THE STRENGTH FOUND IN GRACE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:1

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As I read the first verse of 2 Timothy, chapter 2, the chorus of a beloved hymn came to mind immediately:

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin

Did you catch what grace will do for anyone who places their belief in Jesus as Savior?

It will pardon and it will cleanse a person from the inside out because it (grace) is greater than all our sin.

Now, you might say to yourself, “These are simply beautiful constructed words that have no biblical validation” but you would be wrong. Look at this from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (2:8-9).

In a recent message, I shared that the word “grace” can be understood by using an acrostic:

God’s

Reward

At

Christ’s

Expense

When we gained salvation, it wasn’t because we completed some extensive checklist of tasks so that we could earn our way to eternal life. No, God freely saved us by grace just because we believed and accepted His offer of salvation through His Son Jesus who willingly bore all our sins on Calvary’s cross.

It was by grace that we were saved and pardoned, not by works. And the very shed of blood of Jesus flows through God’s gift of grace to cleanse us from within and wash us white as snow.

Indeed, grace proves itself to be greater than sin. The salvation of God through Christ, the unmerited and undeserved gift of becoming a co-heir to the Kingdom, brings victory to the believer and death has lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55-58).

It also brings something else that is incredibly important for us as we live this worldly life on our way to the promised glory of Heaven. For grace brings us hope.

You see, nothing can take away the sure triumph a Christian has over sin, death, and Hell. Nothing. Our future is secure in Christ Jesus and it was God’s powerful gift of grace that made it happen.

And so when Paul exhorts Timothy, the pastor of the Ephesian church, “to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”, he is encouraging him to not lose sight of the sure hope of salvation he had in his Savior, the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

Friends, this same encouragement to stay strong in grace comes to us today and we need to grab it firmly, holding on and cherishing it for life, just as we should cherish the chorus of the classic hymn that reminds us that it was by God’s mighty grace that we were pardoned and cleansed from the sins that had us on the road to eternal damnation.

Thanks be to God for the His Son and the incredible, amazing grace He grants through Him.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.