The grace of God is not an idea floating in heaven. It is a person — the Holy Spirit — sent by the Father, given by the risen Son, who personally applies the work of the cross to a sinner’s heart. He is called the Spirit of grace in Hebrews 10:29, and at Grace Fellowship Church in Sarasota, we will not preach grace without preaching the One who brings it.
“Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” — Hebrews 10:29
The Holy Spirit is not a force, an influence, or a poetic way of talking about God’s energy. He is the third person of the Trinity — fully God, eternal, personal, with a will (1 Corinthians 12:11), with grief (Ephesians 4:30), with speech (Acts 13:2), with love (Romans 15:30). He is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, sent at Pentecost to make Christ real in His people forever.
The title “Spirit of grace” tells us what He does in the Christian life. Every benefit purchased by Jesus on the cross — forgiveness, justification, adoption, sanctification, indwelling, assurance, perseverance, eternal life — is delivered into the believer’s actual experience by Him. The Father planned grace. The Son purchased grace. The Spirit applies grace. None of the three works alone.
This is why John can write, “Of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16). The grace keeps coming because the Spirit keeps giving. He is the channel through whom all of Christ’s finished work meets a Christian’s daily need.
“When He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). Without the Spirit, no one ever truly sees their need of Christ. Conviction is not condemnation; it is the first kindness of grace.
“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). New birth is not a self-improvement project. It is a sovereign work of the Spirit, who makes a dead heart alive and a hostile mind willing.
“You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Romans 8:9). The Spirit takes up residence in the believer permanently and seals him for the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13–14). He is the down payment on glory.
He produces the fruit of holiness (Galatians 5:22–23), distributes gifts for the building of the church (1 Corinthians 12), and empowers witness (Acts 1:8). He is the One actually doing the long, patient work of conforming us to Christ.
It is a striking thing that the New Testament’s most direct warning about insulting God is reserved for those who insult the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29). Grace is not a soft doctrine. The God who gives it is jealous over it. To trample the Son, treat the blood as common, and insult the Spirit who applies it is the most serious posture a person can take toward God.
The Christian, by contrast, is called to walk with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), to grieve Him with sin (Ephesians 4:30) only to repent and return, and to honor Him by trusting Christ rather than self. The Spirit is shy about Himself — His ministry is to point to Jesus (John 15:26). Wherever the Spirit of grace is really at work, Christ is being exalted, the cross is being preached, and sinners are being changed.
That is the test we apply at Grace Fellowship Church in Sarasota whenever someone claims a movement of the Spirit. Is Jesus exalted? Is the cross central? Are sinners being made holy? If yes, we are quick to honor the Spirit’s work. If no, we are quick to look more carefully.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” — 2 Corinthians 13:14
If you are a Christian — even a weak, struggling, worn-out one — the Spirit of grace is in you. He is the reason a single sin still bothers your conscience. He is the reason you long, even faintly, for holiness. He is the reason you are still here at all.
You do not need to manufacture spiritual feelings. You do not need to chase experiences. You need to walk in step with the Spirit who already lives in you, by feeding on the Word, by leaning on prayer, by belonging to a real church, and by trusting that the same grace that saved you is, today, sustaining you.
The Spirit of grace did not come to make you religious. He came to make you like Jesus. And He will finish what He started.
— Sundays at 10:00 AM · 4350 17th Street, Sarasota, FL.