Parenting With Grace Sample

Grace: What It Teaches Us

God’s grace is caricatured by some today as an antidote for the effects of sin: Even if I don’t obey God’s commands or follow His will for my life, He will make everything work out for me in the end. That isn’t grace; it is license. This is a fallacy that shallow Christianity has wrongly derived from Romans 8:28. People focus on the first phrase: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good,” but brush over the two qualifying statements: “to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Grace does not cancel out the effects of sin. It teaches us the importance of avoiding sin.

The apostle Paul tells us that grace instructs us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age (Titus 2:11–12).God’s grace, His goodness and unmerited favor, is supremely exhibited in salvation, His gift of eternal life that is offered freely to anyone and everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. There are no other requirements to enter in a forever relationship with God. Jesus paid it all in His death on the cross and we are saved by believing in Him (Acts 16:31).

But if God’s grace means He loves us enough to give us eternal life, it also means that He loves us enough to want us to escape from the sin that once enslaved us. So, grace instructs us to “deny ungodliness and worldly desires.” To deny is to repudiate or disown someone or something. It is an intentional separation from sin. For example, in a world that has rejected God’s plan for families, grace teaches us to embrace that sex is reserved only for a married couple of a woman and a man, and that marriage is a blessing for life (see Genesis 2:24–25; Matthew 19:4–6; Romans 7:2–3; Ephesians 5:31).

“But wait,” someone will say, “what if I’ve already messed up? I’m just discovering God in my life, and past sins have left deep scars. Is there any hope for me? ”Yes! Wherever you are in your journey of faith, God’s grace will be your guide through good times and bad. When we come to Christ, all our sins are forgiven, and we are made new. Our past doesn’t hold us down any longer. And we have a bright future and eternal life in Jesus.