The Two Dimensions of Grace

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Short Summary
The discourse explores the concept of grace in two dimensions: the vertical dimension, which is God’s unmerited favor granting salvation through faith, and the horizontal dimension, which calls believers to show kindness and graciousness to others. It emphasizes that grace cannot be earned by works, warns against legalism and judgmental attitudes, and encourages believers to accept others, exercise self-control, and reflect God’s grace in speech and actions to live a Christlike life.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse on Grace

Introduction and Source
– The discourse begins with a greeting and a reading from Brother Russell’s writing titled *By Grace Are Ye Saved* (Reprint 2283).
– Russell highlights the richness and significance of the word “grace,” comparing it to “gospel” as a synonym for divine mercies available to God’s people.
– He notes that “grace” is little used today in everyday conversation, causing many to miss its true beauty and force in Scripture.
– Grace is defined as “favorite, particularly unmerited favor,” which is distinct from justice or obligation.

Two Dimensions of Grace
– The discourse explains that grace has two main dimensions:
1. Vertical dimension – Grace as a gift from God, basis of salvation, regeneration, and sanctification.
2. Horizontal dimension – Grace as an element of Christian character, expressed in kindness, favor, and graciousness towards others.

Dictionary Definitions
– Grace: “Unmerited divine assistance given to man for regeneration and sanctification.”
– Gracious: Marked by kindness, tact, delicacy, charm, generosity of spirit.

Scriptural Examples of Grace
– *Genesis 6:5-8 (NIV)*: Noah “found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord” amid widespread wickedness.
– *Luke 1:30*: Angel tells Mary she has found favor (grace) with God.
– *Luke 2:40*: Jesus grows strong, filled with the grace of God.
– Mary’s favor due to her righteousness; Jesus receives divine grace as God’s Son.

Salvation by Grace Through Faith
– *Ephesians 2:8-10*: Salvation is by grace through faith, a gift from God, not by works to avoid boasting; good works follow as evidence.
– *2 Timothy 1:9*: Salvation is by God’s purpose and grace before time began, not by human deeds.
– *Romans 5:1-2*: Justified by faith, standing in grace, rejoicing in hope of God’s glory.
– *Romans 3:21-24*: Righteousness from God comes through faith in Christ, justification by grace through redemption.
– *Ephesians 1:7-8*: Redemption and forgiveness through the riches of God’s grace lavished on us.
– *1 Corinthians 15:9-11*: Apostle Paul’s life transformed by grace, empowering him beyond his past failures.

Horizontal Dimension: Grace Toward Others
– Grace as unearned kindness to others, reflecting God’s character.
– Brother George Eldredge: Grace must be shown in daily life, not just received.
– *Hebrews 12:28*: Showing grace to others is an acceptable service to God.
– *John 1:14,16-17 (Phillips)*: Jesus full of grace and truth; believers share in His grace to live gracefully and give grace to others.

Misunderstandings and Legalism
– Many preach a conditional gospel: rewards for right deeds, punishment for wrong, ignoring grace’s unmerited favor.
– The apostle Paul warns against falling from grace by trusting in works (Galatians 5:4 implied).
– Grace cannot be earned or repaid; trying to do so insults God (illustrated by the story of paying for a host’s meal).
– Grace frees us from condemnation, guilt, and legalistic rules (*John 8:32,36*): truth sets us free to obey, love, forgive, and serve God.

Balancing Grace and Self-Control
– Danger of abusing grace to serve sin; some resort to legalism (strict rules) to avoid this.
– Better to have respect for God and voluntarily practice self-control.
– *Colossians 2:20–3:2*: Warns against following worldly regulations; instead, set minds on heavenly things.
– Christian maturity requires room to grow, fail, think, and disagree without being cookie-cutter Christians.

Story Illustration of Legalism’s Harm
– Missionary family pressured over receiving peanut butter (considered unspiritual by others) leading to their departure from mission work.
– Example of petty legalism attacking personal liberty and damaging Christian fellowship.

