Grace = Unmerited Favor

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Mike

The first man, Adam, made a mistake and went against the will of God resulting in banishment from the Garden of Eden and a loss of his eternal existence; Adam and all of his descendants to follow would now be assigned a time to die. Because of Adam and Eve’s selfish desire, all of humanity was condemned to die. This death sentence remained in place until God sent His Son Jesus to pay the price for our sin on the cross. If you’ve trusted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, you have been justified by that faith and therefore, buy the grace of God, deemed righteous in His eyes; your eternal existence, lost by Adam and Eve’s misdeed, is now returned.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” Romans 5:1-2 (NIV)

Of course this was God’s plan all along. God knew Adam would set this process in motion. God knew he would later send His Son to rectify the situation. God allowed humanity to remain in sin for about four thousand years. This long process proved, without question, we are unable to achieve the righteousness of God in our own power. We can only achieve the righteousness of God through the power of God and the sacrifice of His Son on the Cross.

“For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19 (NIV)

The laws of God found in the Old Testament demonstrated humanity’s inability to achieve the righteousness of God. For thousands of years humanity continuously failed at following God’s law. Praise God for His grace – for providing us unmerited victory over death through the righteousness achieved by faith in Jesus.

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

As Christians, we have stepped into a new humanity. No longer are we standing with Adam assigned a time to die. We are now standing with Jesus and guaranteed eternal life with our Lord and Savior. I don’t know that we will ever fully understand the spiritual battle between good and evil playing out in this world. What I do know is that by the grace of God we have been granted a means of escape from this battle and a future filled with peace and joy in the kingdom of heaven.

All scripture references are linked to Bible Gateway so that you can read each verse in context. Bible Gateway allows you to change the verse to your favorite translation and compare it side-by-side with multiple translations. In addition, you can select to hear an audio version of any verse by clicking on the speaker icon. Keep the Bible Gateway App on your phone so that you can visit the Word of God at any time during your day.