1. “Now to the one who works, his wages are not accounted according to grace, but according to what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted as righteousness” (Rom. 4:4-5).
Grace does not require works or actions; grace is based on faith. We do not need to work or act; we only need to believe. This is the principle of grace and the declaration of grace.
2. “If by grace, it is no longer out of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace” (Rom. 11:6).
The law is completely a matter of works; grace is completely apart from works. Once we pay attention to works, we are not under grace but under the law. The law is out of works and under the principle of works; grace is out of faith and under the principle of faith.
1. “The grace of God, bringing salvation to all men”; “Saved us...according to His own purpose and grace” (Titus 2:11; 2 Tim. 1:9; see also Eph. 2:8).
The law is weak and impotent. It could not accomplish anything because of the weakness of the flesh. Grace is strong and powerful; it accomplishes everything for us. The initial accomplishment of grace is to save us. We are all saved by grace.
2. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).
Grace also causes us to be redeemed and our sins to be forgiven.
3. “Justified by His grace” (Titus 3:7; see also Rom. 3:24).
God cannot justify us based on any of our works of the law. Through grace, He justifies us. Grace is stronger than the law. It can do what the law cannot in relation to our justification.
4. “Grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6).
The law cannot result in our being graced in God. Only grace can cause us to be graced in the Beloved, that is, to be graced in our Lord Jesus.
5. “By His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).
Because of grace, we are no longer enemies of God; instead, we are heirs of God, inheriting the eternal life.
6. “Into this grace in which we stand and boast because of the hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2).
Grace enables us to leave sadness and hopelessness behind and to be boastful in the hope of obtaining God’s glory. We are boasting and hopeful, not sorrowful and hopeless, because grace brings us into the glory of God so that we can become glorious people.
7. “The word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified” (Acts 20:32).
Grace not only saves us but also builds us up so that we would gain God’s glorious inheritance with all His sanctified ones.
8. “Sin will not lord it over you, for you are not under the law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).
We can be freed from the authority of sin because of the work of grace in us. Grace causes us to be released from the authority of sin so that we are no longer slaves to sin.
9. “Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help” (Heb. 4:16).
We can come forward to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace for timely help. Timely help can also be translated as “constant help.”
10. “Much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ”; “So also grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:17, 21).
The grace within us is strong, and it causes us to reign in the life of God. Its strength to overcome is not limited. With its strength, which comes from God’s life, grace exercises authority and rules over everything, causing everything to be in subjection to us.
The grace that we receive is Jesus Christ our Lord, who is living and powerful. Grace reigns over everything in order that we might abundantly obtain God’s eternal life, the life of God in our Lord Jesus Christ.
11. “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9).
The Lord’s grace is sufficient for us. This sufficient grace is His powerful resurrection life within us, which is able to bear all our responsibilities and bring us through any environment.
12. “By the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me did not turn out to be in vain, but, on the contrary, I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God which is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).
The grace of God can increase our human capacity, as it did in Paul. He says, “By the grace of God I am what I am” and “I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God which is with me.” If we compare his words yet not I but the grace of God with his words in Galatians 2:20, it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ, we can realize that the grace of God is just Christ. This confirms the definition of grace. The grace of God in truth is just Christ, who is God Himself. Grace is the powerful life of God within us. Therefore, the grace of God is as strong as Christ, and the grace of God is as powerful as God and the life of God. The grace of God enables us to do what others cannot because of its strength and power.