"Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins."
Hebrews 9:22
"7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1:7)
Jesus' blood is vital to Grace. Why? Because God had to provide a sacrifice (His Son) to die for us so that we would not have to die, for men could not die eternally for their sins.
"8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).
The word "save" means to rescue or deliver one from harm or danger. You see, sin endangers and harms our soul by condemning us to eternal punishment. But God offers us deliverance even though we do not deserve such deliverance. Thus, deliverance from sin is not of ourselves but it a gift of God. So it is of "Grace," which is "unmerited favor."
"5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—" (Ephesians 2:5)
According to Ephesians 2:5, and 8, we are saved by "Grace" through faith. Again, "Grace" is the unmerited favor of God. God's Grace is not provided by an automatic bestowal of favor just because Christ died. Nor is it granted by just a mental acceptance of Jesus. We don't "get saved" by some "better felt than telt" process. God's Grace is not offered to us in some mysterious manner.
"4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7).
Because of God's great love toward us, He gave His rich mercy to show the exceeding richness of His Grace in His kindness toward us.
"3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:3-7).
Because of God's loving-kindness, mercy, and Grace, He saved and justified us. The word "justify" means to declare one to be right or just; to pronounce one to be what he must be. We do not merit or deserve such a righteous standing before our Almighty God because of the deeds we have done. Rather, we have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sin deserves punishment, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). So, without Jesus' sacrifice and His blood, our deeds, our sins merit their due punishment. We do not deserve our right standing before God, our Creator! We can never deserve eternal life, for we have all sinned against God. We have the hope of eternal life only because of what God did for us by sending His Son to be sacrificed so that we might have the forgiveness of our sins. Despite all this that Jesus did for the forgiveness of our sins, we cannot be saved unconditionally without us doing our part. We are not worthy of the smallest of God’s blessings, but that does not mean that our obedience to the Gospel call has no value or merit. God has always placed conditions on man to be forgiven. One of those things is repentance (Acts 17:30), and another is confession of sins (1 John 1:8-9). There can be no pardon without man DOING his part. No one can claim salvation on his own merit without any dependence on God.
"20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 5:20-21).
Because Grace is so abundant, there is no sin that God cannot forgive, if a man will meet God’s conditions for pardon. But God's Grace cannot forgive sins if we are not genuinely willing to repent and seek God's forgiveness according to His will. The Grace of God is God's favor toward us because of His Son's sacrifice.
"9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone" (Hebrews 2:9).
Romans 3:24-25 gives us more detail saying,
"24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. It was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins."
Romans 5:15 declares,
"15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many."
Thus, we are saved, justified by the Grace of God in Christ, which was made possible by His sacrifice. Because of our sinful deeds, we all deserve to be punished eternally, but thanks to God's lovingkindness and mercy, He sent His Son to die for us so that we could have eternal life instead. The gift of God is something we indeed do not deserve! (Titus 2:11-14; Rom. 3:23-26; Luke 1:76-78; 2 Tim. 1:9; Acts 15:11; 20:32; Rom. 5:12-21; 4:2-8; 1 Tim. 1:13-16; 1 Peter 1:3-16). We must thank God until our last breath for such an undeserved gift!!
The greatest act of the Grace of God is His Son's ultimate sacrifice.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
No man can die for himself, thus redeeming himself, and bring about his own salvation. Why? Because man's defiled (spotted) conscience can only be made pure by the blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:19; 3:21; Heb. 9:14). It was through Christ's death that He was able to do for man what he could not attain by himself. This is what Grace is! And man must respond to the Gospel of Grace if he wants to benefit from the blood of Christ.
God's Grace Provides Fellowship With God
"21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds" (Colossians 1:21).
Our sins alienate or separate us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). Our sins make us enemies of God, causing hostility between Him and us (Col. 1:21). On the other hand, forgiveness by Grace reunites and reconciles us back to Him. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus because we have been justified by faith. We have obtained access by faith into this Grace in which we stand through Him as well. So, we are no longer enemies of God, but instead, we are at peace with Him, and we rejoice in the hope we have in Him (Romans 5:1-2).
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved... 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ... 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:1-5, 11-13, 18-19).
Before we were saved, we were dead in our trespasses and sins because we had disobeyed God (Ephesians 2:1-5). That is, we were alienated or separated from God (Ephesians 2:12). Salvation by Grace (Ephesians 2:5, 8) makes us alive and reconciles us to God so that we can have access to Him, making us His children and members of His family or household (Ephesians 2:19). God, in His lovingkindness and mercy, allowed His righteous Son to die for us so that we could enter into His family. God's Grace did that for us! Indeed, we could have never been reconciled and have peace with God if it had not been for the Grace of God. We do not deserve such a blessing! It is the gift of God to us because of His mercy (goodness) and love for us.
"9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Our sins have been canceled out only by the Grace of Jesus and not by our own righteousness or doing. What Jesus did was the biggest gift. The gift overflowed to many because of the Grace of Jesus, for sin and death have conquered and defeated us, but Grace overflowed because of what Jesus did. Notice the parallel here.
- Jesus introduced Grace to the world.
- Adam's transgression introduced sin and death (separation from God).
- The Grace of God reverses the power of sin.
- Grace overflows only through Jesus, our Lord!!
Those who are saved by Grace, redeemed, must be set apart and cease from sinning for God to remain with them. The Grace of God teaches us to be holy in His presence. The Grace of God must transform our lives into holiness and righteousness. We must strive for holiness, for God is holy and demands that we be holy. God makes us holy through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross (1 Corinthians 6:11). Those who have been forgiven of their sins because of the Grace of God through His Son must be worthy of their calling, for God has sanctified them and made them holy. Thus we, the redeemed, must live our lives reflecting the holiness of God, for His Son has paid the ultimate ransom price that we may live holy and be in fellowship with Him and receive eternal life. We must continue being obedient, serving Jesus and standing firm in the Grace of God to receive our ultimate reward, heaven. This is the Grace in which we stand!
May He help us walk by Grace and grow in His Grace so that we may have victory over sin to make our calling and election sure; for if we do these things, we will never stumble. It is the only way to heaven!
Luci
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