Saving Grace

Introduction
Last study we examined ‘common’ (or ‘rainfall’) grace. This is the favour that God generously showers on all humankind, good and bad. It includes these provisions: seasons and climate; law and order; medicine and education; conscience and positive human traits. God provides time, space and place for people revealing his kindness in spite of our deserving wrath. He does this so that people might reach out for God in repentance and make peace with him. This grace that is common to all people does us only temporary good unless we respond to it by repentance. Mistaking God’s kindness for weakness or for unwillingness to judge sin exposes us to eternal judgement. Refusing to make peace leaves us as his enemies.

Common grace is extremely encouraging to believers, because we recognise God doing good for us all over the place and in every way. This rainfall grace leads us to worship and thank him. The Psalms are full of praise for God because of his rainfall grace.

Now we must look at special or saving grace. The person who receives saving grace from God crosses over into a permanent, every-expanding experience of God’s blessing. Without it, you remain an enemy of God – perhaps a temporarily blessed enemy, but one living underneath the dam of his wrath; a dam that while held back to give you time to repent, will one day crash upon you.

Saving grace brings with it the faith that personally trusts Jesus Christ to achieve peace with God for us. It not only ‘triggers’ the faith that transfers us out of enmity with God, but it transfers and anchors us into a whole new world or kingdom of grace ‘in which we now stand and we rejoice’. Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.