Blessings to all who devote themselves to doing the good which is the Father's will and remaining in faith to the promise of eternal life through Christ Jesus.
A request has been made to explore the understanding of grace. In the service I take great joy in, I will do my best to bring this understanding to you, those who hunger for completeness and correctness in this time of misconception and false teaching.
Grace is a term that has a wide variety of definitions through Paul's writings and the testimonies of the other disciples of Jesus. A woman can carry grace in her demeanor, a person can give, or 'grace', another through charitable giving. But for the most part, when we speak of grace, we should consider grace to mean liberty or freedom from the guilt of sin.
Grace is a branch, a merciful aspect of the Father's love for mankind. The Father loved us, so He sent us His Son, the Father loved His Son so He sent us the Holy Spirit. These two mercies are the foundation of our relationship, our service of His will, yes. But grace is a mercy that is a gift, meaning we do not have to earn it, it was given freely out of love.
Grace was used as a term defining Christianity. In the old testament the aspect of grace can be considered as the term 'favor'. But for those who were witness and testified about the Christ and his ministry, grace is an aspect of love, its mercy is the forgiveness of our sinful nature.
Grace was given to further the progress of mankind towards the goal of fulfilling the promise of salvation of our souls. As Adam was expelled for sin, Christ Jesus was the redemption of sin. By his blood, all sin was atoned for in the Father's eye. So grace is a doorway into eternal life. But this is where the gift now becomes an opportunity to serve goodness, to live in holiness instead of remaining in the corrupted ways of the Law, or the blindness of the world. So although grace is for all mankind, the message must be known, and then the gift embraced as an opportunity to resign ourselves as reborn and renewed, living with and within the Holy Spirit.
So that brings us to faith. Grace is a gift that we must accept, and in acceptance what are we doing? We are admitting sin, acknowledging that we are bound in sin, and unable to overcome it by our own effort. Grace is then the foundation of faith, faith that leads to the salvation of our soul. Without recognizing the gift of grace, we have no purpose in believing in eternal life. Knowing what sin is, only increases sin. This is why none under the Law made it into the presence of the Father. So grace was needed, so that faith could be founded on the authority of the one who was sacrificed for all sin.
In summary, grace is a mercy of love. It allows us to separate ourselves from the guilt of our sinful nature, so in faith we can embrace goodness with a clear heart and mind. And of course we all understand that goodness is holiness, an aspect of the Kingdom. Our faith is also an aspect of the Kingdom. The day to day experience of walking in faith and having goodness come through us from the Kingdom is preparing us for our eternal place in the body of Christ. We are capable of being the vessels of holiness, having died of our sinful self so that the Spirit of Life can instead work through us to serve the will of God.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment