GRACE
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By John W. White
The purpose of this tract is to show the
significance of the grace of God after salvation.
Acts 20:32
“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to
the word of his grace, which is
able to build you up, and to
give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” The grace of
God is commended to the brethren
that need to be built up and who without the grace of God would not have an
inheritance.
From the following passage we see that the Grace of God brought salvation to
all men Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men,...” This salvation through grace is for the whole human race and
this is the reason that Jesus “...by
the grace of God should taste death for
every man.”
Hebrews 2:9 Because the grace of
God has brought salvation to all man then every man can receive light.
John 1:9
“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 “And
he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ
may rest upon me.” This verse defines grace as the power of Christ and that it
is available to those who know that they are weak.
1 Corinthians 1:27,29
“...God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty; ...29. That no
flesh should glory in his presence.”
John 15:5 “...without me ye can do nothing.”
2 Corinthians 3:5
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves ... but our sufficiency
is of God;”
Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
2 Timothy 2:1 “Thou
therefore, my son, be strong in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus.” One of the reasons to be strong in His
grace is found in 2 Timothy 2:3-4
“Thou therefore endure
hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” Without the grace of
God we can not endure hardness and we can not be a good soldier. The Greek
word translated “endure hardness” means to “suffer hardship with.” The thought
of 2 Timothy 2:1 is repeated in a different way in
Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of his might.” The power of His grace is required if we ever expect
to use the armour of God to withstand in the evil day.
Ephesians 6:11 “Put on
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil.” Why put on the whole armour of God if you do not have the strength to
use that armour.
Hebrews 12:28-29
“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace,
whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29. For our God is a
consuming fire.” Entrance into the kingdom of the heaven will provide us
treasures in heaven as promised to the rich young ruler. According to
Colossians 3:23-24 “And whatsoever
ye do, do it heartily, as to the
Lord, and not unto men; 24. Knowing
that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve
the Lord Christ.” we will receive the reward of the inheritance based upon our
service. Service done in the power of the flesh is not acceptable service. In
Hebrews 12:28 we see that service done in the power of Christ, His grace, will
be acceptable and well pleasing to Him. The verb “let us have” in Hebrews
12:28 is a present active subjunctive. The grammar of this verb is telling us
to have grace all the time. The active voice is telling us that we are to take
the initiative in having this grace. The subjunctive mode is telling us that
we may fail to obtain this grace.
2 Peter 3:18
“But grow
in grace, and in the knowledge of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ....” Having grace is a growing process and
not something gained instantly. We see the growing process in
2 Peter 1:2 “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the
knowledge [ejpi>gnwsiv,
knowledge upon knowledge] of God, and of Jesus our Lord,” This process is
explained in Isaiah 28:9-10
“Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand
doctrine? them that are weaned from
the milk, and drawn from the
breasts. 10. For precept
must be upon precept, precept upon
precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little,
and there a little:” It takes time to wean a child of God from the
milk of the word. It takes faithfulness on our part to follow one precept with
another. We are to associate one line of scripture with another line of
scripture. We need to be patient with only getting a little here and a little
there from the Word. By our persistent pursuit of the knowledge of God we are
made to understand doctrine and we grow in faith.
Colossians 3:16 “Let
the word of Christ
dwell in
you
richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another ...
singing with grace in your hearts
to the Lord.” Romans 10:17
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” It is by faith
that we have access to the grace of God as found in
Romans 5:2 “By whom
also we have access by faith into this
grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Hebrews 11:1 “Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith gives substance to grace and the throne of grace so that we can be
confident that we can obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we
may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in
time of need.” Before we can find grace we must obtain mercy. We obtain mercy
by confession of sin and being released from the bondage of sin. As long as we
have unconfessed sin in our lives, sin reigns; and that is the reason that we
may not obtain mercy. As long as
sin reigns in our lives God is not going to give us His grace, the power of
Christ, to serve sin. We obtain mercy when we appropriate the shed blood of
Jesus Christ on the mercy seat in the heavens.
Hebrews 9:22 “And without shedding
of blood is no remission.” The word
remission is also translated
deliverance, and
liberty. Luke 4:18 “...to preach
deliverance to the captives, ...to
set at liberty them that are
bruised,” Remission is a releasing from bondage of those who are in captivity.
A throne suggests power and sovereignty over its subjects. Subjects must be
submissive to the throne of grace. We see how grace reigns in Romans 5:21
“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through
righteousness unto eternal life by
Jesus Christ our Lord.” Grace does not reign if we are serving sin. Many
associate the righteousness with that of salvation and that is error.
Romans 6:16 “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to
obey, his servants ye are to whom
ye obey; whether of sin unto death,
or of obedience unto
righteousness?” In the NKJV the word
leading is added for clarification. “obedience
leads to righteousness.” The NASB translates the phrase “obedience
resulting in righteousness” The Greek word translated
resulting is
ei>v.
With out obedience to the moral law of God, grace cannot reign. Without being
obedient you can not be just. If you are not just, you cannot live by faith.
If you can’t live by faith then grace is not available for
acceptable service.
Many will quote Romans 6:14
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for
ye are not under the law, but under
grace.” The phrase “shall have dominion over” is from the Greek verb
ku>riov that could be translated “to be lord over.” This
verb is in the future tense and means when grace reigns you are not under the
law.
When are we under the law? When we become lawless
and disobedient. 1 Timothy 1:8-9
“...the law is good, if a man use it
lawfully; 9. Knowing this, that the
law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for
the ungodly and for sinners, ...” The law is not made for a righteous man who
is obedient but for the disobedient. A good example of law and grace might be
seen with the speed limit on the interstate. In some states the speed limit is
between 40 and 65 miles per hour. If you drive between 40 and 65 you are being
obedient to the law and are under grace and protection of the state in which
your are driving. If you drive less than 40 or over 65 you have become a
disobedient motorist and have moved from being under grace and protection of
the state to being under the law and the consequences of breaking the law. If
you drive 67 miles per hour, in some states, you are within the
spirit of the law and not under the
letter of the law. If you are
disobedient you are not under grace but under the law.
In 2 Peter 1:2 “Grace and peace be
multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,” and
in many other passages we find the word
peace included with the word
grace. If the grace reigns then
peace will also be present. Colossians
3:15 “And let the peace of God
RULE in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye
thankful.” As grace reigns so will peace. The word
rule carries the meaning
of that of being an umpire. When peace is present then we are having grace. If
there is no peace then there is no grace. When there is no peace, the next
step is to go to the throne of grace for grace.
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is
able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all
sufficiency in all things, may
abound to every good work:” The word
sufficiency is used and better translated in
1 Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Grace is
working when you have contentment. Contentment effects your giving as found in
the context of 2 Corinthians 9:8. Acts 4:33-34
“And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as
were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the
things that were sold,...” When there is contentment, then generosity will
abound. When grace reigns then good works also abound and these good works are
well pleasing to the Lord. 1
Corinthians 15:10 “But
by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which
was bestowed upon me was
not
in vain; but I laboured
more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
me.”
2 Corinthians 6:1 “We
then, as workers together
with him, beseech you also
that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” In 1 Corinthians 15:10 makes
the statement grace was not bestowed upon him in vain because he “Laboured
more abundantly ... yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” He
approved himself a minister of by his commitment to the Lord in times
adversity 2 Corinthians 6:4-5
“But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much
patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5. In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in
watchings, in fastings..” The word
patience is also translated
endurance, and
patient
continuance. Without the grace of God it would be impossible to go through what
Paul had to endure.
1 Peter 2:19-20 “For
this is thankworthy, if a man for
conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 20. For what glory is it,
if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if,
when ye do well, and suffer for it,
ye take it patiently, this is
acceptable with God.” The words
thankworthy and
acceptable in these two verses is the word
ca>riv which is the Greek word for Grace. It takes the
grace of God to suffer wrongfully. When you do well you please God. When
you do
well, and
suffer
for it, ...[AND]
take it
patiently, this pleases Him even more. When we have grace, then
it is His power that is at work. He will get the glory for what he
accomplished in you.
Ephesians 2:7 “That
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in
his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” This is not just the
work that was done on the cross for us by his grace, but the grace that worked
in your life and mine. What he was able to accomplish through us because we
let His grace, the power of Christ, work effectively in us. “For it is God
which worketh in you both to will and to do of
his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:13
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:” The word
saved is in the perfect passive
participle and could be translated
ye having been saved. This verse
is talking about the grace of God that is working in those who have already
been saved. The verb are is the
Greek word
ejimi> and
is second person plural present indicative active. The third person plural
present indicative active is translated
endure in Mark 4:17 and the
third person singular present indicative active is translated
dureth in Matthew 13:21.
Grace is a gift given to those who are saved and on the bases of faith. It is
by that grace of God that the child of God will endure in well doing and not
faint.
Acts 13:43 “..many of the Jews and religious proselytes
followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded [convince] them
to continue [abide] in the grace of God.” I hope this tract has given you a
new appreciation of the Grace of God and what it means to the believer. It is
the grace of God that gives you strength to endure and the peace and
contentment to serve Him as Paul did, more abundantly than ever before. It
will be the grace of God that will provide you with an inheritance in the
coming Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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