What's So Amazing About Grace?

Product Information

Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. Of course it is better to be a decent citizen than to be John Wayne Gacy. Of course it is better to be honest than to be embezzling funds at work. From our point of view these distinctions are very significant, and they are also important to God. But spiritually speaking, even the best of us is still an infinite distance from God. If we forget this, it is because we have overestimated our goodness and underestimated God’s holiness. 14 Paul states a basic principle in these verses. A worker’s reward or wage is due to him because of his work. A gift, or that which is given on the basis of grace, is totally separate from any form of obligation on the part of the receiver. Justification is given to the one who does not work but believes in the one who justifies. In What’s So Amazing About Grace? I retell that story, setting it in Traverse City, Michigan with a young woman featured as the prodigal. I’ve tried writing parables, and it’s hard work! Yet Jesus spun off parable after parable, seemingly off-the-cuff, and they speak poignantly to us some two thousand years later. In the introduction to What’s So Amazing About Grace? you close by saying “I would far rather convey grace than explain it.” What do you mean by that?

Philip Yancey Quotes About Grace | A-Z Quotes Philip Yancey Quotes About Grace | A-Z Quotes

Here Paul reminds us that this message is both a treasure and a trust. And what is this message? It is the message about the Lord Jesus that brings men into a vital relationship with the eternal God of the universe. And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace (Rom. 11:6). Legalism is an attitude, a mentality based on pride. It is an obsessive conformity to an artificial standard for the purpose of exalting oneself. A legalist assumes the place of authority and pushes it to unwarranted extremes. As Daniel Taylor states so well, it results in illegitimate control, requiring unanimity, not unity. 36 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith (Rom. 12:3; see also Rom. 12:6; 15:15; 1 Cor. 3:10; Gal. 2:9; Eph. 3:2, 7, 8).You say Christians are meant to be “dispensers of grace.” What does that term mean, and what would it look like for Christians to live like that? From a history of great religious pride and self-trust, cruel brutality, and unbelief, Paul was brought to faith in Christ and transformed into a servant and teacher of the gospel of grace. Two of the most profound statements are found in verses 15 and 16, the first of which Paul says is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance, Yancey discussed a weekend event he helped facilitate to build community between a group of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. A Jewish representative commented: “I believe we Jews have a lot to learn from you Christians about forgiveness. I see no other way around some of the logjams [between reconciling our groups]. And yet it seems so unfair, to forgive injustice. I am caught between forgiveness and justice.” But when the kindness ( chrestotes, “kindness, goodness, generosity” is here basically a synonym for grace) of God our Savior appeared and his love for mankind, 3:5 He saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3:4-5).

What’s So Amazing About Grace - Genius What’s So Amazing About Grace - Genius

Furthermore, the concept of grace is the watershed that divides Roman Catholicism from Protestantism, Calvinism from Arminianism, modern liberalism from conservatism. The Roman Catholic Church holds that grace is mediated through its priests and sacraments, while Protestantism generally does not. … Modern liberalism gives an exaggerated place to the abilities of man to decide his own fate and to effect his own salvation entirely apart from God’s grace, while conservatism holds that God’s grace is necessary for salvation. Man is evolving, according to liberalism, into a kind of superman who is coming to the place where he needs no outside help, certainly not the grace of God.… 22 In the final chapter of What’s So Amazing About Grace? you say, “Grace teaches us that God loves because of who God is, not because of who we are.” How should this truth impact the way we treat others? Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure (literally, “the good deposit”) which has been entrusted to you.(2 Tim. 1:13-14, NASB, emphasis mine). For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not of works, so that no one can boast (Eph. 2:8-9). Then how does one obtain forgiveness of sin, spiritual life, righteousness with God, and a relationship with Him? Paul answers this in Romans 3:21-27.We have seen that grace means the free and unmerited favor of God, but it needs to be stressed that an attitude of legalism by which man seeks to merit God’s favor actually undermines the impact of grace. This is seen in a number of passages which show how grace and human works are opposed to one another.

Grace: Why It’s So Amazing and Awesome | Bible.org Grace: Why It’s So Amazing and Awesome | Bible.org

Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God (1 Pet. 4:10). Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave us the commandment. (1 John 3:23) Philip Yancey: I wrote that after listening to a TED talk in which the speaker asked the audience, “Raise your hand if you have a close relative who voted for someone in 2020 that you could not possibly comprehend?” Everyone raised their hands. Then he asked, “Do you still have a relationship with that person?” and most people again raised their hands. If we can manage that tolerance with relatives, why not colleagues and neighbors and “the other”?

I recently heard an actor on TV comment that he was striving for grace. While the context didn’t give much indication as to what he meant, the idea of striving suggests struggle, toil, work, extreme exertion. In other words, striving suggests doing something to gain grace. While one might strive to promote and defend God’s grace as a fundamental truth of Scripture or strive to be a gracious person, the phrase striving for grace is really a contradiction in the fundamental meaning of grace as it is used in the Bible, theologically speaking. Think of it this way. The Sears Tower in Chicago is much taller than the LaSalle National Bank. From our vantage point there is a great contrast between the height of these buildings. But let’s suppose we changed the question and asked which one of them was closer to the constellation Orion, which is a few thousand light years away from the earth. Sure, the top of the Sears Tower is closer to this stellar constellation than the top of the bank, but does it really matter? In the presence of thousands of trillions of miles, there is no appreciable difference in height between the two. If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1:9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. 1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us (1 John 1:8-10).

Grace: An Interview with The Shock and Scandal of God’s Grace: An Interview with

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law (i.e., Israel to whom God gave the Law), so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19-20, NET Bible). 10 What makes Christianity different from all the other religions of the world? Years ago that very question was discussed at a conference. Some of the participants argued that Christianity is unique in teaching that God became man. But someone objected, saying that other religions teach similar doctrines. What about the resurrection? No, it was argued, other faiths believe that the dead rise again. The discussion grew heated. Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of heaven, only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?” 7:23 Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you. Go away from me, lawbreakers!” (Matt. 7:21-22).I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:4). In view of man’s condition that all are under sin, not just the immoral, but also the moral and the religious, God’s grace is both amazing and awesome. One reason grace is so amazing to people is their natural bent to work for whatever they get. As previously mentioned, most people have trouble with the idea that grace is something they cannot merit or work for, or that no one deserves God’s blessing in the least. Because of our welfare society this has changed to some degree, but most people still think in terms of working for everything they get and they apply the same principle to spiritual matters. For this reason it is by faith that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants—not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Rom. 4:16). (emphasis mine)