God’s grace can only be received through faith. “For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not by works, that no one would boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Grace is not something we can earn. It is the death and resurrection of Jesus that makes God’s grace and mercy available to us. He is the means that we are justified by God because “God sent Jesus to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in His blood and for a demonstration of His righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance” (Romans 3:25). Jesus laid down His life for us.
Surrendering to Him receiving and experiencing His grace fully with our thoughts, actions, and feelings will make a way for His Holy Spirit to come into our lives. When we enter a relationship with Jesus, His grace will manifest itself in many ways. 2 Corinthians 5;17 tells us,
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, all new things have become new.“
We don’t have to be perfect when we come to Jesus because He will teach you to leave behind sexual immoral, impurity, idolatry, sorcery, strife, jealousy, anger, envy, and everything else. I was a complete mess when I came to Jesus and He began taking sins away from me as I drew closer to Him. And He gave me love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness. Self-control. (Galatians 5:19-23) I couldn’t have gotten rid those things on my own.
We cannot rely on our own strength, but when we worship by the Spirit and glory in Him and put no confidence in our flesh we can overcome all of our sins. And we will have no reason to boast in our own righteousness, holiness and achievements, because God’s grace is at work for us. That makes us new creatures, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” The more we put our trust in God, the more His grace overflows in us, “He gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).
God’s Grace Is Sufficient
God’s grace is always sufficient. We see an example of this in Paul’s life. God allowed a certain torment (a thorn in his flesh) to ensure that he did not become proud. The Bible doesn’t say what ailment he had, and some theorists say it could have been migraine headaches. Paul was even pleased in these difficult circumstances because they revealed God’s strength through his own weakness. When we are weak and rely on the Lord, His grace will overflow in us.
However, it is possible to abuse God’s grace, we are warned of this in 2 Corinthians 6:1,
“Working together with Him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.“
God’s grace is a wonderful gift that should be received with gratitude and servitude. We can only do this by leaving behind our own selfish and sinful desires. We need to live according to a new rule of life, by the Spirit of God who wants to dwell in us and teach us love, peace, humility, and kindness. We should not resist quench or grieve the Spirit of God (Isaiah 63:10, Ephesians 4:30+31, Acts 7:51, Mark 3:29, 1 Thessalonians 5:19).
Paul overwhelmingly experienced God’s grace. He wrote in 1 Timothy 1:14,
“The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.“
That same grace is available to us and we can give us a wonderful life filled with faith and love. That will make you in the. An instrument of God’s grace for others. Titus 2:11-14 says,
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that denying in godliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works.”
From Pity to Praise 