Ephesians 2:8-9 (For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.)

Grace is the ability to will and to do according to the purpose and plan of God for humanity since the beginning of creation.

Without grace, no one can meet the divine standards of holiness with this fallen nature of man.

The power of grace was released abundantly to help the heirs of salvation run their race without looking back.

We are saved by grace. It is not by works, lest anyone should boast. It is not in man’s nature to follow and obey the ordinances of God. It is only by His grace, for the flesh is always weak when it comes to doing the will of God.

Paul said, “The good that I want to do, I do not do; but the evil nature I have renounced is what always raises its ugly head. Who will deliver me from the power of sin?”

Without this power, how will you be able to love those who hate you, pray for those who curse you, or do good to those who persecute you and despitefully use you?

In human nature, we always feel hatred toward those who do not like us and are inclined to repay evil with evil. However, those who experience the power of the grace of God will pity their enemies and desire that they repent and come to the knowledge of Christ before it is too late. Therefore, they pray for their repentance.

Without the power of grace, we cannot even attain the level of the Pharisees, who merely pretended, let alone exceed them in the race.

God is gracious and merciful. He has mercy on whom He chooses and shows compassion to whom He wills.

But unfortunately, some creatures have fallen out of the grace of God. Even if they were to become human, they could never meet the divine standards of holiness. They would always fall short of God’s glory and would not exceed the nature of Adam, let alone be transformed into the image of Christ.

It is by grace through faith that we are adopted into the family of God and receive the Spirit of sonship in the Kingdom.

Though the spirit may be willing and the flesh weak, it is the power of grace, given to us through faith, that subdues the flesh under the control of the spirit man and makes the spirit triumph over the soul.

Grace was released from the time of the fall, enabling some people to live above the temptations of the devil, and through it they were declared righteous by God.

Noah found grace in the eyes of God. Likewise, Abraham received abundant grace in His sight, not to mention Moses and the patriarchs, who lived according to God’s will and fulfilled their mission in the world.

Christ came to release grace in abundance because the standard of human life was raised from Adam to Christ. He perfected it on the Cross so that man could live far above the patriarchs and prophets and become greater than them in the Kingdom of Heaven, for the least in the Kingdom is greater than the greatest of the prophets.

Jesus Christ came to introduce a new standard of living to humanity. To meet this standard, abundant grace is needed, without which no one will excel or move beyond the level of Adam.

He gives the keys of the Kingdom to those who operate under His grace, to bind and to loose, and whatever they decree shall be established in the Kingdom.

Grace is not the power to sin, as it is misinterpreted by some church leaders. It is the power given to live in the perfect will of God.

That is why the Apostle Paul said, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid.”

It is those who do not understand the meaning of grace who interpret it in ways that satisfy their carnal desires. When you challenge someone who claims to be a child of God, he may say that he is under grace and not under the law. Yet Jesus said that since the time of John the Baptist, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

Under the law, if only one person witnessed your sin without any other testimony, you could go free. But under grace, the motives and thoughts of the heart are judged even without any outward act being committed.

How then has grace become more lenient than the law, causing believers to live contrary to God’s Spirit and still call it grace?

The law was modified for the children of Israel because of the hardness of their hearts. Christ came to restore it to the way it was from the beginning. These are the divine standards that no one can attain without grace through faith in Jesus Christ, who will see us through from the beginning to the end of life.

Prayer: Father lord, release your grace to me more abundantly, for me to meet with your divine standards of holiness in Jesus name amen.