John 1:16-18 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received (all had a share and were all supplied with) one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift (heaped) up on gift: For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ."
Verse 18 goes on to show why we are so blessed saying, "No man has ever seen God at any time; the Only Unique Son, or the only begotten God Who is in the bosom (the intimate presence) of the Father, He has declared Him (He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him knows)."
We know that Jesus was "Emanuel, God with us." Sometimes we forget that Jesus was "God made flesh." John 1:1 (Amplified) says, "In the beginning (before all time) was the Word (Christ) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself."
It was God Himself Who came in the form of man to bring grace to the world. It's difficult to view our lives without the Law because we've read the Law and heard it. Although we try to understand grace, we still see ourselves by Law. One would think that since God isn't judging us by the Law, we wouldn't judge ourselves by it either. Misinterpreting grace hinders our faith by our own judgments.
Abraham, who lived 430 years before the Law was given, had no sense of wrongdoing before God. He never worried about what wasn't there. He was declared "righteous because he loved God." He never judged himself of right or wrong and even when he disobeyed God, he had no sense of judgment.
Abraham disobeyed God when he left his hometown. God told Abraham to leave his family and relatives, but he took his nephew Lot with him. God told Abraham that he would have a son with Sarah, but he didn't believe God and made a son with Sarah's handmaid. Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister and not his wife. He was disobedient many times and all would have been sin in him if the Law had been present.
Through all these things, grace covered Abraham and God declared him to be righteous because he believed God.
Abraham had no sense of being in sin and his faith wasn't diminished. He was strong in faith believing that God was able to fulfill that which He promised. Romans 4:22 (Amplified) says that, "Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God)."
Galatians 3:13-14 (Amplified) tells us, "Christ purchased our freedom (redeeming us) from the curse (doom) of the Law (and its condemnation) by (Himself) becoming a curse for us, for it is written (in the scriptures) cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified)." Verse 14 goes on, "To the end that through (their receiving0 Christ Jesus, the blessing (promised) to Abraham might come to the gentiles, so that we through faith might (all) receive (the realization of) the promise of the (Holy) Spirit."
Abraham lived his entire life under grace and had no sense of condemnation to hinder his faith. Even when God told him he'd have a son in his old age, Abraham never had condemnation by going to Hagar (his wife's handmaiden). Abraham only walked by faith and never walked under the Law.
Even though we know we're "saved by grace," we still carry the condemnation of right and wrong before God. We have never allowed pure grace to hold the first place in our lives because of guilt and condemnation we've allowed to hinder our faith. We're more sin conscious than righteousness conscious.
This condemnation keeps us feeling unworthy of God's blessing. We are unworthy. That is what grace is! John 1:18 (Amplified) says that, "Jesus is God in the flesh and came so that we could know God." Somehow, we haven't made the connection that when we see Jesus, we see the Father.
Remember, when Jesus walked as a Man on the earth, the whole plan of redemption was still to come. Jesus spoke to those who were still under the Law and in their sins. We, through Him, are in a different state.
We are supposed to walk in the peace we talked about at Christmas, all the time. We can never truly walk in peace without understanding grace. We carry a sense of guilt over the man we were before Jesus and under condemnation of past mistakes. This makes it impossible for us to live in peace in our hearts.
Abraham wasn't conscious of his mistakes and this allowed his faith to operate in its full capacity. When we can understand the full meaning of grace, we can operate in a much higher capacity of faith. Does this mean we can live in any way we want to? No! Of course not. But, if we wait until we no longer make any mistakes, then we'll already be in heaven.
Babies make mistakes, but that is expected of them because they are babies. When they fall down, we don't kick them, but help them up. They will finally learn to walk, but grace covers their mistakes. They won't always crawl, but they will walk. Babies aren't conscious of their falling down as being a mistake, but see it as a learning process.
We look at our every failing as being a sin before our Father that needs punishment. Because of this, our faith won't work in its full capacity. We don't understand grace. Grace allows us to learn without the consequence of penalty for our failures. Our Father knows we will grow into the Image of His Son and that it just takes time.
We need to allow the grace that got us saved, to bring us into maturity. My children no longer fall down when they walk (they've got that part down), but they still make mistakes in other areas of their lives (their growing up). We will still be making mistakes when Jesus comes back, but grace has already covered every one of them.
Don't allow the guilt of your old, unrenewed mind to hinder the grace of your new born spirit. Allow grace to do its work in you as you grow. Grace has covered you completely unto your salvation and completeness. Clean the inside of the cup and the outside will be clean.
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