Hebrews 12:15 – Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

Hebrews 12:16 – Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

Hebrews 12:17 – For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

2 Corinthians 6:1 – We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

Hey all, quick thought for today. Been thinking of “failing of the grace of God”. I ask myself, how is this possible? Grace, the way its taught today is a fairly ambiguous term. There is much abuse of the term today and it is misunderstood. Many people see grace as God’s permissiveness for us to do whatever we want to do free of consequence. As with any Biblical term, the way to understand the word is to let the Bible show you what it means. Grace refers to favor, good will, kindness, disposition to oblige another. God’s grace is his free unmerited love and favor towards mankind. His grace was manifested towards us in that God gives and does so much for us, looks favourable towards us when we don’t merit it.

Today, I want to look at an aspect of grace that is missing. Grace is God giving us the ability to do right. When God gives grace, he enables us to do right. It is impossible to live the Christian life without the grace of God. In a sense the grace of God is a higher calling, the Bible says the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. We in our dead, unregenerate, alienated from God state had no hope of keeping the law, the law could not save us, all it did was break us, and show us how far fallen we are from God’s standard. But Jesus fulfilled the law, and when we are born again Jesus comes to live inside us through his Spirit while he is seated at the right hand of the Father giving us access to the heavenlies. Hence, we are already “seated in heaven” and “our conversation is in heaven” already!

God’s grace empowers us to do right. In fact without his grace upon this wicked world, the world would be completely corrupt and evil. Jesus said, I am the light of the world.  He is the sole light source, the sole source of good. James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. The Bible says the world lieth in wickedness, and in this world, the sole source of light is Jesus Christ, no wonder he is referred to as the Sun of righteousness.  If you take the sun away, there would be no light, and the sun will be taken away in the future, and then will ensue a darkness that can be “felt”. Without God’s grace, evil is unrestrained. All the goodness in the world comes from and belongs to God, he is the source of grace and of goodness.

It takes grace to say no to sin. It takes grace not to fornicate. It takes grace not to go astray. It takes grace not to drink alcohol. It takes grace to do and not to do things. How can we be holy, as he is holy, without his grace? We can’t. This is not a dead religion, Christianity is practical, alive. Jesus is God in the flesh, it happened a couple of thousand years ago, humanity going along, and a child was born, the Son of God. A child that grew and was sinless and died for us and rose from the dead. How incredible! Yet… Acts 26:8 – Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?

So we see Esau, a man who failed of the grace of God. How is it possible to fail God’s grace? The Bible implores us not to receive God’s grace in vain. In Galatians, Paul rebuked them for falling from grace. We are all given light, grace from God. Even unsaved people experience the grace of God, he rains on the just and unjust, God is full of grace towards mankind. But we can abuse that grace. Someone who has failed of the grace of God is someone who is as Esau was, unable to overcome bitterness, who was a fornicator, a profane person. Esau was unable to do good, unable to do right, he did not have the grace to do so. The Bible says Esau was a man of the field, the field in the Bible refers to the world, he was a man of the world, a naturally, carnally minded man, he had no spiritual enlightenment, illumination or whatever. He was in darkness, complete and utter darkness.

Don’t take God’s grace for granted, the Bible says he will not always strive with man, when God is done with you it’s over. It takes God for a person to be saved. Jesus said no man could come unto him unless the Father draw him. Jesus said in John 6:45 – It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Unless God teaches you, you will not come to Jesus. Now is the day of grace. Today is the day of salvation. Every human being that got saved, it was because God drew them to Jesus his Son. God works on all of us, the Bible says he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But then people fall into all sorts of sin, they are showing they are failing of the grace of God. People thinking they can sin and it’s all good, God’s grace still applies. But their actions are showing they are failing of the grace of God. There are many sins a saved person does not do, and will depart from if the Holy Spirit is in them, working holiness, truth and purity.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 – Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Yet people think they are doing these things and are ok. The Bible, God, is saying don’t be deceived, don’t deceive yourself, if you’re doing these things you are failing of the grace of God. Yes, we all sin, but also we don’t. Greater is he that is in you (if he is in you) than he that is in the world. The Holy Spirit is Holy, so where’s the holiness? It is God’s grace that we do right, live right, and rest assured, a saved person should live right, and will want to, a saved person hates sin, and knows his or her sin is against God… it is God’s grace that enables us to do right and live right, only by God’s grace can we obey God’s word and live the life and run the race that is set before us. We should not fail, if Christ is in you, you cannot fail. You may fall, but you will be picked up, Proverbs 24:16 – For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. If you are living in sin, you are failing of the grace of God, and when will that grace run out on you? God is rich in grace towards you and to me, don’t fail of his grace, don’t receive his grace in vain. The Lord Jesus Christ is the grace of God, God sent his Son to die for us, he loved us while we were yet in our sins. While we were enemies with him, rebellious, wicked, sinful, he died for us. That is what grace is, and when you receive his grace, you will be a changed person.

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