Grace helps us Grow

Life works when we are growing and God has given us a complete system to grow. Redemption is the process to growth and comes through faith, repentance, and obedience. If we do not build our lives on these elementary principles, we will not have a secure foundation. We must have the basics in place and then go beyond the basics. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). The answers to life and to all of the troubles and issues are found in seeking God and His righteousness. Spiritual growth is the foundation of any kind of “life building”.

One of the biggest obstacles to growth is how we view God. People do not grow until they shift from a natural human view of God to the real, biblical view of God. The first aspect of that shift has to be from a God of law to the God of grace. Grace is a key element to God’s system of growth. When we first look at having a view of God that affects growth, we must begin with grace. To grow, we need things that we do not have and cannot provide for ourselves. This “grace” is God’s provision of various resources and tools that help us to grow. We need the source of those things we need and that looks at us with favor. Grace says “I am for you and I will help you get what you need.”

The law makes things worse, not better. The law proves our guilt and shows us that we consistently fail to live up to God’s standards. The law is useless as a change agent. The law cannot change people or make them grow. It is “powerless” to do that, as Paul says in Romans 8:3. But the law does provide awareness as a way to help people know their need. The law shows us that we are hopeless to help ourselves. In order to grow we have to reach the end of ourselves. But we can never get to the end of ourselves until we stop believing we can do it on life on our own. We have needs and only God can meet those needs. Redemption puts things back as God had intended them to be. We have a “standing in grace” (see Rom.5:1). “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” God is not mad at us for our failures and weaknesses. In fact, He calls it a “blessed” state, unable to do what we need to do (Matt 5:3 & 2Cor 12:9-10).  

For growth to happen, we must seek God. God is for us, not against us. We need to realize God is the God of grace. Grace that leads to true lasting change is in His unmerited favor. He will provide for us what we cannot provide for ourselves. Grace means that we receive the gifts we need for growth to occur. We encounter grace when we come to the end of ourselves either through realizing our failure to attain His standard, or through experiencing the consequences of having our lives fall short of the standard. Either way, we die to self. We must realize that we have failed and that we have no hope of reaching the life we desire in and of ourselves. After that, the law of God guides us, empowered by grace, to structure life as it was created to be.