Grace has a seed in man, a seed that is sown in the heart by the One who is “full of grace and truth.” And when our will unites to the teaching and working of grace, it then finds a place to grow, it gains power in us, gains inertia, finds a home in our hearts and minds, and its power increases until it “reigns through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Grace doesn’t come to man like an enormous army with banners, immediately destroying all resistance in its path. No, the gift of grace is like a King that God sets in the midst of His enemies (Psa. 110). He anoints His king, sets him in the land of our heart, and then gives everyone who feels the plague of his own heart the opportunity to join him in the day of His power. This is how grace is received, and how grace comes to have power over nature.

What is that gospel of grace? It is the truth, the reality, the miracle, that God has provided such a power, a living seed or gift of His own light, life, or Spirit, that can change man’s condition, and change man’s eternity, by changing his nature. It is a gift of the life of God that, when not resisted, can effectively bring about the birth, and growth, and the reign of the righteous life of God in the soul of man.