Avoiding Judgment and Embracing Diversity
– We must stop comparing ourselves and judging others, as God accepts each person individually.
– *Hebrews 11:6*: Faith pleases God but can be lived in different ways.
– *Romans 14*: Four guidelines on judging others:
1. Accept the weak in faith without judgment (Romans 14:1-4).
2. Don’t dictate others’ convictions; allow personal conscience (Romans 14:5-8).
3. Don’t assume roles of judge; we lack full knowledge (Romans 14:9-12).
4. Exercise liberty lovingly without causing others to stumble (Romans 14:13-18).

Story of Wrong Judgment
– A speaker judged a man as spiritually indifferent because he slept during meetings, but later learned the man had terminal cancer and was honoring a wish to attend despite medication effects.
– Reminder that we are often unqualified to judge others.

Practical Application: Speech and Conduct
– Grace is expressed in how we speak and act.
– *Ephesians 4:29*: Speak only words that build up and give grace to listeners.
– *Colossians 4:5-6*: Be wise, full of grace, and ready to respond to everyone.

Conclusion
– To be Christlike, grace must deeply permeate our hearts and actions.
– *2 Corinthians 6:1*: Do not receive God’s grace in vain by failing to let it operate in our lives.
– *Hebrews 12:14-15*: Pursue peace and holiness so that no one misses God’s grace or causes spiritual harm.
– Grace empowers us to live graciously, loving and serving God and each other.

—

Key Bible Verses Cited in the Discourse:

– Genesis 6:5-8
– Luke 1:30; 2:40
– Ephesians 2:8-10; 1:7-8
– 2 Timothy 1:9
– Romans 3:21-24; 5:1-2; 14
– 1 Corinthians 15:9-11
– Hebrews 12:28; 11:6; 12:14-15
– John 1:14,16-17; 8:32,36
– Colossians 2:20–3:2; 4:5-6
– Ephesians 4:29

—

Themes and Lessons:

– Grace is God’s unmerited favor, foundational to salvation and Christian living.
– Grace must be received (vertical) and reflected (horizontal) in relationships with others.
– Legalism and judgment undermine grace’s power and harm the Christian community.
– True Christian maturity involves faith, freedom, love, and acceptance of diverse expressions of faith.
– Speech and conduct should be seasoned with grace, building others up rather than tearing down.
– Continuous self-examination and humility are necessary to avoid falling from grace or misjudging others.

Transcript

And good morning, brethren.

I’m going to start with a excerpt from the writings of Brother Russell in From reprint page 2283. 2283 an article entitled by grace are ye saved.

And he starts by commenting on the opening line of the hymn that we just sang. Grace. Tis a charming sound, sang the poet. Nor did he exaggerate. For to all who have learned the true meaning of divine grace, that word, like the word gospel, is a synonym for all the divine mercies which God’s people may now or ever enjoy.

But this word grace, is little used today in common conversation on the everyday affairs of life, and consequently remarkably few appreciate its richness, its wealth of significance, and consequently many of the statements of Scripture in which this word occurs are to the majority of readers, deprived of their real beauty and force. The word grace signifies favorite, particularly unmerited favor. Acts of grace are thus to be clearly distinguished from acts of justice and from obligations, and that’s the end of the quotation.

The purpose of our remarks today is to examine the meaning of the word grace and to understand that it has two dimensions. It has a vertical dimension. Grace is a gift from God, and it is the basis of our salvation and our relationship with God and His Son. We also understand that grace is an important element of the character of God and His Son Jesus, and thus we understand them to be gracious toward the human race. But there is another dimension, the horizontal dimension.

Dimension Grace should also be an important element of our character as we act and speak graciously to one another. Now, how does the dictionary define grace? It defines it as unmerited divine assistance given man for his regeneration and sanctification, and that kind of relates to this vertical dimension. It’s also defined as kindness and favor.

