Question- The Grace of God

[dmdar]

Hi everyone, I had a question- the scripture says we are under grace, the grace of God, but I do not understand this. Can anyone explain grace to me? Thanks

 

[ScottA]

Hi everyone, I had a question- the scripture says we are under grace, the grace of God, but I do not understand this. Can anyone explain grace to me? Thanks

Grace from God (especially) is not receiving what we deserve, but receiving unwarranted favor instead.

 

[Bob]

Thank you for the post.

One famous example is Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-31).

After the younger son has abandoned his family and squandered his inheritance, he repents and says, 21 . . . ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.‘

22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.‘

The older brother likely thought, ‘He does NOT deserve such reconciliation and generosity,’ and the older son was right: none of us (sinners) deserve the open abundance coming from God. That is His grace.

Peace!

 

[Deborah_]

In its essence, grace is when God gives us something for nothing.

We are saved by grace: we can't earn salvation, and we can't deserve it. God gives it freely to all who ask Him for it.

We receive spiritual gifts and other blessings by His grace - again, we don't earn them, and they aren't rewards for being especially good.

We are given opportunities to serve God and the ability to serve Him and glorify Him - again, by grace.

 

[quietthinker]

Hi everyone, I had a question- the scripture says we are under grace, the grace of God, but I do not understand this. Can anyone explain grace to me? Thanks

Grace is God's M.O. Grace and gracious are synonymous. They are the core operating characteristic of God.

 

[1stCenturyLady]

Hi everyone, I had a question- the scripture says we are under grace, the grace of God, but I do not understand this. Can anyone explain grace to me? Thanks

I've studied the Semitic writing style of the Apostles that we westerners do not understand. Also, Scripture explains scripture.

Acts 20:24

But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Our New Covenant is the ministry of the Spirit. The Spirit gives us power over sin. Therefore, the true definition of God's favor is His power. Because the Church has almost defined grace as unmerited favor, a license to sin, don't believe that very common heresy. God's Grace is the Power of God given to us when we are born again of the Spirit.

This is about Jesus in John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." So is Jesus full of unmerited favor, or is He full of power and truth.

 

[Judge Hardcastle]

Hi everyone, I had a question- the scripture says we are under grace, the grace of God, but I do not understand this. Can anyone explain grace to me? Thanks

In the Bible, grace is contrasted with law. In this New Covenant, God's people have been released from the condemnation of the law and draw near to God through the grace of his forgiveness that he has provided through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ.

The law kept us distant from God. The unmerited favor/grace of God, apart from the law, brings us near.

 

[Bob]

In the Bible, grace is contrasted with law. In this New Covenant, God's people have been released from the condemnation of the law and draw near to God through the grace of his forgiveness that he has provided through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ.

The law kept us distant from God. The unmerited favor/grace of God, apart from the law, brings us near.

Thank you for the post.

The Apostle Paul did state emphatically that the law was a hindrance. Certainly for the Pharisees it became a curtain if not a wall between them and God. It will also be the case today if viewed as a checklist for righteous behavior, but surely that was not God’s intent in communicating the law to Moses and the Hebrew people.

For Jesus, God’s expectations could be summarized in the two great commandments, not as a checklist, but as a guide to knowing and loving God.

Peace.

 

[1stCenturyLady]

In the Bible, grace is contrasted with law. In this New Covenant, God's people have been released from the condemnation of the law and draw near to God through the grace of his forgiveness that he has provided through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ.

The law kept us distant from God. The unmerited favor/grace of God, apart from the law, brings us near.

The problem with your belief is you say nothing about what Jesus does about our sin, except that it is forgiven. Do you mean that a Christian keeps sinning over and over and it is forgiven over and over?

HERESY!

The only reason we are no longer under the Law is because Jesus cleanses our nature of all unrighteousness. If we don't sin willfully anymore, because God's laws are now part of our nature to obey, we no longer need written laws engraved on stone, the ministry of death. We are now under a brand new type of covenant of the POWER OF GOD, and all desire to commit sin is in our past, no longer in our "present or future" as heretics preach who are clueless to the POWER OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

 

[1stCenturyLady]

Thank you for the post.

The Apostle Paul did state emphatically that the law was a hindrance. Certainly for the Pharisees it became a curtain if not a wall between them and God. It will also be the case today if viewed as a checklist for righteous behavior, but surely that was not God’s intent in communicating the law to Moses and the Hebrew people.

For Jesus, God’s expectations could be summarized in the two great commandments, not as a checklist, but as a guide to knowing and loving God.

Peace.

Just for a moment, put what you've been fed for years to the back of your mind, and think about 1 John 3. Then ask yourself how can you know and love God if you don't have the power to keep His commandments because of the sin nature you haven't addressed. What about that?

 

[quietthinker]

The problem with your belief is you say nothing about what Jesus does about our sin, except that it is forgiven. Do you mean that a Christian keeps sinning over and over and it is forgiven over and over?

