Grace upon grace.

A few weeks ago I was scrolling down my twitter feed and read a tweet from our teaching pastor at Newspring Church. It read, "Someone asked me yesterday if it was possible to emphasize grace too much. I certainly hope so, and I will try my best to do it."

It reminded me of a verse I love.    

"For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." John 1:16 

It made me want to dig into the very essence of what Gods grace looks like and what it's intended to be. I feel like sometimes we, as Christians, don't emphasize grace enough. I feel like we forget what that grace looks like in our own walk with The Lord and expect the rest of the world, Christian or non-Christian, to "just get it." We don't emphasize that the very essence of a relationship with Him is built on the grace that our Savior chose to extend to us when they nailed Him to the cross. We stand in grace, are strengthened by grace, and empowered by grace.

I found this excerpt written by John MacArthur. "Grace is not merely unmerited favor; it is favor bestowed on sinners who deserve wrath. Showing kindness to a stranger is "unmerited favor"; doing good to one's enemies is more the spirit of grace (Luke 6:27-36). Grace is not a dormant or abstract quality, but a dynamic, active, working principle: "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation…and instructing us" (Titus 2:11-12). It is not some kind of ethereal blessing that lies idle until we appropriate it. Grace is God's sovereign initiative to sinners (Ephesians 1:5-6). Grace is not a one-time event in the Christian experience. We stand in grace (Romans 5:2). The entire Christian life is driven and empowered by grace: "It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods" (Hebrews 13:9). Peter said we should "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).

Thus we could properly define grace as the free and benevolent influence of a holy God operating sovereignly in the lives of undeserving sinners."