The Awesome Grace of God

What does the Bible teach about the topic of grace? And it is important for all of us, and as I think about it, as I think about the grace of God that has been extended to us, I know we have appreciated that for some time.

And yet, I believe our understanding of it continues to improve, continue to grow in understanding. And you could call the grace of God the incredible grace of God. You could call it the amazing grace that God has extended to us. I'm going to call it for the sermon today, the awesome grace of God. And so, hopefully everybody at least has the title of the sermon that I want to give today. As I said, it's an important topic. And one with the booklet, I think you will find there are, as I said, a number of chapters, a number of insets.

It answers most every question that comes up about the topic of grace. And yet, the topic of grace, or understanding grace, is often misunderstood. Misunderstood or misapplied, and you wonder, and this is actually in the general Christian belief, when they try to explain the topic of grace, they just explain it as a free and unmerited favor from God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. That's pretty wide open, as far as what it actually says.

Unfortunately, because of a number of false teachings, you find that it creates a conflict, or it is actually often put in contrast to the need for the law. That if you have grace, then the law is not necessary. Now, that's not a correct teaching from the Bible, and yet, that's what many people think. And, sometimes they have an idea or concept about grace being free, and if it's free, then, well, whether I sin or not, that's immaterial. I can be forgiven. That, again, is another false concept. And, even what we have taught, what the Church of God has taught for many years, knowing what general Christianity teaches and what they project, as far as on this topic, we have explained that grace, if we were to give a definition, is an undeserved.

This would be the grace of God. Now, you could give, as we said earlier, you could use the term grace in different ways. Sometimes it could be used as a prayer, maybe a prayer over a meal. Sometimes people say that, saying grace. Sometimes it's used as a greeting, grace and peace to you. Paul uses that a lot. There are other references, as we saw in the sermonette, there are references to being thankful.

And, actually, those are all translations, or English words, of the Greek term charis, which is, again, translated, grace. And so, I want us, or as far as what we have taught, we have said that it is an undeserved and an unmerited pardon from God. And certainly that is correct. It is right. And yet, I will hope to explain to you why there is even more. There is even more to the topping of grace than just simply understanding that God extends to us an unmerited and an undeserved pardon from Him. Because there is obligation on our part. There is something that we need to do.

Actually, as I said, you have misunderstanding about the topic of grace because there usually is a conflict with it. There's misunderstanding over certain verses. And we'll read all of these in the sermon today. One of them says it is, you know, by grace that you have been saved by faith. Now, if you just take that and you say, well, that doesn't mean I need to do anything.

Or, if you read where Paul writes, and we'll read this in Romans 6, where it says you are not under law, but you are under grace. Well, you can say, well, that says I don't need to know anything about the law. I don't need to obey God. That's again a misunderstanding. I want to point out two significant things.

And again, if you have the booklet or if you are waiting to get it, as you read it, I think you'll find this very clearly explains this. But first of all, it is important to see that law and grace are clearly not in conflict. They are utterly inseparable. You cannot deal with one without the other. Law is necessary to define sin.

So, if you can't define sin, then why do you even need grace? Law is necessary to find sin and its consequences, of course, which are death. And grace is necessary so sinners can be forgiven and led to obedience to God through the power of the Holy Spirit and with the help of our high priest, Jesus Christ. See, that's what the grace of God, when you talk about the grace that is described in the Bible, you find that law and grace cannot be separated. And so that is something we need to understand here to begin with. Secondly, it's also important to understand that the Bible explanation that we are given about grace involves an obligation on our part.

It is grace from God. It is His to give. He is clearly the benefactor. He is the one who provides grace to us. But we're obligated because, again, as we see written numerous times, that we are indebted to God. We have been bought with the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And so, you know, we do have a relationship with God. We have our part in that relationship, and we never want to disrespect that.

I do want to point out, there's one thing that is written in our booklet that is, I don't remember seeing this written before, but it describes how it is in the first century. And, of course, that's when Jesus lived and when the apostles lived for several decades after Him.

At that time, who was the dominant power in the world? Well, dominant power was Rome. It was at the time, actually early time, of the Roman Empire. And there, in the Roman Empire, there was a system. It was actually just a secular system. It was something that they did. Really, in the Empire, there were a small percentage, as still is the case today, a small percentage of incredibly wealthy people. It would be about 4 or 5 percent of the people among the Roman Empire who fit the category of being able to be helpers to others, or having the increase, having the monetary ability to affect other people's lives. There was a very small group of what they would call patrons, and everybody else would fall into a category of being clients.

