Essay Example on God's Grace Is It Enough?

According to the Bible, Christianity, and the earth, grace is an important concept. It is conveyed in God's promises that are illustrated in the scripture and represented in Jesus Christ. God shows his graciousness to the rejected, peace offered to the agitated, and the undeserved favor of God. It is the unconditional love to a person who does not deserve, and he reaches people who rebel against him through grace (Burgess, 2016). Christians believe they need it when they encounter suffering, sins, and brokenness. Christianity shows that human beings deserve death and have no hope to be raised after demise.

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Grace alone is not enough even though every Christian needs it desperately. It is a word of God, and he offers it as he wishes. It does not mediate between wrongdoers and God but is Jesus Christ in healing action. Apostle Paul explains that whenever the grace of God appears, it brings salvation to Christians, train them to reject ungodliness and to live a good life (Medel & Ferguson, 2018). They believe that spiritual growth is a process that does not happen overnight. It grows in knowing the lord and Jesus Christ through grace (Webster, 2017). It transforms the Christian's behavior, inspirations, and desires.

In Christianity, God's grace is the foundation and the power of everything in a Christian's life. Some scriptures in the Bible illustrate how the word was used.

• 1 Corinthians 1:10 affirms that a Christian's identity is based on the grace of God.
• Romans 5:2 expresses that the grace which we stand is our standing before God.
• 2 Corinthians 2:12 points out that our behavior in the world is by the grace of God.
• Romans 5:17 illustrates that in a Christian's life, plenty of grace and righteousness reign through Jesus Christ.
• 2 Timothy 2:9 notes that it's because of God's purpose and grace he called Christians to a holy calling.
• 2 Timothy 2:1 tells the Christians that it is good for the heart to be empowered by God's grace to have their strength in living.

Grace is among three doctrines that every Christian needs. The other two are law and faith. No single principle can operate individually. They flow together, and it's crucial to understand each one of them to overcome sin. God's laws are righteous and comprehensive and in Christianity, the rules govern the entire kingdom. Grace became a necessity when Adam and Eve sinned (Grumett, 2015). God offered his graciousness by not killing them.

Adam and Eve's sin portrayed their selfishness, and they were no longer in good terms with God. Grace has various dimensions. For example,

• God has given human beings a period to live and mature spiritually to understand his love and walk in his ways.
• He has provided indemnity for the Christian's sins through the power of the Holy Spirit.
• He has made way for Christians to conquer any sin.
• He has assured Christians that he will save whoever fights for faith.

For God to offer grace to sinners, they need to trust him and have faith in his care and wisdom. God's grace needs human reaction by having faith and obeying his commands. The bible enlightens that salvation is attainable because God has offered his graciousness to all wrongdoers. However, the doctrine of grace is often misused which causes harm to persons and their descendants (Tjeltveit, 2017). When it is well understood, it is a story of love that God has taken to save sinners. Christian believe that salvation comes through faith in God, and he then offers it by his grace. It demonstrates that the doctrine of grace alone is not sufficient without obeying laws and having faith.

There are instances that God has offered grace in Christian's with faith. Saint Paul suffered a lot due to his faith in Christ. He was imprisoned, demeaned, and banished for his faith. However, by God's grace, he escaped prison, survived shipwreck, endured punishment, defended his beliefs in front of the authorities and finally became an apostle. Christians believe that God has given every human being free will to be unkind or kind to one another (Sandelands, 2017). God's grace is offered to them to survive the predicaments that come in their way.

Christians believe that grace is a gift by God that is not imposed on people who do not want it. Challenging times, difficult people, and circumstances are Satan's way of distracting them from keeping their faith on track. They also believe that Satan tempts human beings in two ways (Groves, 2017). He will try to win them with the predicaments they face or to become a source of pain and suffering to others. However, in both instances, they believe that God's grace works mysteriously and gives them the strength to overcome their suffering and fight off the temptations to hurt others.

In the reflection of the word "sufficient," sometimes Christians feel hopeless. They believe that such moments are appropriate to open themselves to God's grace and allow it to flow over them. They often face the challenges of anger which closes the heart to it. It cannot be experienced when they are seething with rage. They believe that they have to soften their hearts first so that God's grace can help them survive their weakest moments (Davis, 2016). However, it is not easy for Christians to remain calm with strong faith during their moments of troubles and sorrows. They embark on a life of prayer to build a strong relationship with God and train their hearts to seek him first in times of predicaments. He then pours grace upon them.

