Being Received by Grace

Have you ever found yourself assuming that you deserve no favor unless you can do something outstanding or conform to a certain “ideal” image?

Have you ever found yourself expecting people to receive you based on your credentials, image and/or achievements?

How does God receive us? He receives us according to His grace in Christ Jesus.

So, instead of being offended when unfavored, pray for God’s unmerited favor to be upon you. Just as you and I need God to graciously receive us, so it is with people. We need them to receive us by grace. And this goes both ways. We need to receive people by grace as well.

We also need grace to receive God as He describes Himself and His actions in the Bible. After Jesus forgave a woman caught in the very act of adultery and told her to sin no more (John 8:1-11), the religious leaders were upset with Him. They had a very tight understanding of who God is and how God should act. Yet, God was standing before them in human flesh, and they rejected Him. He had said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” None of them fit that description.

Jesus told them, “He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” (John 8:47) Jesus would have received them as graciously as He forgave the woman caught in adultery, but they rejected Him.

GRACE is what Christianity has that no other religion has. We need God’s grace to be saved. We also need to learn from Him how to be gracious. Below are a wide array of Bible sentences and phrases about being received by grace.

“Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:8)

“I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.” (Exodus 33:12)

“The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)

“Great grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4:33)

“We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved.” (Acts 15:11)

“Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” (Romans 11:5)

“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.” (Romans 12:6)

“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 1:4)

“According to the grace of God which was given to me.” (1 Corinthians 3:10)

“[They] long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.” (2 Corinthians 9:14)

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

“God separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace.” (Galatians 1:15)

“When James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship.” (Galatians 2:9)

“I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me.” (Ephesians 3:7)

“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:8)

“To each one of us grace was given.” (Ephesians 4:7)

“You all are partakers with me of grace.” (Philippians 1:7)

“Our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16)

“God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” (2 Timothy 1:9)

“Justified by His grace.” (Titus 3:7)

“Let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” (Hebrews 12:28)

“For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.” (Hebrews 13:9)

“Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you.” (1 Peter 1:10)

“Rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13)

“Husbands and wives are heirs together of the grace of life.” (1 Peter 3:7)

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10)

“This is the true grace of God in which you stand.” (1 Peter 5:12)

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (Revelation 22:21 – last verse of the Bible)