Ephesians 2:10 (For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.)

The farther you move from the divine presence, the more you fall short of His grace. Just as sin separates us from His grace, you can also walk continually in His grace in this world and in eternity.

Those who preach hyper-grace are deceived, for there is nothing like it in Scripture. Demas was formerly under the grace of God, but deception and love for the things of this world drew him away from his commitment and caused him to miss the purpose for which he was created.

Someone who wants to be accepted by the world will trample on God’s grace to get there. It is the grace of God that keeps Christians from compromising with the world and bowing to its standards in order to belong.

Mercy and grace work together to keep us on the divine path. Mercy takes away the punishment we deserve because of the sinful nature inherited from Adam and the sins we commit ourselves.

Mercy removes the consequences, and grace gives us what we do not deserve, for no one merits forgiveness on their own. Jesus Christ paid it all on the cross, and through Him we are forgiven, and the consequences are removed forever.

If not for God’s mercy, we would have been consumed. It is only by His mercy that our days are prolonged until we come to repentance. That mercy is extended to the inhabitants of the world, leading sinners to repentance. It is available to them, even if they have gone far into sin. The grace of God is sufficient to bring them to salvation.

This grace is undeserved favor that enables us to live in the will of God. It is the power given to live above sin and to guide us into the presence of God in the end.

It is the power given to become children of the living God, we who were formerly His enemies, living continually under divine wrath, but brought near to Him through His mercy.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. Through the power of His grace, we are adopted into the family of God and become joint heirs with Christ in His Father’s kingdom. What an unmerited favor!

We are no longer slaves and servants of sin but sons and daughters of the Most High.

By His grace, we are overcomers. We overcome sin and the works of the flesh, we overcome the devil and his cohorts, and we overcome the temptations thrown at us by the forces of the wicked one.

Without the power of grace, no one can live above the flesh and Satan. We, who were uncircumcised in nature, became circumcised in the Spirit through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We become partakers of the unsearchable riches of Christ and the promises of God through the gospel. The Gentiles become fellow heirs, members of the same body, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Christ Jesus to the Father, whom we call “Abba, Father.”

Grace is what separates humans from the fallen angels. It is humanity alone that has been enveloped with grace. Fallen angels do not have this opportunity to live in the will of God. Even if they appeared in human form, they remain outside His grace.

Human beings are given the grace of repentance to become new creations and be transformed into the image of Christ. This is not given to demons, for their hearts are hardened and unable to comprehend the message of the kingdom. This is one of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, revealed only to the elect.

The seventy disciples who stopped following Jesus were also offered grace, but they rejected it because they considered the cost too high. They asked, in effect, who could abide by such demands?

Does that mean they were still operating under grace even when they decided to stop following Him?

They willingly trampled on His grace and chose their own destruction. Many are called, but few are chosen.

Not all who are called are chosen. Not all who profess belief have their names written in the Book of Life. It is those who endure to the end whose names will not be blotted out.

The Bible says that whoever believes in Jesus Christ shall be given the power to become a child of God. This power is the grace of God given to all who believe.

Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, who thought they knew God more than anyone else. He called them a generation of serpents because, outwardly, they appeared righteous, but inwardly they opposed the purpose of God while hiding behind religious garments to deceive souls.

It is those who belong to God who listen to His word and obey His commandments. But for them, the grace was not present because they did not truly belong to Him.

These are found even within the church: wolves among the sheep and tares among the wheat. They do not add to the kingdom; they subtract from it.

If you live as long as Methuselah and do not repent before you die, you have wasted the grace and mercy of God upon your life and trampled on the blood of the Lamb that was meant to secure your release from Satan’s captivity.

Though the prodigal son was alienated from his family, his father continued hoping for his return until he was restored to his father’s embrace.

There was a change in his garment, from slavery to sonship, from servanthood to royalty. In the same way, God is ready to change our garments from self-righteousness to the righteousness of Christ. No one enters the palace of a king wearing the garments of slavery.

It was the power of grace released at Calvary that changed our garments from self-righteousness to the righteousness of Christ, enabling us to enter the throne room of God.

Prayer:

Father Lord, envelope me with Your grace. Do not let me abuse Your mercy. In Jesus’ name, amen.