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God Will Not Surpass Grace
(Eph2:1-10)

God is the God of grace (Ps86:15; 1Pe5:10)
He longs to be gracious (Is30:18) and
Shows grace to whom He shows grace (Ex33:19).
He lets those who know grace to become His heirs and live before the throne of grace.

Faith is truly understanding the grace of God (Col1:6). and
The life of this faith is living by grace longing for the grace Christ will bring when He reappears (1Pe1:13).

Grace means gift and depending on who gave to whom what,
The value of the gift is determined.
Different from man's gift is the gift of God
For when grace is not received there is destruction (Ge6:8).

The Bible lets God’s grace be known:
1) The former / the general grace — all things — to all living things;
2) The latter / the special grace — the one and only Son — to believers.

God made two types of spiritual beings:
1) Angels — in heaven — spirits who minister, servants — can never become children, heirs
(He1:5-13) — sin once there is no mercy, only judgment (Is14:12-15; He2:16; 2Pe2:4);
2) The living being — on earth — the spirit that has flesh — heir of God — if sin there is
mercy for his flesh is dust (Ps103:14) — created to receive grace.

The people of faith in the Bible were those who found favor in God’s eyes:
Noah considered the warning about the flood as grace and
Prepared an ark saving his family (Ge6:8; He11:7);
Abram considered God’s appearance as grace and welcomed Him so
At his age of 100 received a son (Ge18:3, 10);
Lot considered the warning about the destruction of Sodom as grace and
Escaped the destruction (Ge19:19);
Jacob received God’s promise as grace and was saved from his brother’s revenge (Ge32:17);
His descendants, Israel, were a people who found God’s favor
So when leaving their slavery of 430 years they plundered the treasures of Egypt (Ex12:36).

While the Law promised those who keep the commandments be shown
Grace for a thousand generations (Ex20:6; Dt5:10),
If they broke even one, they were considered breaking all thus put to death (Jas2:10-11).

When they had gone astray and sinned,
The temple where the name Jehovah (1Ki8:16) was where
They returned to with atoning sacrifices to be forgiven (2Ch30:9; Zec8:21).

However, Yeshua said, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days,”
Because through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body (Jn2:19-21),
He would not in the name Jehovah but the Father’s name Yeshua (Jn5:43),
By not the law and the commandments but the truth (Jn1:14-17),
Give grace to not only Israel by flesh and blood but also the souls of all nations for
He is the Word in the beginning who became flesh, the Son of Man (Jn1:1, 14)
To give His life as a ransom (Mt20:28).
So He came to call not the righteous but sinners to repent (Mt9:13; Lk5:32, 7:36-50).

As He died, He said, “It is finished” (Jn19:30), declaring that He:
1) Died according to the commandment and entreated the Father who can give back His life (Jn10:18; He1:2),
and testified that the Father is the God of grace (Neh5:19; Jer33:26);
2) Judged the devil the ungrateful one (Is14:12-15; 1Jn3:8); and
3) Through death paid the price of sin for all men and shed His blood to be received
by those who believe for the forgiveness of sins (Eph1:7).

He resurrected and ascended the throne of grace as the Prince and Savior (Ac5:31; He4:16).
The Holy Spirit came and the Era of Grace arrived (2Co6:2):
Repentance for the forgiveness of sins is preached in the name Yeshua (Lk24:27; Ac2:38; Tit2:11).

The Christian knows that
By grace he has been justified without a price (Rm3:24; Eph1:7) so
He praises the glory of His grace (Eph1:6), boasting grace alone (Eph2:9, 2Co11:30).
He understands God’s patience (2Pe3:9), calling (Gal1:6, 15), the chance to repent etc as grace and
Even accepts poverty, suffering and illness as grace (Php1:29).
Therefore he forgives those who sin against him (Mt6:12, 18:21-22) and
As a steward of God’s grace, according to given gifts
Does the work of building up the body of Christ the church (Eph4:7, 11-12; 1Pe4:10) and
Testifies the gospel of His grace (Ac20:24) and
Boldly approaches the throne of grace to receive grace to help (He4:16).

O Lord,
How can it be that this sinner, the worst of all, can receive
The greatest gift of the forgiveness of sins?
Not because we deserved…
Not because we pleaded…
But because You long to be gracious for You are the gracious God!
Let us praise Your amazing grace and testify it! Amen.