John 1:16-17 (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 upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says, "The beginning of Wisdom is; get Wisdom, skillful Godly Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing; and with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."
When we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have gotten the principal thing, according to 1Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified), which says, "But it is from Him (God) that you have your Life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, revealed to us a knowledge of the Divine Plan of salvation previously hidden manifesting itself as our Righteousness, thus making us upright and in right standing with God; and our Consecration, making us pure and holy, and our Redemption, providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin."
Paul provides a short list of the Power of what God has done for us, through Grace in 1Corinthians 1:30. We've lacked understanding and have placed ourselves back under Law, refusing God's Gift of Grace. We've been moved more by man's interpretation, than that of God and we still live under a bondage that Grace delivered us from. We still live under man's idea of what Grace actually is and have decided to "do it our way."
Jesus told His followers in Matthew 5:17 (Amplified), "Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and to fulfill them." If you're in Jesus Christ, then God sees you as having perfectly fulfilled the Law and not subject to the penalty of the Law. When we don't understand this, we placed ourselves back under the bondage of the Law, disregarding Grace.
Grace has come through Jesus, but we have frustrated the Grace of God by our lack of faith in His Grace. Paul writes in Romans 4:16 (Amplified), "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)." When we try to make it work, then it's not faith but is the work of men. This will stop Grace from working in your life. This doesn't mean that Grace isn't for you, but you must Rest in God's Grace and not the works of the flesh. Don't be misled about Grace. Grace doesn't mean that we can live any way we desire and Grace will cover us. Grace will provide us with all the Promises of god by His Goodness, when we live by the Word and the Spirit.
John 1:16-17 (Amplified) tells us that we have "All received, all have 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." These favors, Gifts, and Spiritual Blessings come by our faith in God's Grace. Faith doesn't "make" things work, but it allows them to work. When we put faith in God's Grace and His Promises, we can Rest from trying to make things work by our own ways.
Some believe that involving ourselves in God's Word is Law and we no longer need to do that. God says that His Word is "Spirit and Life" and it is "health and healing to all our flesh." God's Promises in His Word, are all by Grace and can only be appropriated by faith, in the Finished work of Jesus. If you broke one part of the Law, then you were guilty of breaking all of it and are subject to it's penalties. No one could keep it. Only Jesus could fulfill the Law and it's only by faith in what Jesus has done for us, that we're above the enemy's place to bring certain things to pass in our lives. The Law is still in effect, for those who are either outside the covenant of Grace through Jesus or are determined to fulfill the Law on their own.
We have failed to heed Jesus' instructions in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified) where He says, "But seek, aim at, and strive after, first of all His Kingdom and His Righteousness (His way of doing and being right); and then all these things taken together will be given you besides." We're to seek God's way of doing and being right, first of all. God has provided a way, by Grace and His Promises through Jesus, that can only be accomplished by faith in Him.
We've previously read about those in the Wilderness and how they limited God from His Promise, by their unbelief. The Law of Moses hadn't been given yet, and they were under Grace and Promise. Their unbelief stopped God's Grace from delivering them into the fullness of His Promise and Grace. Hebrews 4:1-2 (Amplified) says,"Therefore, while the Promise of entering His Rest still hold and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it, lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it."
I understand the human feelings today's Christians have, when they say, "None are righteous, no not one" and "I'm an old sinner saved by Grace" and "I'm unworthy." All these things might be true in yourself, but by Grace, you're no longer in yourself, but in Him.
We've been afraid to trust in what God's Grace has done and haven't put our faith in Him, to do what He Promised. We must Rest in Righteousness and have faith in His Grace to fulfill His Promise, in order to Rest in Righteousness. God gives His Promise of Jesus, in Isaiah 54:13-14 (Amplified) saying, "You shall establish yourself in Righteousness (rightness, in conformity to God's will and order); you shall be far from even the through of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Behold, they may gather together and stir up strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you."
This Promise is in the old covenant, but it's a Promise God made to His new covenant children by Grace. God is making this Promise about Jesus, our Redeemer in 2Corinthians 1:19-20 (Amplified), which says, "For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not Yes and No, but in Him us always the Divine Yes. For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes Answer in Him, Christ. For this reason we also utter the Amen (So be it), to God through Him, in His Person, and by His Agency, to the Glory of God."
Many have mistakenly transferred the punishments and calamities that befell some of the old covenant people, onto the new family of God. This isn't rightly dividing God's Word, like Paul instructs Timothy to do in 2Timothy 2:15 (Amplified) which says, "Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved, tested by trial, a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing, rightly handling and skillfully teaching the Word of Truth."
