Amazing Grace: Romans 5:2
“1) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2) through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2
Justification by faith in Jesus Christ not only brings us peace with God, but according to verse 2, our faith also places into a different kind of relationship with God. Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross to pay our debt of sin, we can now enter into a standing with God based on grace. It is no longer a relationship of enmity and wrath; but rather one of forgiveness, acceptance and love.
Grace can be defined in many ways. Some look at grace as God’s unmerited favor or undeserved kindness. That is a great definition for the process of a lost person coming to salvation, but it falls short of describing what it means to live by grace as a child of God.
My personal definition of God’s daily grace relates to “Gods Divine power through the Holy Spirit made available to help me do what in and of myself I could not and most likely would not do.” Grace is therefore the strength to live as I ought, rather than the freedom to do whatever I want without consequence. Many people have a confused notion of grace.
Grace therefore has in it the concept of God’s favor toward us in Christ. Recognizing Gods favor on my life despite my failures transformed my view of God and the Christian life. It broke the condemning voice of the accuser of the brethren in my life and helped me distinguish the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and restoration when I fell into sin. (Compare Revelation 12:10 and John 16:7-15)
The study of grace in the Bible is a worthy endeavor for every child of God. Grace is mentioned very few times in the Old Testament, but it is an abundant theme in the New Testament. Living by the Law and legalism is very different from living by grace and the walk in the Spirit. Both are based on God’s holiness, but the age of grace in the New Testament is accompanied by the indwelling Holy Spirit as mentioned in Romans 5:5. The Holy Spirit is given to help us and not hurt us.
The longer I am a believer and study Gods Word, the more I realize that grace and walking in the Holy Spirit are inseparable doctrines. They go hand in hand. Hence, when we talk about “the age of grace” and the “age of the indwelling Holy Spirit” we are referring to the same biblical phenomenon.
This helped me erase the erroneous notion that grace is a ticket to sin. To the contrary, I now understand that grace is both the invitation and the provision to move away from sin and bondage and into freedom and holiness through the Holy Spirit.
Grace also places in a standing with God based on love and patience as this process unfolds in our life. Grace means He is for us and not against us. He is with us for the long haul as a loving Father as the Holy Spirit brings us to maturity and completion.
Developing a biblical understanding of grace ushered me into an intimate relationship with God as my loving Father. I can now cry out “Abba Father” in sincerity and truth. (See Galatians 4:6 and Romans 8:14-17) The biblical meaning of Grace radically changed my view of God in the way He relates to me as His child.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
