I watched Mr. Kerry Shook on TBN-TV Tues Sep 27.  He spent the first 10 minutes exclaiming over and over about God’s unmerited favor, which he called “grace”, and said that there is nothing we can do to earn or receive grace.  He used Noah and Jehoshaphat as being in position to receive God’s grace.  Then he said we have to take one step at a time for God to move us into position to receive grace, and that we must continue to keep taking one step, one step, then another, on and on to follow God’s Word to get into position to receive God’s grace.   After all that time teaching that we do not have to do anything, he turned around and said we have to make the choice to follow God step by step to be in the position to receive His grace.  Which is it?  We do nothing, or do we have to make the choice and actively follow Him?  If we must follow Him, then there is something we must do---choose to follow Him and do it!

Actually his idea of grace is incorrect.  Grace is not God’s unmerited favor!  Favor is associated with mercy-God’s love to mankind.  Unmerited favor is shown in Romans 2:4, “Or despises thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.”  God’s unmerited favor is His mercy and kindness to lost people who are not seeking Him and to Christians out of fellowship with Him.  Grace is always the work of the Spirit in the hearts of mankind; first to create our new heart at salvation when we become a child of God and then to help us grow in grace as we walk with Him.  Grace is always the automatic work of the Spirit in our hearts that we have chosen to receive into our hearts by faith.  Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, but only if we accept the Word into our hearts.  When we receive God’s Word, Christ, into our hearts, Christ begins working to produce whatever action God intends and we call that work of the Spirit in our hearts the work of grace. 

Example:  Hebrews 4:2 states, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”  They heard God’s Words of the gospel, but it did not profit them because they did not receive the Words into their hearts.   If they had mixed it in faith by receiving positively the Words into their hearts, the Living Words of the gospel would have produced the work of grace in their hearts for salvation.  So there is something we each must do to receive grace, we must first choose to receive God’s Word into our heart, for He will not force or put His Spirit into our hearts unless we personally choose to invite Him in and open our hearts to Him.  Grace is not dumped on people randomly.  Grace is always the automatic response of the Spirit working in our hearts when we receive God’s Word into our hearts by faith as Ephesians 2:8 states that we are saved by grace through faith.

Also, there was not grace in the Old Testament as the Psalmist states in Psalms 25:10, “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.”  Only Jesus had the work of grace in His heart before the day of Pentecost, for John 1:17 states, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”  

View my video on Mercy, Grace and Charity.