Grace Filled

Grace is what is called “Unmerited Favor.” It is what God gave us when He sent His Son to this earth in humanity’s place. We have gained favor with God by God’s grace and our faith in Christ’s sacrifice. This is what is called the Gospel of Christ. We have been given an abundance of gifts.  We now have a new identity. As I blog and write I will be unwrapping these blessings and what they mean to our family. It does not mean we are perfect and sinless, in fact we still sin, but we are now free to live in the truth we know and share our joys and failures in a right understanding of who we are.

The Good News of Christ is His life for ours.

Romans 3:22-26

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

We only need to believe in Christ’s death for us and we are the saved from eternal separation from God and gain an inheritance of many spiritual blessings in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Our family practices knowing we are dead to sin and alive to God. We practice believing or counting these to be true and yielding to the Spirit (Romans 6:6-14). Our family follows Christ’s example as we remember our identity in Him.

Philippians 2:4-8

Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

I Peter 2:21-25

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.