The Grace of God- Part 2- Who Qualifies For Grace?
By Colleen Donahue
In our first study about grace, we learned that it flows from the heart of a Father who truly loves us and wants to spend his life with us. Like any good parent, God has big plans for us – plans that will give us a bright future and good hopes. Ultimately God is planning ahead for us so that we will be with him in a relationship forever. That’s what He wants for us and is what grace is all about.
Now in this study we’ll see that grace is given only to one kind of person.
- When we look back in history, we see that God chose the small nation of Israel to shower his grace and favor upon. What qualified them to receive this?
Deuteronomy 7:6-9 (especially vs. 8)
2. God told Israel that He would lead them to a “promised land” so that they would have a home to call their own. What kind of people were they that God should give them this special gift?
Deuteronomy 9:4-6
3. God’s grace to us is never because we deserve it. What is the only basis for his giving it?
Daniel 9:18
4. And there is only one category of person who qualifies to receive God’s grace. Are you in that category?
Romans 3:23
If you read before and after verse 23, you’ll see that grace is God making us right with Himself through Jesus despite the fact that we are all sinners.
Romans 3:22-24
5. God’s grace is only offered to sinners – through Jesus Christ – and only to those who will receive it by faith. If you think you’re already a good person in God’s eyes, you’ll not receive a thing. It’s just a fact that grace is most recognized by the worst of sinners.
Romans 5:2, 6-8, 15-21
6. But can’t we work for God’s grace?
Romans 9:14-16 / Ephesians 2:8-9
7. Grace is freely given by God to sinners (which means all of us) but who are the only ones who will receive it?
Romans 4:4-5, 16
(Faith is like a hand that reaches out to take what God gives to us)
8. God’s grace is his kindness towards us to influence us for Himself. What does Paul caution us not to do with this grace?
2 Corinthians 6:1
“….we urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” That word vain means empty. It’s possible to accept God’s grace (his gift of Jesus) and then totally ignore Him until He has no affect on our life while meanwhile, we try to live up to God’s standard by our own strength.
Galatians 2:21
Either Christ has died to make us righteous and holy before God, or we work to produce our own righteousness by trying hard to obey God’s laws (which are only meant to lead us to Christ anyway). How is it that Christ becomes our righteousness?
Galatians 2:20
9. Grace is God’s unfailing love for you and I despite our falling far short of what He planned for us to be.
Jeremiah 31:3 / Lamentations 3:21-23, 32-33
10. God cherishes us so much that He extends his mercy, love, and favor to us when we were in this state:
Romans 5:8 / Ephesians 2:4-5
11. Even if we have “thumbed our nose” at God, He still wants us. What will He do?
Luke 15:4
12. Why does the Father love us so dearly?
John 16:27
When we come to know and love Jesus, we are loving the one who is God’s beloved and only begotten Son. We then also become the object of God’s love.
13. God’s grace is what holds us in the place that God has put us to serve when everyone else might be leaving it. We may think its because of our faithfulness to duty but it’s not.
Romans 11:5-6
Without God’s free and undeserved grace we too would be on the dust heap of history instead of part of a remnant who have remained faithful to our calling.
14. God’s grace is the undeserved favor of having Jesus within us to continue His work in this world. What was Jesus doing in the world that we are to continue?
Matthew 28:19-20