Partakers of grace - Chambers, Oswald
For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of god. Ephesians 2:8 (RV)
No man can be saved by praying, by believing, by obeying, or by consecration; salvation is a free gift of gods almighty grace. We have the sneaking idea that we earn things and get into gods favour by what we do by our praying, by our repentance: the only way we get into gods favour is by the sheer gift of his grace. The first thing we consciously experience is a sense of undeservingness, but it does take some of us a long while to know we don’t deserve to be saved. I really am sorry for what i have done wrong; i really am sick of myself if only i am sick enough of myself, i will be sick to death; i am driven to despair, i can do nothing; then i am exactly in the place where i can receive the overflowing grace of god.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7)
Think what gods forgiveness means: it means that he forgets away every sin. Forgetting in the divine mind is an attribute, in the human mind it is a defect, consequently god never illustrates his divine forgetfulness by human pictures, but by pic- tures taken from his own creationas far as east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us (psalm 103:12); i have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions . . . (Isaiah 44:22).
The reason god never uses the human illustration is that a human being is incapable of forgiving as god does until he is made like god through regeneration. We take the forgiveness of sins to mean something we can understand, it is such a tremendous thing that it takes the holy spirit to enable us to begin to understand what is made ours through the grace of god. The forgiveness of god means that we are forgiven into a new relationship with god in Christ so that the forgiven man is the holy man.
God is able to make all grace abound unto you. . . . (2 Corinthians 9:8 RV)
In talking to people you will be amazed to find that they much more readily listen if you talk on the line of suffering, of the attacks of the devil; but get on the triumphant line of the apostle Paul, talk about the super- conquering life, about god making all his divine grace to abound, and they lose interest that is all in the clouds, a sheer indication that they have never begun to taste the unfathomable joy that is awaiting them if they will only take it. All the great prevailing grace of god is ours for the drawing on, and it scarcely needs any drawing on, take out the stopper and it comes out in torrents; and yet we just manage to squeeze out enough grace for the day sinning in thought, word and deed every day! You don’t find that note in the new testament. We have to keep in the light as god is in the light and the grace of god will supply supernatural life all the time. Thank god there is no end to his grace if we will keep in the humble place. The overflowing grace of god has no limits, and we have to set no limits to it, but grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ.