Lesson 168 GRACE AND TRUTH-GOD'S WILL

     FAITH DOESN'T MAKE THINGS HAPPEN, FAITH ALLOWS GRACE TO DO THE WORK.  We need only to put faith in God's Promises and Grace will fulfill His Word.  The work of Grace is that we don't have to make it work, but by faith, we believe it and Grace fulfills every Promise of God.  Psalm 85:10-11 (Amplified) says, "Mercy and Loving-kindness and Truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other Truth shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall look down from Heaven."
     The above scripture prophesies the peace covenant and the Truth of God's Grace and mercy in Jesus, for this time of the children of God.  It says, "Truth has sprung up from the earth and righteousness has looked down from Heaven."  Those in the old covenant, walked in only a portion of Truth.  They had Promises that hadn't come to pass yet and the Words of Peace were still in the making.  Today, Jesus is our Peace with God, He is our Righteousness with God, He is the Promise of Grace and Rest, He is our healer, sin bearer, sanctification, Redeemer and our Deliverer, by the delegated Power of His Name.  We are living in the Promises, that others could only read about and look forward to happening.
     We read about a sick man who was lowered down from the roof, in order to reach Jesus in Luke 5:18-24 (Amplified).  Jesus said to the man in Verse 20, "Man, your sins are forgiven you!"  Verses 21-24 go on, "And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason and to question and argue, saying; Who is this Man Who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus said, Which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise, Take up your bed and walk about? Jesus said, but that you may know that the Son of Man has the Power of Authority and right on earth to forgive sin, He said to the paralyzed man, I say to you, arise, pack up your litter (stretcher), and go to your own house."
     The above scripture tells us that the man stood up, picked up his bed and walked out praising God.  Today, we see the same thing happening in reverse.  We seemingly believe God can forgive sin, but that He isn't able to heal.  Jesus asked, "Which is the easier?  To forgive sin or heal the sick?"  Do you believe He has forgiven your sins?  If so, then why wouldn't you believe that He has healed your body?  Which is easier?  The enemy has caused us to dilute the Truth and receive only a partial Truth.  Jesus didn't say, "I am a Truth."  He said, "I AM THE TRUTH."  Jesus is the Whole Truth of God's Promise, for here and hereafter.  It's true, that when we go to be with Him, we will be healed, but that doesn't negate His Promise to us now which says, "By His striped we are healed."  God's Word hasn't been working for us, because we've been heeding the voice to the ten spies, instead of God's Promises, like those in the Wilderness.  We've been listening to those who bring reports about the giants and our being grasshoppers in their eyes, instead of heeding God's report.
     There are still giants in the land, but the One Who we serve is a giant killer.  David didn't have a problem with his eyesight, when approaching Goliath.  David saw how big the giant was, but he also saw how big his God is.  The soldiers in Israel's army saw how big Goliath was and were too afraid to fight him.  Any of those soldiers could have done what David did.  They were all covenant people and served the same God as David did.  The difference was that David had built a relationship with the Father and had faith in His Promises.
     Grace has always been God's heart and His nature.  He knew we would need to grow and develop into who He made us to be and He knew it would take Grace to do that.  Faith doesn't make God's Word work.  Father in His Word allows His Grace to do what He Promised.  Our salvation was paid for, before we were born.  Our sins were washed away by Jesus, two-thousand years ago.  Grace had already been set into motion, by the Father's Love.  My sins had already been forgiven and removed from me, two-thousand years before I was born.  Grace had already provided my forgiveness and righteousness before God, by Jesus on the cross.
     Grace made all the things necessary for my new birth and standing with God, but until I put faith in God's Promise, Grace wasn't activated in my life.  When by faith, I called and believed in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord, His Grace worked instantaneously in my life and I became a new creation.  Grace had always been there, but I hadn't activated it on my behalf, until I called on His Name by faith.
     The Same Man Jesus, on the same day, in the same Body and Spirit, took my sin, the Curse of the Law, sickness and disease, the punishment and sorrow, the penalty of separation, the Spiritual death that held me and the fear of death.  Jesus redeemed me and paid the Price that was owed against me and made me free.  If one part of the redemption is true, then all of it is true.  My problem has been like it was with those in the Wilderness...unbelief.  We're still in unbelief in many areas of our relationship with God and that needs to change.
     Are there things that can be improved on your behalf, in the area of salvation?  Jesus doesn't need any improvement on His behalf of the covenant, but we still have many things we don't believe.  We've done away with the outward sins of life and it's natural appetites.  We've stopped drinking, cussing, committing adultery and many such things, which is very good, but we now need to improve on our personal relationship with the Father.  We're the only ones who can do this.  No one else can build our relationship with Him.
     God's Word teaches many things about prayer.  Prayer was to be Grace activated by faith, to meet every need in our lives.  God's heart says that our prayers are a "Done deal."  We've lost faith in prayer over the years and have mostly decided that "Prayer doesn't work."  We might not openly say this or tell others this, but we can see it in our lives, our families and our country.  How many people attend intercessory prayer meetings in your church?  If we really put faith into the Grace offered to us in prayer, then those prayer meetings would overflow the church, into the parking lot.
     Paul writes about faith and Grace in the believer's lives, in Romans 4:16 (Amplified) saying, "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith and depends entirely on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his (Abraham's) descendants, not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham who is thus the father of us all."
     When God approached Abraham, it was an act of Grace that set him apart.  The Promise of God's Grace included a son, who would be born to an old man and his barren, elderly wife.  They had no hope at ever having a child, but Grace said it would happen.  God Promised this to Abraham and when he believed and put faith in God's Grace and Promise, the line from which our faith in that Promise was born and now stands.  This was all done by God's Grace and by one man's putting his faith in God's Grace.
     Grace had to supply this child, because natural child bearing was impossible for 100 year old Abraham and his barren wife.  Our position with Jesus today, all happened because of Abraham's faith in God's Grace.  We read about Noah's finding Grace in God's eyes and his faith in God's Promise, in Hebrews 11:7 (Amplified) which says, "Prompted by faith, Noah, being forewarned by God concerning events of which as yet there was no visible sign, took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared and Ark, for the deliverance of his own family, By this, his faith which relied on God, he passed judgment and sentence on the world's unbelief and became an heir and possessor of righteousness, that relationship of being right into which God puts the person who has faith."
     God's Promise of Grace has stood the test of time for all men, but only some have put faith in those Promises, that would bring forth manifestation to the world.  Jesus brought forth the manifestation of Grace and truth, for the whole world to see and believe.  John 1:16-17 (Amplified) tells us, "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 upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
     All these things are by Grace and only faith in His Grace will bring them into your life.  Grace has come and the invitation to be reconciled to God has been made through Jesus, two-thousand years ago.  Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified) says, "For it is by free Grace (God's unmerited favor), that you are saved (delivered from judgment) and made partakers of Christ's salvation through your faith; And this salvation is not of yourselves (of your own doing), it came not through your own striving, but is the Gift of God."
     There are many things about Grace and faith, in the above scripture.  It tells us that Grace has always been here and that Grace delivered us from judgment and has made us partakers of Christ's salvation.  It tells us that this salvation "is not of our own doing or striving, but IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD."
     This Gift is Jesus and is Grace and Truth.  Grace encompasses the Promises of God and restores all things back into His Plan for man from the beginning.  The Gifts, Spiritual Blessing and Truth found in John 1:16-17 couldn't come upon us, while we were still dead in trespasses and sin.  When Life came through Jesus, Grace made these things available to all who would believe.  Grace restored the Plan God held for man, from the beginning.  Grace is and was, God's original Plan and purpose for His children.
     So many of us have limited God in our walk with Him, because of holding onto traditions and customs of the church, instead of having a personal relationship with Him.  We read about those who had faith in God's Grace and His Promises, in Hebrews 11.  There are many names that have become familiar to us and are in God's Hall of Fame.  Verses 35-38, 39-40 grabbed my attention, because we read about those who stood in their faith of God, but we don't know their names.  Thus, we read, "Some  women received again their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured to death by clubs, refusing to accept release offered on the terms of denying their faith so that they might be resurrected to a better life. Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and souring and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were lured with tempting offers to renounce their faith, they were slaughtered by the sword whiled they were still alive, they were sown asunder, they had to go about wrapped in skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, crudely treated Men of whom the world was not worthy-roaming over the desolate places and the mountains, and living in caves and caverns and holes in the earth."  These weren't those whose names we know, but they were ones God placed in His Hall of Fame.
     Verses 39-40 go on, "And all of these, though they won Divine approval by means of their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was Promised  Because God has us in mined and had something better and greater in view for us, so that these heroes and heroins of faith should not come to perfection apart from us before we could join them."
     As I read about such faith in the old covenant people, I wonder what and how these heroes would act in the fulfillment of what was Promised.  How would they act today, in the Light of what we have through Jesus?  People didn't have access to God and the son-ship righteousness, like those of us in God's family do today.  How would they act in one of our church services, where the fulfillment of God's Promise has come?
     God's Promises are Truth today.  They're no longer just Promises, but are fact and truth, on behalf of the believer.  What would those heroes do with the ability and Blood bought privilege of "Coming boldly to God's Throne of Grace and favor to receive help and Grace," like we have today?  God gave me a Message several years ago saying, "My Grace has provided much more than My children's faith has ever received yet."  Have we limited our Father's Grace and His favor, by our unbelief, like those in the Wilderness who didn't enter into His Rest?