If they needed something, then... Our booklet describes a couple of different illustrations of that, of somebody getting in need, actually maybe having a fire at a bakery and everything burns down. Where do you go from there? What can you do? Well, that person might go to someone they know, someone who has resources, and be able to develop a connection with them where they can help them. Are they able to pay them back? No. They are completely destitute. That client is. But they might develop a relationship with that benefactor, that patron, and be able then to start building back, start being restored.

But the relationship between the patron and the client was one that was to, in a sense, be respectful. It carried some obligation from both sides. It also, in a sense, developed a certain amount of loyalty. And, of course, as you might know, in this world, that loyalty was used to continue to benefit the patron. But it was also used to help other people who would be clients. I wanted to read at least a little bit of this. This is one of the pages out of our booklet. It says, the Apostle Paul used this well-understood cultural norm, this of a patron and a client.

It says, the Apostle Paul used this well-understood cultural norm and practice to help us grasp the greatness of God's love and kindness toward us, in extending to us His grace, His carris, C-H-A-R-I-S, is the way that Greek word is spelled. And, of course, that involved toward us from God, the forgiveness of our sin, the hope, the gift of eternal life, and all the other blessings that God would extend to us.

Now, in thinking about, again, the first century situation and when the word grace would have been used, it was clearly connected to this patron-client relationship. Now, in describing that, it says, the rules for what was expected of a patron and a client were not painted on Roman city walls. The rules of the truly foundational institution of society, like family and patronage, really went without saying.

It was just the common way that things were done. Everyone knew what the proper behavior was. A good patron solved the problems of his or her clients, assisting with trade gills, business disputes, refinancing loans, easing tension with city elders. The patron did favors for his clients, who then fell under his circle of influence and protection.

And in return, the client was expected to be loyal, to be faithful, and was sometimes asked to do things for the patron. So, between those two, obviously, contrasting, in a sense, types of individuals, there was a relationship that was expected.

In the example, as I mentioned, of maybe a man with a bakery and burns down and needs help, he goes to a patron. It says, in the example, we see an obligation of both parties involved in this patron-client relationship. The client, of course, was in desperate need. The family sought help from a generous patron who extended to the family members a priceless gift known as grace, that they could never repay, enabling them to rebuild their business and lives.

Both parties, though, understood that the one receiving the grace could never repay the gift received. And see, that clearly is true with us. We cannot repay God for what he extends to us. And, of course, a relationship between God and Christians would be a little different. But this was, again, the context of what grace, the word grace, was used in the first century. But, it says he could never repay the gift, but it was understood that accepting the gift created an obligation from the recipient toward the one giving the gift.

That he was forever obligated to do whatever the giver asked, and to always act in the giver's best interest. See, that is indeed what we develop with God. We're in need of God's grace. We're in need of his mercy. We're in need of his blessing. And yet, we could never pay God back for that. We are simply going to be the beneficiaries of the grace of God. Now, I want to mention one verse here in Romans 16. And this is the only one where this particular word is used in the New Testament, in the Greek language, as far as in the Bible.

And it describes a woman who was, it says, patron in some of the translations, at least one. The ESV describes this as a patron. Now, I'll tell you, I see it in other translations, and probably in the New King James that many of you might have. It's called helper, or it's called succorer. That's even a hard word for me to say.

