UNDERSTANDING THE GRACE OF GOD
Topic:THE POWER AND MANIFESTATION OF THE GRACE OF GOD
In this teaching, we will seek to answer a very important question: how does the power of the Grace of God manifest itself in the salvation of a lost soul who is under the reign and dominion of sin? In our previous lesson (lesson3) we learnt three important things that the power of the grace of God must overcome.
Our main scripture was Rom. 5:20-21 "But where sin abounded, GRACE DID MUCH MORE ABOUND: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might GRACE REIGN through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
First— The grace of God must overcome our spiritual deadness.
Eph. 2:1 reads: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." by nature we all are spiritually dead; that is the condition of the whole human race apart from the grace of God in Jesus Christ. We have all died in Adam (Rom. 5:12-19); so we are born into this world spiritually dead, without one ounce of spiritual life!
What this means is that we are dead to the interests of our own souls; we are dead to the life of God and to spiritual things, for they do not interest us at all. And that is the condition of the vast majority of people in the world today, both in and out of so-called religion. They give no thought to the things of God, so grace has to overcome this state of death; and nothing but the power of the grace of God in Christ Jesus can do it!
Second—Grace has to overcome the state of hatred and opposition to the truth and to God, which is the tragic state of the natural man, that is, of every sinner outside of Christ. Not only does he fail to respond to spiritual truth because he is spiritually dead, but he hates it, spurns it, and opposes it too. In Rom. 8:7 we read: "The carnal mind, [the natural mind of man, the fleshly mind] is enmity against God." It not only does not respond to truth, but it is also an enemy, hostile against God; the natural mind and heart are "not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Again in I Cor. 2:14 we are told: "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God." And why not?—"for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
He laughs at the things of the Spirit of God; he does not receive them because they are nonsense, folly and utter rubbish to him. It is not only that he cannot receive them, but he is actively, bitterly opposed to them; he rejects them altogether. This is the Biblical truth of the awful and fearful condition of natural man! How then is this man going to be saved when he is in this condition? There is only one answer: it is by the power of the grace of God. It is because the power of the reign of grace is altogether greater than the power of the reign of sin!
Third—The power of the grace of God must overcome SATAN.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph. 6:12). You see, Satan does not want to lose his citizens, his slaves. He is the strong man of Luke 11:21, armed, that keepeth his goods in peace. He holds them captive at his will (II Tim. 2:26), guarding and surrounding them with mighty fortification; so they must be delivered from the "power of Satan" (Acts 26:18). How then can anyone ever be redeemed? Nothing less than the power of the grace of God can do it as the Scriptures so plainly declare, and I praise the Lord that His grace is so powerful!
HOW DOES THE POWER OF THE GRACE OF GOD MANIFEST ITSELF?
Grace does not merely help or assist us, it comes in and actually reigns in different forms, where sin once reigned. It will not take "no" for an answer! By the power of the Holy Spirit, the antagonistic will of the dead sinner has been overcome and he is now made willing in the day of God's power…Psalm 110:3
First—IT SEEKS US OUT. "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). So the grace of God the Holy Spirit seeks us. John 10:2-3 tells us that Christ by His Spirit through this reigning grace "calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out." In vv. 27-28 He says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." This is what I call common grace.
Common grace is that benevolence which is poured out upon all men, regardless of their spiritual condition: “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you; in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:44-45).
“And in the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with good and gladness” (Acts 14:16-17). God is gracious in making provision for the salvation of all men and in commanding its universal proclamation. He is also gracious in delaying judgment, thereby giving men ample time to repent (2 Peter 3:9). The grace of God seeks us out.
Second—Grace by the power of the Holy Spirit CONVICTS US OF OUR SINS; and, oh, what power is needed to do that, to convince the natural man of sin! You may say that it's easy to convict and convince a drunkard, or a dope fiend, or a whoremonger of his sin. But is it? Well, try it; and you will find that he defends himself and rationalizes his sins, explaining them away with the utmost ease. But that is not all! What happens when you come to a proud Pharisee such as Saul of Tarsus? What can possibly convince and convict such a man of his sin? Again, there is only one power that can do it: it is the power of grace that can strike him down and make him cry, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6). You see, only the irresistible grace of God that reigns through righteousness can so convince a man of his sins that he forever despairs of self, cries after God for mercy, and rests only in the righteousness of Christ and His precious blood to cleanse and clothe him.
The Holy Spirit Himself is the “Spirit of grace.” In other words, the Holy Spirit may just literally be the grace of God Himself. If God’s grace is God’s power flowing and operating through us – and the power of God is really the power of the Holy Spirit Himself flowing through us – then it makes perfect, logical sense that the Holy Spirit Himself would then be considered to be the Spirit of the grace of God.
