God’s Saving Grace

This post will be more helpful for a new believer but if you’re a strong believer, I hope this post is a good reminder and an encouragement for your walk with the Lord!

When asking God what He wanted me to share, the topic of His grace kept coming to my mind. Not only His grace, but the Christian walk in general. I have received some questions from my friends who are curious about my faith and I would like to address some of those questions in this post. I hope this helps!

Christianity or the life of a Christian could be thought of in terms of 3 stages:

1. Justification: When we are saved. A one time occurrence, in which we are declared righteous before God through our faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Sanctification: An ongoing process that the Christian goes through until the day of glorification; a process of becoming more Christ-like.
3. Glorification: occurs when we depart from earth and are with Christ.

Salvation: We are saved by His grace alone.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.

Romans 1:5

To be saved all you have to do is accept the gift of God’s grace and believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save you from the punishment of your sins.

Henry Allen Ironside once said: “Grace is the very opposite of merit… Grace is not only undeserved favor, but it is favor, shown to the one who has deserved the very opposite.”

We cannot earn our way into heaven, like some religions believe. Our salvation is based on God’s grace alone. God’s grace is undeserved, unmerited, and unfailing.

Sanctification – Growing in Christ-likeness

Once you receive the Holy Spirit: You are a new creation and have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to do God’s will.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17

I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26

If you are a Christian and have received the Spirit, others should be able to see the attributes of the Spirit within you.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

I will go deeper into the Holy Spirit another time, but for this, I simply wanted to highlight that those who belong to Christ, are very much a new creation and have freedom from their sin.

For the new believer or for the one who is just curious about Christianity, I wanted to explain that there is a literal transformation that a person goes through when they are saved and receive the Holy Spirit.

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Romans 6:22

God is a God of love. Jesus took the punishment of sin that we deserved when he died for us on the cross. He loved us even when we were sinners (Romans 5:8) Jesus died for our past, present, and future sins.

We should not take advantage of this grace, however. For unbelievers, they may not understand why Christians obey God or follow the 10 commandments if we are already saved and cannot earn our way into heaven.

To them I say this: Once you have a relationship with God, you no longer desire to do things of the flesh. Does that mean we never give into our fleshly desires? No. We sin everyday – we are still human after all. But a Christian’s priority shifts from themselves to honoring and pleasing God.

In addition to wanting to please God, as a Christian, you are called to set your mind on things above (Colossians 3:2) and submit to the will of God (James 4:7). If we now, being in the spirit, know that God’s will is good and that often our own will (or lifestyle you could say) leads us to disappointment, sadness, and emptiness, why would we keep following our old ways?

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:5

Here’s another question I received about being a Christian: Why do Christians feel compelled to share their faith with others?

In addition to explaining the Great Commission (God’s command for us to go out and make disciples -Matthew 28:19), I simply posed this question: How will people know about the hope of eternity if we do not share it with them?

I wish I said a more complete answer to be honest but I think it got my friend thinking. Billy Graham said it much better than I did:

“For the believer there is hope beyond the grave, because Jesus Christ has opened the door to heaven for us by His death and resurrection.”

Billy Graham

We (referring to myself and other believers) want others to experience what we experience through the Spirit. We want people to share this hope we have in Jesus, to experience the joy and peace we have knowing that we can trust God and the promises He has for our lives.

For my friend who may be reading this: I care about you, your life, and your eternity. So, that is why I share my faith. You know who also cares about you? God.

God didn’t have to create us, but He did. He wanted a relationship with us. He will not force Himself upon you, but He is always near and He will forgive you if you are ready to let Him into your life.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Revelation 3:20

Because God gave us free will, people will choose their own ways.

By this, I mean people will choose to commit horrible things, to be selfish, sinful, deceitful, etc. So, why do bad things happen? Not because of God, but because we live in a sinful world, in a world filled with people who choose to do bad things.

Good news is that one day sin will be defeated and those who belong to God will be able to rejoice with God in heaven!

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Revelation 21:4

I want to make one final point. If you couldn’t already tell, being a Christian means much more than following a bunch of rules. It is a lot more than being a “religious person.” Being a Christian means having a personal relationship with Jesus.

As a Christian, I know that my life in this world is temporary. I have hope for eternity, when sin will be defeated, and I will be able to rejoice in heaven with my loving and holy Father.

Thank you for reading! I hope you have a blessed day and a very Merry Christmas 🎄

Olivia (: