The Grace Effect, Week 1: Grace Defined

Grace.  What is it?  How do we experience it?  What do we do with it?  Join us for this in depth study of Grace and it’s effect on our lives. Title of Message:  Grace Defined   Grace is GETTING what you don’t deserve. Mercy is NOT GETTING what you DO deserve.   1.    Grace is a choice.   (Colossians 3:3) (NLT) “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”   (1 John 2:1) (NLT) “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.”   (Romans 8:1) “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,”   Do you trust your Advocate or your Accuser?   2.    Grace took my place.   Grace is God loving, God stooping, God coming to the rescue, God giving himself generously in and through Jesus Christ. –John Stott   (Matthew 27:11) (NLT) “Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him. Jesus replied, “You have said it.” (Matthew 27:12-14) (NLT) But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. “Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded. But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.   (Matthew 27:15-16) (NLT) Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted. This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas. (Matthew 27:17-18) (NLT) As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.) (Matthew 27:19) (NLT) Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.” (Matthew 27:20-21) (NLT) Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death. So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?” The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!” (Matthew 27:22) (NLT) Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!”   3.  Grace is available for all.   (Romans 3:23-24) (NLT) For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.   (Romans 3:25-26) (NLT) For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.