Gracious is defined as marked by kindness and courtesy, marked by tact and delicacy, characterized by charm, good taste, and generosity of spirit, and that more relates to the way we should be living in this what we call the horizontal dimension of grace.

Now let’s look at some scriptures that talk about grace. The very first occurrence of the word grace is in Genesis the sixth chapter, and we’re going to read verses five through eight. Generally we are reading from the new International version, Genesis 6:5,8. The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of his thoughts of his hearts was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

So the Lord said, I will wipe mankind whom I created from the face of the earth men and animals and creatures that move along the ground and birds of the air, for I am grieved that I have made them. Verse 8. But Noah found favor grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord because he attempted to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. God desires to have relationships with his human creation, and he reaches out toward those who strive to live righteously in the New testament.

The first two occurrences in Luke, chapter one, verse 30.

This is the angel speaking to Mary. It says, do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. The word is grace, and in Luke 2:40, speaking of Jesus, and the child grew and became strong.

He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. This is the word charis, or graciousness, and we recognize that word today when people speak of someone being charismatic. Mary found favor in the eyes of the Lord because of her beautiful character, her devotion to righteousness and to serving God. Here was a woman to whom God was willing to entrust the nurturing of his Son as a human being.

And Jesus, as God’s own Son, received the grace or favor of his Father.

Our salvation is by grace, through faith. It is a gift, it is a favor from God, and here are some scriptures that we want to consider about this vertical dimension of grace. The grace of God that comes down to us. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.

Very familiar passage to us. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, but by so that no one can boast. But whenever we read that passage, we should also read verse 10, which says, for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do so. Works are important.

They are the evidence of the genuineness of our faith. But works do not save us. We cannot possibly earn our salvation. In 2 Timothy 1, 9 it says, God has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, and again in Romans 5:1 and 2.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Faith, or trust in God is the vehicle that gives us access to God’s grace, God’s favor, and in the third chapter of Romans, the apostle makes a comprehensive statement about how God’s grace comes to us through Jesus Christ. This is In Romans the third chapter, verses 21 to 24, Romans 3:21,24.

But now a righteousness from God apart from law has been made known to us, to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness comes from God, comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe there is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and we are justified freely by his grace through redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

And finally, in Ephesians 1:7 8, Ephesians 1:7 and 8.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

And Paul testifies that he is an example of God’s grace in First Corinthians 15:9 through 11. 1 Corinthians 15:9,11. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle because. Because I persecuted the church of God, but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.

No, I worked harder than all of them. Yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

So the power of God’s grace exceeds our human failures and weaknesses, and it empowers us to do good works in this world, just as it did the apostle Paul. So that’s the doctrine of God’s grace coming to us and giving us a relationship with him and a standing before him, as those Scriptures testify. But there is this other part, which we call the horizontal dimension, the grace that we give to one another. Someone wrote, believing in grace is one thing, living it is another. We, as the recipients of God’s grace, can copy the Heavenly Father in giving grace or undeserved kindness to one another.

In this way we become the channel of God’s grace to one another and all with whom we have to do. I’ve always appreciated a statement made by brother George Eldredge. He says grace isn’t something we receive and keep for ourselves. It must be reflected in our daily lives. Those are the two dimensions.

We receive it from God, and we must reflect it in our daily lives. There are multiple scriptures telling us that grace should be reflected in the way we live and interact with others. The author of Hebrews says that showing grace to others is a way of serving God acceptably. This is in Hebrews 12:28.

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude. Now the word there is grace. Let us show grace by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, and the apostle John writes that the purpose of giving grace to us is so that we can live gracefully and dispense that grace to others, and this is John, the first chapter.

Going to read verse 14, and then 16 and 17. I’m going to read it from the Phillips translation. John 1:14, 16, and 17. So the word of God became a human being and lived among us. We saw his splendor, the splendor as of a father’s only son, full of of grace and truth.

