Grace Grace God's Glorious Grace

2 Peter 3:18...but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.

Ah the beauty and the sweetness of God's grace. How rich, how sweet, how glorious. Little time is needed when reflecting upon ones own condition to realize how undeserving we are of His glorious grace. We often fall in danger of making far to little of how great God's grace truly is.

It is my experience when I examine myself of how guilty I am of making far to little of God's amazing grace. As one who has the undeserved privilege of weekly making known the riches of God's grace to his beloved church it becomes painful to realize how oft I have made so little of the greatness of His grace. It finally dawned upon me that to make little of God's grace is in actuality to make little of Jesus Christ. To make much of Jesus Christ is to make much of His grace.

This took me back to Richard Baxter's book "The Reformed Pastor" in which Baxter writing to pastors. I believe he hit the nail on the head when he wrote ..."Content not yourselves with being in the state of grace, but be also careful that your graces are kept in vigorous and lively exercise"...

This quote from Richard Baxter hit home with me when I turned my thoughts towards the verse mentioned in 2 Peter 3:18. My eyes were opened to the realization that grace that is not "vigorously and lively exercised", is grace not grown at all. If we desire to make much of the grace of God, it must be exercised. Grace exercised is to make much of grace. Grace exercised opens the door to grace increased. As we grow in our understanding of grace and the Lord Jesus Christ we must come to the place where we see that grace of God - from God, was not extended to us merely to be enjoyed as unmerited favour, but also as the power of God towards us and through us that we might exalt the Lord Jesus Christ in all His fullness. Let us therefore in the words of Richard Baxter; ..."be also careful that your graces are kept in vigorous and lively exercise"...