The Doctrine of Grace: The Benefit Package

What is the doctrine of grace? What does the word "grace" mean? Grace means "unmerited favor". You cannot earn it. It is a gift. You don't deserve it but God wants you to have it because He loves you. All you have to do is receive it. In a nutshell the doctrine of grace is that Jesus Christ went to the cross to pay for your sin so that you could have eternal life with Jesus in heaven.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,Eph. 2:8

Grace is the most powerful supernatural force on the planet earth. It comes from God and it is a gift that He wants you to have. The only condition is that you must accept it by believing and trusting in the redemptive work of Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, 1 Timothy Chapter 2

When we apply for a job, we want to know what the benefit package is. We want to know what we will receive in exchange for giving our time and effort to that company. The doctrine of grace has a benefit package as well. God says to us, "Here is my benefit package. I call it grace. All I want from you is to trust Me and believe in Me and become My servant." What are the benefits of grace?

Benefit One: You are free from the penalty of sin. Grace gives you a "get out of prison for eternity" card. You can go to bed at night and can truthfully say, "If I die before I wake, my soul to take". You can sleep in peace because you now have peace with God. You are beyond condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Benefit Two: The doctrine of grace delivers you from the law. The law is commandments that were given exclusively to the Israelites and that all nations base their government on to some degree. The law was given to show us that no one can perfectly keep the law. In other words, we can never get to heaven by our works because we would have to keep the law perfectly to do so. If we break one point of the law, then we are guilty of breaking all points. In other words, we come short of the glory of God. The law is our taskmaster to make us recognize our need for Christ. Jesus does not want you to follow a set of rules. He wants you to be guided by His spirit. The Holy Spirit will never lead you into anything that is contrary to God's law. The law enslaves you. Christ frees you. He wants you to learn to follow the Holy Spirit's guidance. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Romans 7:6

Benefit Three: Grace brings you near to God. Once you accept the gift of pardon, you become very close to God because God puts His spirit inside you. This is the moment of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Many churches confuse a filling of the Spirit with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There is only one baptism and it occurs the moment you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. Other churches say you must be baptized (submerged in water) to come into contact with the Holy Spirit. That is also wrong. The baptism of the Spirit occurs when you first put your trust in Christ. You are then given the Holy Spirit which seals your eternal destiny. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Ephesian Chapter 4. It is this baptism of the Spirit which brings you near to God. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13

Benefit Four: Grace delivers you from the evil one and the power of evil and darkness. Before you accepted Christ, you were walking according to the flesh and all its evil desires. Satan was the one who ruled your life. Grace rescued you from that. He has delivered us from the power of darkness,Col.1:13

Benefit Five: Grace allows you to become a member of God's kingdom. Currently, this world is ruled by Satan but God is going to change that and make it His kingdom and He is calling out people to occupy that kingdom. and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love Col.1:13

Benefit Six: You are justified. You are made right in the eyes of God. With grace, you can truly say, "It was just as if I had never sinned." There is a saying that goes like this: No God, No Peace Know God, Know Peace. This justification gives you peace with God. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 5:1

Benefit Seven: Grace perfects you. God created everyone uniquely. You are exactly who God wants you to be. You are perfect in His eyes. Our shortcomings do not matter. They just make our faith stronger. When you accept Christ and His gift of pardon, you are made Holy and you become set apart to do God's work. God then begins the work of perfecting you. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:14

Benefit Eight: Before we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we were children of the devil. Grace allowed us to be adopted into God's family. All Christians are adopted children of God.For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." Romans 8:15

Benefit Nine: Since you can pray at any time of the day, grace gives you access to God at any moment. Only those who have been adopted into God's family can do this. Children of the night (all who reject Christ) cannot do this. They cannot petition God until they believe and trust in Him. Prayer is a powerful tool that brings about many changes. God hears His children and will answer one of three ways: A. Yes, I have heard your prayer and am delighted to do this. B. No, you can't see the big picture and I am going to have to decline this request. C. Wait. This prayer will be answered but it is not the right time. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Eph 2:18 The word "both" here refers to Jews and Gentiles which encompasses everyone. It is the Holy Spirit that gives you access to the throne and you don't receive the Holy Spirit until you put your trust and belief in Christ.

Benefit Ten: You become a priest. A priest is one who intercedes to God on your behalf. Jesus Christ is our High Priest. When we pray for others and witness to others and offer help to others, we are interceding to God on their behalf. All Christians are priests of God. 4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter Chapter 2

Benefit Eleven: You will never be abandoned. God will always be with you. Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Benefit Twelve: You have an inheritance that no man has seen nor heard. You get to share heaven with all of your brothers and sisters in Christ. You will have an eternity of perfect bliss and will discover many new things and have many adventures. What could be better than that? 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The doctrine of grace has a benefit package that includes an imperishable inheritance. If you could go to an employer who offered you this package, would you not be eager to fill out the application? This package is being offered to you freely by God. Only a fool would reject this package.