Ephesians 2:8 – For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves – it is the gift of God.
Part 2 ~ Jesus, As Grace Personified, Gave Us His Own Life
Grace is how God saved us at great expense to Himself. Jesus Christ is the One through Whom this grace came; and without Him, it cannot be received. Jesus may be viewed as grace personified Who did for us what we could have never done for ourselves (Ephesians 2:5; John 1:14,17). Through the love, sacrifices, and righteousness of God our Savior, we were given the right and privilege to be born of the Spirit. Through the good pleasure of God’s own will, grace made possible for us what works could never earn. Through His blood, our sins were washed away – and we were made as those who had never disobeyed. Through His death, we died; through His resurrection, we were raised; through His life, we live; and by His obedience, we were made obedient. He has given to us His righteousness, His holiness; and by Him, we are sanctified, justified, glorified, and united with God in oneness (Romans 3:22,26; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9; 1 John 2:29; John 14:20, 17:21-23).
His gift of life has freely given us all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4). He has poured out abundantly all the riches of His mercies, and His life flows to whosoever will like rivers of living water (John 4:13-14, 7:38-39). Now when we consider the washing of regeneration, the miracle new birth, we recognize such a thing could never be accomplished by any works we could do, but only by the supernatural operation of the Spirit of God (Titus 3:4-7). God’s grace brought the change of life that human effort could have never achieved, or works obtained! Through Jesus Christ alone, we are allowed to live in a realm of unlimited interaction with God – a realm we have access to by faith. This is grace (Romans 5:2, 12:3; Galatians 5:22-25).
Blessings,
Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