Or, as it is in the New Revised Standard that I commonly use, it's called benefactor. This is the only place that's used in the Bible. But here in Romans 16, verse 1, Paul is writing to the people there in Rome, and he's telling them about a lady from Greece, a lady from Cenkria, and that she's going to come, and he said, I want you to receive her. I want you to give her your attention. I want you to help her. Now, see what he says in verse 1. He says, I commend to you our sister Phoebe. Phoebe is her name. She is a deaconess, or a servant, of the church at Cenkria. Cenkria was outside of Corinth. It was in the country of Greece. He says, I want to commend to you our sister Phoebe, so that in verse 2, you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor. She has been a helper. She has been a patron of many, and even of myself as well. Now, here Paul mentions this idea of patronage and others being clients, and yet we don't see a lot of additional information here. You just see that, well, there must have been a lady, and certainly Paul did at times need assistance. There were different people who assisted him. It appears Phoebe was one who was able to do that. She had been able to help many others, and even at times had helped Paul, and Paul was helped by others at other times. He said he was a tentmaker, and so he supported himself much of the time, but I don't know how much support you can make in whatever you might make in jail, you know, baskets or whatever. That's not something, you know, it would be where you would need help at times. So, I just point out that this is a reference to this patron-client relationship. One that had care coming from one side to the other, and yet a loyalty and a devotion and an obligation from the other side. And both of them, in a sense, kind of working together. So, all of us certainly need to deeply appreciate the awesome grace of God that He has extended to us. And I want to go through a number of different verses today that will help us properly understand what the Word of God says about the topic of grace. As I think I mentioned, there are 150 references to grace in the New Testament, or over 150. Paul uses many of those in his writings, but that was what was in the back of his head whenever he lived in that time, and when an understanding of grace, you know, was different than it might be today. So, first of all, I want us to look at Titus 2. Titus is, of course, written by Paul. It's written to Titus, who is a younger minister. He is writing to give him instruction on how he's supposed to be as a minister of God. But here in Titus 2, you see in verse 1, you need to be consistent, teaching what is consistent. Titus 2, verse 1, teach what is consistent with sound doctrine. And then he enumerates different categories of people in the congregation. You know, older women, younger women, older men, younger men. He kind of gives explanation to how to work with different sectors of a congregation.

He says in verse 7, show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching integrity and gravity and sound speech that cannot be censured. And so he's clearly giving him instruction about how to be a proper servant of God. But down in verse 11, he says, for the grace of God, the grace of God. So this is one reference. Like I said, we're not going to go through 150 today. We're going to go through a few that point out to us. The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation, bringing salvation. In verse 12, training us to renounce in piety and worldly passion, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled and upright and godly while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Now here you just clearly see that it says that the grace of God, the grace of God extends to us is what brings salvation to mankind. Mankind can't earn that. We can't obey enough to get what God has to give. But we see that it does point out that salvation comes through God's grace. Now here in Ephesians 2, Ephesians chapter 2, you have another section that, of course, Paul wrote, writing to a church in Ephesus, and telling them, and the first part of this in chapter 2 is pretty familiar with us. He says, you know, in times past you've been following the prince of the power of the air. You've been following, you know, the course of this world. And he says in verse 3, all of us lived among people who are following their passions, their flesh, and following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were simply by nature the children of wrath. And so he said, that's the way everybody is. That's the way other people are. That's the way we were, because, see, something had happened in their lives. In verse 4, he says, but God, again talking to the church members, God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, he's made us alive together with Christ. And down in verse 7, so that in ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Jesus Christ. For in verse 8, by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. It is not the result of works. So that no one can boast. See, again, in connection with what Titus was told, the grace of God is what brings to us salvation. And that's really what he was telling them. You were embroiled in the world, and God brought you to an awareness that you need to come out of that and you need to grow as the children of God. You need to have faith in the fact that God will extend to you his grace. And so that is, in a sense, kind of an overall topic here. I want us to also look in the book of Galatians. Galatians chapter 1.

You see Paul mentioning something else. Besides salvation coming through the grace of God, we're going to see here, in connection with Paul directly, and then in connection with the brethren, that any of us who are called by God, we are called, we are drawn to Jesus. That's what it describes in the book of John. But we're called by his grace. We're called by his grace. Salvation comes through grace. We are called by the grace of God. Here in Galatians 1, Paul is actually talking about his conversion. He's talking about the transformation that came about in his life. Now, we can easily read about that in Acts 9. We can read the whole encounter. We see Luke writing about that, and certainly from Paul's even explanation of it over and over again, I'm sure. Luke records what is written, or what is told by Paul, about how that came about.

