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Grace Blog:
Foreword
I called this message, “Faith for Grace” because it takes faith AND grace to be a Christian. It takes faith to believe and receive the initial grace needed for you to be “saved” and go to heaven, but it also takes faith to believe for the ongoing grace that enriches, enhances and gives hope and meaning to the Christian’s life here on earth. It takes grace to be a Christian, because it is impossible to earn your way to heaven, OR receive the blessings of God on earth, based on your performance. It is a gift from God. You need to apply your faith FOR grace. First let’s start with a little definition of faith, and then a definition of grace. Faith is, “to be fully persuaded of a constant conviction of truth.” Faith is believing something is true that you may or may not have seen yet. I believe that the chairs you are sitting on will hold you up, but I also believe that that empty chair over there WILL also hold you up if you sit on it. I haven’t seen it yet, but I believe it anyway. Faith involves constancy. Faith that waivers is faith that is tainted with doubt and unbelief. Using the chair analogy again, I will not go home today and ponder over the thought of whether or not the chair really will hold you up. Today, tomorrow, a week or a year from now, I will still believe that chair will hold you up. My faith and belief that chair will do what it was designed to do is constant and unwavering. One of the most profound and straight forward things Jesus ever said regarding faith was two simple words, “believe only.” When people would come to Him, desperately in need of His help, His word to them was, “Fear not,” or “Do not be afraid, believe only.” He was saying not to let fear, doubt, worry or any other impurity weaken your faith. This is that principle of allowing your faith to squeeze out all unbelief. That is what happens when you, “Believe only.” To have, “Faith for Grace” means that we will constantly believe for God’s grace to be bestowed upon our life. What is grace? The simple definition I use a lot is, “unmerited favor.” Grace is, “gratifying and liberal favor.” To be gratifying means it makes you grateful and to liberal means it is abundant. It is the gifted form of kindness, preference, promotion and benefit poured out on your life in such an abundance that it touches the deepest parts of your being. Grace is considered to be above and beyond what you could even think up to ask. Grace is the good stuff. It is awesome. It is life changing and in reference to our initial faith in Christ, it is eternal life changing. We are saved by grace, through faith. That much, at least when we first get saved, we find easy to believe. We couldn’t make it happen. We couldn’t save ourselves from our sins. It was a free gift bestowed upon us by our heavenly father. Then as the Christian begins their new life in Christ, for a while they depend entirely upon God. They know that their salvation was something that they couldn’t muster up. Without the grace and unmerited favor of God, they would still be on their way to hell, so they lean on God and trust Him and rely on Him. But then, slowly but surely for many Christians, they begin to lose sight of the need for the unearned favor of God. They begin to think that they can do it themselves, on their own. But, let me ask you this: When was your salvation obtained? If it wasn’t you that made it happen, but Jesus, then when was it obtained? Over 2000 years ago on the cross. Jesus was able to say with His very last breath before He died, “It is Finished!” He could say that because it was entirely true. He had done what needed to be done. He lived the perfect law fulfilling life on our behalf. God’s plan was that whosoever would believe on Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. He had done miracles. He had taught the way of His father. He had defeated the devil and, as a man, overcame all temptations that he had to offer. He conquered sin and He conquered death by rising from the dead. He had won the total and complete victory for us. How many believe that? So, if we believe that, then we have to start receiving what He came to give us. See, the grace that saves us is also the grace that provides for us now. It is given to us with our initial faith in Jesus Christ. We received the whole package of grace because we needed that grace. Without it, we would not make it. That grace, is available for your every need, right now. I say this today because there are some of you that are in heaviness of heart because you have accepted defeat in certain areas of life. You have given up on seeing victory in some areas. You have succumbed to the enemies voice that says, “You will never be healthy. You will never be thin. You will never overcome that temptation to sin that you keep stumbling over.” Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16 says that we can and should continually and consistently access the grace of God by faith for every need. Hebrews 4:16 (KJV) “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” We have to believe for the grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. It is God blessing you without you having to earn it simply because He loves you. It is the goodness and greatness of God’s love for you manifesting in material ways. It is God meeting your need through grace. Your eternal life is secured, and now you have access to the abundant life in Christ. Jesus said, John 10:10 (KJV) “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” See, what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary, and by walking out of that grave was no small feat. It literally changed the world. To put it in a natural, visual example for you to understand, think for a minute about an event that would change the world as we know it. Like if nuclear bombs were detonated in every major city on the earth, all at the same time. The few survivors would find themselves living in an absolutely different world than it was before the event. Instead of 8 billion people, your down to 8 million on the entire planet. No vegetation (except probably sagebrush!) No electronics, electricity, any transportation that used a battery would