Indeed, every one of us has shared in his riches. There is a grace in our lives because of his grace. For while the law was given by Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

But our fallen human nature often impedes us. Sometimes we fail to fully accept God’s grace, believing ourselves to be undeserving of such a lavish gift. Brother Russell has commentary on this issue in the same article, from which we read at the beginning, By Grace are ye saved. Reprint 2283 in very much that is preached in the name of the gospel of the grace of God, the element of grace entirely omitted. For instance, how common it is for people to hear and to believe that if they do right, they will have divine rewards at the end of life’s race but if they do wrong, they shall have divine punishment at the end of the race.

Such views ignore grace entirely. For if we are to be punished in proportion to our shortcomings, and rewarded for our obedient deeds, where would be the grace? Where would be the mercy? None of these mercies and blessings can be rightly recognized, except as the grace of God. His unmerited favor is seen in them.

There was a disposition in our day, or there is a disposition in our day, as there was a disposition in the days of the apostles. For those who have once accepted divine forgiveness, the grace of God through Christ, to turn aside therefrom, and to attempt to justify themselves by works. Even while first experiences were those of humble dependence upon divine mercy, subsequent experiences sometimes lead to the rejection of grace that at first was so thankfully received. The apostle wrote to some thus affected, saying, christ is become of none effect unto you. Whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace.

Judge from this same standard. How many Christians today have backslidden fallen from grace lost the trust in the merit of the precious blood and in divine favor extended to us through the great atonement sacrifice. Now, as then, the disposition is to trust to works of our own righteousness. This tendency to depart from a recognition of God’s grace in Christ as our only hope for eternal life, and to take instead a hope being able to merit eternal life, is what the apostle very properly calls another gospel, a false gospel.

Because we can have a tendency to see works, that is what we do, as the basis for our salvation, we can fall into the trap of setting rules for what are acceptable works for ourselves and others. Our focus can then be upon performance rather than faith and grace by faith and we can form rigid expectations for ourselves and others. But grace cannot be earned or paid back by works. It is absolutely and totally free. You will never be asked to pay it back.

We should not even try to repay it. To do so is insulting to God. Imagine being invited over to a friend’s house for a fine meal in the evening of fellowship and conversation, and then as you are leaving to go, pulling out your wallet or purse and asking, now how much do I owe you for the meal? What an insult to your hosts.

A focus on works can affect our relationship with God. It affects our image of him and our understanding of his character and fatherly care for us. The grace of God has set us free from a law or ordinances that would condemn us based on works. John 8:32 and 36 John 8:32 and 36 Jesus said, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. So if the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed.

What are we freed from? We are freed from rules and laws that would condemn us. We are freed from guilt and shame, freed from the tyranny of others, opinions, expectations and demands. Free from vanity and self interest, and what are we free to?

Free to obey, free to love, free to do good works, free to forgive others as well as ourselves. Free to allow others to be who they are different from us and free to serve, glorify God and Jesus Christ.

But having been freed from things and living by grace, can we actually go too far? That is, set aside all self control and take our liberty to such an extreme that we again serve sin well? Yes, that is possible, and knowing of that possibility, some Christians opt for what we call legalism, creating lists of rules lest they be tempted to live irresponsibly. But that is not a wise choice.

How much better to have such an awesome respect for the Lord that we voluntarily apply self control and self restraint.

Colossians 2:20 to chapter three, verse two Colossians starting in 2:20 and reading through chapter three, verse two since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belong to it, do you submit to its rules? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. These are all designed to perish with use because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom with their self imposed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body. But they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Since then you have been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. As we ourselves have been set free, let us set each other free to be what God individually directs us to be. I’ve always appreciated the statement from reprint 4006 that Carl and Marge Hagensik had posted on the wall of their home.

