True Grace

I believe that Christians should not be afraid to address any topic that is fundamental to their belief, albeit false versions of that belief have entered into mainstream Christianity, namely hypergrace.

We do not protect our children from the devil by locking them away in a closet and not allowing them to go outside.

Grace, the means by which we are saved should not be allowed to remain a mystery. It should not be allowed to be morphed into something that will drown new Christians into the devils camp, through ignorance and this is what will happen when we do not explain it properly to believers.

Sure. So how do you unravel it?

"For the (True) grace of GOD that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great GOD and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from All iniquity, and Purify unto Himself a peculiar people, Zealous for good works.

These things speak and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." Titus 2:11-!5

Since when has God's grace (χάρις charis) been a mystery since it goes all the way back to Abel? Anyhow this should help from Thayer's Greek Lexicon:

PART I
2. good-will, loving-kindness, favor: in a broad sense, χάρις παρά τίνι, Luke 2:52; ἔχειν χάριν πρός τινα, to have favor with one, Acts 2:47; χάρις ἐναντίον τινας, Acts 7:10; (χάριν κατά τίνος αἴτεσθαι ὅπως (which see II. 2), Acts 25:3 (but others refer this to 3 b. below)); χάρις (of God) ἐστιν ἐπί τινα, attends and assists one, Luke 2:40; Acts 4:33; χάριν (χάριτα) χάριτας κατατίθεσθαι τίνι (see κατατίθημι), Acts 24:27; Acts 25:9; favor (i. e. act of favoring (cf. Winer's Grammar, § 66 at the end)), 2 Corinthians 8:4.

χάρις is used of the kindness of a master toward his inferiors or servants, and so especially of God toward men: εὑρίσκειν χάριν παρά τῷ Θεῷ, Luke 1:30; ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, Acts 7:46; τοῦτο χάρις ἐστιν, this wins for us (God's) favor (R. V. is acceptable), 1 Peter 2:19; with παρά Θεῷ added, 1 Peter 2:20; παραδεδομένοι τῇ χάριτι τοῦ Θεοῦ, to be committed or commended to the protecting and helping favor of God, Acts 14:26; Acts 15:40.

The apostles and N. T. writers at the beginning and end of their Epistles crave for their readers the favor (`grace') of God or of Christ, to which all blessings, especially spiritual, are due: Romans 1:7; Romans 16:20, 24 (R G); 1 Corinthians 1:3; 1 Corinthians 16:23; 2 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:13 (14); Galatians 1:3; Galatians 6:18; Ephesians 1:2; Ephesians 6:24; Philippians 1:2; Philippians 4:23; Colossians 1:2; Colossians 4:18; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:28; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 3:18; 1 Timothy 1:2; 1 Timothy 6:21 (22); 2 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 4:22: Titus 1:4; Titus 3:15; Philemon 1:3, 25; Hebrews 13:25; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 3:18 (cf. 3 a.); 2 John 1:3; Revelation 1:4; Revelation 22:21; cf. Otto, Ueber d. apostol. Segensgruss χάρις ὑμῖν etc., in the Jahrbb. f. deutsche Theol. for 1867, p. 678ff.

PART II
Moreover, the word χάρις contains the idea of kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved: Romans 11:6; hence, κατά χάριν and κατά ὀφείλημα are contrasted in Romans 4:4, 16; χάριτι and ἐξ ἔργων in Romans 11:6; κατ' ἀκλογην χάριτος, Romans 11:5; but the N. T. writers use χάρις pre-eminently of that kindness by which God bestow: favors even upon the ill-deserving, and grants to sinners the pardon of their offences, and bids them accept of eternal salvation through Christ: Romans 3:24; Romans 5:17, 20f; (); 1 Corinthians 15:10; Galatians 1:15; Galatians 2:21; Ephesians 1:6,(); f; Philippians 1:7; Colossians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:16; 1 Timothy 1:14; 2 Timothy 1:9; Hebrews 2:9 (here Treg. marginal reading χωρίς); Hebrews 10:29; Hebrews 12:15; Hebrews 13:9; 1 Peter 1:10; Jude 1:4; εὑρίσκειν χάριν, Hebrews 4:16; ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ σωτήριος, Titus 2:11; ὁ λόγος τῆς χάριτος, the message of his grace, Acts 14:3; Acts 20:32; τό εὐαγγέλιον τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Θεοῦ, Acts 20:24; it is styled 'the grace of Christ,' in that through pity for sinful men Christ left his state of blessedness with God in heaven, and voluntarily underwent the hardships and miseries of human life, and by his sufferings and death procured salvation for mankind: (Acts 15:11); 2 Corinthians 8:9; Romans 5:15; Galatians 1:6; (Titus 3:7); John 1:14, 17.

χάρις is used of "the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues": 2 Corinthians 4:15; 2 Corinthians 6:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:12; οἱ πεπιστευκότες διά τῆς χάριτος, Acts 18:27; ὑπό χάριν εἶναι,' to be subject to the power of grace, opposed to ὑπό νόμον εἶναι, Romans 6:14f; τῆς χάριτος ἐξεπέσατε, Galatians 5:4; προσμένειν τῇ χαρη, Acts 13:43 (G L T Tr WH); ἐπιμένειν, ibid. Rec.; ἐν τῇ χάριτι (R G WH text omit the article), prompted by grace, Colossians 3:16; the grace of God promoting the progress and blessings of the Christian religion, Acts 11:23; (prompting its possessors to benefactions, 2 Corinthians 9:14); sustaining and aiding the efforts of the men who labor for the cause of Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 1:12; the favor of Christ, assisting and strengthening his followers and ministers to bear their troubles, 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Grace is a person ---Grace is not a mystery ---Grace is Powerful and never ending =====

Jesus is Grace ----and He is Truth -----

John 1:17

PHILLIPS
So the word of God became a human being and lived among us. We saw his splendour (the splendour as of a father’s only son), full of grace and truth.
And it was about him that John stood up and testified, exclaiming: “Here is the one I was speaking about when I said that although he would come after me he would always be in front of me; for he existed before I was born!” Indeed, every one of us has shared in his riches—there is a grace in our lives because of his grace. For while the Law was given by Moses, love and truth came through Jesus Christ. It is true that no one has ever seen God at any time. Yet the divine and only Son, who lives in the closest intimacy with the Father, has made him known.


Titus 3

J.B. Phillips New Testament
3-8a For we ourselves have known what it is to be ignorant, disobedient and deceived, the slaves of various desires and pleasant feelings, while our lives were spent in malice and jealousy—we were hateful and we hated each other. But when the kindness of God our saviour and his love towards man appeared, he saved us—not by virtue of any moral achievements of ours, but by the cleansing power of a new birth and the moral renewal of the Holy Spirit, which he gave us so generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour. The result is that we are acquitted by his grace, and can look forward to inheriting life for evermore. This is solid truth.
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Jesus is full of Grace and because of that we have received Grace upon Grace -------so those who know him get shown His Grace -----

John 1:16

Amplified Bible
16 For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].

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Grace is an enabling Power -----we can call on ===it helps God's child to accomplish what they couldn't do and cannot be on their own power ----

The Power of Grace in the believers life is more powerful than sin -------therefore Grace helps us stay out of sin ---it does not give us free reign to sin --like some think ------

The power of Grace has the ability to change a believer from the inside out -----

God's Grace is limitless --it has no end and knows no bound -----it is available to us always -----God's Grace never Sleeps -----

God's Grace sustains us ---it brings endurance in the midst of the most crippling circumstances ---
-Philippians 4:13
I can do all things in Christ Jesus -----

God's Grace has the power to keep us from being dragged down by things that want to bring destruction on us like attacks ---anxiety ----losses etc

Isaiah 40:29 Amp B CE
29 He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound].

I say
And there is much more about the power of God's Grace to know and one can know it ----it is no mystery ----It is not preached because many believe that people will take it as though they can still do and live as they want as their sins are forgiven -----they don't know how to preach on Grace and of course Satan loves that ----he doesn't want it preached -----

Grace is so wide --and so deep it is really hard to wrap your head around just how Gracious God is to His Flock ---

It is very humbling to say the least -----

I see the Grace of God as a King that extends the scepter toward me even though I am too filthy to approach, much less be in the vicinity of the Palace, to show kindness toward me and teach me how to get clean. As though I was born in the home... Amazing!

