AGE OF GRACE
Grace
in Christianity is defined as the infinite love, mercy, favor, and goodwill
shown to humankind by God. All these blessings to humankind are gifts freely
bestowed on them by God. The work of Grace provides divine influence in believers
acting in us to make us pure morally, and spiritually strong.1 The Gospel of Grace is centered on
Christian beliefs that:
Ø
Christ
Jesus is the Son of God
Ø
That
He gave His life as the perfect sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world; and
Ø
That
He was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead on the third day2
The Good News is the Gospel that the Apostle Paul preached to whosoever will come. This is the only
Gospel message being proclaimed
today. Everyone that has hope
of Eternal Life must believe this
Gospel.3 Paul teaches Christian believers “Ye
are not under the Law, but under Grace.”4
The ministry to the Gentiles did not begin until over 12 years after Christ’s
earthly ministry ended. God knew our inability as men to live up to the strict
requirements of the Law, so He chose to provide us a new and better way to
escape His wrath by providing the Gospel of Grace. This Good News no longer relied on the goodness of men; instead, it
relies on God’s mercy towards
us. The Gospel of Grace does
not add to the Old Covenant Law,
it is a complete replacement of it.5
The means of Grace, under
Grace indicates that believers engage themselves in the duties of Christians
by:
|
Ø
Christian
conversation
|
Ø
Self
examination
|
|
Ø
Obtaining
spiritual blessings
|
Ø
Living
the Word
|
|
Ø
Spreading
the Gospel
|
Ø Meditating on the Word
|
Since the Ascension
of Christ Jesus our Lord, He is patiently a waiting the time for His enemies to
be made His footstool.6 It was
by His substitutional sacrifice that believing man could be made perfect and
holy forever! If we are not keeping ourselves active in our duties as
Christians, we are slackers and are not being made perfect and holy. We are
made perfect and holy because Christ Jesus refuses to be reminded of our sins.
When we are not doing what we know we should as Christian’s we are crucifying
Christ a fresh. The last time God remembered our sin was when His Son and our
Savior Christ Jesus were sacrificed on the Cross. When the Father forgave us,
He forgave all of our sins. He forgot them and He would never recall those sins
ever again.
His
Word says, He will remember them no more but we do have an adversary who
accuses us of them before God daily.7
Not any portion of the Law binds Gentiles under Grace; we do not forgive to be
forgiven by God, as it says in the
Lord’s Prayer – that is Law, and under Grace we have already been forgiven.8 The freedom that Christ gave us by His
death has made us free from the Law
of sin and death.9
ABOUT GRACE
Ø Grace comes to man by faith through
Christ Jesus (John 1: 17)
Ø Grace automatically forgives when
wronged (I Thessalonians 5: 15)
Ø Grace gives Eternal Life (II
Corinthians 3: 6)
Ø Grace opens the mouth of believers to
praise God and share the message of Salvation (Hebrews 13: 15; Ephesians 5:
19-20)
Ø Grace imputes Christ’s righteousness
onto believers (Philippians 3: 8-9; II Corinthians 5: 27)
Ø Grace reconciles the guilty to God
(II Corinthians 5: 17-19)
Ø Grace redeems believers from the
curse of the Law (Galatians 3: 13)
Ø Grace wrote the Law on our hearts (II
Corinthians 3: 2-3)
Ø Grace justifies believers (Romans 3:
24)
Ø Grace is the ministry of forgiveness
(Ephesians 2: 6-7)
Ø Grace is sufficient (II Corinthians
12: 9)
Ø Grace brings Liberty (Romans 7: 6)
Ø Grace is through faith not works or
righteous deeds (Ephesians 2: 8-9)
Ø Under Grace, the Shepherd died for
the sheep (John 10: 11)
Ø Under Grace, Grace pardons and works
condemn (John 8: 3-11)
Ø Under Grace, Grace is powerful over
sin (Titus 2: 11-12)
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