The good news of the Lord Jesus is that God shows His mercy or grace to us, sinful people, so that we may partake of His goodness. It allows us to come before Him so that we can praise His Name.

But in order for us to draw closer to God, our sins had to be forgiven, because our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29) that you cannot approach without being cleansed from sins (Isaiah 6:7).

The initiative for our salvation was God. We could not save ourselves. We have sinned and thus have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The redemption of our souls is so precious that it could never have been done (Psalm 49:7,8), we would not have had anything to pay to pay for our sins, so great was our guilt. If you kill a man, the only punishment for murder is death. Even if we were willing to pay with all our wealth, it would still not be enough. Death demanded death, and the punishment for our sins was death (Romans 6:23).

God's grace had to choose between killing man or killing someone else. Even if God had destroyed all mankind, He would have remained righteous. In heaven no objection would have been raised against Him, because man willingly chose to sin from the beginning.

God's Word tells us that God was sorry that He made man because all the thoughts in his heart were directed every day only to evil (Genesis 6:5-7).

But this is where God's grace came in. There is a sweet side  to grace, but also one that is bitter. God's grace came because God is good (Psalm 33:5) and He saw that we cannot redeem ourselves. The price for our sins was death, ours or someone else's in our place. But who could show himself so righteous, so holy as to take upon himself all the sins of mankind?  This question was asked in heaven: "Then I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book, written inside and out, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel, crying out with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book and break its seals?" And there was no one in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, who could open the book, nor look into it. And I wept greatly, because no one had been found worthy to open the book and look into it. And one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep: Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the book and its seven seals. And in the middle, between the throne and the four living creatures and between the elders, I saw a Lamb standing. He appeared to be slain, and had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent into all the earth" (Revelation 5:1-6).

If history stopped at the point where no one was worthy, we would have been lost forever, tormented forever  in hell along with unclean spirits. But the Lord Jesus was found worthy to redeem us from our sins, as the Apostle Peter tells us: "For you know that you were not redeemed by perishable things, with silver or gold, from the vain way of life which you had inherited from your fathers, but with

The Lord Jesus had no debt to pay to us. It's just His mercy. He, who is the righteous One, came down from the throne to redeem a fallen race. Here there was great astonishment in heaven when the Son of God Himself chose to do the will of the Father, for in the scroll of the book it was written of Him: "Behold, I come to do Thy will, O God!" (Hebrews 10:7).

The grace of God toward us was shown by the coming of the Lord Jesus to us on earth: For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He, even though He was rich, made Himself poor for you, so that through His poverty you might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). God has made us rich by making us heirs of His glory. He had everything in heaven. He was the Creator, the Master of the universe, but He stripped Himself of Himself. He became the poorest. He wore only one coat. He led a life of continual suffering so that He could redeem us: "He grew up before Him as a weak offspring, like a Shoot coming out of a dry land. He had neither beauty nor brilliance to attract our eyes, and His appearance had nothing to please us.  Despised and forsaken by men, a man of pain and accustomed to suffering, he was so despised that you turned your daughter away from him, and we did not pay attention to him. Yet He bore our sufferings, and took our sorrows upon Himself, and we thought He was punished, smitten by God, and humbled" (Isaiah 53:1–4).

We are accountable to God for this grace shown. Therefore, as long as it is said, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15). If we trample on or mock the grace shown, our condemnation is justified. The Apostle Paul fervently urged us, in the Name of Christ, to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). Let's say like the apostle Paul that even though we used to be blasphemers, persecutors, and scoffers,  we received mercy, because we worked out of ignorance, in unbelief (1 Timothy 1:13). People who do not receive salvation, who stubbornly remain in their religion, but do not come to the Lord Jesus to receive the forgiveness of their sins, will be eternally in suffering. Their redemption will no longer be possible after their death, because the Son of Man has the power as long as you live on earth to forgive your sins (Mark 2:10).

By God's grace, He tasted death for all (Hebrews 2:9) and became for all who obey Him the creator of eternal salvation (Hebrews 5:9). "By grace we were saved, by faith. And this does not come from us, but is the gift of God. Not by works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). "We have all become unclean and all our good deeds are like a defiled garment. We are all withered like a leaf, and our iniquities take us away like the wind" (Isaiah 64:6). No one  has ever been reckoned righteous in the sight of God in works.

But the grace of God that has appeared does not stop there. You have to come to say like the apostle Paul when he met the Lord Jesus: Lord, what do you want me to do? I'm a . I have lived my whole life in sin. I have mocked all that is holy and pure, and I am worthy of punishment. Only if you acknowledge your true state before God will you be able to receive mercy.

You must feel your sin, the wickedness of your life until then. Otherwise there is no return to God, because to Him you enter only through the door of repentance. If you do not come to know this repentance, you are not yet born again. And if you are not born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). The Lord Jesus says that whoever jumps the fence is a thief. (John 10:8). An example of repentance is shown to us by the apostle Paul whom Jesus asked if it is difficult for him to kick back into a thorn. Do you find it hard to let go of the pleasures of the sins in your life? The Apostle Paul did not find it difficult and said humbly that "true and wholly worthy of acceptance is the word that says, 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,' of which I am the first." (1 Timothy 1:15). He looked upon them all as garbage (Philippians 3:8).

