When does grace begin for an individual? Before or after baptism? What about God’s grace before baptism? The grace that gives us a plan of salvation. Just a thought.<\/p>\n
Thanks.<\/p>\n\t
The difficulty with your question is that there is an assumption that grace is just a single thing. Grace is the giving of gifts that have not been earned. God, in His grace, has given us many things.<\/p>\n
The sending of Jesus to die for our sins was an act of God’s grace (Romans 5:15). The offer of eternal life is a gift of God’s grace (Romans 6:23). To be able to be found righteous before God is from His grace (Romans 5:17). Thus, salvation is a gift from God (Acts 15:11; Ephesians 2:5) and our hope for a home in heaven (II Thessalonians 2:16).<\/p>\n
God’s favor and protection are an aspect of God’s grace (Acts 14:26), as well as His help (Hebrews 4:16). The skills and abilities each of us have, are given to us by God’s grace (Romans 12:6).<\/p>\n
The fact that we know of God’s will is also a part of God’s grace (Acts 18:27; 20:24,32).<\/p>\n
Thus, the Bible and Jesus’ death on your behalf came before you were saved. You could not have known what it takes to please God if God had not chosen to tell you in advance and made preparation for you to be saved. That grace has saved us. And that grace continues to benefit us.<\/p>\n\t
Thank you.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: When does grace begin for an individual? Before or after baptism? What about God’s grace before baptism? The grace that gives us a plan of salvation. Just a thought. Thanks. Answer: The difficulty with your question is that there is an assumption that grace is just a single thing. Grace is the giving of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-64231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-grace"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56607,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-grace-of-god-that-brings-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":64231,"position":0},"title":"The Grace of God that Brings Salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irvin Himmel via\u00a0Truth Magazine, December 1973 Nothing is more clearly revealed in the Scriptures than our dependence on God's grace for redemption. Paul said to the saints in Ephesus, \"by grace are ye saved\" (Ephesians 2:5). Everyone who is permitted to enter heaven will be there by grace. Today\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63540,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-teaching-of-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":64231,"position":1},"title":"The Teaching of Grace","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Titus 2 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When you talk to people in the denominations, much is made about the Grace of God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Emphasis is place on God\u2019s grace - Ephesians 2:8-9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To the point that if any mention is made of men needing to accept the offered gift,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1013,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-believe-that-baptism-could-be-linked-to-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":64231,"position":2},"title":"Do you believe that baptism could be linked to grace?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you believe that baptism could be linked to grace? Answer: In the Bible, grace is the concept of a freely given gift; a gift that the recipient has not earned nor has necessarily deserved to receive. God's gift to mankind was the life of His own Son. \"For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43583,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/salvation-by-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":64231,"position":3},"title":"Salvation by Grace (Cope)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by James R. Cope via\u00a0The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 12, October, 1952. In Titus 2:11-13 we read: \"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50844,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-give-grace-to-all-people\/","url_meta":{"origin":64231,"position":4},"title":"Does God give grace to all people?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does God give grace to all people? Does that mean He does not exclude anyone? Does grace come to the Christian as well as sinners? Answer: \"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63421,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/salvation-by-grace-through-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":64231,"position":5},"title":"Salvation by Grace Through Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 17, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 2:1-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we read Ephesians 2:8-10, there are four important words which stand out: grace, saved, faith, and works. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The gift mentioned in verse 8 is the gift of salvation given to us by God\u2019s grace. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Grace is an unmerited favor. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}