Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/583785
We can only make sense of grace when we see that Christ's death satisfies God's justice. He died in our place as an act of God's grace so that we might have eternal life. He is God's grace gift of life to a hopeless humanity—undeserved, unexpected, and unbelievably generous favor poured out on us. Dr. Mark Young PROVOST'S LETTER Randy MacFarland, DMin PROVOST/DEAN ENGAGE 3 Followers of Jesus Christ are forever grateful for the grace of God which makes relationship with God possible and which gives power to reflect Him and live for Him. John Piper, bearing tribute to his mother in the preface of Future Grace, says, "She taught me to live my life between two lines of 'Amazing Grace.' The first line, 'Tis grace has brought me safe this far.' The second line, 'And grace will lead me home.' Before I could explain it, I learned that believing the first line fortifies faith in the second line; and believing the second line empowers radical obedience to Jesus." 1 The Bible unequivocally states that we are saved by God's grace alone (Sola Gratia). A.W. Tozer reminds us, "Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines Him to bestow benefits upon the undeserving." 2 The benefits of salvation include the power to live life and to face suffering and death differently. Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus, that they might know something of the power of God's grace: "That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 1:19b–20, TNIV). As Paul faced a myriad of trials, our Lord reminded him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (1 Cor. 12:9). The principal barrier to accessing the power of God's grace is our pride, independence, and self-reliance, as reflected in William Henley's often cited Victorian poem, Invictus: "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." Peter quotes the writer of Proverbs and reminds us that God gives His grace to the humble: "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble'" (1 Pet. 5:5). The articles that follow will further explain the power of His grace and provide examples of those who are seeking to live lives of obedience through dependence upon it. 1 John Piper, Future Grace (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Press, 1995), 6. 2 A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: Harper & Row, 1961), 100.