Jesus, throughout His earthly stay spoke often of the coming dispensation which would ultimately put an end to the then current one. The parables of Matthew 13 hint the Apostles and all of mankind to what was coming. Not a time where mere moral precept would need constant explanation and exercise, but instead, coming was a battle between light and darkness. Jesus, the Light Himself, and Way, Truth and Life represents the Kingdom of heaven, Satan and His armies, the opposition. Jesus starts with a parable in Matthew 13 –“Behold, a sower went forth to sow; “””some seeds fell by the way side, Some fell upon stony places, some fell among thorns, other fell into good ground.” In explanation Jesus speaks to the Apostles only, “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in…
Category: <span>Law – Grace</span>
He rests in His love. Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people.” Deuteronomy 7:7 Have you ever wondered about the significance of God’s love? What is it? What does it do? Why? Corinthians teaches that it never fails, it believes all things, it hopes all things. God is said to love with an everlasting love , and draws men with his loving kindness. God’s supreme act of love was seen in his sending his only begotten Son to excruciating suffering and death for the sins of the world. My personal dealings with God’s love have taught me that God’s love is an independent love, a free love, a sovereign love. In other words God is not just doing love, He exhales the very essence of love. And…
Grace on every side equals “manifold grace.” God offers the gift and we receive it simply and thankfully. We are to become stewards, yes “house stewards,” monitoring the income and the outgo of this magnificent grace, to and from our soul. We operate in such a manner because grace must be what people learn about God, who’s policy toward mankind is and always has been supreme grace. “Sovereign grace” defines it also, the one and only operation that God performs towards men. See first Peter chapter 4, and verse 10. “Grace is God acting freely, according to his own nature as love, with no promises or obligations to fulfill, and acting righteously, of course , in view of the cross. “God acts toward whom, and how, He pleases. God has no debts to pay to mankind.” “Likewise, man has no conditions to fulfill for God to wait for. Grace is…
I do not set aside, disesteem, neutralize, violate, cast off, despise, disannul, frustrate, bring to nought, or reject the Grace of God. I do not, and I must not. ” frustration must be properly understood. A word from JA Pike helps us here. “What we do within the given limitations, brought about by our own fault, the fault of others, or otherwise, does have to do very definitely with the will of God. And the reason we have gotten the impression that God wills the evil is that the Saints have generally made such a good show of turning sow’s ears into silk purses, have produced such amazing goodness out of evil situations , that we have turned around and credited God with the evil that made possible so much good. But this is to bring God in at the wrong point. He is to be credited with the grace…
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100:5 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 2Corinthians 13:8 “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. John 18:37b Ephesians 4:15 teaches, ” …speaking the truth in love, we grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” Truth is the ultimate weapon of the believer. It ever endures, cannot be negated through opposition. In truth we are sanctified, speaking it we grow. As we live in truth, we hear the voice of truth. The Spirit of truth guides us into all truth. (John 16:13). We gird our loins…
“And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Samuel 9:1 David never forgot the love of his friend, Jonathan. This man had helped David escape at a time when Saul’s jealous wrath was pointed toward him. Jonathan was a friend that loved at all times, a brother born for adversity — a rare, but loyal and true friend. As we navigate the perils of the Christian’s call, we certainly have a similar friend, Jesus. Touched with the feelings of our infirmities, He meets us at the Throne of grace. Here we find acceptance in spite of our broken hearts, mercy that rejoices against a certain judgment. As the story of 2 Samuel goes, found in the shadows of Lodebar (pastureless), was a forgotten son of Jonathan whose name was Mephibosheth. “Then King David sent and brought…
“For we are human, weak and prone to wrong,And by Thy grace alone are we made strong.”Henry Coyle, Thankful Heart In the midst of our failed attempts at loving Jesus, His grace covers us. Francis Chan, Crazy Love Grace needs nothing added to it. It’s either you believe it’s all God’s grace or you believe you have to help God do his work. God saved the believer by his grace, and the believer cannot take any credit for it – none whatsoever. It is totally a gift from God, and you have to understand that you don’t pay for a gift nor do you work for a gift. Thomas Young, The Truth About God’s Grace “Grace is more than love; it is love set absolutely free and made to be a triumphant Victor over the righteous judgment of God over the sinner.” Chafer “Grace, the glorious theme.” “God answers the mess of…
Romans 6 teaches us “If we be dead with Him, we believe we will also live with Him.” Dead men can believe? Only dead men, who have died in Christ have access to “the faith of the Son of God” as described in Galatians 2:20. We live and believe through Christ, who is our life. The book of Paul to the Galatians speaks of many obstacles to this faith, mostly self-motivated philosophies, some of natural faith. First of these, Paul mentions in Galatians chapter 1:6. “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.” The referral to “removed” means simply to “change sides.” The Galatians left off the faith that pleases God and took on a “man pleasing” substitute. Read Gal 1:1-10. Next in Galatians 2:21, they “frustrated” grace. They sought righteousness through the Law. They “disesteemed”‘ the…
Traveling this week to Africa for missions trip. I will be gone for two weeks. Many thoughts accompany me as I prepare. I think of Moses famous line in Exodus 33: “…If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.” Exodus 33:15 Moses had the assuring Word of God’s presence from the previous verses, nevertheless, he repeated back to God how much His grace was desired and needed. Moses was seeing that to have found grace in God’s sight means that God would surely accompany them on the journey. Something undeserving to Moses could not be compromised — otherwise — not going! I wondered about how much of this sense formed my mindset. Did I expect this grace? Could I leave without it? Funny that I would compare my little adventure with the great Moses. Regardless, deeply worked into Moses psyche, appeared a desparation — “without…
Life presents certain complexities, and within a course of life, choices impair or facilitate the better way. For example, a grandfather rates hanging with his grandchildren a top priority. He is enamored by the sweet exchanges, and they love him. But, he has a second love and that one presents a conflict. He eats late and long and uses little discretion on his food choices. One day his doctor warns him that if he doesn’t stop the binge eating, he will have a heart attack and could die. Granddad weighs his loves. He must make a choice — the toddlers or — pizza at midnight. Tim Keller tells this story and more in “Making Sense of God” A young person buys a sailboat. He or she wants to experience the exuberance of sailing on the bay. Quickly found out, a learning curve mandates itself. The laws of the winds and…