Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man: A Daily Devotional

by Walter A. Henrichsen

AUGUST 17 Day 230 The Foundation of Grace “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:11 We will define grace as the favor of God bestowed upon the undeserving without reference to reciprocity. Nothing in the object of God’s grace warrants His favor. Those who are the recipients of grace are chosen wholly from within the counsel of His own will. People have a natural antipathy toward grace, for it violates their sense of fairness. We tend to be less concerned when we are the object of God’s grace, but what about all of those people that are not? Election and grace are the head and tail of the same coin; you cannot have grace without election. Thus Paul says, “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”1 If you believe that you obtain heaven by what you do that others are unwilling to do, you rob grace of its essence. If you believe that you are saved by grace, then you have to conclude that God gave you what He has not given others. If your relationship with God is based on what you did that others are unwilling to do, then your salvation is in perpetual jeopardy; you cannot have assurance of salvation. For what you did to establish this relationship ...