HERESY!

The only reason we are no longer under the Law is because Jesus cleanses our nature of all unrighteousness. If we don't sin willfully anymore, because God's laws are now part of our nature to obey, we no longer need written laws engraved on stone, the ministry of death. We are now under a brand new type of covenant of the POWER OF GOD, and all desire to commit sin is in our past, no longer in our "present or future" as heretics preach who are clueless to the POWER OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

Have you wondered why the regular circling back to law/ no law? I think it's because these matters have not been resolved in the mind/ heart of the one constantly addressing them.

 

[1stCenturyLady]

Have you wondered why the regular circling back to law/ no law? I think it's because these matters have not been resolved in the mind/ heart of the one constantly addressing them.

Did you know that the heresy only started 500 years ago with the Protestant Reformation? Up until that time, starting 3,500 years ago we see in Moses' day that God viewed sin in two different types after giving the children of Israel His laws. Unintentional trespasses, and willful breaking of God's laws. There was a sacrifice that covered the unintentional trespasses as seen in Lev. 5:15 and Numbers 15:22-29, but NO SACRIFICE for willful breaking of God's laws. They were mostly stoned to death, or at the very least, put out of the camp to die in the wilderness. The Apostle John referred to the two as sin not unto death, and sins unto death. The RCC calls them venial and mortal sins.

1 John 3 is only about "lawlessness." Those are sins unto death, and that is why 1 John 3:4-9 calls sin, lawlessness (vs. 4). And that is why the King James and New King James versions do not add the word "practice" in verse 9 as in the corrupted Alexandrian codices that modern Bibles are based on, because it is not about unintentional trespasses of immature fruit. So do we try not to practice murder? WHAT? See how "commit once" deserves death and fits verse 9 better than to practice? No born again Christian is going to commit murder even once. Or any of the other commandments of God. Also, the breaking of any commandment can only be committed "willfully." Hebrews 10:26-31. Not unintentionally.

1 John 3:4-9
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

As soon as we are born again of the Spirit, Jesus takes away all unrighteousness from our old man, the sin nature we inherited from Adam's sin, making us righteous, vs. 7. Here, John doesn't use "imputed" righteousness, that many churches twist to mean only in the eyes of the Father, but not in reality as we are taught that we will keep sinning until we die and are resurrected. Any demon worth his salt knows that if you are still a slave to sin when you die, you belong to it for eternity.

1 John 1:7 shows that if you walk in the Spirit, ... the blood of Jesus will cleanse you of all (unintentional sins, just like the sacrifice described in our schoolmaster.) The Reformation changed the two types of sins that each had different consequences to "sin is sin." This way they can teach you that your present and future sins are also forgiven. But "past, present and future sins" are not in the Bible, only past sins (unto death). That is when Jesus makes you born again of the Spirit in verses Acts 2:38 "Repent,....and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit," and 1 John 1:9 "Confess your sins,...cleanse you of ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." 1 John 1:9 was never meant as a "get out of hell free card" as you sin, repent, sin, repent, sin, repent, sin, repent ad infinitum.

The point is that you cannot commit sins unto death any longer because your sin nature is now clean (John 15:3), and when you are walking in the Spirit continuously, you don't know when you missing the mark in the mature fruit category, like creeping over the speed limit. Those are automatically being cleansed IF one is born again of the Spirit and walking in the Spirit, because there is no condemnation for them.

 

[Bob]

Just for a moment, put what you've been fed for years to the back of your mind, and think about 1 John 3. Then ask yourself how can you know and love God if you don't have the power to keep His commandments because of the sin nature you haven't addressed. What about that?

Thank you for the reply.

If you are saying that it is impossible for me to Love My Neighbor without God’s continued assistance, I agree. I also believe that my carelessness can inadvertently hurt someone: when so, I make amends and ask forgiveness (as Jesus taught).

Peace be with you.

 

[Lambano]

Our New Covenant is the ministry of the Spirit. The Spirit gives us power over sin. Therefore, the true definition of God's favor is His power. Because the Church has almost defined grace as unmerited favor, a license to sin, don't believe that very common heresy. God's Grace is the Power of God given to us when we are born again of the Spirit.

If "grace" is power over sin, I wish He'd give grace to more believers. I've seen too many prayers for deliverance from addiction go unanswered, homosexuals beg in vain for God to straighten them out, so much pride and self-centeredness and lack of love among believers, especially in these forums....

 

[1stCenturyLady]

Thank you for the reply.

If you are saying that it is impossible for me to Love My Neighbor without God’s continued assistance, I agree. I also believe that my carelessness can inadvertently hurt someone: when so, I make amends and ask forgiveness (as Jesus taught).

Peace be with you.

Who do you ask forgiveness from?

