God’s will refers to His desires and purposes for creation, revealed in Scripture, while God’s grace is His unmerited favor and kindness towards humanity, enabling salvation and empowering believers to live righteously despite their imperfections. Grace is God’s gracious action; His will is what He wants to happen, with grace being the means by which He allows His will to be experienced and fulfilled in the lives of believers.
God’s Will
- God’s desires and purposes: This is what God wants to happen in the world and in the lives of people.
- Revealed in Scripture: God’s will is often revealed through the Bible, which contains His commands and standards for how to live.
- Preceptive and Secret Will: God’s will is divided into His preceptive will (His commands, like the Ten Commandments) and His secret or hidden will (things only God knows, which are not readily apparent to us).
- Goal for humanity: It is God’s will that none should perish, and He desires for all people to live according to His righteous standards.
God’s Grace
- Unmerited favor: Grace is God’s freely given kindness and favor that people do not deserve, especially as a result of sin.
- Enables salvation: Through God’s grace, people are saved and brought into a relationship with Him, even though their sin would otherwise lead to condemnation.
- Empowers believers: Grace provides the strength and ability to live righteously and do good works that were previously impossible.
- Continual forgiveness: Grace also ensures a continual source of forgiveness when believers fall into sin, allowing them to repent and serve God rather than sin.
The Relationship
- Grace enables us to align with God’s will: Grace is the divine action that empowers individuals to choose and live according to God’s will.
- God’s will is fulfilled through grace: While God has sovereign purposes, His grace is the power that helps people fulfill those purposes in their lives.
- Grace extends His will for salvation: God’s will is that all should be saved; His grace is the mechanism by which this will is offered and received.
Do you find it challenging to understand the meaning of grace? It’s easy to recite the definition of grace as God’s “unmerited favor towards us,” but what does it mean to truly experience God’s grace?
God’s grace has the power to save and transform us in every area of our lives. Let’s explore what the Bible says about God’s grace.
“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”
John 1:16 ESV
God’s Grace Saves Us
“For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
As a child, I was not raised in a Christian home. Instead, when I heard the Lord’s name, it most likely was being used in vain.
While my parents were not regular churchgoers, my mom took us to a small Lutheran church during the holidays. It was there I felt the first touch of the grace of God at the tender age of five years old.
Growing up, our home was not a peaceful place to live. It was quite the opposite.
Because of my father’s excessive drinking, my parents argued incessantly. This resulted in one nervous, fearful, and anxious child.
Being so young, I had no idea how hard life was going to get and how much I would need God’s grace in my life.
I remember the day Jesus first spoke to my heart. I didn’t hear him audibly, but somehow I knew it was his voice as he said, “Take my hand, Dawn. Never let it go. You are going to need me for this life.”
While I had never heard the words “born again” in my life, I believe I experienced the grace of salvation as Jesus came to live in my heart.
About six years later I finally received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior after praying what is known as the “Sinner’s Prayer.”
In an act of boundless love, God demonstrates his grace to us by offering us salvation and eternal life through his Son, Jesus Christ. The gift of God’s grace is priceless, one we could never pay on our own.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”
Ephesians 1:7 ESV
God’s Grace Grants Us Eternal Life
Living in heaven with Jesus forever is a gift of grace, one we cannot earn on our own merits.
When I first learned about heaven, I knew I wanted to go there. Who wouldn’t? But somewhere along the way, I started believing that the only way to get to heaven was to earn my way there by being good and doing good works.
But that is not what the Bible teaches about God’s grace. Instead, God’s grace provides a way for us to spend eternity with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
He paid the price for our sins because of his mercy towards us as sinners. It is only by his grace that we have the promise of eternal life.
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Titus 3:4-7 ESV
“The meaning of life. The wasted years of life. The poor choices of life. God answers the mess of life with one word: grace.”
Max Lucado, Grace for the Mess
God’s Grace Teaches Us to Live Godly Lives
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.”
Titus 2:11-13 ESV
When I accepted Jesus into my heart, I kept being the same rambunctious girl I had always been. While I knew Jesus loved me and I loved him, it took a while longer for me to realize that along with loving Jesus I was also supposed to obey him.
Because we all have a sinful nature, living a godly life can be challenging. God’s grace helps us to live in a manner pleasing to God, instead of continuing to sin against him.
Along with granting us salvation, God’s grace through his Son Jesus Christ teaches us how to live godly lives.
“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!”
Romans 6:14-15 ESV
God’s Grace Empowers Us to Do Good Works
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”
2 Corinthians 9:8 ESV
When the Lord places a calling on our lives, he often places it just outside our comfort zone and beyond our ability to do it on our own.
He does so because he wants us to trust him to empower us to walk in his purpose and do the work he calls us to do.
When I chose a career, I looked at my talents and skills before moving forward.
When the Lord called me to the ministry and to serve others, he made sure I would need to depend on him every step of the way. I often feel overwhelmed and underqualified.
That’s how God’s grace works. He calls us. We step out obediently in faith. Then his grace empowers us to use the gifts he gives us to serve others.
How grateful I am for God’s gifts of grace!
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
1 Peter 4:10 ESV
God’s Grace Strengthens Us in Our Weakness
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
One of the biggest battles I faced in my life would have been impossible to endure had it not been for God’s grace.
Addiction crept into our family and wreaked havoc on it. As my son continued to decline, my faith grew weaker, and I began to lose hope.
Daily I pleaded with the Lord to give me the strength to fight this battle physically, but most importantly, on my knees. God’s grace strengthened me when I was powerless to do anything but cry out to him for mercy.
No matter what you are facing, God’s grace is sufficient. His power is perfected in our weaknesses.
We don’t have to be strong because our Lord is fighting our battle for us. Oh, the mighty power of God’s grace working in our lives!
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,”
2 Timothy 2:1 ESV
God’s Grace Cultivates an Attitude of Gratitude
“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”
2 Corinthians 4:15 ESV
When I think about God’s grace in my life, I can’t help but be thankful. His tender mercies and loving-kindness, his divine favor, are evident in every area.
It is my prayer that our hearts will always be open to see the Lord’s great love for us as we live each day sharing His grace with others.
THE TRIPODS OF FAITH.
GOD’S WILL versus GOD’S GRACE… are you aligned with the two?
By the context of this bible quote, the word “IF” suggests that one is “doubtful,” GOD’S GRACE wouldn’t have COVERED JESUS had He yielded to the devil for it would have amounted to SELF-ASSERTION – a grievous SIN. Thankfully, JESUS got the trick and overcame. DANIEL enjoyed the GRACE in the LION’S DEN for he was cast there by the enemies of his faith in God.
You also need the GRACE!
The truth? Whatever doesn’t GLORIFY God isn’t His WILL, and He never permits any situation that’s beyond our spiritual potency but notably, His GRACE doesn’t work with SIN… so, watch against tempting the boundaries of His WILL in other to enjoy His GRACE!
May His GRACE abide with us.🙏🔥
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