Chapter 7: Understanding God’s Grace
Quotable Quotes
“The word grace , in the fulness of its meaning, is one of the most precious truths in Scripture.” p.77
“I believe that a correct understanding of God’s grace and a consistent reliance on it is the only sure foundation for progress in spiritual transformation.” p.78
‘Historically, the evangelical definition of grace is “God’s unmerited favor.” This definition is not wrong, but I believe that it is inadequate – that it does not do justice to the concept of grace presented in the Bible.” p.79
“I believe that a biblical definition of grace is “God’s blessings through Christ to people who deserve His curse.” It is because of Christ and His sinless life and sin-bearing death that we do not receive the curse we deserve but instead receive the blessings from God we do not deserve.” p.80
“And it is important to realize that all of God’s blessings to us are expressions of His grace. All of them come to us as a result of the work of Christ for us.Not a single blessing from God comes to us apart from the work of Christ on our behalf. Not even one!” p. 80-81
The truth is, God’s approval does have to be earned. That is what Christ did for us.” p.81
“The question is do we really believe we deserve the curse of God? Do we have such a view of the holiness of God – that is, both His transcendent majesty and infinite moral purity – that we see even our “small” sins (small in our own eyes) as what R.C. Sproul calls “cosmic treason””? p.83
“So why should we obey if our obedience does not earn favor with God? The answer, as we have already seen, is gratitude for what God has done for us. Obedience that flows out of gratitude is the only obedience acceptable to God and is the only obedience that will bring joy to our own hearts.” p.84
Next Week: Chapter 8 – The Transforming Work of the Holy Spirit