Foundation Series – Episode 14 - What Grace is - Grace Is the Divine Source Behind Salvation

[00:00:00] Hello, welcome to your daily Grace by Timothy Wilder Foundation Series Episode 14 what Grace Is Grace is the divine source behind salvation. [00:00:13] Grace does not begin with us. It begins with God. Before any response, before any movement of faith, before anything we might point to. On our side of the equation, there is grace, and it stands at the very origin of our relationship with God, not as a reaction to human effort, but as the initiating cause. [00:00:34] This is a crucial distinction because we often think of grace as something that comes after after repentance, after belief, after we get things right. But Scripture presents grace as the starting point, not the conclusion. Paul captures this beautifully when he writes, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us. Ephesians 2:4 Notice where the emphasis not on human action, but on God's character. Grace flows out of who he is, his mercy, his love, his goodness. Not out of anything we first do. It originates entirely on his side. [00:01:16] This is why grace must be understood as the source, not the result. [00:01:20] It is the cause from which everything else flows. Paul makes this explicit just a few verses for by grace you have been saved. Through faith the order matters. Grace is the foundation. Everything else rests upon it. [00:01:38] Faith itself does not produce grace. It receives what grace has already provided. This keeps us from subtly reversing the relationship. [00:01:47] It is easy to think that grace comes into play because we believe or because we turn toward God in some meaningful way. But that would place the origin back in us. Scripture consistently resists that idea. Instead, it points us back to grace as the initiating force, the divine starting point from which all else proceeds. Paul reinforces this again in his letter to he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. [00:02:19] The emphasis is unmistakable. The reason is not found in us, neither in our effort nor in our righteousness, but entirely in Him. [00:02:29] Grace is rooted in God's mercy, not in human merit. Understanding this protects the purity of grace. [00:02:36] If grace is the source, then it cannot be dependent on the outcome. [00:02:41] It cannot be something that flows from what happens in us or through us. Instead, everything that follows flows from grace itself. It is the wellspring, not the downstream effect. [00:02:53] This is an important boundary to hold. Grace is the cause. Everything else is the result. [00:03:00] When we keep that order intact, we preserve the truth that God is always the initiator. He is the one who moves first, who gives first, who acts first, and that changes how we see everything. [00:03:13] We are not trying to reach up to access grace. [00:03:16] We are responding to a grace that has already reached down, thanks for listening. If you are being fed and or uplifted by these messages, we encourage you to like, comment, share and subscribe. These things help us spread the message of grace.