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God's Grace Was Granted Us In Christ From All Eternity
Bible study on grace and salvation.

Some parents start saving for a child's college education before he is born, giving him a gift even before conception.

God, our heavenly Father, gave us a gift before even creating the world; He gave us grace.

  • "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity" (2 Tim. 1:8-9).

God's Grace
The word "grace" is used a number of ways in the Bible.

In 2 Timothy 1:9 the Greek word charis is translated "grace", denoting God's friendly attitude toward us to be merciful because of His love.

  • "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)" (Eph. 2:4-5).

Granted From Eternity
Therefore God predestined from eternity to save us in Christ, granting us grace in Christ from all eternity (2 Tim. 1:9).

In so doing, God established His plan for the church (the group of people Jesus saves) from eternity (Eph. 3:10-11; 5:23).

Granted In Christ
God determined to be gracious toward people in Christ, choosing beforehand to save them.

This is the grace God gave us from eternity: salvation in Christ.

  • "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will" (Eph. 1:3-5).

We're Not Ashamed
So we're not ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, the gospel, because God has saved us and called us with a holy calling.

  • "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity" (2 Tim. 1:8-9).

And we're not ashamed to be Christians, because God's saving grace was "revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10).

And we're not ashamed to be Christians because we know whom we've believed and we're convinced that He is able to guard what we've entrusted to Him until that day (2 Tim. 1:12).

Retain the Standard of Sound Words
So we retrain the standard of sound words, which is the gospel, because we're eternally thankful for God's grace.

  • "Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 1:13).

Thus, we're careful not to walk by a different calling other than the holy calling of Christ, whereby we would be lost rather than saved.

Guard the Treasure Entrusted to You
As a result, we guard the treasure that has been entrusted to each of us: the gospel and testimony of Christ.

  • "Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you" (2 Tim. 1:14).
  • "O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge' -- which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you" (1 Tim. 6:20-21).

As those saved by God's grace, we are charged with the responsibility of guarding the gospel and testimony of Christ, by which we are called and saved.

Conclusion
God granted us grace from all eternity in Christ.

Therefore, we're neither ashamed to be Christians nor ashamed of the gospel.

And we're diligent to fulfill our responsibility and guard the treasure entrusted to us, the gospel, by retaining the standard of sound words.