As God placed upon my heart this topic, I thought about how Christianity has been removed from the classroom in schools. I couldn't help but think how many are missing out on God's grace. Many of them don't learn anything about God until they're sentenced to therapy, drug and alcohol rehabilitation classes. If I'm not mistaken, they teach that you need a higher power because you can't do anything correctly without the higher power.

† The tragedy of our time is that grace, the very foundation of true transformation, has been taken out of early learning. Without the knowledge of God, people grow up believing human willpower is enough.
† When grace is removed from the foundation, self becomes the substitute, that's why society promotes effort over faith and pride over humility.
† The classroom without Christ produces moral instruction without the power to live it. Only the grace of God enables the heart to walk in what truth demands.

For most, they'll see Christianity in rehabilitation and therapy classes. Without being taught grace no rehabilitation including self help books will rehabilitate a person. You see, these self help books and rehabilitation classes do teach about grace. It's a proven fact, that's what works. So I'm wondering if these highly educated politicians are aware of the precautions of removing God's grace from the classrooms. Do we not know that without God's grace we can do nothing correctly? Some of you politicians wouldn't know that because you were one in the classroom when it was first removed. Today's topic is about grace.

† Programs and classes may speak of a higher power, but grace isn't a theory, it's a Person, Christ Himself working through us.
† The human mind can't legislate grace, nor can the state replace what only the Spirit of God can give.
† When grace is removed, the heart becomes a battlefield between effort and failure, because only grace can conquer sin from within.

1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me didn't prove vain, but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

By the grace of God we are what we are today.

† Paul confessed that grace was the true source of his strength. He worked hard, but he never credited human willpower, he credited divine grace.
† Grace never excuses laziness, it energizes obedience.
† When God's grace operates within us, our work becomes fruitful because it's God working through us.

There's no teaching about the grace of God outside of Christianity. Again, all rehab programs have some kind of higher power to leave it up to the individual if it is God or not. On the other hand, one could attend many churches and never hear the right message about grace.

† Many religious systems speak of self-improvement but not of grace. Grace isn't about what man can achieve, it's about what God freely gives.
† Without Christ, the concept of grace becomes only a moral sentiment, not a life-changing power.

For me grace is everything and I consider all topics in the text of grace. Because of God's grace, we're all where we are in our faith. You either have it or you don't. We don't earn God's favor by all the good deeds we do. We earn God's favor being in Christ, then we're righteous in His sight and only then His grace will empower us to be more effective. Once we know we can't do anything worthwhile without Him, His grace will flow upon us. This reminds me of a song I used to sing in a worship service. It's called Grace Flows Down https://fulfilledprophecies.com/musicplayer/Songs/047%20Grace%20Flows%20Down.MP3

† Grace isn't an abstract idea, it's the divine current that empowers the believer to move forward when the flesh has no strength left.
† True grace produces humility because it reminds us that our righteousness isn't earned but received.

2 Corinthians 5:21
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The Father made (Jesus who didn't sin) Jesus become sin for us so that we could be seen as righteous to Him.

† This verse captures the greatest exchange in history. Christ bore sin so that we could bear righteousness.
† Grace is God's way of making the unworthy stand before Him as beloved.

This next verse shows the grace of God and it certainly touches my heart.

Isaiah 61:10
I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,
My soul will exult in my God,
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Let's face it, without God's grace we'll never receive a transformed heart and remain in darkness.

† Grace doesn't only forgive, it clothes and transforms.
† The garments of salvation replace the rags of self-effort.
† Righteousness isn't a reward for good works but the robe given to those who trust Him.

Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace you've been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Anyone who has bad habits or addictions usually can't overcome them without God's help. I know, I was one of them. Until I realized God's grace, needing Him, that human willpower couldn't overcome addiction, it was only then I found success. Through human willpower sometimes people do give up bad habits and addictions, but what about deep spiritual fulfillment and the peace that passes all understanding?

† Grace reaches into the deepest places where human will fails.
† Deliverance isn't achieved, it's received. The strength of man ends where the grace of God begins.
† Grace restores not only behavior but identity, giving peace that human willpower can never create.

Does man feel the presence of God through human willpower? No. Did the Christians sing praises to God while they were being burned alive because of human willpower? No. Can man praise God in a time of trouble? Yes.

Did Martin Luther, John Wesley, Billy Graham and R.C. Sproul change the lives of others by human willpower? Was this human mind manipulation? Of course not, it was God's grace. God's grace is way beyond human thinking.

Isaiah 55:7-8
7 Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts,
And let him return to the Lord,
And He'll have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He'll abundantly pardon.
8 For My thoughts aren't your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.

† Grace transcends logic. The natural man can't understand how forgiveness can be so full and free.
† God's thoughts of compassion are higher than our thoughts of condemnation.
† When we turn to Him, we discover His grace was already waiting for us.

Conclusion: God's grace places us where we're at today. We need to share God's grace with others without meddling in whatever path of life others may have chosen. In our daily life, we need to find the power of grace in everything, good or bad. I know I can't do anything on my own. This is why my wife and I pray every morning to help us in our daily tasks. And if you do the same, you'll find things come together easier and smoother. God brings joy to whatever we do.

† Grace not only saves but sustains.
† Every morning we wake is another moment of grace.
† The one who walks in grace will see God's hand even in the ordinary.

How it applies to us today
† In our world of self-help and self-strength, the message of grace stands as a divine contradiction. God never asked us to conquer life by human willpower. He invited us to rest in His finished work. Every effort apart from Him ends in frustration, but every surrender in Him ends in peace. The same grace that saved Paul and sustained the early church still empowers believers today to overcome, endure, and live victoriously in Christ.

† This is the fulfilled perspective we proclaim at Fulfilled Prophecies †

Source Index
† 1 Corinthians 15:10, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 61:10, Ephesians 2:8-10, Isaiah 55:7-8