The Purpose of Grace

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:11-14)

          Grace is defined as unmerited or undeserved favor. Salvation means deliverance from sin and its consequences … AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. Do you understand what that means? Anything we have ever done of an ungodly nature has been completely removed from the record books. It’s as if you never did or said that thing. The mercy God shows us an example of how we are to treat others. His favor is also supposed to teach us to say ‘no’ to that which we have now discovered is ungodly behavior. Without the standard that God has provided for all mankind, we would never have known what was right and what was wrong. There has to be a standard to live by. It can’t just be live and let live. Imagine living in a country where there were no laws. You could do whatever seemed right to you. The problem with that is what seems right to you may seem wrong to others. Without standards conflict arises and chaos is the ultimate result. 

          We must never lose sight of the fact that Jesus Christ willingly gave His own life in exchange for ours. We were bound for an everlasting hell as the consequences of the ungodly lives we had led. In God’s economy sin must be paid for. There was a payment due. It’s what I refer to as our sin-debt. Christ paid that debt without hesitation. Almighty God sent His Son to earth to live among us for a time. The full purpose of His coming was to reveal the mercy of God to us all. The culmination of His coming was to die in our place so that we might live. All this was designed to redeem us from all evil and show us the way to a fulfilling life in Him. We are supposed to be eager to do good in the sight of God. The grace God bestows upon us allows for our purification. Let us stay clean in His sight going forward so that Christ’s death was not in vain. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries