The plan of grace lays at the root of the Old Testament and comes into full expression in the life and work of Christ. "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth, And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace" (Jn. 1:14, 16, 17). The grace of God is interwoven into the biblical history throughout the pages of scripture his grace is manifested in assorted and different manners, the gospel is intimately blended with grace therefore it is the gospel of grace (Acts 20: 24). Also the parables of Christ are seeded with grace and illustate grace in action both from the giver and the recipient stand point.
Like the parable of the sower; "Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold" (Mt. 13: 3-8).
The giver sowed the gospel i.e. grace, the recipents responded in various forms, most ended negatively because of the inappropriate performance of grace which resulted in them being wounded, injured, impaired and condemned.Through their own personal acts of doing despite unto the Spirit of grace, frustating the grace Of God, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness or some other inappropriate preformances of grace they brought about thier destruction.On the other hand those that engaged in the proper preformance of grace estabished their hearts in grace, grew in grace, became strong in grace, as ministers of grace they in turn used grace as a source to bless others.
In another parable the inappropriate preformance of grace is illustated; "Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him" (Mt. 18: 23-34). Receiving grace himself it have no benevolent affect on his life and his subsequent action so completely illustates that he received the grace of God in vain which brought about his own condemnation.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Grace Part 1
What is grace? Most understand the meaning to be unmerited, undeserved favor, which is correct but the bible also tells of the manifold grace of God. If the grace of God is manifold then it would have many parts, forms and applications. The common meaning therefore would be best realized as the fundamental principle by which all the various parts, forms and applications of God's grace is imparted. It may even come as a shock that many Christians come face to face with many parts, forms and aplications of God's grace an never recognize them as such. This is not only a sad fact but results in bringing injury to the grace of God. For the same scriptures that discloses grace also says "receive not the grace of God in vain, or frustate the grace of God, nor do despite unto the Spirit of grace, neither fail of the grace of God, or turn the grace of God into lasciviousness", to name a few of the injuries one can do to the grace of God. (2 Co. 6:1, Gal. 2:21, Heb. 10:29 Jude 4, Heb.12:резрел
Grace is one of the essential attributes of God, and as such, it would be impossible to fully comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of it. The doctrine of grace is of great significance, worthy of our thoughful study, for it is the essential feature of salvation and Christian life. Each passage of scripture concerning grace should be examined carefully to discover the root idea of grace, for each one will take a different form, and display a wide area of operation. This is the reason why grace is one of the perfections of God, because it is as boundless as he is. As a steward of the grace of God, it is the Christians duty to understand the full important of grace, and to elevate it to its proper function, so as not to due injury to it and bring reproach to his holy name.
Grace is one of the essential attributes of God, and as such, it would be impossible to fully comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of it. The doctrine of grace is of great significance, worthy of our thoughful study, for it is the essential feature of salvation and Christian life. Each passage of scripture concerning grace should be examined carefully to discover the root idea of grace, for each one will take a different form, and display a wide area of operation. This is the reason why grace is one of the perfections of God, because it is as boundless as he is. As a steward of the grace of God, it is the Christians duty to understand the full important of grace, and to elevate it to its proper function, so as not to due injury to it and bring reproach to his holy name.
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