The Gospel in Twenty Questions by Paul Ellis Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Paul Ellis
me—the task of
testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24, NIV1984)
What is grace?
Paul dedicated his
life to testifying of God’s grace, but what is grace? Grace is the love of God
reaching down and gathering you in his arms. Grace is the confident assurance
that with God on your side, you can’t lose. Grace is his strength for today and
bright hope for tomorrow. Grace is the end of religion. Grace is the freedom
from the unholy need to prove yourself. Grace is divine permission to be who
God made you to be. Grace is good.
Those
who say grace is one of God’s blessings show their ignorance, for grace is not
one blessing, but all of them together. Grace is heaven’s cure for the world’s
woes. It’s the power of God that turns sinners into saints and haters into
lovers. Grace raises the dead and heals the broken. Grace gives strength to the
weary and wings to the feeble. Grace is divine.
Grace
is the undeserved favor of God. Grace is God honoring us with his presence. In
three words, grace is God with us .
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who
are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28)
As Mary discovered and we are
still learning, we are highly favored. How do we know? Because the Lord is with
us. He is not against us, but for us. Jesus is proof of this. God sent us his
Son to demonstrate his love and favor toward us.
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17b)
Whenever you read the word grace in the Bible, you can substitute the name Jesus and vice versa. Jesus is
grace personified. He is Mr. Grace. What does the grace of God look like? It
looks like Jesus. What does the grace of God sound like? It sounds like Jesus.
How do we know that God is gracious? Because he gave us Jesus, who is full of
grace and truth.
The grace of
God comes in many flavors but is ultimately revealed in his Son, Jesus. Jesus
is grace, and grace is Jesus.
What is the one and only gospel?
The gospel of God’s
grace is the gospel and there is no other, for a graceless gospel would
be no gospel at all. Grace is what makes the good news good news .
When Paul
refers to the gospel of grace in Acts 20, he means the same thing as when he
and others refer to the gospel of Christ or the gospel of God or the gospel of
his Son or the gospel of peace. All these gospels reveal the one called Grace
who was given to us out of the fullness of the Father’s grace and through whom
we have received grace upon grace.
“But what
about the gospel of the kingdom? Is this a different gospel?” Whenever you hear
Jesus talking about the kingdom you can substitute the word king because
the kingdom is nothing without the king. Who is the King? It’s Jesus. So when
Jesus says we are to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,” he is
saying, “Seek me and my righteousness.” And where do we find his righteousness?
In the gospel of grace.
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is
revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is
written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
The gospel declares your
heavenly Father loves you and desires to give good things to you. He wants to
give you his love, forgiveness, righteousness, and acceptance along with all
the blessings of heaven, and all these gifts are found in his Son Jesus.
And God raised us up with Christ … in order that in
the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6–7)
To proclaim the
gospel of grace is to proclaim the exceeding riches of God’s kindness that come
to us through Jesus. It is to declare that apart from God, we are poor and
needy, but with him we are blessed indeed.
How did Jesus reveal grace?
I am often struck by the things
Jesus didn’t say as much as the things he did. For instance, Jesus never said
the word grace . Not once.
testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24, NIV1984)
What is grace?
Paul dedicated his
life to testifying of God’s grace, but what is grace? Grace is the love of God
reaching down and gathering you in his arms. Grace is the confident assurance
that with God on your side, you can’t lose. Grace is his strength for today and
bright hope for tomorrow. Grace is the end of religion. Grace is the freedom
from the unholy need to prove yourself. Grace is divine permission to be who
God made you to be. Grace is good.
Those
who say grace is one of God’s blessings show their ignorance, for grace is not
one blessing, but all of them together. Grace is heaven’s cure for the world’s
woes. It’s the power of God that turns sinners into saints and haters into
lovers. Grace raises the dead and heals the broken. Grace gives strength to the
weary and wings to the feeble. Grace is divine.
Grace
is the undeserved favor of God. Grace is God honoring us with his presence. In
three words, grace is God with us .
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who
are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28)
As Mary discovered and we are
still learning, we are highly favored. How do we know? Because the Lord is with
us. He is not against us, but for us. Jesus is proof of this. God sent us his
Son to demonstrate his love and favor toward us.
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17b)
Whenever you read the word grace in the Bible, you can substitute the name Jesus and vice versa. Jesus is
grace personified. He is Mr. Grace. What does the grace of God look like? It
looks like Jesus. What does the grace of God sound like? It sounds like Jesus.
How do we know that God is gracious? Because he gave us Jesus, who is full of
grace and truth.
The grace of
God comes in many flavors but is ultimately revealed in his Son, Jesus. Jesus
is grace, and grace is Jesus.
What is the one and only gospel?
The gospel of God’s
grace is the gospel and there is no other, for a graceless gospel would
be no gospel at all. Grace is what makes the good news good news .
When Paul
refers to the gospel of grace in Acts 20, he means the same thing as when he
and others refer to the gospel of Christ or the gospel of God or the gospel of
his Son or the gospel of peace. All these gospels reveal the one called Grace
who was given to us out of the fullness of the Father’s grace and through whom
we have received grace upon grace.
“But what
about the gospel of the kingdom? Is this a different gospel?” Whenever you hear
Jesus talking about the kingdom you can substitute the word king because
the kingdom is nothing without the king. Who is the King? It’s Jesus. So when
Jesus says we are to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,” he is
saying, “Seek me and my righteousness.” And where do we find his righteousness?
In the gospel of grace.
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is
revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is
written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
The gospel declares your
heavenly Father loves you and desires to give good things to you. He wants to
give you his love, forgiveness, righteousness, and acceptance along with all
the blessings of heaven, and all these gifts are found in his Son Jesus.
And God raised us up with Christ … in order that in
the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6–7)
To proclaim the
gospel of grace is to proclaim the exceeding riches of God’s kindness that come
to us through Jesus. It is to declare that apart from God, we are poor and
needy, but with him we are blessed indeed.
How did Jesus reveal grace?
I am often struck by the things
Jesus didn’t say as much as the things he did. For instance, Jesus never said
the word grace . Not once.