GUILT, GRACE AND GODLINESS

Titus 2 11-14

We all need the grace of God. As human beings we are destitute and desperate without the grace of God. We have nothing to pay for the spiritual debt before God. We are all so weak that it is impossible for us to please God in our natural strength. If God should deal with any one of us on the basis of justice, we will all perish with eternal damnation but for his Grace.

Grace is God’s unmerited favour bestowing love on undeserving people. Through grace we are forgiven, we are reconciled unto God and we are kept in favour with God even after we have been saved. God’s resources at Christ’s expense!

We are saved by Grace, by this same grace we remain in godliness (holiness) and by His Grace we shall be established in His Glory when our life’s sun sets! Grace affects your thought, life, character, behaviour and everything you do. By Grace, that’s how we’re saved; in Godliness, that’s how we live; for glory, that is the hope we have.

GRACE FOR GUILT OF SINNERS

Ephesians 2:8, 9; Romans 3:23-25; 5:15, 20; I Tim 1:14-15

Guilt plagues us all our lives because we haven’t lived up to someone else’s expectations. Guilt is basic to the human existence since no one is perfect, we all are tempted by Satan to feel guilty over our past mistakes. Sin brings guilt. That means our need for grace is as basic to our lives as the existence of guilt.

Our salvation comes through grace of God alone. We all have deviated from the standard of God’s qualification for holiness and heaven. We only became sons of God through the gift of salvation by grace. This salvation has various shades or varieties:

1. We are saved from the penalty of sin – saved by grace
2. We have been saved from the Pollution of Sin – cleansed by grace
3. We have been saved from the Power of sin – delivered by grace, not by the deeds of humanity!

Romans 5:20 makes everyone inexcusable for sin because grace now abounds for any depth of the sins of any sinner. The Lord has made adequate provision for all sins and sinners no matter the kind of sin you have committed.

GRACE FOR GODLINESS OF SAINTS

Eph 2:8-14; Rom. 6:1-2; Hebrews 12:12-15; Psalm 84:11

A faulty understanding of grace can lead to complacency and passivity.

Christ is in us and we are his workmanship. Christ living within will be working out a better character and language in us. It is not you producing it but Christ who lives in us. The grace of God keeps us free from sin. We must never forget that the grace of the Lord comes into our lives so that we can have the life of godliness, so that the righteousness of God will be imparted into our lives. Having the grace of God, we have the very nature of God Himself so that we can have a life of righteousness. In fact, it is a life in godliness.

As the grace of God comes into your life, the evidence and manifestation of that grace will be obvious for all to see in your life. You receive not the grace of God in vain. You demonstrate this by giving no offence in anything. You will not be an offence to the church, your office, by your character that the ministry of preaching and the fellowship in the church be not blamed. And in general, the whole Deeper Life be not blamed. Let your wife, husband see the grace of God in you.

Narrow it down now to our individual ministries. Let your area of ministry be not blamed. Comport yourself in such a way that the ministry will not be blamed but is appreciated. Whatever the situation, let the people see that you have the grace of God and that you have not received that grace in vain.

• It is important to note that you cannot fulfil the prophecy of your life without the grace of God.
• We also need grace to accomplish in totality the divine purpose of God for our life. It is not everyone who received the anointing that fulfilled God’s purpose for that anointing. We need Grace to help in times like these!
• We need grace to maintain our spiritual discipline and exercises like fasting & prayer, spiritual warfare and midnight battles, meditation and tithing for “by strength shall no man prevail…” – I Samuel 2:9
• God’s grace working within us also empowers and enables us to be effective agents of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:33; 6:8; 3:7-8) even when we ourselves are weak.

We started our walk with God’s grace in salvation. God’s grace will still

1. Supports us ( in times of temptations, trials and in all situation of life)
2. Strengthens us (against our foes, the opposition of heretics & in our weaknesses
3. Sustains us (in righteousness, godliness and faith)

GRACE FOR GLORY AT SUNSET

Zech.4:6, 7; Heb. 4:15-16; 2 Corinthians 12:9; 1Pet 1:5, Jude 24, 25;

The only way Zerubbabel could overcome was by Grace. How can we overcome great mountains of temptations, wickedness and persecution? It’s only by grace. After, we become born again, we will still suffer temptations. Temptation is not sin! But grace gives us victory. In summary –

• We reckon on God’s saving grace
• We receive God’s strengthening grace and finally
• We reign by God’s sufficient grace

If Jesus tarries, our exit out of this world into eternal glory when the Sun of our life is gone down is still dependent on the Grace of God – 1 Peter 5:10,11; Romans 5:17-21

A brief biblical profile of Men who found grace includes:

1. Noah – “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” – Gen 6:8. The word “grace” appears for the first time in the Bible in this verse. Noah lived in the midst of the most heinously evil society the world had known, but because he had found grace, God favored him with personal instruction about the coming catastrophic judgment and the details for a new beginning on earth.
2. Moses – Exodus 33:12-19…”And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”
3. Paul the Apostle – 1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

The Source of Grace – Our Lord Jesus – John 1:16-17 “And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

It takes our humility to be recipient of God’s grace – James 4:6-10 “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble…”