Grace Given with Forgiveness

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms - all because we are one with Christ Jesus. And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Ephesians 2:4-9

Max Lucado brings up a beautiful set of scriptures in his book, Come Thristy.
“Look how grace defines us. We are:
- spiritually alive: ‘he gave us life’ (v.5);
- heavenly positioned: ‘seated with him in the heavenly realms’ (v.6);
- connected to God: ‘one with Christ Jesus’ (v.6);
- billboards of mercy: ’examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us’ (v.7);
- honored children: ‘God saved you by his special favor’ (v.8).”

Webster’s American Dictionary has 19 definitions of this word, grace. Number 9 is divided into 4 different sub-definitions. The freely given, unmerited favor and love of God. The influence or spirit of God operating in humans. A virtue or excellence of divine origin. The condition of being in God’s favor or one of the elect.

And we don’t deserve any of the goodness God chooses to give us, yet we are chosen by Him to do great and mighty works in His name. We are chosen to go out into the world and tell them of His great love for them, that He sent His son, Jesus to die for all of us. I can hardly imagine why God wanted to chose me of all people to be His chosen daughter but He did and I’m so glad He did. The weekend He chose to save me He also chose to save 2 of my best friends with me and we’ve become like ’blood’ sisters throughout the lives we’ve lived. How many people can say God saved them with two of their best friends the same weekend? The two I was saved with are two of the sweetest mothers I know on earth. Have we messed up as teenagers, young adults, and even young mothers/wives - uh yeah! But God still loves each one of us with the same passion He had when He sought us out and saved us that weekend together. I know one of them is a blog follower of mine which flatters me beyond belief. And she is one of the reasons I try to do a blogspot every night. Hey Betsy! Love you and thanks for encouraging me to continue writing and to try and find an audience to listen to me and my rantings.

So back to my topic of grace. We all come to the cross with the same issue on our heart, sin. Sin to God is sin no matter what it is or where it has been or where it wants to keep taking you. Sin is sin to Holy God. We must all accept that we are all sinners and come short of any glory at the foot of the cross. But the great thing about Jesus’ Cross is that the forgiveness sets all of us free the same way with the same amount of love, grace, and forgiveness. It only takes one drop of Jesus’ blood to forgive us and He shed more than that at Calvary. We can also use that same love, grace, and forgiveness to do unto others as we’ve had done unto us. We need to love each other and extend the same kind of grace and forgiveness to others who may have harmed us.

Forgiveness is a hard thing for many of us. Our pride wants to continue to hang onto to that hurt for just a little while longer. Did you realize that God gives us forgiveness so that we will forgive others? Yes, He does. Ephesians 4:22-32 speaks of our former selves in relation to sin and the way we handled situations outside of grace.

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ’In your anger do not sin’: Don not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

There it is in verse 32 at the end of chapter four… ’forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’ We are required as Christians to forgive each other and the lost as well. God didn’t grant Christians special favor to harbor anything against another individual, we are REQUIRED to forgive, just as He forgave us and continues to forgive us. As the pastor where I attend here in Memphis said this past Sunday, “You have NOT arrived.” We need to quit thinking because we have salvation we have free reign to judge, persecute and walk around with unforgiveness. WRONG! Because of our salvation we need to walk a little more humbled by our circumstance and offer more love, grace, and forgiveness to those around us.