Here are the two verses giving us this specific piece of revelation:
1. “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will 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)
2. “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)
When the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Grace” in these two verses, the “S” in the word “Spirit” is with a capital “S,” not with a small “s” – which means it is referring direct to the Holy Spirit Himself. Put all of this together like pieces to a jigsaw puzzle, and I believe that the Bible may be giving us an incredible revelation in that the Holy Spirit Himself may be the actual grace of God. As such, all Christians actually have the grace of God already residing on the inside of them since we all have the Holy Spirit literally living on the inside of us. He convicts us of our sins.
Third—Grace reigns and shows itself to be powerful in REGENERATION. A man can no more give himself the new birth or regenerate himself than he could produce himself in his mother's womb. Dear friend, a man is not born again or regenerated because he believes; he believes because he is born again! This is so clearly set forth in John 1:12-13: 'But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." This takes place by the grace of God in the power of the same Holy Spirit that raised our blessed Lord Jesus from the grave (John 3:3-8; Eph. 1:20; I Pet. 1:23).
Fourth—Grace reigns and shows itself powerful in its RESTRAINING POWER. Praise God for that restraining grace! You see, the restraining power of grace is manifested in God's people even before their conversion. They are not allowed to sin to such a degree that they put themselves outside the scope of salvation; they are never allowed to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. They may say many things they should not say against Him; but they are never allowed to blaspheme. And the power of restraining grace is necessary even in the Christian, the child of God, surrounded as he is by temptation, and often tempted from within. Oh how I thank God for the power of restraining grace, the grace that holds us back, the grace that prevents us from doing things that would harm and damage our immortal souls! We are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (I Pet. 1:5).
Fifth—Grace reigns and shows itself to be powerful in our SANCTIFICATION. In salvation we are saved from the penalty of sin (which is the second death), as well as from the power of sin. And one day we shall be saved from the very presence of sin. But now we are being saved from the pollution of sin by the power of sanctifying grace. Here we see the power of grace manifesting itself daily against indwelling sin: sin in the flesh, and sin in the body. Thank God for the power of sanctifying grace in our lives that reigns over the power of indwelling sin, delivering us daily from its pollutions (Rom. 6:14; 8:4)!
Sanctifying grace is that grace which works within the true believer in such a way as to bring growth, maturity, and progress in the process of becoming Christ-like:
Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God (Acts 13:43).
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me (1 Corinthians 15:10).But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18)
Sixth—Grace reigns and shows itself to be powerful in SUPPORTING GRACE, of which all are constantly in need. This grace is given at special times of need, especially during adversity or suffering.
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me (2 Corinthians 12:9).
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).
For what is going to keep us when sin, the flesh, the world and the devil come against us with their combined forces? These are ever threatening and attacking us, so how are we going to overcome them? James 4:6 tells us: "He giveth more grace;" and II Cor. 12:9 tells us: "My grace is sufficient for thee." Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
Seventh—Grace reigns and shows itself powerful in its ENABLING AND PERSEVERING EFFECT. Here again is something we constantly need. We have seen how we are brought out of the bondage of sin and antagonism toward God and His Christ, and are delivered from the second death in hell. We have seen how we are restored, sanctified and supported. But, how are we to continue on the rest of our journey? How are we to hold out in the Christian warfare and the fight of faith? The answer is still the same! It is the power of reigning grace alone that makes possible and guarantees the final perseverance of the saints. Phil. 1:6 tells us how: "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." This means that what the grace of God starts, it will finish. Grace so works in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that we are enabled to persevere to the end (Jude 20)!
In the above scripture, we see that God's grace must be powerful, to abound over sin, and to reign where once sin reigned:
IN CONCLUSION
When you really stop and meditate on what the grace of God is really all about – we are dealing with one of the most powerful, spiritual truths known to mankind.
Bottom line:
• Without the grace of God – we would all die in our sins and never have any chance to be able to enter into heaven after we die and cross over
• Without the grace of God – we will not have the power to overcome sin and the temptation to keep on sinning
• Without the grace of God – we will not have the supernatural power to be able to enter into a true sanctification process with the Lord where He can then begin to mold, shape, and transform us into the express image of His Son Jesus Christ and make us into a better and more holy people
• Without the grace of God – we will never find what our true divine destinies are going to be in the Lord and what we were really created to be in this life
• Without the grace of God – we will not have the supernatural power and ability to become successful in the calls that He will be calling us to walk in
In other words, without the grace of God working in our lives, we will never amount to anything and accomplish anything of any real worth as far as the Lord is concerned.
Dr. T Badia
