{"id":1158,"date":"2025-08-15T06:18:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T06:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158"},"modified":"2025-08-15T06:18:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T06:18:03","slug":"grace-gods-gift-and-our-empowerment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158","title":{"rendered":"Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>&#8220;For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith\u2014and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God\u2019s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.&#8221;<\/strong><br>\u2014 <em>Ephesians 2:8\u201310 (NIV)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Scripture, grace is revealed in two powerful ways: first, in the <strong>character<\/strong> with which it is given; second, in the <strong>effect<\/strong> it produces in the recipient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first is that grace is <em>unmerited favor<\/em>. God freely gives it, not because of our worthiness, but because of His goodness. Salvation is the greatest example of this\u2014while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We could never earn it; it was purely an act of divine kindness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second is that grace is <em>empowerment<\/em>. It enables us to do what we could never do on our own. Salvation not only forgives us but also empowers us to live above sin through the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is why Paul could say, \u201cWe are God\u2019s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.\u201d Grace saves us <em>and<\/em> equips us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This pattern holds true for every form of grace God gives. Whatever the assignment\u2014whether ministry, service, or daily obedience\u2014the grace to fulfill it comes as undeserved favor, and its impact is supernatural empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet there is one posture that shuts the door to grace\u2014<strong>pride<\/strong>. Scripture tells us that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Even salvation demands humility, for only when we acknowledge our sin and our need for Christ can we receive His saving grace. The proud heart, convinced it needs nothing, remains closed to God\u2019s gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let us, therefore, walk in humility\u2014grateful for God\u2019s undeserved kindness and ready to receive His empowering grace for every good work He has prepared for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Prayer:<\/strong><br>Thank You, Heavenly Father, for Your unmerited kindness shown to me in Christ Jesus. Thank You for empowering me with Your grace to live for You. Keep me humble and dependent on You, so that Your grace may abound in my life. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith\u2014and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God\u2019s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.&#8221;\u2014 Ephesians 2:8\u201310 (NIV) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment - New Creation City<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment - New Creation City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8220;For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith\u2014and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God\u2019s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.&#8221;\u2014 Ephesians 2:8\u201310 (NIV) [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"New Creation City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-15T06:18:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grace-that-Transforms.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#\/schema\/person\/ebfe72a89dd2c7f6b2882d8a7c32bce1\"},\"headline\":\"Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-15T06:18:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-15T06:18:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158\"},\"wordCount\":373,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grace-that-Transforms.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158\",\"name\":\"Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment - New Creation City\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grace-that-Transforms.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-15T06:18:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-15T06:18:03+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grace-that-Transforms.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grace-that-Transforms.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/\",\"name\":\"New Creation City\",\"description\":\"Building Believers to Build their World \ud83c\udf0e\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"New Creation City\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/LogoWhite-01.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/LogoWhite-01.png\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":2000,\"caption\":\"New Creation City\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#\/schema\/person\/ebfe72a89dd2c7f6b2882d8a7c32bce1\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b42224721cff82ba420d01b7b5063b645ef343913a9c0bf6770b4efaf15df82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b42224721cff82ba420d01b7b5063b645ef343913a9c0bf6770b4efaf15df82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment - New Creation City","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment - New Creation City","og_description":"&#8220;For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith\u2014and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God\u2019s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.&#8221;\u2014 Ephesians 2:8\u201310 (NIV) [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158","og_site_name":"New Creation City","article_published_time":"2025-08-15T06:18:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grace-that-Transforms.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#\/schema\/person\/ebfe72a89dd2c7f6b2882d8a7c32bce1"},"headline":"Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment","datePublished":"2025-08-15T06:18:03+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-15T06:18:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158"},"wordCount":373,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grace-that-Transforms.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158","url":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158","name":"Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment - New Creation City","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grace-that-Transforms.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-15T06:18:03+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-15T06:18:03+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grace-that-Transforms.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grace-that-Transforms.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?p=1158#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Grace: God\u2019s Gift and Our Empowerment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/","name":"New Creation City","description":"Building Believers to Build their World \ud83c\udf0e","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#organization","name":"New Creation City","url":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/LogoWhite-01.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/LogoWhite-01.png","width":2000,"height":2000,"caption":"New Creation City"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#\/schema\/person\/ebfe72a89dd2c7f6b2882d8a7c32bce1","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b42224721cff82ba420d01b7b5063b645ef343913a9c0bf6770b4efaf15df82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b42224721cff82ba420d01b7b5063b645ef343913a9c0bf6770b4efaf15df82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/newcreationcity.org"],"url":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1160,"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1158\/revisions\/1160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newcreationcity.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}