Can a man be proud of Grace?

The grace of God in Christ is without measure, it is inexhaustible and available for all who have His Spirit. And yet life with all its challenges seems to want to rob us of this free gift. Grace is what is needed to get through any given day. For me to even again say I shall never fall would be an unwise declaration. Although my wish would be to never fall again, the truth be told if I do not find the grace needed for the particular trial, I will come up short.

Can a man be proud of grace?

“It is a curious fact, that there is such a thing as being proud of grace. A man says, “I have great faith, I shall not fall; poor little faith may, but I never shall.” “I have fervent love,” says another, “I can stand, there is no danger of my going astray.” He who boasts of grace has little grace to boast of. Some who do this imagine that their graces can keep them, knowing not that the stream must flow constantly from the fountain head, or else the brook will soon be dry. If a continuous stream of oil comes not to the lamp, though it burn brightly to-day, it will smoke to-morrow, and noxious will be its scent. Take heed that thou gloriest not in thy graces, but let all thy glorying and confidence be in Christ and his strength, for only so canst thou be kept from falling. Be much more in prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration. Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly. Watch your lives more carefully. Live nearer to God. Take the best examples for your pattern. Let your conversation be redolent of heaven. Let your hearts be perfumed with affection for men’s souls. So live that men may take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus, and have learned of him; and when that happy day shall come, when he whom you love shall say, “Come up higher,” may it be your happiness to hear him say, “Thou hast fought a good fight, thou hast finished thy course, and henceforth there is laid up for thee a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away.” On, Christian, with care and caution! On, with holy fear and trembling! On, with faith and confidence in Jesus alone, and let your constant petition be, “Uphold me according to thy word.” He is able, and he alone, “To keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Wherever we find ourselves may we be quick to focus all our attentions on the Lord Jesus Christ, our risen Saviour. May all our confidence lie in Him and not our circumstance or our own abilities. Enough of what I am capable of achieving within myself, I have proved time and again that all that brings to my life is destruction. I am a new creature in Him and the time to embrace this truth is at the door, it has been from salvation, but life is there to teach us many lessons about ourselves, sure we can learn from the mistakes of others. I hope I have assisted some with the evident mistakes to my life.

However at the end of the day we will all stand-alone before our Heavenly Father and give an account of what we did with His perfect gift, Jesus Christ the Lord. How we applied His Spirit to our lives. Christianity is a person relationship that we received with no merit of our own, God who is rich in mercy afforded us the opportunity to call upon His name and only because of what Christ achieved on our behalf, redemption from sin. Although we battle with sin we are no longer guilty of sin as Christ has paid the price in full. A phenomenal accomplishment! How can we find sin in our lives and yet be free from its charge? Praise the name of Jesus!

It is now up to us to resolve in Christ to be strong in seeking out His grace. He has buckets of grace in Himself and yet it is not for Himself but for the Christian. The sole purpose of this fountain that flows full of grace from our head, the Lord Jesus, is to provide the Christian with nourishment and the ability to find strength to overcome. We will never overcome if we do not seek out His provision for any given situation.

I suppose we are asked to wrestle for it just like Jacob did, when he encountered the “Angel of the Lord” in the wilderness. That is why we are taught to approach the throne room of grace with boldness (chutzpah). It is far too natural to give in to temptation without fighting for what is right in the Lord.

Once again I will remind myself and all who now read this entry, it is all about what the Lord Jesus achieved on Calvary, may we never forget it, if we are to find grace we must focus on His victory and seek out His strength to overcome. Any other way will be like a house built on the clay and when the storm comes, and it will come, the house will come toppling down and great will be its fall.

Signing off

Tyrone