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:4).
God also uses His
grace to make His will be known to us, such as in the case of Paul,
8To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this
grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to make all see what is
the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages
has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
(Eph. 3:8-9).
But you ask, “How
can I receive it?” In Ephesians we find this very answer, and
the only answer, it is given freely,
4There
is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of
your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you
all.7But to each one of us grace was given according to the
measure of Christ’s gift. (Eph. 4:4-7)
So through the gift
of our Lord Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for the redemption
of our sins, we find that we are able to receive this wonderful gift.
The glorious love and favor of a loving Father, through the sacrifice
of His only begotten Son, allows us to receive this most miraculous
gift.
Now you ask, “What
must I do?”
You must be saved!
“But how do I do
that?” you wonder. I have heard so many different stories of how to be
saved.”
It is achieved
through the instructions found in the Scriptures. For Christ tells us,
21“Not
everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
(Matt. 7:21)
This means that we
must do as we are directed by the word of God, which allows us to
receive the glorious plan of salvation, by having a faith in the word
of God; we can achieve this most generous favor from a loving God.
“What
exactly is this plan of salvation?”
First,
you must hear the word of God:
17So
then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom. 10:17)
Then you must
believe,
6But
without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him. (Heb. 11:6) and,
15And He said to them, “Go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16“He
who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16)
You must
repent:
38Then
Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) and,
3“I
tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3)
Then
you must believe:
6But
without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him. (Heb. 11:6) and,
15And
He said to them, “Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. 16“He
who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16) and,
You
must confess Christ before men:
32“Therefore
whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My
Father who is in heaven. 33“But
whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father
who is in heaven. (Matt. 10:32-33)
You
must be baptized:
5Jesus
answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God (John 3:5) and,
38Then
Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) and,
36Now
as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch
said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being
baptized?” 37Then Philip said, “If you believe with all
your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God.” 38So he commanded the chariot to
stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water,
and he baptized him. (Acts 8:36-38) and,
16‘And
now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your
sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ (Acts 22:16) and,
20who
formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited
in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which
a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21There
is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God),
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 3: 20-21).
These are but a
scant few of the verses that apply to baptism)
Then, one must
remain faithful:
...Be
faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Rev. 2:10)
If we do these
things we will receive the greatest gift of our most heavenly Father,
which is the gift of grace through His loving Son, Jesus Christ!
Grace
Copyright © 2000 by Bud Paine
Permission is
granted to make and distribute verbatim electronic copies of this
document provided the copyright notice, reference material credits,
and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
[i]
All Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version
© 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishing, Inc. Nashville,
Tenn. Used by permission.
