Grace and Stability by Don Byrd
“For whom he did fore-
know, he also did predes-
tinate to be conformed to
the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn
among many brethren”
(Rom. 8:29).
I am one among many sons. He has many sons, but I have only one Father. He and I have a one-to-one relationship with each other. Through the years, I have often heard believers use Scriptures that refer to their relationship with the body of Christ as though the verses referred to the one-to-one Father-son relaionship.
These two relationships should be understood with the proper per-
spective. Both are grace relationships but will result in confusion if not properly applied. The believer must understand that grace is the result of the Father-son
relationship and that a believer, because of the indwelling Son, has a one-to-one relationship with the Father.
To those outside the proper understanding of our Father’s grace, it most definitely seems as though God has disappeared!
Some Christians believe that the law magnifies God, but grace removes the Old Testament God of law from the mind of the born-again believer and replaces Him with Father God through Christ in the believer.
The Mosaic Law imprints and imbeds the Old Testament God in the mind of born-again believers to the point that grace becomes ineffective.
Most believers have the image of a legalistic God in their minds because they don’t understand grace and the Father-son relationship.
Grace removes the Old Testament God image but totally exalts and glorifies Him who is Father!
Total Stability
When it came time for God to reveal Himself as Father, the new relationship with the born-again believer became so stable that it seemed that God didnot exist at all.
The realm of grace brings total stability between our Father and all of His sons. Instability of believers is due to the fact that most believers do not know the truth of “Christ in you.” “Christ in you,” of course, is the mystery of which Paul speaks in his epistles. Stability is the result of knowing and hearing Paul’s gospel.
“Now to him that is of
power to stablish you
according to my gospel,
and the preaching of
Jesus Christ, according to
the revelation of the mys-
tery, which was kept
secret since the world
began” (Rom. 16:25).
From this I understand that the believer’s stability comes from Paul’s gospel.
What is the stabilizing factor in Paul’s gospel? The more a believer understands “Christ in you,” the greater the stability of the believer. Paul’s gospel brings the foundational truth of “Christ in you,”
“For whom he did fore-
know, he also did predes-
tinate to be conformed to
the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn
among many brethren”
(Rom. 8:29).
I am one among many sons. He has many sons, but I have only one Father. He and I have a one-to-one relationship with each other. Through the years, I have often heard believers use Scriptures that refer to their relationship with the body of Christ as though the verses referred to the one-to-one Father-son relaionship.
These two relationships should be understood with the proper per-
spective. Both are grace relationships but will result in confusion if not properly applied. The believer must understand that grace is the result of the Father-son
relationship and that a believer, because of the indwelling Son, has a one-to-one relationship with the Father.
To those outside the proper understanding of our Father’s grace, it most definitely seems as though God has disappeared!
Some Christians believe that the law magnifies God, but grace removes the Old Testament God of law from the mind of the born-again believer and replaces Him with Father God through Christ in the believer.
The Mosaic Law imprints and imbeds the Old Testament God in the mind of born-again believers to the point that grace becomes ineffective.
Most believers have the image of a legalistic God in their minds because they don’t understand grace and the Father-son relationship.
Grace removes the Old Testament God image but totally exalts and glorifies Him who is Father!
Total Stability
When it came time for God to reveal Himself as Father, the new relationship with the born-again believer became so stable that it seemed that God didnot exist at all.
The realm of grace brings total stability between our Father and all of His sons. Instability of believers is due to the fact that most believers do not know the truth of “Christ in you.” “Christ in you,” of course, is the mystery of which Paul speaks in his epistles. Stability is the result of knowing and hearing Paul’s gospel.
“Now to him that is of
power to stablish you
according to my gospel,
and the preaching of
Jesus Christ, according to
the revelation of the mys-
tery, which was kept
secret since the world
began” (Rom. 16:25).
From this I understand that the believer’s stability comes from Paul’s gospel.
What is the stabilizing factor in Paul’s gospel? The more a believer understands “Christ in you,” the greater the stability of the believer. Paul’s gospel brings the foundational truth of “Christ in you,”
