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What About Grace?
by Greg Robbins We hear a lot about God's grace today. There are different definitions of grace, and different teachings about grace. How can you be sure that what you have heard about grace is true? I will present to you a sure and guaranteed way to know what grace is. John 14:6 "Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father , but by me." Do you want to know the way? Jesus is the way and his teachings show the way. Do you want to know the truth? Jesus is the truth and his teachings are the truth. Do you want eternal life? Jesus is life eternal and his teachings show us how to obtain eternal life. John 12:47-50 "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." Look very, very carefully at what Jesus said here. There is a tendency to read things over without absorbing what has actually been spoken. This is one place that you do not want to do that. This is of the utmost importance to understand. "If any man hear my words and believe not." Make sure that you mix faith with the words spoken by Jesus. Don't just read them but believe them, and act upon them. "He that rejects me, and receives not my words." If you receive not the words spoken by Jesus, by believing them and acting upon them; then you have REJECTED JESUS! Look at Revelation chapter three and you will see two churches who rejected both Jesus and his words. The church in Sardis had a name that it lived, but was dead. There were only just a few who had not defiled their garments, and shall walk with Jesus in white, for they are worthy. ( Revelation 3:1-6 ). The church of Laodicea 100% rejected Jesus and his words by not obeying them. They were wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Jesus told them that unless they repented, that he would vomit them from his mouth. ( Revelation 3:14-22 ). "The words that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." What will your judgement be on the last day? You can know what it is for certain right now. Your judgement will be the words that Jesus has spoken. Every red letter in your Bible will be your judge on the last day. How are you measuring up? Most professing Christians today have never taken the time to study in detail what Jesus spoke and taught, much less obey those words and teachings. Yet the words of Jesus will judge you on judgement day. To not study carefully the words of Jesus and to obey them, Is not this the same mistake and sinful behavior of the church at Sardis, and the church at Laodicea? Do you also have a name that you live, but are dead? Are you also wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked? If these things happened to entire churches back when Christianity was new and vibrant, please don't think that it cannot happen to you and to me. It is time to study carefully the words and doctrine of Jesus Christ, to believe it, and to obey it. 2 John 1:9 "Whosoever transgresses and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son." Now with the foundation laid, it is time to answer the question, What is grace? John 1:16-17 "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Because of spiritual blindness, so many have linked Jesus and his doctrine to the law of Moses. Nothing could be further from the truth. The law came by Moses, but GRACE and TRUTH came by Jesus Christ. Jesus is the very person who introduced grace to the human race. Ask Mary Magdalene whether Jesus showed grace unto her. Jesus cast out seven demons from her. He allowed her to bathe his feet with her tears, and to dry them with her hair, at the house of a Pharisee. Jesus let her pour out costly ointment upon his head in preparation for his burial, and said, that which she has done will be remembered as a memorial unto her, wherever this gospel is preached. Mary Magdalene was the very first human being to see Jesus after his resurrection. And she was sent to give the very first testimony of his resurrection, and a gospel message to the apostles. Ask the woman caught in adultery, and condemned to be stoned to death. Ask her if Jesus showed grace unto her. John 8:10-11 "When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her. Woman, where are those your accusers? has no man condemned you? She said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn you: go and sin no more." The woman was caught in the very act of adultery. She was guilty. She was condemned to be stoned to death. Jesus delivered her and set her free. Jesus forgave her. He also placed a condition upon grace. Go and sin no more. Ask the paralytic man at the pool of Bethesda if Jesus showed him grace. After 38 years of sickness and no hope of ever being healed, Jesus healed him and set him free. Then Jesus met him in the temple to give him a short message. John 5:14-15 "Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole." Jesus showed great grace to this man. He also placed a condition upon that grace. "Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you." You see, God demands holy living from those who are his children. He also demands obedience to his commandments. Revelation 22:14 "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." So both grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Jesus is the embodiment of grace. Every word that Jesus spoke is grace. Jesus placed conditions upon his grace. They were to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. To love your neighbor as yourself. To believe on Jesus. To believe his words, and to obey his words. Don't allow anyone to tell you any different. Eternal life is found in Jesus Christ and obedience to his doctrine. To say otherwise is to call Jesus Christ a liar. And since he told us that the words which he spoke were the Father's words, then to say otherwise is to call God the Father a liar. I want to encourage you to love Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jesus said that to love him is to obey his commands. So love Jesus by obeying all that he said and commanded. http://jesuswordsonly.org My books on Amazon/Kindle https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Gregory+Robbins Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |