THE GRACE OF GOD Pt.1

Imagine a young man who was arrested for fraud. He was taken to court, found guilty, and the judge slammed a fine of 10 million naira on him, money he could never pay. The law demanded payment. The law was right, but the young man was helpless. He was to go to prison.

Then, just as he was about to be taken away, a wealthy man walked into the courtroom, someone he had never met  and paid the entire 10 million naira in full. Not only that, the wealthy man opened his house to him, gave him a new identity as his own son, gave him a job in his company, and gave him money in his account to start a new life. What did the young man do to deserve that? Nothing. Could he ever repay? Never. That is grace.

The Law was like the judge — it was correct, it was holy, it demanded justice. But it could not save the man. It could only condemn him. We needed more than a judge; we needed a Saviour.

Grace is one of the most sung about and least understood subjects in the modern church. Some love to sing "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound," but they become irritated when you begin to teach grace. Why? Because they cannot comprehend how amazing God's grace truly is to the sinner. They still think the sinner must pay something.

Another group has taken grace to a dangerous extreme. They have turned it into a license for reckless living — an excuse to continue in sin because "grace will cover it."

Scripture warned us about them long ago:

> _"For certain men have slipped in stealthily, who were designated long ago for this condemnation, ungodly ones, who change the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ."_ — *Jude 1:4 (LEB)*

So, what then is Grace?

WHAT IS GRACE?

Grace is not just "unmerited favour" as we commonly define it. That definition is true, but incomplete.

Biblically, Grace is *CHARIS* in Greek. It means *God's undeserved, unearned, unlimited favour AND His divine ability at work in us to do what we could never do by ourselves. Grace is not just God overlooking your sin; it is God empowering you to overcome sin*.

Titus 2:11-12 says, *"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, [12] teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world*"( KJV).

God has been administering His dealings with mankind through different dispensations with different rules of engagement in different seasons. A dispensation is simply how God manages His household at a particular time.

In Moses' era, God dealt with Israel using the 613 laws given to Moses as the standard for relationship and worship. It was the dispensation of the Law, and it lasted until the death of Christ. It was based on: *Do, and you shall live.*

But after the death and resurrection of Jesus, God's method of dealing with man changed.

> _"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward."_ — *Ephesians 3:2*

We now live in what the Bible calls the *Dispensation of Grace.* We are no longer under the Law of Moses. We are no longer bound by the rituals of killing animals, keeping Sabbaths and feast days to be accepted. The final Lamb has been slain.

> _"What the law says is for those who are under the law. It stops anyone from making excuses. And it brings the whole world under God's judgment, because no one can be made right with God by following the law. The law only shows us our sin."_ — *Romans 3:19-20 (ERV)*

The change in dispensation does NOT mean God changes. God is forever the same. What changes is the system He uses to relate with man. He dealt with Moses and the Jews through the Law until Christ died, but He now deals with us through Grace.

The major highlight of this dispensation is something that never existed before in this dimension — *FREE SALVATION.*

Those before us looked forward to it from afar. They offered bulls and goats year after year, but those sacrifices could only COVER sin temporarily. They could never TAKE AWAY sin.

For us, someone has paid the full price once and for all, and salvation is now offered as a free gift.

> _"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."_ — *Ephesians 2:8*

We must cherish this salvation. It was not purchased with our tears, fasting, or good behaviour. It was purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

And because it is free to us, it must be freely preached. Someone around you is still trying to pay the fine the Law placed on him — trying to be good enough, trying to earn God's favour through religious rites&rituals. Tell him the fine has been paid. The door is open.