The Gift of Grace

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound / That saved a wretch like me. / I once was lost, but now am found / was blind, but now I see.” The words of this famous hymn were penned by John Newton. In the mid-1700s, Newton worked on a slave vessel and was described as the most profane man the captain had ever met. During a storm, Newton advised his fellow sailors to tie themselves to the ship to avoid being washed overboard. He begged God for mercy. God found him in his wretched state and redeemed him. Newton experienced the gift of God’s grace.

Grace is the unmerited favor of God. We were once condemned because of our sin, but we are now saved by God’s grace (see Rom. 3:24). We did nothing to merit this act of mercy from God. We did not prove ourselves good enough in any way. We could not even lift one finger to save ourselves.

God’s grace provides a way. In our text today, Paul thanks God for the grace that saved the church in Corinth and brought them together as the body of Christ. We are joint recipients of this grace, united by this act of divine mercy, a gift we all share. And this grace produces results. Paul says by grace, we are enriched in every way, including our speech and the way we think (v. 5). Grace produces changes in our lives that are visible to others.

And grace will see us home! “He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8). Not one of us could appear blameless before God without this amazing gift of grace!

Pray with Us

Today let’s keep praying for the Satellite Network Operations team: Jose Lemus, Phil Shappard, Rodney Simon, and Thomas Svoboda. Their ministry helps bring the truth of the Bible to listeners who tune in to Moody Radio.

BY Jamie Janosz

Jamie Janosz serves as a content development manager for Moody Bible Institute. She writes monthly devotionals for Today in the Word and has published non-fiction essays with Christianity Today’s Her.meneutics blog. Recently Jamie wrote a book titled When Others Shuddered: Eight Women Who Refused to Give Up (Moody Publishers). Jamie studied theology and writing at Moody Bible Institute, Columbia College, and Illinois State University. She lives on the Atlantic coast of Florida with her husband, Milt, and daughter, Sabrina.