A Few Words About Grace
By William Newell
I. The Nature of Grace
1. Grace is God acting freely, according to His own nature, as Love, with no
promises or obligations to fulfill and acting righteously in view of the death of His
Son.
2. Man is not the cause of God’s grace; the cause of grace is God, the Giver.
3. God owes no debt to man, neither does He wait for man to do some specific
action. God gives grace to whomever and however He pleases, sometimes to the
worst of sinners!
4. Grace does not reward man’s ability or his effort. Grace is absolute; it does it all.
5. Therefore, the creature must stop trying to earn grace so as to persuade God to
give grace.
6. The discovery by the creature that he is truly the object of Divine grace makes
the creature very humble. He knows his unworthiness, yet finds himself blessed
time and again.
7. The proud, natural mind of man hates grace and its Giver. The true believer
rejoices because he knows “in him, in his flesh, there is no good thing (Romans
7:18). He finds God glad to bless him just as he is!II.
The Place of Man Under Grace
1. He has been accepted in Christ, who is his standing!
2. He is not “on probation.”
3. As to his past life, it does not exist before God; he died in Christ at the Cross and
Christ is his life.
4. Grace, once bestowed, is not withdrawn: for God knew all the human needs
beforehand; His action was independent of them, not dependent upon them.
5. The failure of devotion does not cause the withdrawal of bestowed grace (as it
would under the law). For example, those in 1 Corinthians 11:30 32 who did not
judge themselves and were by the Lord, that they might not be condemned with
the world. “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you
have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we
would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this
way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally
condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:30 32).
III. The Proper Attitude of Man under Grace
1. To believe, and to consent to be loved while unworthy, is the great secret.
2. To refuse to make “resolutions” and “vows;” for that is to trust in the flesh.
3. To expect to be blessed, though realizing more and more lack of worth.
4. To testify of God’s goodness at all times.
5. To be certain of God’s future favor; yet to be ever more tender in conscience
toward Him.
6. To rely on God’s chastening hand as a mark of His kindness.
7. A man under grace, if like Paul, has no burden regarding himself, but many
burdens about others.
IV. Things Which Gracious Souls Discover
1. To hope to be better is to fail to see yourself in Christ only.
2. To be disappointed with yourself is to have believed in yourself.
3. To be discouraged is unbelief in God’s purpose and plan of blessings for you.
4. To be proud is to be blind, for we have no standing before God in ourselves.
5. The lack of Divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief and not from failure
of our devotion to Him.
6. Real devotion to God arises, not from man’s will to show it, but from the
discovery that blessing has been received from God while we were yet unworthy
and undevoted.
7. To preach devotion first and blessing second is to reverse God’s order and
preach Law, not grace. The law made man’s blessing depend on devotion; grace
confers undeserved, unconditional blessing. Our devotion may follow, but does
not always do so in proper measure.