 

[1stCenturyLady]

If "grace" is power over sin, I wish He'd give grace to more believers. I've seen too many prayers for deliverance from addiction go unanswered, homosexuals beg in vain for God to straighten them out, so much pride and self-centeredness and lack of love among believers, especially in these forums....

I was in church for 30 years from childhood but was not born again of the Spirit. Some denominations do not teach anything at all about the power of the Spirit for people to even ask for it.

I know what you mean about the lack of love in the forums. I've been on different sites for about 20 years, and without the Spirit, people let their sin nature rule them. The sin nature must be crucified before the Spirit will dwell in a person. It is then we start maturing in all the fruit of the Spirit and can love others.

 

[Judge Hardcastle]

Do you mean that a Christian keeps sinning over and over and it is forgiven over and over?

That depends.
It depends on whether that sin is purposely committed in unbelief or not.

Willful, defiant sin is not forgiven. The sin of the humble Christian learning to walk as Jesus walked is forgiven...over and over and over again. If it was not, none of us would be saved.

1 John 2:1-2
1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He Himself is the atoning sacrificea for our sins

1 John 1:9
9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Hebrews 4:16
16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

 

[Lambano]

I know what you mean about the lack of love in the forums. I've been on different sites for about 20 years, and without the Spirit, people let their sin nature rule them. The sin nature must be crucified before the Spirit will dwell in a person. It is then we start maturing in all the fruit of the Spirit and can love others.

If the sin nature rules without the Spirit, then the sin nature doesn't have the power to crucify itself. The Spirit has to be given first as an act of grace.

 

[1stCenturyLady]

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He Himself is the atoning sacrificea for our sins

"Anyone" is the same as "whosoever." That part of the verse is the same as John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." It is not what you think.

And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

That verse only applies to unintentional sins committed because of a fruit that is still immature as we abide IN Him as in 1 John 1:7. What is does not mean is that it applies to willful lawlessness of an already born again Christian. Jesus is the world's Advocate when we first become born again of the Spirit and He cleanses our nature. And then in the long process of maturing immature fruit of the Spirit.

 

[quietthinker]

Did you know that the heresy only started 500 years ago with the Protestant Reformation? Up until that time, starting 3,500 years ago we see in Moses' day that God viewed sin in two different types after giving the children of Israel His laws. Unintentional trespasses, and willful breaking of God's laws. There was a sacrifice that covered the unintentional trespasses as seen in Lev. 5:15 and Numbers 15:22-29, but NO SACRIFICE for willful breaking of God's laws. They were mostly stoned to death, or at the very least, put out of the camp to die in the wilderness. The Apostle John referred to the two as sin not unto death, and sins unto death. The RCC calls them venial and mortal sins.

1 John 3 is only about "lawlessness." Those are sins unto death, and that is why 1 John 3:4-9 calls sin, lawlessness (vs. 4). And that is why the King James and New King James versions do not add the word "practice" in verse 9 as in the corrupted Alexandrian codices that modern Bibles are based on, because it is not about unintentional trespasses of immature fruit. So do we try not to practice murder? WHAT? See how "commit once" deserves death and fits verse 9 better than to practice? No born again Christian is going to commit murder even once. Or any of the other commandments of God. Also, the breaking of any commandment can only be committed "willfully." Hebrews 10:26-31. Not unintentionally.

1 John 3:4-9
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

As soon as we are born again of the Spirit, Jesus takes away all unrighteousness from our old man, the sin nature we inherited from Adam's sin, making us righteous, vs. 7. Here, John doesn't use "imputed" righteousness, that many churches twist to mean only in the eyes of the Father, but not in reality as we are taught that we will keep sinning until we die and are resurrected. Any demon worth his salt knows that if you are still a slave to sin when you die, you belong to it for eternity.

1 John 1:7 shows that if you walk in the Spirit, ... the blood of Jesus will cleanse you of all (unintentional sins, just like the sacrifice described in our schoolmaster.) The Reformation changed the two types of sins that each had different consequences to "sin is sin." This way they can teach you that your present and future sins are also forgiven. But "past, present and future sins" are not in the Bible, only past sins (unto death). That is when Jesus makes you born again of the Spirit in verses Acts 2:38 "Repent,....and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit," and 1 John 1:9 "Confess your sins,...cleanse you of ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." 1 John 1:9 was never meant as a "get out of hell free card" as you sin, repent, sin, repent, sin, repent, sin, repent ad infinitum.

The point is that you cannot commit sins unto death any longer because your sin nature is now clean (John 15:3), and when you are walking in the Spirit continuously, you don't know when you missing the mark in the mature fruit category, like creeping over the speed limit. Those are automatically being cleansed IF one is born again of the Spirit and walking in the Spirit, because there is no condemnation for them.

I don't make it that complicated. Romans 7 is self revelatory and Romans 8:1 gives me the confidence not to stress.
For me it come down to simple trust