This one statement the Lord wishes us to learn, not as children, certain fixed rules, but as philosophers, the fixed principles which can be reasoned upon. For there to be true Christian maturity, we must be given room to grow, which includes room to fail, to think on our own, to disagree and to make mistakes, and we must allow others to do the same. God isn’t stamping out cookie cutter Christians so that we all think alike and look alike and sound alike and act alike. The Body of Christ has variety.

God is pleased with variety. So if we set rules for everything, we are living in a pattern which is termed legalism, a mentality that is actually based on pride. I know I am doing it right.

It is an obsessive conformity to an artificial standard, one that we set for ourselves and everyone else. The pride which is at the heart of legalism works in sync with other motivating factors like guilt and fear and shame. It leads to an emphasis on what we should not do. It makes us live in an atmosphere of negativism and I want to share a story from a book I had read.

If we do not accept God’s unconditional grace and forgiveness, it can be easy to turn to the alternative setting rules and expectations by which we measure ourselves and others concerning our spirituality, our acceptableness or approval by God, and sometimes this can go to ridiculous levels of pettiness, as this following story illustrates. A true story the author writes, Several months ago I was conversing with a man I greatly admire. He said he was grieved on behalf of A missionary family he and his wife had known for years. The legalism they had encountered again and again on the mission field from fellow missionaries was so petty, so unbelievably small minded, that they had returned to the States and no longer planned to remain missionaries.

He said it was over a jar of peanut butter. I thought he was joking. To which he responded, no, it’s no joke at all. I could hardly believe the story. The particular place they were sent to serve the Lord did not have access to peanut butter.

This particular family happened to enjoy peanut butter a great deal and rather creatively. They made arrangements with some of their friends in the States to send them peanut butter every now and then so they could enjoy it with their meals. The problem is they didn’t know until they started receiving the supply of peanut butter that the other missionaries considered it a mark of spirituality that you not have peanut butter with your meals. I suppose the line went something like this. We believe since we can’t get peanut butter here, we should give it up for the cause of Christ or some such nonsense.

A basis of spirituality was bearing the cross of living without peanut butter. The young family didn’t buy into that line of thinking. Their family kept getting regular shipments of peanut butter. They didn’t flaunt it, they just enjoyed it in the privacy of their home. Pressure began to intensify.

You would expect adult missionaries to be big enough to let others eat what they pleased, right? Wrong. The legalism was so petty, the pressure got so intense and the exclusive treatment became so unfair, it finished them off spiritually. They finally had enough. Unable to continue against the mounting pressure, they packed it in and were soon homeward bound, disillusioned and probably a bit cynical.

What we have here is a classic modern day example of a group of squint eyed legalists spying out and attacking another’s liberty. End of story, you know, before we will be able to demonstrate sufficient grace to let others be, we will have to get rid of our tendency to compare ourselves to one another. God has accepted each one of us as we are. He is hard at work shaping us into the image that he has in mind, and his only pattern is his son, Jesus Christ.

Christian author Max Lucado writes, God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you there. He wants you to be just like Jesus, and the writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 11, verse 6, without faith it is possible to please God, but the same degree of faith can be lived in more than one way. So let’s consider what the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 14 about not judging others. Living this way magnifies the operation of God’s grace in our lives.

In the 14th chapter of Romans, Paul gives us four guidelines about the human tendency to judge one another. That tendency diminishes our ability to live and act graciously.

First, he says that accepting others is basic to letting them be guided by God and not by us. The Lord is perfectly capable of directing the other person’s life, and this relieves us from having to be his or her conscience. It is our job to accept others. It is God’s job to direct him right. Romans 14:1 4 accept him who is weak in faith without passing judgment on disputable matters.

One man’s faith allows him to eat anything. Another’s man whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?

To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

The second guideline in this chapter is refusing to dictate to others. Refusing to dictate to others gives them room to to make up their minds with the guidance that God gives them. Let them learn at their own pace, just like we had to learn, including failures and mistakes. Romans 14:5 through 8 One man considers one day more sacred than another. Another man considers every day alike.

Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special does so to the Lord. He who eats meat eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God, and he who abstain does so to the Lord, and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to Himself alone, and none of us dies to Himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.

So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Third guideline Letting others make their own decisions means we never assume a position we’re not qualified to fill. What keeps us from being qualified to judge others? We don’t know all the facts. We are unable to read motives, we find it impossible to be totally objective, and we lack the big picture of the matter. Romans 14:9 12 for this very reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

You then why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written as surely as I live, says the Lord. Every knee will bow before me, every tongue will confess to God.

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. In the same book that I drew the previous story, there is another powerful story about how unqualified we are to judge another person. So this is the story the author writes. I will never forget what happened to me several years ago. That illustrated how wrong I could be in judging another.

I was speaking at a summer Bible conference for a week. Attending the same conference was a couple I had not seen before. We met briefly the first night. Both were friendly and seemed especially glad to be there. I began to notice as the week wore on that the man fell asleep in every one of the meetings.

I mean everyone. Now, normally that doesn’t bother me, but this time, for some strange reason, it began to bug me. By Wednesday night I had feelings of irritation. This guy was out within 10 minutes after I started to speak. It made no difference if I spoke in the morning or the evening.

He slept. By the last meeting on Friday evening, through which he slept, of course I had become convinced it was the wife who wanted to be there, not her husband. I sized him up as a fellow who talked one way, but he lived another. She stayed after the crowd and her husband had left, and she asked if she could speak with me for a few moments. I figured she’d wanted to talk about how unhappy she was living with a man who didn’t have the same interest in spiritual things as she.

How wrong I was, she said. They’re being there was his idea. It had been his final wish. I didn’t understand. She informed me that he had terminal cancer and only a few weeks to live.

At his request, they attended the conference where I was speaking, even though the medication he was taking for pain made him sleepy, something which greatly embarrassed him. He loves the Lord, she said, and you are his favorite Bible teacher. He wanted to be here to meet you and to hear you no matter what.

I was sincerely stunned. She thanked me for the week and left. I stood there all alone, as deeply rebuked as I have ever been. I had judged my brother, and I was as wrong as I could possibly have been.

End of story.

And a fourth Guideline from Romans 14 is being loving and gracious towards others requires us to express our liberty wisely. Love must rule. We must exercise our liberty without flaunting it. We should enjoy our liberties quietly, privately, with those of like mind who aren’t offended by our liberties, and this is in verses 13 to 18, Romans 14:13,18.

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself, but if anyone regards something as unclean, then to him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.

Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

So let us conclude, if we would become Christlike, we must embed grace deeply in our hearts and let it permeate everything we do and say. The Apostle Paul admonishes us in 2 Corinthians 6:1 2 Corinthians 6:1 as God’s fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. From the context it seems clear that the apostle is saying that we could receive the grace, the undeserved kindness of God, but end up receiving it in vain because we fail to let grace operate in our daily lives. Paul in Hebrews gives a similar thought in Hebrews 12:14 and 15 Hebrews 12, 14 and 15 make every effort to live in peace with all men, and to be holy without holiness. No one will see the Lord.

See to it that no one misses the grace of God, and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. We could miss the very purpose for which God poured out his grace upon us, to let it operate in our lives, and be a channel for his grace touching other lives.

Grace is most often expressed by the way we speak to one another, and therefore if we want to live graciously, we will give a great deal of attention to the way that we speak, both the words that we choose and the tone of our speech. Ephesians 4:29 Ephesians 4:29 from the New American Standard says, let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace that is undeserved kindness, that it may give grace to those who hear and Colossians 4:5 and 6 read, be wise in the way you act toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace. Undeserved kindness. Let your conversation be always full of grace seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone.

May it be always be true that there is a grace in our lives because of his grace. Jesus example of grace. Amen.

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