Amazing Grace

Pastor Don Barry          

Sunday Morning’s message 16th Feb 2025

citywestchurch YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDGzzmx_OiQ

What is Amazing Grace?

We say ‘grace’ before our meals. In this context grace is a synonym for ‘thanks.’ It is actually used this way in the New Testament.

Romans 6:17 " But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance."

Ephesians 2:4-5 "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."

John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Grace is a common word in the New Testament [131times]. Paul, sometimes called, ‘The Apostle of Grace,’ is especially fond of the word. He uses it nearly 100 times. 20 times in Romans, 11 times in Ephesians. He begins and closes most of his correspondence with a salutation that includes the word … “Grace and peace to you,” or “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you…”

A question you can think about is, ‘If grace is unmerited favour, how does it differ from mercy?’ Are grace and mercy just two ways of saying the same thing? Mercy is actually closer to the meaning that we usually attribute to grace – ‘the unmerited favour of God.’

When we use the word ‘grace,’ more often than not, it seems to me, we are actually mistaking it for mercy.

We say, “I really messed up, but thank God for his grace.”

Of course, what we mean is, thank God for His mercy. Mercy brings forgiveness.

Questions:

 How have you traditionally understood grace?

 What is the difference between grace and mercy?

Grace and Humility

James 4:6 " But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble"

1 Peter 5:5 "In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble"

There is clearly something about humility that merits His grace.

Question: 

Why is grace given to the humble but withheld from the proud?

How does humility position us to receive grace?

Grace as Power, Not Just Mercy

Make no mistake, mercy {God’s unmerited favour} is absolutely essential. It is the underserved and unconditional love of God. It is the beginning point of our relationship with God, but it is not grace.

Grace isn’t so much some kind of gift from God as it is God Himself as the gift.

It is His presence and power working in us, enabling us to be and do all He has purposed.

Let’s look at some other scriptures which highlight the link between grace and the power of God.

Acts 4:33 "With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all"

Power and grace are inseparable words and concepts. They company together because grace is the power of his enabling presence.

Acts 14:3 "So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders."

Paul preaches about the empowering presence of God and God confirms his message by manifesting this empowering presence in the form of signs and wonders.

There is a very strong link between grace and power.

Grace isn’t unmerited favour, it is empowering presence

Question: 

How does grace empower us rather than just forgive us?

How does this definition of grace change your perspective on struggles?

Grace and Overcoming Sin

Romans 5:20-21 " The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Paul is speaking in this passage about the power that lies behind sin.

Where this power is at work… grace is also at work.

If this is unmerited favour, then it seems as if he saying,

“Sin does its powerful work, but the unmerited favour of God covers us and cleans up after our failures.”

His mercy does that of course, but grace is more than a clean-up agent.

It is a power that is a greater power than sin.

We can master sin and not simply be reduced to cleaning up after it.

This passage is a clash of two powers, one much greater than the other.

When we allow sin to dominate, then it isn’t about submission to a power much greater than us; it is about acquiescence to a power much weaker than the one present in us.

Titus 2:11-12 "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,"

God’s grace in us is sufficient; more than sufficient to enable us to resist and master evil and to be all that God has called us to be.

Question: 

How does grace help us overcome sin rather than just cover it?

What is the role of grace in personal transformation?

Grace in Action

1 Corinthians 15:10 "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

If you read ‘unmerited favour into this passage I would suggest it has nothing like the impact that ‘the empowering presence of God,’ does.

Question: 

How does grace equip us for God's calling?

Where do you see grace at work in others?