Grace, in greek is Charis.
There are staples in the Christian faith that everyone just assumes you live. Maybe assuming is a strong word. My point is that it was something I never understood growing up. How could someone live by grace as the bible calls us to.
?I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God?s grace given me through the working of his power.? ~Ephesians 3:7
That it?s solely by the grace of God that we are able to become his servants. When we submit ourselves to the work of this gospel God will pour upon us the power and strength we seek from Him to endure through the tasks he puts before us. That without that grace, we would simply fall flat on our faces.
?Are you foolish? After beginning with the spirit are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?? ~Galatians 3:3
We won?t be able to anything with the gospel if we try to go it alone, without Christ. That even starting something with God doesn?t mean it will become fruitful and complete, we must seek Him throughout the entire process. What does this have to do with receiving grace?
For us to be able to even start something for Christ, be it a change in ourselves or reaching out to the world, we must accept that there is nothing we can do to get there. No matter what skills and gifts you have, the only ones that will get you near and across the finish line come from God himself. You must ask for what you need in order to receive it, you must ask for grace to receive it.
?For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!? ~Romans 6:14
Our lives prior to accepting Christ were enslaved to sin and the pleasures associated with it. Living to quench the hunger that brought temporary satisfaction. When we accept the payment Jesus made for our sins he effectually bought us and became our new master. So that we are no longer bound by sin rather by our obedience and love of the Father whom paid for our death.
?With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.? ~2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
That he ?may be? glorified. We are but slaves to our master, we are his representation here on earth and we ought live our lives so that our Father will be glorified through us. That in Christ we will be glorified, just as he is through us. That we are to accept the grace of God and Jesus into who we are, and realize that we are also in God.
There is a calling for each of us, something set aside for us to do in our lifetime. His calling is for us to become like Christ by grace. That we would receive grace in us, and in him. That our solitude would be firm in him and the things which we need we would ask for in faith and believe that we have received that which we need for the tasks at hand.
Practically:
There is nothing we can do to earn grace aside from accepting it. In living a life for the Lord we must accept that which he has freely given us, his never-ending grace. We must find ourselves living because of grace rather then for or in spite of grace, something we could never earn.
Questions:
-What of your life enslaved to sin are you still hanging on to? Why haven?t you let go yet?
-What in your life are you scared you won?t succeed in? What parts of that have you not lifted completely to the Lord?
-We?re called to be like Christ, what attribute of Jesus do you desire the most? How would attaining that affect your life?
Seek the face of Christ,
~paul