Rethinking Grace

Old Word – New Meaning

Several years ago (probably sometime in 2006), while attending a meeting for local clergy, I heard the keynote speaker make a statement that I have never forgotten:

"Grace is the empowering presence of God enabling you to be who God created you to be, and to do what God has called you to do – right where you are."

The speaker was Pastor James Ryle; he had been invited to address the monthly meeting of the Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston (BMA) by then BMA President Bishop Gideon Thompson. Later that year Pastor Ryle (again at Bishop Thompson's invitation) taught several sessions at the 2006 Jubilee Christian Church annual convention. He elaborated on this same truth. Up until this time I had always thought of grace as "God's unmerited (i.e. undeserved) favor" or "God's Riches At Christ's Expense", but on that day Pastor Ryle gave me a new and extremely helpful way to understand this critical concept. It blessed me so much that I wanted to share it with others; I began looking for Pastor Ryle's teaching in written form.

Google It

I made heavy use of Google searching for a good writeup of Pastor Ryle's particular take on grace; my search paid off. I quickly found other bloggers who quoted Pastor Ryle on the subject of grace, but eventually I discovered his TruthWorks web site and blog. As it turns out, back in 2011 Pastor Ryle began a series of blog posts about grace that ran from January 1, 2011 through March 2, 2011. He begins the series with the following post:

The Pen of a Ready Writer – January 1, 2011

I encourage you to read the whole series – all 61 posts. Of course you probably won't do this all in one sitting, but I'm confident that you will be blessed by it all the same.

TruthWorks Archives

You can read the posts in chronological order and in batches of 10 right on the TruthWorks.com web site via the following January 1, 2011 – March 2, 2011 archives links:

• January 1 – 10
• January 11 – 20
• January 21 – 30
• January 31
• February 1 – 10
• February 21 – 20
• February 21 – 28
• March 1 – 10

To see a complete listing of all of the blog posts in the series keep reading!

GRACE – The Complete List

Here is a complete listing of all of hte blog posts in Pastor James Ryle's GRACE series:

• The Pen of a Ready Writer – 1 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• So, You Wanna Go On a Journey? – 2 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• Forty Years in a Library – 3 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• A Long Journey to a Place Nearby – 4 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• A Word Fitly Spoken? – 5 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• The Distant Lights of a Great City – 6 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• GRACE — God’s Unspeakable Gift – 7 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• A Man with Grace on His Mind – 8 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• Clearing the Way So We can Move Forward – 9 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – 10 Jan 2011 at 9:04am

• The Measure of God’s Will for You – 11 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• The Two Great Temptations – 12 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• The Heart of the Matter – 13 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• The Measure of Grace – 14 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• The Moment When Everything Changed – 15 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• A Conversation with the Apostle of Grace – 16 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• On the Road Again…with New Provisions – 17 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• The Final Measure – 18 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• Life Outside the Measure…a Real Bad Deal – 19 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• The Merciful God – 20 Jan 2011 at 9:04am

• “So, What’s the Funnel All About?” – 21 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• The Ancient Library – 22 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• A Man Full of Grace and Power – 23 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• Grace in a Place called Antioch – 24 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• A Man in Exile – 25 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• The Iconium Miracles – 26 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• Be Strong in Grace – 27 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• Bringing Back a Good Report – 28 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• Looking Forward to a Bad Stretch of Road – 29 Jan 2011 at 9:04am
• The Word of His Grace – 30 Jan 2011 at 9:04am

• When I First Saw the Light – 31 Jan 2011 at 9:04am

• The Bible for Dummies? Seriously? – 1 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• What Were You Thinking?! – 2 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• “Does it Really Matter All That Much?” – 3 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• Grace – The Greater Power – 4 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• The Life That is Far Above – 5 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• The Grace Awakening – 6 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• Reigning in Life – 7 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• Unveiling the Big Picture – 8 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• “Look Who I’ve Become” – 9 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• When Jesus Comes – 10 Feb 2011 at 9:04am

• Fifteen Days in a Friendship of Grace – 11 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• Peter’s Parting Words – 12 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• Entering Into This Place Called Grace – 13 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• Right Where You Are – 14 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• Brother James in The Great Hall of Truth – 15 Feb 2011 at 9:27am
• The Greatest Mystery Ever Uncovered – 16 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• Embracing God’s Best – 17 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• The Good News of God’s Empowering Presence – 18 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• The Rubble of Zerubbabel – 19 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• The Shout of Grace! – 20 Feb 2011 at 9:04am

• Monumental Park – 21 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• The Law of the Lord is Perfect – 22 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• Living in the Overlap of Two Worlds – 23 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• The Pavilion of Praise – 24 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• The Dark Corner of The Disgraced – 25 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• That No One Fail – 26 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound! – 27 Feb 2011 at 9:04am
• “Are We There Yet?” – 28 Feb 2011 at 9:04am

• The Gateway to the Kingdom – 1 Mar 2011 at 9:04am
• Go Home to Your Friends – 2 Mar 2011 at 9:04am
• Arise! Shine! – 3 Mar 2011 at 9:04am
• The Revelation of God’s Love – 4 Mar 2011 at 9:04am
• The Bible Summed Up in Four Words – 5 Mar 2011 at 9:04am
• “I Am The Light of the World!” – 6 Mar 2011 at 9:04am
• Fully Alive in the Light – 7 Mar 2011 at 9:04am
• Walking in the Light – 8 Mar 2011 at 5:00am
• “You Are the Light of the World!” – 9 Mar 2011 at 9:04am
• Light on Your Darkest Day – 10 Mar 2011 at 9:04am

Available On CD or DVD

This teaching is also available for purchase as a CD set or as a DVD set via the Truthworks online store:

• Amazing Grace series

More About James Ryle

Pastor James Ryle is the President and Founder of TruthWorks and one of the founding board members of Promise Keepers. You can learn more about him through the following links:

• Pastor James Ryle Biography (TruthWorks)
• Pastor James Ryle Video Profile (CBN)