While
visiting a conference in Pittsburgh, PA, two weekends ago, I picked up a new
book entitled: "Grace" by Randy Alcorn.
It consists of 203 short thoughts (some just a couple of sentences long)
describing the grace of God. It would make a great daily devotional, or could
act as a supplement to another devotional.Alcorn offers many of his own insights on grace, while supporting most of them with great quotes from other contemporary and antiquated authors. I offer you seven selections (a week's worth, one for each of the next seven days) to give you a taste for what the book has to offer! Enjoy.
"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if
righteousness
could be gained through the
Law, Christ died for nothing."
Galatians
2:21"Grace never ignores the reality of sin. In fact, it emphasizes it. Paul said if men were good enough, then "Christ died for nothing." Benjamin Warfield said: "Grace is free sovereign favor for the ill-deserving." If we don't see the reality of how ill-deserving we are, God's grace won't seem amazing. If we minimize our unworthiness, we minimize God's grace." "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me..." (John Newton).
"Yet he gave a command to the skies above,
and opened the doors of the heavens; he rained
down manna for people to eat; he gave them the
grain
of heaven." Psalm 78:23-24
"Louis
Cassels wrote, "If God wants you to do something, he'll make it possible
for you to do it, but the grace he provides comes only with the task and cannot
be stockpiled beforehand. We are dependent on him from hour to hour. As
God didn't allow the Israelites to store up manna, he doesn't let us store up
grace. He always gives us enough, but we can't deposit it for the future. We
have to get it fresh every day. "He giveth more grace when the burdens
grow greater, He sendeth more strength when the labors increase; To added affliction
he addeth His mercy, To multiplied trials His multiplied grace" (Annie
Johnson Flint)."
"In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the
riches of God's grace that he lavished on us."
Ephesians 1:7
"Benjamin
Jowett said, "Grace is the energy of the divine affection rolling in
plenteousness toward the shores of human need." No matter what
you've done, there is no sin beyond the reach of God's grace once you have
accepted Christ's offer of forgiveness. Max Lucado says, "God answers the
mess of life with one word: GRACE!" God knows everything, so no sin
surprises him. He knows all our worst secrets (Psalm 69:5). No skeletons will
ever fall out of our closets. Jesus will never say, "Had I known you'd
done that, I'd never have let you into heaven." He's seen us at our worst
and still loves us. "Are you too bad to receive grace? How could you be
too bad to receive what is for the bad?""
"All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all
shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins
sweep us away." Isaiah 64:6
"For
some, "human depravity" (total inability to earn our way to God) may
be an insulting doctrine, but grasping it is liberating. When I realize the
best I can do without God is like "filthy rags" in his sight, it
finally sinks in that I have nothing to offer. Salvation, therefore, hinges on
his work, not mine. What a relief! "We could not take one step in
the pursuit of holiness if God in his grace had not first delivered us from the
dominion of sin and brought us into union with his risen Son. Salvation is by grace
and sanctification is by grace" (Jerry Bridges)."
"Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks,
he gave it to them saying, "This is the blood of the
covenant,
which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins."
Matthew
26:27-28
"No
one deserves forgiveness. That's the whole point of grace. On the cross, Jesus
experienced the Hell we deserve, so for all eternity we can experience the
Heaven we don't deserve. The grace that is free for us was costly to God. But
he offers it to us with a heart of infinite love. "I have come to know a
God who has a soft spot for rebels, who recruits people like the adulterer
David, the whiner Jeremiah, the traitor Peter, and the human-rights abuser Saul
of Tarsus. I have come to know a God whose Son made prodigals... the trophies
of his ministry" (Philip Yancey)."
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions
and sins, in which you used to live when you followed
the
ways of this world." Ephesians 2:1
"You
and I weren't merely sick in our sins; we were dead in our sins. That means I'm
not just unworthy of salvation; I'm utterly incapable of earning it.
Corpses can't raise themselves from the grave! What a relief to realize
that my salvation is completely the result of God's grace. It cannot be earned
by good works -- and therefore it can't be lost by bad ones. Thomas
Watson wrote, "[Divine] Acts of grace cannot be reversed. God blots out
his people's sins, but not their names." "If you and sin are
friends, you and God are not yet reconciled" (J. C. Ryle)."
"Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink;
do not worry about it... But seek his kingdom, and
these
things will be given to you as well." Luke 12:29, 31
"When
we come to Christ, God graciously puts all his resources at our disposal.
That's a dramatically uneven exchange since God has so much more than we do,
and all we have comes from him in the first place. "I am no longer
my own, but Yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me
to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for You or laid aside for
You, exalted for You or brought low for You... I freely and wholeheartedly
yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal." (John Wesley)."
I
would encourage you to take one of these entries each day for a week and give
it much consideration. Grace (of the biblical kind) may not line up with
the persuasions of the world, but it is the essence of nearly all God says in
His Word. Therefore, as Spurgeon once said, "If the people
do not like the doctrine of grace, give them all the more of it."
Many
blessings upon your week's contemplation of grace!
In
the Service of the Gospel, Pastor Jeff