Christians believe that God is rich in grace, which provides the strategy for liberation from sins and death. They also think that without it, all members of the condemned intellectual creation would perish. God has freely given his grace to their forgiveness and inheritance of everlasting life. Traditionally, God forgave all trespassers who repented and availed themselves to his kind deliverance to salvation. The doctrine of grace differentiates Christianity from other religions. The attribute of graciousness is a part of Gods character since he does not change. In the Old Testament, God reserved anger and did not arouse his wrath to people who disobeyed him (Levy, 2016). For example, after Israelites were rescued from slavery in Egypt, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back (Schwab, 2017). However, God through his forgiveness, compassion, slow to anger, and graciousness did not forsake them.

David refused to heed Joab's advice and went ahead to number the Israelites. God used Prophet Gad to rebuke David and gave him a choice of three disasters. He asked God to allow him to fall into his hands rather than those of man because of his mercies. It reveals David's understanding of the grace of God. Christian's believe God is also gracious in delaying judgment which gives them ample time for repentance (Turner & Kirsch, 2016). It shows that those who reject him have more grace because greater understanding leads to a fair judgment.

• Grace is conveyed in various forms, and the Bible defines all of them.
• Common grace is offered to all men irrespective of their spiritual state. In Mathew 5: 44-45, God sends the sun to shine on the good, and the wicked. The rain pours to the holy and the unholy.
• The saving grace is a substantial provision of redemption on the cross of Calvary and its intervention. It was justified by faith which brought peace among Christian's through Jesus Christ whom they obtained the grace.
• Sanctifying grace works in a true believer to convey progress, maturity, and emulating Christ.
• Serving grace enhance the generosity of spiritual gifts from God.
• Sustaining grace is offered at times of necessity, particularly during predicaments and tribulations.

The grace of God is offered to the humble themselves. Christians believe when Jesus Christ came to the world for the poor, and the needy to provide them with the riches of heaven. The Pharisees wondered why Jesus associated with wrongdoers and tax collectors. Therefore, grace is being given by God to sinners who acknowledge their weaknesses to be forgiven and offered salvation. A Christian is not guilty in the eyes of God and is not condemned for sins because he sacrificed Jesus Christ to pay for them (Janzen, 2015). Therefore, grace alone is not sufficient, as it needs other faith, humble, and obedience of a Christian.

References

Talbott, T. (2016). Grace, Character Formation, and Predestination unto Glory. In The Problem of Hell (pp. 17-38). Routledge.

Stjerna, K. I. (2015). Grace Only? Or, All is Grace? Dialog, 54(3), 260-268.

Garzon, F., & Ford, K. (2016). Adapting mindfulness for conservative Christians. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 35(3), 263.

Burgess, A. (2016). Salvation as Judgement and Grace. In God of Salvation (pp. 57-70). Routledge.

Webster, J. (2017). God's Aseity. In Realism and Religion (pp. 147-162). Routledge.

Grumett, D. (2015). De Lubac, Grace, and the Pure Nature Debate. Modern Theology, 31(1),123-146.

Tjeltveit, A. C. (2017). God's love encountering human love: Psychological perspectives informing (and informed by) theology. In Visions of Agape (pp. 115-134). Routledge.

Sandelands, L. E. (2017). The real mystery of positive business: A response from Christian faith. Journal of Business Ethics, 145(4), 771-780.

Davis, S. T. (2016). Hell, Wrath, and the Grace of God. In The Problem of Hell (pp. 101-112). Routledge.

Levy, V. D. (2016). "The Grace of God Assisting": Abolitionist Women and the Politics of Religion. In Nineteenth-Century American Women Write Religion (pp. 115-128). Routledge.

Janzen, D. (2015). 'What he did for me': David's Warning about Joab in 1 Kings 2.5. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 39(3), 265-279.

Turner, B., & Kirsch, T. G. (2016). Law and religion in the permutation of order: An introduction. In Permutations of Order (pp. 1-24). Routledge.

Schwab, Z. (2017). Faith and Existential Security: Making Deuteronomy 8 Respond to a Current Sociological Theory. The Journal of Theological Studies, 68(2), 530-550.

Medel, I. L., & Ferguson, D. (2018). The Apostle Paul and the Early Practice of Public Relations. Journal of Communication & Religion, 41(3).

Groves, B. (2017). The Temptation in the Desert and the Harrowing of Hell: Harry Potter, Mystery Plays and Milton. In Literary Allusion in Harry Potter (pp. 82-102). Routledge.