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When it comes to the grace of God, one of the biggest problems people have is accepting that it’s real.  It seems too good to be true.  I mean, let’s face it.  How many times in life do we encounter someone willing to give us something indescribably valuable that we did not earn or deserve?Continue reading “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not”

Welcome back to Essential Grace!  I hope you and your loved ones enjoyed a joyful and peaceful Christmas.  My family and I sure did.  We were blessed to have our entire family together on Christmas Eve, including all the grandchildren.  There is nothing like watching the excitement and anticipation of little grandkids ready to openContinue reading “The Freedom to Love”

Imagine you have a teenage son.  While at school one day, he hears about this incredible party that a female student is planning for the weekend at her house.  Her parents are going away for the weekend so it’s all happening quietly.  Your son would really like to go.  First of all, his friends areContinue reading “Freedom from Guilt and Shame”

“Free at last!  Free at last!  Thank God Almighty, we’re free at last!”  Those immortal words were made famous by Martin Luther King, Jr. at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s.  I would like to borrow that phrase but under a different context, a spiritual context.  If you are in Christ,Continue reading “Forgiven Forever”

When we last talked (well, I typed and you read), we were seeing how incompatible the Christian life is with trying to live by God’s laws.  If God expects us to live in obedience to His commandments in order to get Him to love us or to keep loving us, then He has set usContinue reading “The Essence of Grace”

In my previous post, I focused on my past experience to illustrate what grace is not.  In fact, I focused on my legalistic past, which is just the opposite of living by God’s grace.  In this post, we’re going to examine legalism even more closely to see the danger it presents to all Christians. SoContinue reading “The Danger of Legalism”

Before I dive into a biblical exposition on grace, I thought I might first give some background.  I have found that it sometimes helps to explain things by using personal experience.  There are other times when it helps to explain something by explaining what it’s not.  In the next few articles, I’m going to doContinue reading “The First Brush with Grace”

Do you remember when you were first saved? Do you remember the exhilarating joy you felt with the knowledge that your sins had been forgiven? Do you recall the heavy weight lifted off your shoulders as the shame and guilt of your past melted away in the glow of God’s grace and love? If youContinue reading “Just For Starters”