True Grace. Stand firm in it.

True Grace | Find the Power for Obedience and the Basis for Forgiveness

Posted on by Michele Morin

Sunday Scripture

The word grace conjures images of unconditional love, forgiveness, and a free pass for whatever I bring to the table, and there’s truth in this. However, in the closing words of his first letter, Peter has woven together two very different colors and textures of yarn:

…this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

1 Peter 5:12

At first reading, stand firm reads like the polar opposite of grace!
Grace is shoving over to make room on the comfy couch, offering a cozy blanket and a mug of tea.
Stand firm requires a straight spine and sensible shoes for a long day of attentiveness.
Stand firm requires sinewy obedience.

Impetuous Peter had received lots of grace from his Savior and Master. Grace extended after his denial of Christ gave him new hope, and Peter continued to set his “hope fully in the grace…brought…at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 5:13). He knew that every good work his hands found to do would come through grace.

Without True Grace, There Is NO Standing Firm

Peter conveys God’s true grace in his letter to struggling and persecuted Christians, knowing full well that their standing firm would be costly. He knew that without God’s true grace, there would be no standing firm. In this short and simple verse, Jesus’s fisherman follower diffuses all the tension between grace and works:

True grace is not the opposite of obedience.
True grace empowers obedience.

“…this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.” (1 Peter 5:12)
Without God’s true grace, there is no standing firm.

God’s extended grace pardons sin, and it is the basis for God’s extravagant forgiveness.
It is also the means by which we serve and persevere in righteousness, in saying “no” to sin and “yes” to God.

Where do you most need TRUE GRACE to empower obedience in your life?
I look forward to interacting in the comments below because I am definitely a grace-dependent woman!

Holding you in the light,

True grace is not the opposite of obedience.
True grace empowers obedience.

The new issue of Joyful Life Magazine can now be pre-ordered, and it includes an article from me! Look for “If I’m Already Forgiven, Why Do I Need to Confess My Sins?” Too, my friend Sue Moore Donaldson is sharing her thoughts on spiritual growth. The fall print publication will orient our gaze toward the beautiful growth and change that the Lord is working in our hearts and our homes.

Best of all, the first 100 to pre-order will receive some special bonus gifts.

PREORDER HERE!

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four sons, four daughters-in-love, and six adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

33 thoughts on “True Grace | Find the Power for Obedience and the Basis for Forgiveness”

  3. We’re so unbelievably blessed with the grace of God’s forgiveness, but we often forget that grace enables obedience as well. I’m trying to remember to start each day telling God (more as a reminder to myself, but also an acknowledgement and a prayer) that I am depending on His grace for the day.

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  4. Michele, So true. Grace is not a free pass to continue doing what we want. Part of grace is realizing the gift it is and wanting to walk more in obedience. Grace can have firmness to it, and not be wishy-washy. Great thoughts that have my mind thinking. (Your photo looks like one of those woven loom pot holders I made so many of as a child.)

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  6. True grace empowers obedience… Yes! This is so true and fresh for me while healing from the death of my hubby. Empty, lost, yet when God’s love touched me, love and obedience flow from me. Amazing actually, as I’m not naturally a lover of people and somewhat of a rebel.

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  8. The Opposite Day Truth – God world is surely the opposite of man’s world – “True grace empowers obedience.” Only in our surrender, our love, our selflessness can we find the strength to obey, to live God’s way. So many times I want to make a point, to fight a battle – and God says to only step forward in love, not to worry about my wounds but give grace to those that wound. Just the nudge I needed to remind me, Michele!

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  9. “True grace empowers obedience.” – chewing on this truth today . . . A reminder to me that I also need to extend grace to others who struggle in different areas of obedience than I do. God’s grace is what makes it possible for any of us to fully obey.

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  12. Oh, I love your connection here with grace and obedience. “True grace is not the opposite of obedience. True grace empowers obedience.” This gives me something new to think about. So thankful for God’s grace and all the many gifts it brings with it!

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  13. Michele, you just made me stop my day and think about grace. It’s one of my favorite concepts, but I LOVE what you shared here. It gave me a deeper understanding of grace.

    And this: Without True Grace, There Is NO Standing Firm” Yes and so, so true. Thank you, friend.

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