And here in verse 13 of Galatians chapter 1, it says, You have heard no doubt of my earlier life in Judaism. This was Paul's background. He grew up as a Jew. He was educated as a Jew. He grew up with an awareness of the Bible being the Old Testament. And I wonder how much Paul really studied the Bible. Well, as he describes it, it sounds pretty extensive. As Jewish children did, basically, and particularly the boys, they were taught from age 5 or 6 to about 12, biblical literature. They were taught the Bible. And by 12, in many cases, they were expected to be able to memorize the first five books of the Bible. Now, if any of us have done that, then that's great. But I can say I haven't done that. My education was not that extensive. But see, that's the education that Paul had available to him. That's the education Jesus was brought up in, which is a little another category, I will say. And yet, by the time they were 12, people like Paul should have been able to give you quotes out of Genesis and Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy without even looking them up. And if he was later going to expand that capacity, and ultimately he says he was a student of Gamaliel, who was one of the primary rabbis of the time, and he says I was under his tutelage. And so I'm pretty sure Gamaliel only took the best and the brightest. I'm sure he took people who potentially would have the capacity to serve as rabbis, although I don't know if you directly see Paul described in that way. And yet you know that if he was in that type of schooling, ultimately a rabbi was only going to need to know Genesis to Malachi. He was only going to need to memorize the Old Testament. And again, most of us are looking around for, where's Jonah? Where's different books in the Old Testament? You know, we're not that familiar, but what Paul says is there's no doubt, you know about my earlier life in Jerusalem or in Judaism, excuse me. I was violently persecuting the Church of God, and I was trying to destroy it. And so he was obviously not hiding what he had done. You know, he had been a persecutor of the Church, but he said in verse 14, I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the tradition than my father's. This was Paul's life. He was versed in the Old Testament. And he hated Jesus, and he hated the Christians, and he was persecuting, bringing them, putting some to death, authorizing, as we see, the death of Stephen.

And yet he says in verse 15, when God, who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me through his grace, when God was pleased to reveal to his Son to me so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I didn't simply confer with other humans, nor did I go to Jerusalem, but those who were already apostles before me. But I went away at once into Arabia, and afterward returned to Damascus. He describes what happened. See, this would be another way of describing what Acts 9 describes. He was blinded for three days. God got his attention, and he was then taught directly in Arabia for what appears to be for three years. And yet, what does he say in verse 15? When God, who called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me. See, that's the way he recognized it. That's what he gave. He says, I understand a relationship of grace in God extending to me, where I am bankrupt as a person. He's giving me life. He's giving me hope. He's giving me everything I need. He's giving me what a patron would help a client with. And that client then had full obligation toward God. See, that's the way he describes his relationship with God. And then I want us to jump up again in this same chapter to see what he says, not only about him, but also about the people in the church, the church members, because he's writing this to people who are part of the church.

Actually, in verse 3, we could read that, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from this present evil age, according to the will of God our Father, to whom be glory forever. See, he was writing that to the churches of Galatia, just right above that in verse 2. They're the members of God's family who are with me. And in verse 6, again in connection with God calls us by His grace.

Verse 6, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ, and that you are turning to a different gospel. Now, I'm not going to read further as far as what he was describing, but he was saying, I want you to realize. Actually, he goes ahead in verse 7, not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and perverting the gospel of Christ. He says, I want you to realize it was the grace of God that called you. Don't turn away from that. That's what he was saying about himself. I really didn't have another option. Obviously, I needed to do what God was directing me to do, but see, he also applied that to the members who he wrote to here. So, he describes the grace of God involving our calling. Let's go back to Titus again. Titus chapter 3.

We're going to see how it is that not only does grace involve salvation, not only does grace involve our calling to Jesus Christ to be a part of the Church of God, it also involves us being forgiven, being justified before God. How can we really justify ourselves before God?

We can't. But he says there is a way that that happens. Here in Titus chapter 3, down in verse 4, he says, But when the goodness and the lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, meaning when you came to understand a relationship between God and you, because he was writing this to Titus, who was serving the Church, when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us not because of any works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that having been justified by grace, having been justified by the grace of God, that we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

See, that's a description of the fact that the grace of God involves us being justified, justified by his grace to give us what he holds out before us, eternal life. You also see this over in Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3 actually is very clear. The word grace is used often for God's gift of forgiveness.

Justification and forgiveness are both very closely tied together. It refers to how God extends his favor to repentant sinners by forgiving their former disobedience of his law. Here in Romans 3 verse 23, "...since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are now justified by his grace as a gift." See, we're justified. We're forgiven through the grace of God.

Now, we also know that we're forgiven through the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That's also a part of it. But see, just to identify, he says the grace of God is what extends forgiveness, what extends justification. "...they are now justified," verse 24, "...by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith." And so we have our part in that.

We have to have faith in God and faith in Christ's sacrifice. But he says, "...he made that sacrifice of atonement by the blood of Jesus, effective through faith." He did not, or he did this to show his righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over our sins that had been previously committed. So we have no way of embracing sins of the past. We can't get rid of those no matter what we do.

We can't obey enough to do it. But God says, "...my grace is able to wash you clean." It's able to completely forgive you. And so clearly, grace is not only involved in salvation and in our calling or in our forgiveness, but also, you know, I want to go through several different sections here that deal with how that grace clearly does not do away with sin or the law. See, does grace justify sin? See, that's what, again, too many people miscomprehend. They don't understand that. But here in Romans 6, actually, over a page, probably from where we are, here in Romans 6, he says, "...what should we say then in verse 1?" What should we say?

Should we, again, Paul writing to the church of God in Rome, should we continue in sin in order that grace can abound? Does it make any difference? Does grace just automatically do away with the law and do away with sin? Well, he answers that in verse 2 as well. Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? Absolutely not! By no means! How can we have died to sin continue to live in sin? See, grace and law cannot be separated. They go together. If we drop down to verse 14, or excuse me, yeah, verse 14, "...for sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace." Meaning that you are not under the penalty that comes from breaking the law.

You are not under the death penalty, but you are under grace. And in verse 15, it says, again, what should we say? Should we sin? Because we are not under the penalty of the law, but under grace? By no means! Again, he points out that there is a transition that takes place, but it doesn't destroy or abolish the law, even as some would say that Jesus did, which he didn't.

But he goes ahead in verse 16, don't you know if any of you present yourselves to anyone as obedient servants, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either sin that leads to death or of obedience that leads to righteousness. It looks like there's an obligation here on the client. There's an obligation to not continue in sin.

And in verse 17, but thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves to sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching in which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become the slaves of righteousness. See, clearly, grace does not justify sin. It does not do away with sin. It does make a transition in our lives. Let's look at Galatians.

Well, let's go on back to 2 Peter. You can go throughout the entirety of the New Testament to talk about what God says about grace, because it's everywhere. But in connection with this, you actually find, as I described here in Romans 6, you find that some of these verses about being not under law but under grace, those are misunderstood or misapplied by those who want to do away with the law.

And this is what Peter says here in 2 Peter, right in the very end of chapter 3. 2 Peter 3, verse 14, he says, Therefore, brethren, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace. And regard, in verse 15, the patience of our Lord is salvation. So also, in verse 15, our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him. And so Peter knew Paul.

He knew that they kind of traveled in different circles, and they dealt with different people, one being the apostle to the Gentiles and one being an apostle to the circumcision. So they knew each other, and they were, at times, interacting. But here he says, take a look what our beloved brother Paul wrote, according to the wisdom that God gave to him. Speaking in verse 16 of this, as he does in all his letters, and even some of those letters. In some of those, some things are hard to understand.

So Peter knew that, you know, there's a difference here between Peter and his education as a fisherman and Paul and his highly-schooled education, you know, in Judaism. And Paul was able to write in a completely different style. But he says, speaking of this, as he does in all his letters, there are some things in those letters that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and the unstable twist to their own destruction as they do other scriptures.

But you, therefore, beloved, in verse 17, since you are now forewarned. And so Peter was giving them this as a directive. So you are to know that people will try to misapply what Paul is saying. And yet you, therefore, being forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless. Those who want to get rid of the law or dismiss the law, and in so doing, lose your own stability. But what does he want us to do? He wants us to grow. To grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

To hear you see how it is that Peter identifies, and Paul also does, that grace doesn't do away with the law. Actually, they cannot be separated. You know, if you're going to turn from sin, then you're going to have to be identifying what you need to turn from. But we can go to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. You see our responsibility today.

Hebrews 10. It talks about the relationship that we can have with our father and with our elder brother. Verse 19, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus. We need to do that.

We need to approach in verse 22 with a true heart and full assurance of faith. See, this is what we are expected to do. We are to cultivate a relationship with the one who has provided everything for us. In a sense, our patron, the ultimate patron, got our father. And he says, encouraging one another, the more, all the more, as you see the day approaching in verse 25. In verse 26, for if we willfully persist in sin, if we just continue to disregard the law and disregard sin, after we receive the knowledge of the truth, then there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin.

Simply a fearful prospect of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversary. Anyone who violated the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God and profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified and outraged the Spirit of grace?

He is making a contrast. Well, if the punishment in the Old Testament was bad, what do you think about those who just continue to willfully persist in sin, disregarding everything that the grace of God has provided? This is what the Bible tells us about grace. I want us to look as well here in Romans chapter 5.

And again, as I said, there are many, many places where you could read and you could easily study in a concordance or in a listing that you can print out. All the places where grace is used. There's a lot of them. But here in Romans chapter 5, it even describes the fact that we are not under the law or under the penalty of the law.

We still obviously observe the law because we want to please God. We want to honor God. We don't want to continue to crucify Jesus Christ. But it says here in Romans 5 that we stand in the state of grace. That's what it says here in verse 1. Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we read a verse that says we're justified by grace. And yes, we are. But where our part in that justification involves having faith in God, that His grace is extended to us to forgive us and cause us to be justified. Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through whom we have obtained access, so through Jesus, we've obtained access to this grace in which we stand. And we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. See, we stand in the grace of God. We don't stand on our own. We stand in His mercy, in His love, in His patronage. That's where we are. We are completely dependent on Him. Paul talks about this a little more directly about himself in 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15.

You see Paul talking about Jesus having been in the grave three days and three nights and then raising from the dead and appearing to numerous people. He says in verse 5, of then appearing to Cephas, to Peter, and then to the twelve, and then to the five hundred, and to James. And finally to me, see that's the way he describes the fact that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead. And he continues to live. In verse 10, though, he says, I'm the least of the apostles. I'm unfit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God. See, Paul hadn't completely forgotten everything about his past. He knew that the grace of God had been offered to him. He knew he had been forgiven and justified. He knew that it certainly didn't do away with the law and do away with sin. But he says in verse 10, by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is in me, that is with me. See, I stand in the grace of God is what he was saying. He said that about the Church. He says we all stand in God's grace. And so he points out that there are many different ways that the grace of God is described in the Bible. We read in Peter about growing in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now, understanding how to grow in knowledge, that's fairly easy to figure out. Well, we learn something new. We learn something different. We grow in an awareness of the Bible, even how it ties together, and how the Old and the New Testament are intricately involved with each other, and how we learn the entire plan of God from his revelation throughout the Old and New Testament.

But he also tells us here in Hebrews 4 that we have a high priest, verse 14, and 15 and 16, the last few verses of Hebrews 4. And he says, since we have a great high priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession that we have made. Let us be consistent in our appreciation, our gratitude, our thankfulness for the grace of God that drew us to understand what he's doing in our lives. And he says in verse 15, we don't have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. We have one, and every respect was tested if we are yet without sin. We have a high priest at the right hand of God where he resides today and where he is awaiting the nod from the Father to come back to the earth. But he says, you, therefore, let us, in verse 16, therefore, let us approach the throne of grace, the one who offers grace, the one who is the great patron, the great benefactor, the great father. Let us approach that throne of grace with boldness so that we can receive mercy and that we might find grace, find favor to help us in time of need. We have access to that grace. We have access to that throne through Jesus Christ, our high priest. And so, the Bible describes the grace of God in many ways. Our sermonette today had it connected with gratitude and with thankfulness. That obviously is a part of the way it is that grace is to be understood. But again, there are a lot of other ways that we can understand the topic of grace. And clearly, it is not getting rid of the law. It's not in conflict or contrast. And clearly, we have an obligation, an obligation to God, an obligation to serve God. So, regarding the awesome grace of God, we've gone over how that it does. The grace of God does involve God's purpose for human life, His calling, His offering of salvation, our calling, His favor and pardon toward us, His forgiveness and justification. It does. Actually, we didn't read a verse there in Acts. It talks about the gospel that we teach. We know the gospel is about the kingdom of God, but it's called the gospel of grace. That's another way that grace of God is described. And of course, we read several verses here regarding the state of our Christian confidence. God has extended that grace to us. He has bailed us out, in a sense. He has helped us recover. He has put us back up on our feet. And then we are to continue to be loyal and faithful and dedicated toward Him. And so, because of that, and because of the way He describes His grace in the Bible, we can actually do what we read here in Hebrews 4. We can boldly come before God's wonderful throne of grace, in order to find mercy and grace to help us in time of need. And so, thankfully, the topic of grace is one that is understandable. It is not understood by many people in the world. It should be understood in numerous ways as we read about it by us. And so we have the incredible blessing, the blessing of being able to stand in the awesome grace of God.