Soteriology Discussion Board 1

[pastorderrick]

Share two instances in your life where the grace of God was manifested. Use at least one Bible reference to convince us that the manifestation you are talking about is truly a product of God’s grace.

Paste the same submission from the previous step here by clicking on the REPLY link just above. Your submission should be made by Wednesday the 1st of May 2024.

Then scroll down to see your peer submission and click reply to comment on their submissions. You MUST comment on at least one post with a minimum of 200 words by 11:59 p.m. (WAT) on Friday the 3rd of May 2024. Your comments will also be graded.

[Ben]

Two instances where the grace of God was manifested in my life can be seen thus:

What does Grace mean to begin with? Grace is the goodness of God, freely given. It is not a loan. Grace is also, God reaching out to us and giving us what we do not deserve. Furthermore, Grace is God’s unmerited favor- It is what God does for me independent of me.

The first instance of the manifestation of the grace of God in my life even according to Psalm 102:13, “ You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come.” was when I got a Job I didn’t apply for. This Job came at the right time, immediately after my graduation from the University. I was in my house the day I got a call of a Job for me that I didn’t apply for. Interestingly, I didn’t deserve that job because I had no experience in that area, no skill for the job as it was not really what I had studied in the university or apart of any program I had done. I began to discredit myself before the caller; trying to be sincere, but it seemed like the caller didn’t care to know about my disqualification. The caller added that the Holy Spirit ministered to him that I was the one to be reached. That right there was the grace of God.

It didn’t stop there. After that call, I began to prepare for an interview or even for an exam at least but to my greatest surprise, I got to the office and was received warmly and shown my office to resume work immediately. Protocols were broken and the favor of God was visibly at work. The next phase of the manifestation of God’s grace (involvement beyond my no skill for the job and inexperience), was when I was expected to commence work and continue from where the former staff had left off, without any guidance or training. I guess my direct boss felt I was the best at the job.

The caller was a respected partner with the CEO of the company, I got to find out. The CEO had trusted him with getting the best candidate for the Job and there I was, a Historian and Diplomat by profession in a construction company with Engineers. I totally depended on God as I meditated on relevant scriptures to be courageous and to learn on the job. Few weeks into the job, I excelled so well that the CEO from Abuja called me to know how I knew so much about the job when I didn’t have any prior experience. It was all the grace of God.

The second instance would be when I was in my final year in the University. My experience goes in line with Isaiah 41:13 and Psalm 94:18. I received God’s grace in the form of his help where I would have failed. The course I was writing was one you could not wave off. I found out just immediately after taking the exam, that I had written the opposite of virtually all I was asked. I was not confident in the exam hall while writing even though I had prepared. Truly, the notes showed it, after finding the right answers after my exam.

I refused to be worried but took it to God in prayers. To God’s praise, there was a divine intervention. I had an A when the results came out. Sadly, there was massive failure in that course which proved the natural state of things with the course but God helped me out.

These two instances in my life show how the grace of God has played out for me amongst many other instances. It played out in giving me unmerited favor before men and brought me a good opportunity. It played out also, in the help of God in my studies, where my own strength stopped.

[Pchris]

REPLY TO BEN
Your experience of God’s grace is really mind blowing and serves as a faith booster for me. However the first instance you gave reminds me of the case of my elder brother who graduated from the university and found it very difficult to get a job for 8years. After multiple job applications and interviews all to no avail, he eventually got a job with one of the leading oil companies in Nigeria. The job came in such an unexpected way that It is safe to say that it can only be by God’s grace. Unlike the previous interviews where he had to be present in person and go through a rigorous process, the interview that led to his current job was conducted via phone call and after the call, he was asked to proceed for medicals. It was so swift , easy and also unexpected . God’s grace abounds and super abounds towards us.

[Paulpraze]

TWO INSTANCES OF THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD’S GRACE IN MY LIFE
In our study on God’s grace as the source of our salvation, we saw six different meanings of grace. All of these definitions reveal different aspects of this incredible grace of God that we are blessed to enjoy in our lives.
The first manifestation I want to discuss is the manifestation of God’s grace that brought me into Christ, and this is significant for me.
For people like me, who were literally born in church and grew up in church, it can be very difficult to come to the point where one recognises his or her need for the Saviour. It really is difficult to view one’s self as a sinner in the light of one’s supposed commitment to God and the ‘church’ that one belongs to. I learnt to do what was expected of me, learnt to behave in a certain way, and received the approval and commendations of people around me that confirmed my “goodness”. So you see, the idea of being a sinner never really came through, both because the Gospel was not being preached as it should have and also because I considered myself to be a “good” person.
It is such a profound manifestation of God’s grace to me, that God was able to get me to the point of truly surrendering to Christ and understanding the condition that I was in as a sinner. To be able to appreciate salvation, having lived the kind of “good” life that I had lived before salvation, is indeed to me, a profound manifestation of God’s grace in my life. Ephesians 2:1-9, Philippians 3:3-9.
Secondly, one of the definitions of grace that we looked at, was concerning God’s willingness to use His power on our behalf, even when we do not deserve it and I have seen God, in my life and the lives of others, use His power graciously on our behalf, even when we did not deserve it, to wrought miracles for us, particularly as regards the healing of our bodies.
Sometime ago, I noticed this pain and irritation in my right eye. I did not even know when and how it started. I just prayed about it and trusted God. Recently, I noticed that the pain and irritation had gone. I did not even know when the healing occurred. Jesus healed me. Isaiah 53:4-5, Ephesians 1:19-23, 1 Peter 2:24. God is gracious indeed and abounds to me everyday of my life.

