How to Receive God’s Grace
​
5 Simple Truths to Bring You Peace
If you’re here, I’m guessing you’ve been asking yourself some tough questions.
Why am I striving so hard? How will I get it all together? Why do I feel so empty, even when I reach my goals? Why do I not have peace? Am I too much of a mess for God to help me? How could I be worthy to receive His grace?
​
I have some good news for you, friend: God longs to pour out His grace on you, and it’s easier than you think to receive it.
​
Table of Contents:
​
3) What do I have to do to receive God's grace?
4) What are the benefits of grace?
​​
What is grace, anyway?
​
The definition of grace can be traced back to an old Hebrew term that meant “to bend, to stoop.” It eventually came to include the idea of “condescending favor.” To show grace is to extend favor or kindness to one who doesn’t deserve it and can never earn it. (1)
​
This may sound somewhat pitiful at first. But when we realize how holy God is, and how far our sin removes us from Him, the fact that He has reached down to reconcile us to Himself is nothing short of incredible. That’s how much He loves us.
​
Let’s begin by differentiating between two facets of grace: saving grace and sustaining grace.
​
Saving grace is the grace that leads to salvation when we acknowledge that we are a sinner separated from God by our sin. There is no way on our own that we can present ourselves pure and holy before Him. When we confess and repent of our sins (Acts 3:19-20; Romans 10:9), God no longer holds them against us.
​
By accepting that Jesus’ death on the cross was the punishment we deserved and that He took it in our place, we can know with assurance that God is satisfied. We are made clean by the blood of Jesus and are now reconciled to God. This is grace that saves.
​
Be aware that while grace and mercy are similar concepts, they are not the same thing. Grace is being given what we don’t deserve; mercy is not being given what we do deserve. What we deserved was punishment for sin, what we received was both grace and mercy.
​
Sustaining grace is a general grace that can be found in the beauty of creation, in the fact that the earth has a force called gravity that holds everything in place and that the sun is just the right distance away to not burn up our entire planet.
​
We see it in the love of our families, the love of our spouses, and our friendships. We see it in protection from accidents, the healing or prevention of illness, and the provision of our daily needs.
​
And when He allows us to endure things like accidents, disease, loss of loved ones, or financial struggles, His grace is still present, because He uses these trials to strengthen our faith and display His steadfast love and power (2 Corinthians 12:9).
​
Knowing that He loves us, that we are already saved, that heaven awaits, and that He rules over all is what sustains us during the ups and downs of life. And because Jesus was raised from the grave, conquering the power of death (Hebrews 2:14-15), His grace gives us a confident hope, both for this life and for eternity.
​
We will still make sinful choices, experience sinful thoughts, and have to deal with the sins of others. But when we recognize our sins – which gets easier the more we spend time in His word – we can confess them and know that we are immediately forgiven (1 John 1:9). This is grace that sustains.
​
Why do I need grace?​
​
Because you, like me, are a sinner.
​
Can anyone say they are sinless? No. Jesus is the only human to have lived a sinless life. In fact, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth,” (1 John 1:8). And without God’s grace and forgiveness, we are doomed to an eternity separated from Him.
​
Just like medicine isn’t appreciated until we are very sick, grace is not appreciated until we understand our desperate need for it.
​
We are born with a sinful nature that is a result of Adam and Eve’s original sin in the garden of Eden (see Genesis chapter 3), and it often prevents us from taking responsibility for our actions. Yes, you did not choose to be born with a sinful nature. Neither did I. But that doesn’t mean we are not responsible for our actions—there’s no playing the “devil made me do it” card.
​
God is completely holy and pure, and our sin separates us from Him. The Bible helps us understand what sin is: there are sins of thought (Matthew 15:18-19) and of action—either doing wrong (commission; 1 John 3:4) or not doing what is right (omission; James 4:17).
​
The Bible tells us, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). Blood needed to be shed to atone for sin because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a) BUT “the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23b).
The truth is, we cannot purchase or earn our salvation. We cannot do enough good deeds or try hard enough to do better. There is nothing we can do on our own to make us righteous enough to stand before God.
What do I have to do to receive God's grace?
​
Here’s some good news: Jesus already did it for you!
​
He left His home in heaven to come live on earth, fully God and fully man (Philippians 2:5-8). He took your sin and mine upon Himself to satisfy the wrath of a holy God, whose perfect justice required blood to cover sin (Hebrews 9:22). He suffered torture and death on a cross, the most excruciating, humiliating kind of death, and then rose to life after three days.
Jesus came to provide a way for us to be reconciled to God; He paid the debt that we owed, and God now declares us righteous. The fancy word for this is “justification.”
​​
No one deserves love like this. And no one but Jesus gives love like this.
​
This is astounding, confounding grace. Rather than hand you a long, detailed checklist of what you need to do to receive it, I have one word for you: faith.
The Bible tells us we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 3:9). And because we can’t earn it by works, we can’t boast about it.
God’s grace is free, child. All you need to do is believe it and receive it.
​
This is hard for many of us to do without feeling like we need to reciprocate, like when a friend brings us dinner and we return their casserole dish with a special baked good inside to say thank you.
​
Receiving God’s grace does entail a certain heart attitude, however; one of humility, of being fully surrendered to His sovereign Lordship, allowing Him to rule our whole heart and life. The parable Jesus told of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14 is a picture of how we should be before the Lord—humble, not proud, not arrogant, but empty of all self-reliance. It’s the exact opposite of what the world tells us today.
​
God will use circumstances, trials, as well as mountain-top moments to smooth out our rough edges and mold us into the image of His son. This will be a life-long refining process, it’s called “sanctification.”
​
Though we will not be perfected until we reach heaven, also known as our “glorification,” our goal is to become as Christ-like as possible during our time on earth (Romans 8:29, 2 Cor. 3:18).
​
There are no required words or phrasing we need to use. We can talk to God like we talk to our friends; we can tell Him our troubles, confess our sins, and tell Him we want to follow Him. He gave us our life; we can trust Him with it.
​
He will search our hearts and know our motives (Psalm 139:1-2; Psalm 139:23-24; 1 Chronicles 28:9; 1 Samuel 16:7). He will see the humble desire to change our ways and learn from Him, and He will hear our prayer. He will take the other side of our yoke and help us carry it (Matthew 11:28-30).
​
When we surrender our life to the Lord, the Bible says we are now sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of the inheritance He promised (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Lord now dwells inside of us in the form of His Spirit, and He will be with us to give comfort, understanding, and guidance (John 14:26).
What are the benefits of grace?
​
Receiving God’s grace sets us free, gives us peace, and fills us with hope.
​
Grace doesn’t make our past sins okay, it completely removes them from our account, and we are burdened by them no longer in the sight of the Lord. Are there still consequences for sin? Yes. Should we repay the money we stole or apologize for the cruel words we said? Yes and yes. But sins confessed to Jesus are sins forgiven by Jesus (1 John 1:9), and the records are permanently canceled (Colossians 2:13-14).
​
Each new day is a fresh page of life for us now. His word tells us that His mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is great (Lamentations 3:22-24). Some days it will be a challenge to remember that we are forgiven and that God’s grace is unending. We need to remind ourselves through Scripture, through prayer, through worship, that God is FOR us, that He loves us, and that we are His child (Romans 8:31; Romans 8:38-39; 1 John 3:1).
What do I do now?
​
Walk in grace, receiving it for yourself and extending it to others.
​
What does this mean? It means that we can move forward in our life, changed from this point on because we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17); the old has gone, the new has come!
​
There is much talk today about the need to forgive ourselves, and I get it—it can be very difficult to receive God’s grace when we are plagued with regret and remorse. But only Christ’s forgiveness is necessary; only He can completely cleanse us from sin. Should we be gentle with ourselves regarding our past? Definitely! Our memories remain so that we will learn from them. But once God has freed us, we are no longer in bondage to our past, and we don’t have to beat ourselves up by rehashing past sins (John 8:36).
We have been washed clean by God’s grace, through our faith in Jesus Christ, accepting His sacrifice to pay our debt. Will we continue to sin? Yes, we are still sinners. But we are now forgiven sinners, and we can walk with confidence knowing that our God loves us and that He will forgive us every single time we ask (Proverbs 28:13, Psalm 32:5).
​
And because of this great grace He has bestowed upon us, we are now free to extend grace to others! We are called to forgive others as graciously as God has forgiven us (Matthew 10:8b; Colossians 3:13). When we release the burden of bitterness we hold toward others who need our forgiveness—whether or not they've asked for it—that buoyant feeling of freedom we experience as a forgiven child of God will only increase.
Grace cannot be earned or lost once we become one of His. We are secure in His love and mercy from now until we meet Him face-to-face in glory. There are things we can do in this life, however, that will help us grow in God’s grace:
​
1) Read and study the Bible.
​
Digging into the Bible helps us get to know God’s character, His sovereignty, and His love for all mankind. Romans 15:4 reminds us that “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.”
​
2) Pray.
​
Praying to God develops our relationship with Him and strengthens our trust as we see Him answer prayers; we will learn that even “no” can be a good answer! Jesus gives a great description and example of prayer in Matthew 6:5-13.
​
3) Worship God and serve others.
​
Coming alongside other believers to love, serve, and worship together in the name of Jesus provides a blessing to everyone involved and adds joy to our faith. “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” -1 Thessalonians 5:11
​
4) Give thanks.
​
Grace and gratitude go hand in hand. Once we realize what we’ve been saved from (a miserable eternity separated from God), and the depth of the mercy that has been shown us, we can’t help but be filled with overflowing gratefulness (2 Corinthians 9:15). As we look at our life through this lens, we will begin to see everywhere things and people and circumstances for which we can be thankful (Jeremiah 29:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). May we always recognize and worship the One who gave them to us.
​​​
Recommended Reading:
​
I invite you to check out my memoir, Winds of Grace: Losing my Father, Surrendering Control, and Growing in Faith, for the story of how I learned to embrace God’s saving and sustaining grace.
​
If the concept of grace is new to you and you would like to learn more, I highly recommend Ruth Chou Simons’ study “When Strivings Cease: Replacing the Gospel of Self-Improvement with the Gospel of Life-Transforming Grace.” This is a clear and helpful six-week study on grace with a video for each week’s lesson that you can stream online. (When you order your workbook, you will receive a code you can redeem for the videos at studygateway.com).
If you would like to dive into something meatier, the book of Romans in the Bible is fascinating and provides a deep discussion of the concept of grace. I highly recommend “Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary: Romans” by Charles R. Swindoll. I also recommend his classic book, “The Grace Awakening.”
​
​
(1) Charles R. Swindoll, The Grace Awakening, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003) p. 6-7