Sounds like the ProdigalSon. There's a line in the little drummer boy that says:

I have no gift to bring that's fit to give a king...

When I hear that I always think...how much less for the King of kings.

I often cry at that song...

As a guy I can neither confirm nor deny crying but sometimes my eyes leak.

Not laughing at your leaking eyes but rather your preexisting disclaimer. 😆

I became a disclaimer expert because all my kids were lawyers as children. They could come up with some kind of loophole regardless of how airtight the language of my rules.
I finally settled on just 1 rule: It means whatever I'm telling you right now.

Grace is sufficient for all things and for the purpose that God gave it.
Jesus Christ was full of grace and truth. His disposition and purpose here on this earth required God to give him his full grace.

John_1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

There are others who live in darkness (that have rejected God's grace) and thus find themselves without any hope.

2Co_6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

1Pe_3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

The common saying that grace is unearned cannot be true, if that were true then God would not turn his face against them that do evil.

If we read Isaiah 53 the disposition of Jesus coming into this world was one of total humility.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Grace is earned not by human self-righteous works but by belief (faith) in Jesus Christ.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

😊❤️🙏

In one sense you are right but in another sense things are a bit more complicated in that we operate in one dimensional mode while God operates in infinite dimensional mode.

Thus we see only one way while God in his infinite wisdom has provided infinite ways. We were made in image and likeness of God. Thus we are precious in his sight, albeit that we have lost our way and He has to come searching for us. Yes, he left heaven to come down and retrieve us.

I like to use an earthly, albeit imperfect example to describe grace. But it is sufficient for the purpose that I am using it for.

I am not sure how many people have ever worked out in a weight- lifting gym.

Let's say that you can bench press 200 lbs without much difficulty. But now have set an objective of 300 lbs. You lie on the bench and start lifting. You reach half way up and start faltering. But you decide that you must push harder. But somehow it doesn't seem to work.

But guess what, you have a partner behind you making sure that the weight does not come down and crush your neck. Your partner seeing you in trouble extends his little finger of one hand and applies a minute amount of pressure to the bar. He keeps adding a little bit more of pressure until the bar starts to go up again in the air, and guess what you have achieved you objective and won the prize. (But your partners sufficient grace towards you was indispensable for your success, and without it you would have failed)

It is Jesus (his grace) that steps in and saves us and gives us success.

Jesus say this very important statement:
Luke 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

Why will many fail even after trying. They will fail because they gave up (their faith was fake) and when you give up, you will be led in the opposite direction by the devil.

Now it has to be understood that it is God who determines at which point you have lost the race. Only God can make that determination. And thus Jesus's word that he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

2Ti_4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

They will seek the easy way out.

Thank you for this good word. I appreciate it.
It is good to oft be reminded of our most dependent condition and the very near and present help we have access to as we seek to finish well.
It also brings a soberness to stay upon the LORD to be sure that I am not running in vain.

Thanks for the correction - Jesus is full of grace for us to day.

But one warning God's longsuffering will not last into all eternity.
The bible states that a time will come when there will be a famine of the word of God and thus grace will have disappeared.

Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Before Jesus returns the verse "let him be unjust still" will come into effect. It is a commandment of God.

When God uses the word "Let", as in Let there be light, it is a commandment.

Very, very sobering and should be a wakeup call to those who are procrastinating. The 5 foolish virgins thought they had time. The 5 wise virgins would not help them out and thus put themselves in jeopardy as God's grace was sufficient for themselves and themselves only.

Rom_5:20 "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, Grace did MUCH More Abound"

I hardly believe this is false; IF you wish just regular Grace, then even the
wicked receive that from God, As He, With Patient Longsuffering, Awaits For
them to accept HIS (MUCH More Abounding) Gracious Offer Of HIS SON (And
HIS ALL-Sufficient Sacrifice) For their salvation By His "Grace Through faith":

Mat_5:45 "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

Grace, Peace, And JOY In Christ, And In His Word Of Truth, Rightly
Divided (+ I and II)!