[Wechie]

Reply to Paul Praize

After I received Christ, I committed myself to Loving and serving God. I embraced every opportunity to serve,’’ No’’ was a word far from my mouth whenever kingdom business was concerned. However, at some point I realized I was prioritizing my work for God over my walk with God, even after realizing that, for some reason I remained adamant and continued with the flow.
At this time, I was studying Pharmacy; anyone who has passed through the faculty of health sciences in Uniport would understand how tasking it was to successfully graduate. I juggled this with numerous commitments in my fellowship and because of my lack of wisdom and adamant attitude I ended up repeating a class twice.
Anyone can easily forgive a first failure but not the second, obviously my family didn’t take it lightly.
My dad knowing my history of academic excellence was confused and blamed my church for my failures. In His words I had been brainwashed. He took a decision to take his hands off my education as there was no point wasting any more money.
Amidst all of these I prayed to God, I asked him for another chance, I knew I didn’t deserve it but still I asked for another opportunity where my academic pursuit was concerned, not only did I ask for another opportunity, I asked that this time I wanted to go abroad to study my dream course; Medicine.
Once again, the grace of God spoke on my behalf; My Dad months later agreed to sponsor my studies abroad. It didn’t make any sense to my Siblings that my dad would take such a risk but I knew it was God’s Grace at work.
I later travelled abroad to study Medicine; excelled in my academics, became one of the pioneers of the European Medical Association in my school, served Jesus wholeheartedly and pioneered a ministry that Impacted many lives for Christ.
Today by God’s grace, I am a fully Registered Medical Doctor in Nigeria and I am still pursuing purpose in Christ.
I am a product of God’s Grace
Exodus 34:6, 1 Corinthians 15:10, Hebrews 4:15-16.

[femionas]

Reply to Paul Praise

Thank God for hearing your prayers and for giving you another chance to be what you are today. Your experience has given me an insight. Although, yours was in the university, but my son is still in secondary school. He is 15 years old and in SS1 because we made him repeat JSS twice. Just this afternoon, I was discussing with my husband, that I regretted that action because it did not yield any positive result. His result has not improved, rather, he is feeling too old in his present class. You cannot catch him reading, instead of reading his books, he will be writing songs. He has been made the head of junior choir in our local church and that is all that interest him. We tried to encourage him to be serious with his academics and that he has all the time to be what God says he will be in the future. I know that the grace of God is sufficient for him indeed. We are all products of his grace. According to Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:10, KJV “But by the grace of God, I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain…”

[Pchris]

There are several definitions for the term ‘ Grace ‘ but for the purpose of this first instance in my life , I will be going with the definition that states that: Grace is God’s willingness to use His power on my behalf even though I don’t deserve it.
I personalized and chose this definition of Grace because it is actually what played out in my life.
The year 2011 to the early months in 2017, I was in the bondage of smoking and drug addiction. This bondage is one I willingly stepped into, it is safe to say that I deserved to be in that bondage. This lifestyle was one I thought I enjoyed, it was one I thought made me relevant and look cool amongst my peers but little did I know that I was not only living an ignorant life because I was also an unbeliever but I was also negatively affecting my loved ones. It affected my marriage, my relationship with my family, my ability to function properly in school because I was always intoxicated and this is to say the least.
On the faithful day of July 5th 2017 , I experienced the power of God that came like a hand and emptied me of all the trash in me. This happened during a midweek service in my local assembly . It was shortly after the sermon I had this experience and it is one I can never forget because it was unexpected and I was undeserving of it.
The Word of God hit me so powerfully that I accepted Christ there and then. Something mind-blowing happened after that experience, I discovered I no longer had the urge to smoke or take those intoxicating drugs anymore, That marked the beginning of my freedom. God willingly used His mighty power on my behalf.
After that experience, I felt so empty and it bothered me so much that I had to reach out to the pastor of my local assembly , he then told me that I experienced the Grace of God and that I had to start filling myself up with the things of God. I ran with that advise and it is safe to say that i am a better version of myself now and currently walking in God’s purpose for my life. The book of 1 Corinthians 15:10 ( But by the grace of God , I am what I am and His grace toward me was not in vain : but I labored more abundantly than they all , yet not I , but the grace of God which was with me ) NKJV sums up my current state.
The second instance in my life where the grace of God manifested was when I had anger issues as a weakness. The definition of Grace as God abounding or to super abound in quality and quantity best describes this instance.
After receiving salvation, I still battled with anger , I mean anger that sometimes leads to a physical altercation or the use of really harsh words. It was a weakness I battled with for an unspecified period of time, It went on until I came across 2 Corinthians 12:9 ( And He said to me , my grace is sufficient for you , for my strength is made perfect in weakness ) NKJV
I started confessing this word of God over my life until it became evident in my life that the grace of God abounds towards me.
I can now say for sure that anger is no longer a weakness in my life. My reaction to certain things that would previously trigger an unpleasantly severe reaction from me is no longer the case .
By the Grace of God active in my life , I now approach things in a more subtle manner.
Everytime I remember the Grace of God in my life, it causes me to praise and worship Him.

[Author]

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