Grace... So what??

Tonight was my turn to do Bible Study, It went pretty well I think. People were left kind of quiet so hopefully that is a good thing! I decided that I would talk about Grace. This is because of a comment my dad left me on the blog 'Ive Changed' saying "Grace is a good thing!". I had no idea what he meant by this so I asked him. Of course dad being dad said "do a word study on grace and get back to me"

So thats how it all began! These are my notes from my bible study 'What I've learnt about Grace'

Studying Grace

I started by reading different articles on the net bout Grace

Just about all of them summed up grace as Gods free and undeserving gift of salvation to us all

That wasn’t what dad was looking for though; he wanted me to read every verse with the word grace in it. I found 124 verses in the bible, and no way was I going to read all those (I did try but that confused me more). So I went back to reading up articles on the internet. I decided that in order to be like Jesus we had to live by Grace, and grace was being able to forgive others sins committed towards us without expecting anything back in return. I gave dad my answer and he was happy enough with it, even though he said I would never stop learning about Grace.

I then got a book off Aaron called ‘transforming Grace’ I found that this gave a further explanation of Grace and what it is all about to live by Grace.

What is Grace?

Gods free and undeserving gift of salvation to us all

Romans 3:10-12
10As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
No one deserves more of Gods grace than another person. Whether we Christians or whether we are murderers. In Gods eyes we are all equally sinful. No matter what the sin we have committed is.

Isaiah 53:6
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all
That’s one of the best descriptions of sin in the bible, ‘each of us has turned his own way’ sin is going our own way, rebelling against God, any act done that is without reference to God. For example, one person’s way may be to give money to a charity while another person’s way is to rob a bank. But neither act is done with reference to God, both persons have gone ‘his own way’

Romans 11:6
6And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace
Some people believe that in order to be saved, we must work and do good to prove to God that we are worthy, as well as believing that God saved us by Grace. This isn’t what Gods Grace is about. God sent us his son to die for us so that we will live eternally with him. It is only by Grace we are saved.

Titus 2:11-12
11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
Therfore we are able to live by Grace and by doing so, be moved to do good works/deeds

Living by Grace

Matthew 20:1-16 – The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5So they went.
"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
8"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
13"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
In this parable, Jesus is telling us that in the kingdom of heaven, Gods rewards system is not based on merit but on grace. The landowner represents God, showing us that God is graciously aware of our needs and is always working to meet them.

To live like Jesus we must live gracefully

Colossians 3:12-14
12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

To live with Grace we need to have the characteristics described above. We must be able to show compassion, kindness, humility and gentleness towards others. As well as forgiveness and forbearance

First of all we must be thankful to God for everything he has done for us. By having a thankfull attitude, this will lead us to feel content. In feeling content, living by Grace will be easier. Its hard to show Grace towards others if we feel unhappy with who we are or what we have.

We must show compassion towards others. In other words we must be able to show mercy, pity towards others. Show them that we care. Show kindness and love to everyone! Not just people you like or know, but everyone!

We must ‘clothe ourselves in humility’. Living with pride is the opposite of living with humility, a person with pride would say ‘because I have been faithful and obedient god has blessed me’. Where as a person living with humility would say ‘because of Gods grace at work in me, I have been motivated and enabled to be faithful and obedient’

Forbearance pretty much means ‘put up with’ each other, or be patient with one another. We must put up with or over look the faults and thoughtless acts of others. Again be able to show compassion and kindness to them, even if they annoy you to wits end!

Forgiveness, My dad mentioned the parable of the unmerciful servant
Matthew 18:21-35
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
This parable is pretty self explanatory. We must be able to forgive others as God has forgiven us. If not, he will treat us like the master treated his unmerciful servent

So this is pretty much a summary of what I have learnt in the past few weeks! I must say it is much easier to live by Grace while all your doing is reading and talking about it. Now the challange comes now that I have 'finished' my word study.

Hope you have all learnt something by reading this! May the Grace of God be with you always!

Love and GODBLESS!
Amy
xxoo