What Is GRACE? - Religion - Nairaland
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A Teaching Presented On Law And Grace. Please Read And Learn/comment / What Is Grace? / What Is Grace? (2) (3) (4)
| What Is GRACE? by ichuka(m): 11:05am On Aug 27, 2014 |
Grace is not a matter of giving man what he deserves. Romans 4:4 says, "Now to the one who works, his wages are not accounted according to grace, but according to what is due." In other words, grace means receiving what one does not deserve. If grace involved receiving what one deserves, the very meaning of grace would be completely nullified. Grace is called grace simply because there is no element of merit in it. Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace you have been saved." The fact that you were saved even though you did not deserve it shows that it is grace. Romans 3:24 says, "Being justified freely by His grace." What does "freely" mean? Freely in the original text is the same word as "without a cause" in John 15:25, where the Lord said, "They hated Me without cause." Saying God's grace justifies a person freely simply means that God justifies a person without any cause. "The Scripture has shut up all under sin" (Gal. 3:22). "For God has shut up all in disobedience" (Rom. 11:32). God has put all men in the same position so that none can be saved by doing good. Each and every one must be saved by grace. If you asked Paul how he was saved, he would surely answer that he was saved by God's grace. If you asked all the saints how they were saved, they would surely answer that they were saved by God's grace. Grace is God saving people without a cause. (2) Grace is not a matter of supplementing what man deserves. Ephesians 2:9 says, "Not of works that no one should boast." This does not mean that man should not have good works after he is saved. Rather, it means that man is not saved by works. If man were saved by good works, he would be able to boast. If thirty percent of man's salvation was by works, man could boast of that thirty percent, while God would lose thirty percent of the glory. If ten percent of man's salvation was by works, man could boast of that ten percent, while God would lose ten percent of the glory. It is not possible for God to share His glory with man. God hates man's self-boasting. God's intention is that He Himself would gain the glory. Therefore, God's grace does not supplement what man deserves. Grace is neither giving man what he deserves, nor is it giving man more than what he deserves. Grace is neither a fair compensation nor an extra compensation. The questions of whether or not God should give and whether man is worthy cannot be placed side by side with grace. If man wants to receive grace, then the question of his worthiness cannot exist at all, neither can the question of being more or less worthy be established. In the matter of salvation, man cannot use any of his work to obtain God's grace. Many have thought, "I will try my best to do good and keep the law; then I will rely on God's grace for the things that I cannot do." This means that they rely partially on work and partially on grace. A man once said, "We must keep the Ten Commandments; otherwise, we cannot be saved." Then someone asked him, "Have you violated any of the commandments?" He answered, "Yes, I have." He was then asked, "What do you do when you violate a commandment?" He responded, "I rely on God's grace for the things that I cannot do well." This kind of thought is a misconception of grace. In Matthew 19 a young man asked the Lord Jesus, "What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" (v. 16) . The Lord said, "But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments" (v. 17). The young man said he had kept them all. But when the Lord said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor" (v. 21), the young man was not able. If man wants to be saved by keeping the law, he must keep it with "all." Not only does he have to love God with all his heart, all his will, and all his strength, but he also has to give all he has in his house, without holding back any item. But if man relies on God's grace, he has to rely on it completely. Man cannot work for one-half and leave it up to God to work for the other half. God's grace does not supplement man's inabilities. If it is by God's grace, it is all by God's grace; if it is by man's work, it is all by man's work. One cannot rely partially on his own work and partially on God's grace. Why is this? It is because the Lord Jesus has already died. God puts all sinners in an equal position. When the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, God "caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him" (Isa. 53:6). The problem of sin was solved once and for all. Therefore, man cannot rely on his own merit before God; it would overthrow the Lord's work, as though He had died in vain. 1 Like |
| Re: What Is GRACE? by Kei144(m): 5:28pm On Aug 27, 2014 |
The gospel of Jesus Christ is greatly misunderstood. There is church business everywhere, raking in billions of naira, yet Christians have not clearly understood what the gospel of Jesus Christ is. Ro. 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. [Or my flesh] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Ro. 7:19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. Ro. 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Ro. 7:21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. Ro. 7:22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; Ro. 7:23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. Ro. 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Ro. 7:25 Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. How did Apostle Paul know that he had a body of death? Commandments of God (the Law) helped him to know that. So, we see the purpose of God's commandment: Ja. 1:23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror Ja. 1:24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. Ja. 1:25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does. The Law is a mirror; it helps you to see the condition of your inner being (the soul). It is a sensor that is able to measure how alive your soul is. Every human being wants to be holy, but there is hardly a holy human being. How do we know that there is hardly any human being that is holy? It is because of the commandments of God. The Law helps us to know how holy people are. How holy a person is is an indication of the condition of the person's soul. In Rom 7:24, Apostle Paul says, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" The soul of virtually every human being is in this same death condition; you want to be holy, but you are unable. In Rom 7:25, Paul gives thanks to God. Why? It is grace. Grace means that God imputes life and power into your soul. You are now able to be the holy person you have always wanted to be. The fact that you can be holy shows that your soul has been saved. If you wallow in sin and claim that you have been saved by grace, you are deceiving yourself. The only evidence that your soul has passed from death to life is if you become a holy person. When you look at the mirror, which is the commandments of God, and you are actually looking at your life, know that your soul is full of life. But if when you look at God's commandments, it is not describing your life, you are actually a wretched human being with a sick soul. 1Jn. 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 1 Like |
| Re: What Is GRACE? by ichuka(m): 12:52pm On Aug 28, 2014 |
Kei144: The gospel of Jesus Christ is greatly misunderstood. There is church business everywhere, raking in billions of naira, yet Christians have not clearly understood what the gospel of Jesus Christ is.How does one become Holy is it by doing good works/by keeping the Commandments? .my bro,forget. If you try to keep the law/Commandments as à Christain you have fallen out of Grace.meaning Christ accomplisment is not enough for you. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. ◄ Galatians 5:4 ► |
| Re: What Is GRACE? by Kei144(m): 7:24pm On Aug 28, 2014 |
ichuka: You didn't understand my post. When I was in the university, I once told my class mates that being a runner makes me to have good legs. One of my class mates responded, "Or is it that your good legs make you a good runner?" In the same manner, it is not keeping the law that makes a person holy. Rather, it is being holy that makes a person to perfectly keep the law. The question then is, what makes a person holy? It is the grace of God. And what is the grace of God? Ac. 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Ac. 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The grace of God is the power of God, which comes to a person who has the Spirit of God. Two issues then are involved in getting the grace of God. One is getting the Spirit of God; the other is how a person that has the Spirit of God gets divine power to be holy and to do miraculous works. These are two issues Christians will thoroughly resolve in this end time in order to make the rapture. End time is already here. Ebola is spreading. If Christians do not wake up to discover how to obtain the grace of God, they will perish with the world. The doctrines you hear about the grace of God in today's churches will not save anyone from things like ebola. 1 Like |
| Re: What Is GRACE? by ichuka(m): 12:05am On Aug 29, 2014 |
Kei144:So you are saying in essence,its the Holy Spirit/Law of the Spirit of life in à believer that fullfills the demand/commands of the law, Yes? |
| Re: What Is GRACE? by Kei144(m): 9:16am On Aug 29, 2014 |
ichuka: The power of the Holy Spirit is like the hydraulic power of power steering of a lorry. If you have traveled in a large luxury bus, you notice how easily the driver steers the bus, even with one hand. If something goes wrong with the hydraulic system of the power steering, it becomes extremely difficult to steer the bus. Steering a luxury bus is very much like keeping the law of God. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, it is very difficult to keep the law perfectly. But, even with the availability of the power of the Holy Spirit, if the Christian does not take step to keep God's law,God's law will never be kept. It is just like a luxury bus driver not operating the steering, because he believes that the hydraulic power steering system is there to do it for him. Ja. 2:17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. Ja. 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. |
| Re: What Is GRACE? by ichuka(m): 10:19am On Aug 29, 2014 |
Kei144:Your analogy abt à driver,hydrulics,and steering is wrong.Why? As long as the driver is not under the Lordship of the hydrulics(HolySpirit)he has fallen out of Grace.he will continue to steer the vehicle without the help of the hydrulics all the time. And the the bk of James you quoted was out of context.James was speaking to Nomical Christains nt true belivers. 1 Like |
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