Grace's transformative power
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10
Those who have been born again comprehend this truth, “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9. We are saved by God's grace alone through faith in Christ. Grace overrides human pride and self-righteousness, so grace alone is salvation.
What is grace? It refers to God's unmerited favor and divine enablement for salvation, as well as believers' ongoing sanctification. Ultimately, salvation comes through the Holy Spirit's conviction of the grace of God. Many people have no problem accepting the popular concept, “God is love”, however, it doesn’t make them accept the gift of salvation until the influence of the Holy Spirit helps us receive God's grace, which means that we realize we once were at enmity with God (James 4:4) so everyone who repents from our sin and accepts Jesus as our Savior, is adopted into God's family as a child of God. Salvation is the free gift by the grace of God.
In addition to salvation, every believer will grow in faith by God's grace. Consequently, we all need the grace of God every day to be sanctified and transformed to be more Christ-like, which is the process of sanctification. Let's take Paul as an example, for he writes in today's key verse, "By the grace of God I am what I am". Paul was once zealous to persecute Christ, then by the grace of God, became zealous to preach Christ. As a result of his radical conversion and ongoing sanctification, and Paul doesn't boast about himself, but credits all His "good works" as "grace works."
'Amazing grace' is the best known hymn written by John Newton. In it, he sums up grace's powerful gift and transformation power: "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see.”
It is by God's grace that we don't have to exert our human efforts to live a "good life", because living in grace transforms us to know Him, to be like Him and make Him known, and grace, like every blessing from the cross, is permanent, so let us rejoice in it.
Blessing prayer: Through God's grace, we become children of God and become more like Jesus, not through our works but through grace empowered by the Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen
