Comprehensive Grace

God’s undeserved favor is spiritually comprehensive, all-encompassing, and fully satisfactory for all of life’s opportunities and challenges. There is absolutely no circumstance or situation we can find ourselves in that God’s grace is inadequate to address with formidable competence. The tragedy is many Believers are not aware of how all-inclusive grace truly is. We often drag on through life without the necessary power or prowess relying on mere human wit and grit. The result is a growing sense that something is missing. There is little to no challenge to discovering what God avails to us. Even a cursory reading of the Word of God, will disclose many facets of God’s all-purpose lubricant for life. It is called grace—unmerited kindness from God—and anybody breathing is eligible for it if only we humble ourselves confessing our need for more. Consider just five of many areas God’s grace, all-purpose life lubricant, is applicable.   

SAVING GRACE

What is grace? No doubt you are familiar with the acrostic for G-R-A-C-E—God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Grace can also be described as the unmerited favor of God towards humanity. The Apostle Paul defined saving grace in Ephesians, 2:8, 9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” We are entirely undeserving of God’s favor as sinners; He independently takes the initiative to grant us salvation motivated purely by His own character and love. The late pastor and Bible scholar Donald Barnhouse perhaps said it best: “Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace.” God’s grace can never be deserved or earned; it is afforded entirely by a benevolent God who stoops down low to fervently extend kindnesses to us. Dr. J. Vernon McGee aptly explains God’s unwarranted benevolences in his Thru the Bible commentary saying,

The grace of God is the passion of God to share all His goodness with others. Grace means that God wants to bestow upon you good things, goodnesses. He wants to make you fine and noble, and He wants to bring you into the likeness of His Son.

With regards to salvation God does for us what we could never do for ourselves no matter how hard we try; He delivers us from the eternal consequences of our sins because He is gracious. Though we are utterly unworthy of it, salvation is given to us on the basis of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (MacDonald & Farstad). Through a definite trust in the Son of God and belief of the Gospel as God's solution for our sin problem a person can be saved by God's grace (Rom. 10:8-17). Clearly, Paul said, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). Christ suffered tremendously that we sinners might be saved through His sacrifice for sins. Since forgiveness for sin and a relationship with God are freely offered at Christ’s expense, why not repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ to be saved? Trust Christ and God will save you by His infinite grace.

SUFFICIENT GRACE

Did you know God’s grace is also truly sufficient for whatever challenges we are facing? Regardless of the nature of the challenge, at times God affords grace  instead of a fantastic miracle. Believe me God does not cheat us in any way at all by offering us grace instead of a supernatural production. Often we want to see God divide the Red Sea to give us passage beyond the present obstacles, but sometimes He prefers to change us. This is not a denial that He can perform such miracles; He is the Lord God omnipotent and He can do anything consistent with His character and will. Still, He knows it is better in some instances to minister deeply inside us to affect a greater miracle that will better prepare us for life's challenges. This is evident from Paul’s own struggles with a thorn in his flesh. 

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Cor. 12:8, 9).

Sufficient means enough to satisfy the needs of any given situation. God’s favor is the capability and adequacy for taking on a particular purpose or challenge; by His grace He makes us sufficient. Because sufficient grace strengthens, the weak are made strong by the “power of Christ”! Though God opted to leave the challenges or perplexities in place with Paul, He provided compensation in the form of internal strength to deal with these persisting developments. The Lord Jesus did not change Paul’s circumstance on this occasion; He chose instead to change the Christian! In the final analysis, Paul received from God the wherewithal to function according to God’s designs for him in spite of the "thorn in the flesh." I think we make a serious mistake when we relegate grace to only the conversion experience (Eph. 2:8, 9). God intends for His grace to serve a far more comprehensive role in our experiences as the children of God. If you are overwhelmed by life’s hurts, frustrations, and hindrances, look to God for more grace. He can strengthen us to make us fit for the challenges we must plow through for His glory. We are not being cheated by God when He denies us an overt miracle. He is still offering us the capacity to overcome life's nastiest challenges by giving us His all-sufficient grace. No, nothing is wrong with our faith to prevent us from getting what we wanted from God. He simply wants you to have something better instead of something good. 

SERVING GRACE

As Believers, this same grace takes the form of blessings, opportunities, power, and the wherewithal to function as a generous Christian in the service of our Lord. Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church saying, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). Once again man’s incredible inability provides opportunities to showcase God’s infinite all ability! God promises the generous heart will have the resources, abilities, and opportunities to continue to be generous. Actually He will see to it in abundant fashion, regardless of the desperate circumstances of the giver (Phil. 4:11–13; 1 Kings 17:9–16; 2 Cor. 8:1–3). God is able to supply us with resources so that we will both have a sufficiency ourselves, and are able to share with others (MacDonald & Farstad). As a result, we have enough for supporting every good work, endeavor, mission, and project for God’s glory. This divine supply is not necessarily meager; consider Dr. Wiersbe’s characterization of it:

To begin with, we start to share God’s abundant grace (2 Cor. 9:8). The “universals” in this verse are staggering: all grace; always; all sufficiency; every good work. This does not mean that God makes every Christian wealthy in material things; but it does mean that the Christian who practices grace giving will always have what he needs when he needs it. Furthermore, the grace of God enriches him morally and spiritually so that he grows in Christian character. In his walk and his work, he depends wholly on the sufficiency of God.

In addition, there are many other areas of Christian service that grace is absolutely essential to (Rom. 12:6; 15:15; 1 Cor. 3:10; 15:10). The Apostle Paul wrote Scripture boldly, served more effectively and fruitfully, and advanced church planting as a wise master builder all by God’s wonderful grace. He ascribes all credit for these successful endeavors to the grace of God working mightily in him. Yes, serving grace is quite comprehensive in application.

SANCTIFYING GRACE

In fact, God’s grace is a fantastic teacher of godliness, soberness, moral strength, righteousness, and our blessed hope in “the glorious appearing of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Ti. 2:11-15). The same grace that saves a sinner will also sanctify a saint! Sanctification refers to the entire process of spiritual growth and Christ-like formation throughout the Christian life. Grace plays an integral role in our development. The idea that the grace of God permits Believers to excuse and wallow in sin is absolutely foreign to the Scriptures. No, God’s grace makes the drunkard sober, the prostitute pure, the minister effective, the Christian servant competent, the Christian holy, the teacher wise, the thief a giver, the liar honest, the adulterer devoted to their spouse, the sexually immoral chaste unto Christ, and the idolater a worshiper of the True and Living God. Yes, grace will rid us of some spots and stains from the world’s system; it will install gracious character and inner moral fortitude as well. Our Lord’s grace will supply us with a strong sense of right and wrong as well as discernment between good, better, and best options when making decisions. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ stimulates radical as well as refining changes in Believers’ experiences. The life instructed by grace is clearly a testimony to God’s active favor…much like a well-kept garden, it is flourishing--alive with growth. It is not an ignored garden overgrown with weeds and neglect. God maintains His people helping us progress and appreciate in likeness to Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).

STEWARDING GRACE

Yes, the favor of God is as variegated as the colors of a brilliant rainbow (1 Pet. 4:10) and therefore adequate for all life and ministry challenges we may face! God gives us everything we need to live a devoted life and to fulfill His will.  This grace also encompasses stewarding our lives to advance our Lord’s purposes.

God’s favor is grand, spacious, wonderful, most accommodating, ever sufficient, multifaceted, undeserved, multi-layered, and absolutely amazing. Yes, I am referring to God’s amazing GRACE! It is more amazing then this incredibly inviting scene in Canada featured with this article. Each of us Believers have been entrusted with a ministry of stewarding God’s infinite grace (1 Pet. 4:10-11). “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10). Two facts can be recognized in this passage: 1) Every Believer has a Spiritual Gift for the functions and the ministry of their church.  Every believer should be exercising his or her spiritual gift to build up their church. 2) We are to be good stewards of the multi-colored grace of God as we live and serve. A steward is a slave who was given the responsibility of the master’s estate, both his home and property. These servants had full charge of the master’s affairs. Likewise, we Christians have been given something to manage for our Master, the Lord Jesus:

·        Our Spiritual Gifts have been given to us to achieve the work of God

·        Our Ministry in our church to others is a responsibility to govern for the Lord

·        Our Finances and Income are to be wisely invested for Him as well

·        Our Time to execute His priorities must be diligently managed

·        Our Opportunities and Potential are to be maximized for His glory

Again the manifold grace refers to the multi-colored grace of God. Whatever the need in ministry, God has just the right color of grace to help us through it so we may continue with our functions for His glory. Note the multi-colored grace of our Lord:

·        When we feel somewhat BLUE, God has the perfect color of grace to lift our spirits

·        When we see RED because we are angry, God has the right color grace to help us respond graciously and not react regrettably

·        When we are feeling a little YELLOW, God has the proper grace to give us courage to stand for Him and righteousness

·        When we feel tainted, BLACK and dirty, God’s comprehensive Grace can cleanse us as WHITE as snow

·        When we feel a little BROWN and stale, God’s Grace revives and refreshes us to make us GREEN and fruitful again

Think about it, if God has all the varieties of graces we could ever need to do what He calls us to, then there are no circumstances that He cannot help us through. Again since God’s grace is so comprehensive, there is no task that should be left unfinished! Concluding that God’s grace really is sufficient opens up all the will of God to us for exploration with pure confidence in Him. Yes, like the grace of our Lord, we are marvelously fit for whatever opportunities God affords us! Not in and of ourselves, but thoroughly by His grace operating in our lives. More grace is ours as we have need when we humbly walk in the Spirit to prosecute God’s will (Jam. 4:6). In addition, we can cry out to God for more grace in our time of need; appeals at His “Throne of Grace” are heard on the basis of our wonderful High Priest, Jesus Christ (Heb. 4:14-16). Therefore, my beloved Brethren, go ahead…go strong…go all the way in the grace of our Lord Jesus.