Grace is a fine wine.

Grace is a fine wine. 'Tis the gift to be simple 'Tis the gift to be free 'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be And when we find ourselves in the place just right It will be in the valley of love and delight When true simplicity is gained To bow and to bend, we will not be ashamed To turn, turn, will be our delight 'Til by turning, turning, we come round right As soon as you read that above, you probably had the familiar tune of Simple Gifts running in your head. It s an old Shaker song from 1848, by Joseph Bracket. In fact, the famed Aaron Copland was a huge fan and used it several times. I thought of this tune while I was studying the concept of grace. Robyn Cooper Copyright @2016 October 18, 2016 Grace is a fine wine Page 1 of 6

Grace is a complex topic! The dictionary says grace is elegance, refinement, free and unmerited favor, a short pre-meal prayer, a description for a person, a period of extended repayment on a loan. It also says grace is a verb: to do honor or credit to someone with your own presence. That last one kind of makes me laugh, but people do use the word that way. God defines grace with far more distinction and complexity. God says grace is unmerited favor and the source of our salvation. Grace is also one of the mandates we receive from God. Grace is consolation. And grace is faith, but it s also the product of faith. More about wine later (wink). In this study, you ll explore the relationship between grace and faith, works and mercy; see and appreciate grace in action, and then bring it home to apply to you personally. Take it slowly. This is meant to be a two week or 12 day study (Honor the Sabbath!) I want you to ask God to take you into deep waters with Him, so you can grow more and more in the tender, powerful story of His love. Take your time! Drink Him in, and expect yourself to be challenged, to learn and to grow. Throw off any misguided preconceptions about grace as you delve into God s word, and ask God to clothe you in His truth. Test His words in your heart, and see how your own spirit responds to His Holy Spirit s instruction. Here are a few keys to success in this study. 1. Throughout this study, I will reference scriptures for you. Read them! But know that you will get more out of it if you put these scriptures in your own words! Putting scripture in your own words helps you personalize and remember it. Try it. 2. Always ask God to bring you new understanding and wisdom as a blessing for your time spent studying His word. Write down any revelation He provides you which you can reference later. Ask Him how that new revelation applies to different areas of your life. 3. Jot down any further questions you have for Him. Then ask Him! He is faithful to answer us! Now let s get started! Robyn Cooper Copyright @2016 October 18, 2016 Grace is a fine wine Page 2 of 6

Day 1 Relationships between grace and faith, works and mercy What is the relationship between faith and grace? Why was God s grace put on public display? See Romans 3:21-25a, Hebrews 2:9. What magnitude of difference is there in the result of one man s sin versus Jesus death? See Romans 5:15-21 What is the relationship between grace and works? See Romans 11:5-6. Day 2 What did Jesus give that Moses couldn t? See John 1:17, Galations 2:21, Galations 5:3-4, Romans 4:4, 16-17; Romans 11:6. What is the relationship between grace and mercy? See Titus 3:4-7. Day 3 Grace in action For whom is grace given? See Acts 15:11, Romans 4:16, Luke 2:40, and James 4:5-6. How do you or do you not fit the criteria? What about those persons with whom you live? Your extended family? Your neighbors? Day 4 What are some examples of unmerited favor (i.e. grace) in the Bible? Why did God grant this favor? See Deuteronomy 9:5, Daniel 9:18. In what situations in your life did God grant unmerited favor to you? Why did He do that for you? Cite some examples and outcomes. Day 5 What should our response be to grace? From His eternal perspective, why did Christ die for you? See Titus 2:11-14, Titus 3:4-7, Galations 1:15-16, 2 Timothy 2:1, Ephesians 1:5-10, Ephesians 2:4-7, 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, Romans 2:4, Romans 4:16, and 2 Corinthians 8:9. Why is Jesus death personally significant to you? What does this say about the power of God? Be specific. Hint: You re basically writing your testimony. If you don t have this down pat, or haven t fully processed your own redemption story in a way that you can articulate it to yourself or others, this is such a worthy use of your time! If you already can articulate your testimony well, this is your time to get more specific and focus on Robyn Cooper Copyright @2016 October 18, 2016 Grace is a fine wine Page 3 of 6