no longer exist. Out of the 8 million that survived the initial blast, nearly all of them would die of starvation within 2 years. That would be an event that would profoundly effect the world as we know it. Now, I know that we are 2000 plus years out from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but that event was even more transforming than the one I just described. The covenant of God with man was fulfilled and then replaced with a new and better covenant. We no longer live under the Old Covenant of performance based law, but under the New Covenant of grace. Life on earth changed the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And, it will never be the same again. Yet some Christians today seem to find it hard to believe. At least consistently. They are determined, like so many churches we read about in the scriptures, to go back under the old covenant and live according to the “earn it or else” mentality. Chapter One: “The Goodness of God” Now understand why we need faith for grace. Many of you are struggling with issues in your health, your mental health, your finances, and your relationships because you have lost hope for the situation to ever really change. You are stuck in a rut with no one to pull you out. You’ve tried to climb out and the sides are just too slippery. Even if you could get a firm grip on the top of the edge, it is like the bucket full of crabs that when one gets a hold of the top, the others reach up and grab onto him trying to pull themselves up on him and they all topple back into the bucket. Even if you begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel, your convinced that it is just a train coming your direction. Instead of thinking that things are starting to get better, you are convinced they are about to get drastically worse. And often enough, you get just the calamity you think you are going to, mainly because you don’t feel like you deserve any better than that anyway. Here’s where faith for hope and grace comes in. Here’s why it is so important. Because even guys like King David, known as a man after God’s own heart, said that he would have fainted (given up) unless he had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13 (KJV) “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” David says even he would not have made it without faith for God’s grace. The “goodness” of God is translated as, “the best of God.” God is not limited by anything but what you believe He can do. He can make the absolute best out of your situation if you will believe Him for it. He looks at you and desires good things for you. He is not wanting to give you second best. He wants only the best for you. If you had unlimited resources and your child needs a new coat, would you buy them a cheap, thin, piece of junk coat that will wear out in two weeks, or would you buy them the best? You’d buy them a nice, well-made coat that would last as long as they could fit in it! We have some relatives that are pretty wealthy and they send me a Christmas present every year. I kid you not, the clothes that they send me are the top of the line. They last for years and years compared to the stuff I can buy at Walmart! You have to believe for God’s unmerited favor on your life. Trust that His grace is still active in your life today. God did not just give you grace for eternal life, but grace for every area, every need, every day of your life. We can come boldly unto the throne of Grace. The middle wall of separation between us and God that was based on our effort has been torn down. When He died on the cross that veil was split in two. And when He rose from the dead He placed you in the gap, standing right in front of God with His undivided attention. You now have free access to the throne of grace for every situation. But you have to believe that and stop wavering. David would have fainted if he did not “believe.” Let go of unbelief and only believe for the grace and favor of God. What is your struggle? Sin keeps popping up in certain areas? In the Book of Romans it says that where sin abounds, God’s grace does much more abound. God’s grace supersedes. That means that the unmerited favor and blessing from God you need for victory is already yours for the having. For some of you it is like you are sitting under an apple tree, full of ripe and ready to eat apples, and you are wishing you had an apple to eat. God’s grace has made what you need available for you. Just reach out and receive it. Foretelling what it would be like to live under the new covenant we are now under, Isaiah prophesied this: Isaiah 54:10 (KJV) “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.” The plan of God was that He would send His Son to redeem us to Himself so that He could pour out His love and blessings upon you. Ephesians 2:4-7 (KJV) “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Jesus said that “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Don’t be like some people who are afraid of the goodness of God, thinking that it causes bad things to happen. “Oh, no. If God blesses me too much I will mess things up and it will cause me to stumble. I will lose sight of God and take Him for granted.” I know for a fact that when you are dependent on God and He blesses you, it does not make you forget Him, it makes you bow down to your knees in adoration and respect. It is extremely humbling when God meets a need that you had no way to meet. Teach yourself to be looking for the favor of God. If He has made you a promise then He will fulfil it. Don’t be afraid of the blessing. To the man whose son was sick, Jesus said, “All things are possible to Him that believes.” Don’t believe AND doubt. Only believe. You had faith for grace to be saved, so now maintain that faith for grace, for victory, wholeness and blessing and help in every area of your life.
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AuthorGary Gilbert has been serving in the ministry of Christ since 1995 and is the author of "The Narrow Road- What it takes (and doesn't take) to go to Heaven" and "The Covenant of Grace.". He is currently a loving husband, father of 2 wonderful sons and a full time Pastor. Archives
December 2018
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