By His Grace
Damascus and by grace, Jesus was revealed in him. This encounter had nothing to do with any effort or belief on Paul’s part and it was all by God’s grace.
I am not going to try here and say I understand all that grace is but one thing I know is that it is much more than God’s “unmerited favor” that we have all been told it is. And it is that as well of course but I think it goes deeper and further than just favor. I think it is the power of God in all aspects of our lives. God did not need my help in this great plan of redemption He has instituted.
He is the beginning and the ending and everything in-between as well. It seems that most people believe God’s plan of redemption didn’t get very far and that it was halted by the first man He created. We have always been told that God turned His back on man at that time and that Satan took over from there. If this were so then it would seem that the enemy had more power than God did. This is just something else that is terribly misunderstood when it comes to God’s redemptive plan through His grace.
It seems that we think that the devil can undermine God’s plan at every opportunity. Not only that, most think that God will ultimately lose 90 to 95 percent of His creation to an eternal hell fire, which He would have created by the way, because Satan has disrupted His plan to redeem and save the entire world. This is a totally wrong concept of what God’s plan of redemption is.
In John 18:9 we see Jesus saying how many He has lost that the Father had given Him. He says “of them which thou gavest me have I lost none”. So how many did God give Jesus to redeem? The entire world. He came to take away the sin of the world. By His grace, His plan has been fully and perfectly fulfilled.
If we are to believe that Satan actually has enough power over God to take a huge percentage of His creation whom He loves unconditionally and cast them into eternal torment is certainly not a proper understanding of the grace of God. It is an insult to the blood that was shed on the cross and it is saying Satan has more power than that blood.
By His grace I am saved. By His grace I was redeemed. By His grace I am sustained. By His grace I am in Christ. By His grace I am part of God’s eternal plan that none shall perish. By His grace I am part of God’s will that all men be saved. By His grace…….and I could go on and on.
It’s time to begin to see the light of this glorious gospel and to the fact it lights EVERY MAN that comes into this world. Stop looking at it as an exclusive club some belong to because they are going to church on Sunday or are doing good. Stop looking at it as if those that are outside of “your club” will perish and suffer eternal torment. Whatsoever God hath cleansed call thou not common or unclean. (Acts 10:28)
