The Bible Edge
Thank You Lord
Revelation 22:21
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Interesting, the first use of the word grace in the Bible was about one man. In all the people of the earth, one man found grace in the eyes of the Lord; that man was Noah. Now, here, at the end of the Bible, in the last verse, it is written that grace is available to all. Thank the Lord for grace. Where would we be without it?
Jonathan Edwards once said, “As grace is first from God, so it is continually from him, as much as light is all day long from the sun…” Today through solar panels energy from the sun can be captured, stored, and turned into electricity. Likewise with grace. We are the receptacles of grace from God. It is stored in our souls for use toward others, for after all grace kept to itself is nothing. Henry Ward Beecher taught, “God appoints our graces to be nurses to other men’s weaknesses.” The grace of God bestowed upon any person is to be received, nurtured, increased, and then given to others.
The New Testament is a book of grace. The word is only used in 159 verses of the Bible, 122 of which are in the New Testament. As a bit of trivia, the word grace is only used 4 times in the Gospels (three of those times is in John 1), but it is used in every other book of the New Testament except for I and II John. In its pages the New Testament teaches that grace can be received, rejected, increased, can be seen, can be recommended, evidently can be received in vain, grace can abound, is given to each in a measure, and on and on it goes. From Romans to Revelation nineteen of those twenty-two books begin or end with the salutation of grace, peace and/or mercy being extended.
Frankly, the Bible states more truth about grace in a few words than any author could in a thousand volumes. Consider below some words of grace from the New Testament.
John 1:17
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:24
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Romans 11:6
And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
With all that and more. Let us give thanks to God for His amazing grace.
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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