Champion the Gospel of Grace

From time to time, I will blog about what I've listed as my core ministry values. I came up with these through prayer and through people who have had a strong spiritual influence in my life. Rick Gray, my best friend from my U of D days, who prayed for my Salvation for years, came up with the term "Champion the Gospel of Grace".

Grace is something that believers talk about, sing hymns and praise songs about, but probably don't fully comprehend. The following acronym defines it as well as anything I've heard: God's Riches At Christ's Expense. God's grace is the only basis we have for an eternal destiny in Heaven--a destiny based on absolutely nothing that we've accomplished but solely on faith in the person of Jesus Christ as a gift from God. Grace frees us from having to earn favor with Him and having to compare ourselves with others. Christ himself is described in John 1:14 as having come from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Grace also allows us boldly approach God with our praises and our requests (Hebrews 4:16). Grace enables us, despite our limitations, to do great things for His Kingdom (Ephesians 3:8). Grace is given to us in limitless supply when we are humble (James 4:6) and perhaps best of all, God's grace is sufficient for any need we have and any problem we face (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Paul David Tripp says grace is "the most transformational word in Scripture. Grace will convince you of your unworthiness without ever making you feel unloved." Championing the Gospel of grace is simply giving what God has so freely given us---love, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, patience, knowledge, virtue, gentleness and peace---and passing it on to benefit others.