recent years, or how God has used a past experience as a transformational time for you. Day 6 Read Romans 5:1-2, Romans 6:14-17 and John 1:16. What new freedoms do you enjoy as new persons under grace and free of your old sin behavior? Day 7 What is the relationship between our human weakness and the power of Christ? See 2 Corinthians 12:9, 1 Peter 4:10, 1 Timothy 1:12-16, James 4:6. How has God overcome your weaknesses? What weaknesses do you still need Him to overcome? What is holding you back from progress? Read Acts 11:23 and Acts 13:42. What does with all your heart mean to you? Day 8 This following question is a hard one. Ask God to really help you dig. His example for you may even seem very small or be difficult to find. How have you ever abused God s grace? If you can t find an example in yourself, perhaps it s very easy to find examples of people around you who have abused grace. Use Jude 1:4, 2 John 1:10-11, Galations 1:6. Read Psalms 84:11. How does this verse give you hope for change? How are the weaknesses you indicated you still want God to overcome especially significant? Who do they impact? What could you lose if you remain captive to that weakness? Stop and pray for help! Ask for faith to believe these changes. Find accountability! Make the changes necessary! Day 9 Now what?! The Bible mandates that we grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18). Read 2 Corinthian 9:8. Is there any excuse for stagnation in your life? How can you more actively continue in the grace of God? See 1 Peter 5:5, Acts 2:46-47. Read Ephesians 4:29, 2 Peter 1:5-8, Romans 12:6. Name in what areas can we grow in grace? Revisit the weaknesses you listed before. What additional areas do you need to grow in grace? Robyn Cooper Copyright @2016 October 18, 2016 Grace is a fine wine Page 4 of 6

Day 10 What attitude should we have about growth? See 1 Corinthians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 1:12; Ephesians 3:2-4, 7; Luke 17:9, Romans 1:15; and Romans 15:5. How do you need God to help you change your attitude towards growth or change? Day 11 Read the reputations of these people working under grace in 2 Corinthians 8:6, 18-21; Galations 2:9 and Acts 14:26. What do you believe your reputation to be? Ask some close friends in all humility and acceptance how you ve been representing God. In all likelihood, your verve with God has changed over time, and thus, so has your representation or witness of Him. Ask these trusted friends how your reputation or representation of God has changed over time. Day 12 Take the feedback you receive and approach God with it all: the good, the disheartening, the uplifting and the maddening. Ask God what He wants you to do with this information and how He may want you to grow. Then, again, ask for faith to believe these changes. Find accountability! Make the changes necessary! Robyn Cooper Copyright @2016 October 18, 2016 Grace is a fine wine Page 5 of 6

I hope God has revealed much to you during the time you spent with Him! Grace is received from the Father God, and from Christ and is a testimony to the deity and glory of Christ. His grace is all abundant, all sufficient, glorious, great, manifold (having different parts), rich, and undeserved but freely given. He extends graciousness in his own sovereign way and will to whomever He chooses, especially the humble and obedient. Grace can even be exhibited by children! In fact, grace is promised to the humble and is manifested in self-sacrifice and when God delivers people from enemies or surrounding evils - this includes your own deliverance into freedom from sin. As believers, you are fully operating under grace, receive grace, stand in grace, and inherit grace. You also abound in grace, and are strong in grace. This means you are supposed to grow in grace, and speak and behave with grace. Indeed, God has empowered you, by His grace, for effective service and in fact, to lead a simple life. No longer are you bound by debt, works or the law which was impossible to fulfill of your own human striving. Rejoice! God s grace is all sufficient, and yet, because of free will and our own pestilence, grace can be abused, frustrated or stifled, turned away from. But have hope! You can ask God for grace, and His grace leads to riches, but not riches of the worldly kind. These riches are moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love, and feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving. And while mercy removes misery, grace removes guilt while simultaneously bestowing pleasure, delight, regard, beauty and favor on your life. You will abound in beautiful speech, backed by actions of pure motives when you operate in the fullness of God s grace. Grace was given to you in God s divine favor, and testifies to the joy He s designed for you. I compared grace to wine earlier. On God s end, grace is a miracle, like Jesus first public miracle when He turned water to wine at the Wedding in Cana. On God s end, grace is intrinsic to His own nature. Its Craftsman is truly stand-alone, and the fruit from which made it is unattainable by the rest of us. Only by supernatural love can we partake of His fruit, but only after He s processed it personally for our own unique taste-buds. Yes, the top-notes of this kind of wine has been customized for you! However, on our end, grace takes time, interest and thoughtfulness to develop. It s bold flavor and glory requires oxygen, appreciation and a slow savory intake and down-pouring. And its aftertaste leave you wanting more and more. Except this kind of wine leaves you in your right mind, doesn t it?! I hope this has blessed you. Let me know if you have further questions or comments. I hope this was devoid of type-o s. I was anxious to distribute it to you all! Love, Robyn Cooper 404-372-2818 or rehcooper@gmail.com Robyn Cooper Copyright @2016 October 18, 2016 Grace is a fine wine Page 6 of 6