The Apostle Paul's repentance lasted four days. How long did yours last? It is not God's duty for Him to show you the Way, but you yourself must seek the way to Heaven. If there is no such repentance, your soul is lost. Only true repentance can lead to a radical transformation of your life. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). If you live the same way you did before you called yourself a Christian, you need to lay the foundation of  repentance in your life again. God's Word warns us that if you call yourself a Christian, but you run after wealth, what you are doing is actually idol worship. If you are angry, troublemaker, adulterer, etc., you must repent again.

Some people who love their past life of sin find in God's grace the pretext to live a life full of the pleasures of sin. They say that since God has mercy on us and forgives our sins, why should I change my life then? Before I  was under the law, but now I am under grace and I can sin as much as God forgives me.

The apostle Paul told the believers in Ephesus that he did not hesitate to tell them God's plan (Acts 20:27). That's why you need to read everything that is said in the Bible about God's grace. The false prophets of Jeremiah's time rocked God's people with vain imaginations: "Loosen up the wound of the daughter of My people, saying, 'Peace! Peace!' And yet there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14). But all Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, reproofing, correcting, giving wisdom in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).

The question arises to whom God gives His grace? The Bible tells us that God stands against the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in His time He may exalt you (1 Peter 5:6).

If you boast about your religion, that you know Scripture and don't need anyone to teach you, if you take pride, then you are very likely to lose God's grace. You must always have an attitude of humility before God and before people, not just when you repent. When you have come to believe that you are someone and want to make a name for yourself, God's grace moves away from you. Paul says that by the grace of God he is what he is: "By the grace of God I am what I am. And His grace toward me was not in vain, nay, I have worked more than all; yet not I, but His grace which is in me" (1 Corinthians 15:10).

God's Word also tells us that we are called to grow in His grace: but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). It is not enough to be an increase in the knowledge of Scripture, but also in grace and humility. The apostle Paul told Timothy to be an example to believers: in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12).

We must also be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:1). The Apostle Paul urged the believers in Corinth to strengthen themselves in grace when they gathered together because some gathered together to make themselves worse. God's Word urges you to grow in grace, to be strengthened, and to persevere in His grace. Although at your birth  again there must be a break with your past, you must continue to abide in God. The Lord Jesus said these words to His disciples: "Abide in me, and I will abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of its own unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and in whom I abide bears much fruit, for, separated from Me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out, like an unfruitful branch, and withers, then the withered branches are gathered, cast into the fire, and burned" (John 15:4-6).

Grace also means suffering for Christ's sake: "For with regard to Christ, grace has been given to you not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him." (Philippians 1:29),

However, there are false prophets today who will tell you that if you return to God you will do well, you will always have health, your business will be prosperous if you pay your tithing, but God's grace does not guarantee that you will get rich, you will no longer suffer, you will get sick or that you will not have troubles.

It is true that if you turn wholeheartedly to God, then you will rebuild your personal, professional and family life, but it is also written in God's Word that we must go through many tribulations to enter the Kingdom of God.

For the grace of God, which brings salvation to all men, has been shown and teaches us to break with paganism and worldly lusts and to live in the present age with moderation, righteousness, and godliness (1 Titus 2:11-13).

If you have a divided life, wanting to fulfill God's will, but also to continue to taste  the pleasures of this world, you are in danger of changing God's grace into fornication or you take God's grace as an empowerment from God for you  to sin. But God's Word tells us to do differently: "What shall we say then? Should we always sin so that grace may multiply? Not at all! How can we, who have died to sin, live in sin? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Jesus Christ have been baptized into His death? We, therefore, through baptism into His death, were buried with Him, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might live a new life" (Romans 6:1-4).

You can also make God's grace in vain. The believers in Corinth were urged by the anointing  they received to break it with lust, but they looked around and said it was grace (forgiveness) and chose a life of sin instead (2 Corinthians 6:1).

You can  even fall from grace. If you receive a wrong teaching, if you build a righteousness of your  own based on the works of the old covenant or your own works of righteousness, you may fall from grace (Galatians 5:4).

Even if God shows you His love for us, there is a possibility that we may reject it at every moment and turn away from His grace: "Take heed that no one deviates from the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness give rise to shoots, and bring you trouble, and many may be defiled by it. Esau, who sold his birthright for a meal. You know that later, when he wanted to receive the blessing, he was not received, because even though he asked for it with tears, he could not change it" (Hebrews 12:15-17).

How can you end up deviating? Like Esau, the worldly or natural  Christian can turn away from grace and lose his right as a firstborn (again), as a child of God. Scripture says that there were some who were blotted out of the book of life (Psalm 69:28).

The Lord's church is the church of the firstborn by His mercy, and you, if you want to be a part of it, must know that you, like Esau who was the firstborn by God's mercy, may lose your right as a child of God for the pleasures of this world,  and then you may turn away from the grace of God. The apostle Paul was telling the believers in Galata that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).

God's grace is manifested when Christians live in holiness, and God pours out His grace, which then multiplies unspeakably. May God have mercy on us so that we can gain His holiness and peace, without which no one will see God.