An examination of God's Grace

Le's reflect on the text from Hebrews 6:13 and 14: "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying 'I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.'"

Notice the wording above. Historically, God swore for the benefit of Abraham to whom he had made an extremely a lavish promise. Who was Abraham to whom God would sware, "I will bless" and "I will multiply?" God, out of the fullness of His glorious grace, told Abraham who had no heir that he was to have an heir, and a seed as numerous as the stars of the heavens and as the sands of the sea.

None of this would come about by anything that Abraham in himself could do. To make sure that Abraham would have no part in it or in any way capable of fulfilling this promise, God withheld its fulfillment until Abraham and Sarah were as good as dead, and in this condition and wholly beyond the time of life when a child could be born, the promise was fulfilled. This is pure grace.

In Romans 4:19 and 20, referring to Abraham, you'll read; "Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and deadness of Sarah's womb, yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, and giving glory to God."

People often resort to the philosophy which says, "God helps those who help themselves," but this is exactly the reverse of what the Bible reveals. God helps those who cannot help themselves. What could Abraham and Sarah do to help themselves? Nothing! They could only wait on god to fulfill his promise. The same thing applies to our relationship to God. People think they must do something to merit the favor of God, or after having received salvation, they must do something to keep it. The most difficult truth to understand is that of pure Grace. Romans 11:6 says, "But it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."

We should rejoice in this grace from God. It is our promise that God has better things in store for us and they're things which accompany our salvation. God forbid that we should receive this grace in vain. God swore by himself and now we have full assurance!