We come now to the four principal avenues of grace that that God has established for us via which we can freely access His grace.

In the previous blog we asserted that the grace of God that appeared for all people did so in abundance through His Son Jesus Christ (John 1:16 -0 17). It is in putting our faith and trust in God’s One and Only Son that we start availing ourselves of God’s amazing grace leading first to our salvation (Ephesians 2:8 – 9) and then to transformed lives (Titus 2:11 – 12).

Salvation is indeed by grace alone requiring no works on our part but putting our faith in and totally trusting in the sufficiency of the person and works of Christ wrought on the cross for us. The transformation that follows however, requires our active cooperation and working alongside God in order to make it happen. If we are to travel on this path of transformation advancing towards the “self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:12) that God would have us live instructed and enabled by grace, it requires our active obedience.

Philippians 2:12 – 13
So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.

It is here where we need to “work out” what God is working in us by accessing the grace He has made available to instruct and enable us to live as His people.

The Bible lays down four principal avenues by which we are to continuously access this grace for our lives here and now. These are indeed the principal ones. The list is neither exclusive nor exhaustive but you will find that almost all other avenues will eventually lead to one of these four as do all roads to Rome.

The number one platform, the primary means or avenue God has made available for us to access His grace for our life is in our personal, individual access to Him that we have in Christ. It is this direct line and connection, the personal relationship we have been privileged with that gives us direct and unrestricted access to the person of God and subsequently, His amazing grace.

Ephesians 3:11-12
This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Hebrews 4:15-16
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Christ is the reason of our confidence and the High Priest who facilitates (makes possible) our direct access to the Father in Heaven. It is in Christ alone and His completed works we enjoy such boldness of access to the throne of Grace itself. The restoration of this relationship with God and the privilege of free access was precisely what Christ died for and obtained for us in doing so. It was the shedding of His blood and the breaking of His physical body that completely facilitated our access to God and His throne room.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.   Hebrews 10:19-22

But even though He has secured our access through the sacrifice of His body and the shedding of His blood, it is no good and of no benefit to us here and now unless we step forward and avail ourselves of it confidently and in full assurance of faith. It is in our stepping up and drawing near we enter into and appropriate (make our own and find use for) the benefits Christ has already obtained for us.

Indeed this requires the ongoing and practical exercise or outworking of our professed faith – making regular time and effort to relate with God one-on-one.  And it is here, on the very first obstacle, most of us fail and find ourselves struggling with living “self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:12) because we do not make the time and effort to access the grace that God has made freely available in our regularly drawing near to Him. This is every individual disciple’s personal responsibility. We have to take that responsibility of “working out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) very seriously indeed.

It is now our duty and responsibility to avail ourselves of the copious amounts of grace God has made available to us via the unrestricted access to Himself He has provided through the person of His Son Jesus Christ.  God ensured a free and living highway for us to approach Him by in order to access His throne of grace. Here, in His presence, in our individual and corporate times of devotion, we encounter grace unlimited – for all and every occasion in life and in any amount required.

Even though the cost to Him was incalculably high, to us it comes free of charge and all it takes is our stepping up and drawing close to Him by means of the way he facilitated in order to access that grace we so desperately need. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:16

Does your lifestyle incorporate a regular time of personal devotion where you confidently draw near to God on account of Christ and His sacrifice?

Check it and make adjustments to ensure you do.