The Doctrine of Free Grace - The Puritans's Views: What is Grace? & Why It's Such an Abused Doctrine?

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible - Get the Old Testament sets of 39 Kindles FREE - FOLLOW LINKS INSIDE THIS KINDLE

THE ABUSE OF THE DOCTRINE OF GRACE
F. W. Krummacher (1796 - 1868)
Perhaps you think that this abuse of the doctrine of grace is of infrequent occurrence? By no means. Most men are sick with the same disease. Why is it, that you are so quiet, so careless, so happy, so confident, so gay, so merry, while you belong to the children of this world? With which do you comfort yourself? You must die; you are traveling towards eternity! You must appear before the judgment seat of God; you have broken the law of God, and deserved the wrath of the Almighty. This you cannot deny. If your mouth says, No! No! Your heart cries, Yes, Amen, it is true. How can your heart have rest while these truths are existing; while the reproaches of your conscience are loud, and warnings of death, and the judgment to come, fill your breast?


THE POWER OF GRACE IN WEANING THE HEART FROM THE WORLD
by Matthew Mead
"Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother. My soul is even as a weaned child." Psalm 131:1-2
Chrysostom, in commending the grace of humility, says, "Humility is the foundation of Christian virtue." Indeed, humility is the ornament of all the graces of God's Spirit. Grace is the beauty of the soul, and humility is the beauty of grace.
Now David, being about to commend this grace to the saints, does propound himself as an example of it in this Psalm: "My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me." Psalm 131:1.
But what was it, which thus humbled David's heart, and took him off from doting upon the world's grandeur, and from delighting himself in present enjoyments?
Why God had, by the power of his grace, taken his heart off from all things here below…..


Grace for the Humble
James Smith, 1859

"He gives us more grace. God opposes the proud—but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6
We have no humility by nature. There may be a softness of disposition, and a readiness to yield to others—but there is no true humility. That is a fruit of the Spirit, a new covenant blessing. One of the marks of God's children, and a proof of God's special love. God makes us humble, and then, approving of our humility, makes many great and precious promises to us in that character. The humble Christian, is an honored character. He is a blessing to all about him, and an honor to Christ. He has much to do with God, receives much from God, and so becomes growingly like God. He avoids many snares, and escapes many dangers into which others fall. He obtains many blessings, and enjoys many comforts, to which others are strangers. O precious grace! O distinguishing mark of the Lord's people! May I grow downward in humility before God. O to be like Jesus, rooted in humility.
But how is true humility to be known? By what is a really humble man distinguished? By many things; we will notice a few.
First, he has a deep sense of the EVIL OF SIN. He looks upon it as the bitter root, from which springs all the woes and wars, all the sadness and sorrow, all the pains and pollution, all the misery and madness, and all the torment and terror—to be found in God's universe!.

God has grace to confer on sinners—grace provided and laid up, on purpose to give to those who cannot merit, who do not deserve:
grace which just meets man's condition;
grace which supplies all his needs;
grace