The Amazing Nature of Grace

Pastor Eduardo preached: The Amazing Nature of Grace 

 Paul talks about the personal nature of God’s grace in his life.  He knows what it is like to have been told to fly and to have been given wings! 

1 Timothy 1:12-14 12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 

Paul knows by personal experience that God’s grace does some amazing things.    Let’s talk about three of them.  Grace does the following:  It Produces Gratitude, It Creates Worship, It Gives Hope. 

As we talk about this in Paul’s life, I’d like for you to think about your own life and your story with God’s grace. 

Grace Produces Gratitude 

The first thing that I want you to note here is where Paul starts as he reflects on the grace of God.  Paul begins his reflection on the grace of God with gratitude.  This is the over-arching imprint that God’s grace makes on a person’s life.  The Law makes a person realize how bad he or she is, and the gospel makes a person realize how kind and merciful God is. 

Paul will lead us through the reasons for his gratitude, but it is where he begins because it is the most obvious and normal response to a right understanding of God’s grace.  In other words, grace produces gratitude. 

Now what is really interesting is the fact that Paul uses the Greek word charis to describe how he feels.  Every translation appropriately translates the word as “thanks.”  But the word has a more significant meaning that how we view the word “thanks.”  The word charis is a favorite of Paul’s, and he uses it in lots of different contexts.  For example, he uses it in greetings (“Grace to you” – Rom. 1:7), as summary for salvation (“the grace of God” – Gal. 2:21), power over sin (“where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” – Rom. 5:20), as the gift of ministry (“by the grace given to me” – Rom. 12:3), and God’s act of giving (“graciously give us all things” – Rom. 8:32).  So this is an enormously important word that summarizes the gracious activity of God toward people who do not deserve what they have received. 

Grace, by definition, implies that something is undeserved, and an expression of “thanks” would be normal and natural.  Thanks and grace could be thought of as interchangeable words.  And that is why some people might describe the blessing of a meal or the offering of thanks before a meal as “saying grace.”  To say, “grace” means that you understand “thanks.”