Grace was there, even when Law was there. It was by Grace, that God accepted and allowed them offer the blood of goats and bulls, instead of destroying them, because of the sin that was ever present in the people's lives. Now that Jesus has paid for and ransomed us by His Blood, why should we walk under the same penalties those in the old covenant did? Our sins weren't just covered by the Blood of Jesus, they were eradicated and totally removed. By faith in His Grace, we are now new creations, who have never sinned. 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
The only condition of Grace is that it must be received by faith. We know that of ourselves, we don't deserve to be called "the Righteousness of God." This is why it must be by faith in His Grace. Only His Grace through Jesus, can make us Righteous and in right standing before God. This Righteousness isn't or ourselves, but by Him. This is Grace.
Through Jesus, we're not the Righteousness or have right standing and can come into God's Holy Presence again, like the first Adam did. Don't throw away the privileges that Jesus purchased with His Blood. Don't reject God's Grace and His Promises, because of mere human understanding. We can do things our own way in our walk with God and by our own understanding, we can still be saved. I'm not speaking about losing your salvation, but about limiting it to only after we leave this planet.
It might not be easy to keep your eyes on Jesus, during the times when the enemy comes to discourage you. Jesus gives "The Parable of the Sower" in Mark 4:14-15 (Amplified) saying, "The Sower sows the Word. The ones along the path are those who have heard the Word sown in their hearts, but when they hear, satan comes at once and by force takes away the Message which is sown in them." The enemy doesn't want God's Church to know the Truth, because when we know the Truth, he loses his ability to still hold us in bondage and fear.
Many don't think it's important that we continuously feed on God's Word. Many are like those in Egypt were and are comfortable in their slavery. Exodus 14:12,13-14 (Amplified) says, "Did we not tell you in Egypt, let us alone? Let us serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than to die in the Wilderness."
God didn't bring them out of Egypt, to die in the Wilderness. They died in the Wilderness, because they lacked faith and didn't believe God's Promise to Abraham. Verses 13-14 tell us what Moses said to the people, saying, "Fear not; stand still (firm, confident, undismayed), and seek the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at Rest."
They murmured against God, every time the enemy came at them with trials. Christians today, still talk about their "Wilderness Experience." God didn't try the people in the Wilderness, but they tried God by their unbelief. Psalm 78:56-57 (Amplified) says, "But they turned back and dealt unfaithfully and treacherously like their fathers; they were twisted like a warped and deceitful bow that will not respond to the archer's arm. Yet they tempted and provoked and rebelled against the Most High God and kept not His testimonies."
The people tested God. God didn't test them. I hear Christians today, say, "God is testing me with this sickness or that experience." We must renew our minds to the Truth of the new family of God. The very prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, applies today. Thus, He prayed in Matthew 6:13 (Amplified), "And lead (bring us) not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory forever, Amen."
We've erroneously accepted that it's God Who is testing us, instead of realizing that satan comes at ones, to take away the Message sown in our hearts, like Jesus said in Mark 4:15 (Amplified). Again, Jesus said, "Be careful what you are hearing. The measure of thought and study you give to the Truth you hear, will be the measure of virtue and knowledge that comes back to you-and more besides will be given to you who hear."
We've heard many opinions, but they weren't Truth. God's opinion is the only one worth listening too. If it isn't from God's Word, then leave it alone. Satan has effectively kept the Church in a state of being indecisive and of two minds. When we don't know when to submit or resist, then we're left completely without purpose. We try mixing Law and Grace, to the point where neither can accomplish it's purpose. Fulfilling the Law would allow the Blessing, but no one except Jesus could do that. Our trying to fulfill the Law, is foolish and leaves us failing to put faith in Grace and the Blessing.
If we've been redeemed from the Curse of the Law, then we must know what we've been redeemed from. We must put faith in God's Grace and received what God Promised in the Blessing. Many are like those in Egypt, who wanted to stay in the bondage of Egypt, instead of trusting in God's Grace to bring us out of Egypt.
Have you heard of "The Stockholm Syndrome?" This is when someone who's been kidnapped and held, begins identifying with their captors, until they're comfortable in captivity. We've walked in this state for so long, that we no longer see it as being captivity. Paul wrote about this in Romans 12:2 (Amplified) saying, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external (superficial) customs, but be transformed (changed), by the entire renewal of your mind, by its new ideals and its new attitude, so that you may prove for yourselves what is that Good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is Good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."
God's will for those in the Wilderness, wasn't what they thought, but what He wanted for them, which was much more than they could imagine. They refused to bring their minds into God's will and could only see and adapt to the present age. Of course, Heaven is real and we will be fully in God's Presence one day, whether or not you adapt to God's idea His will for you is here. Jesus has taken care of our future and all eternity, on our behalf. I'm not talking about your being a Good or bad Christian, like some would believe this message is about. If we are created anew and born of God's Word as His children, then there's no such thing as a "bad" Christian.
I'm speaking to the Church as individuals in the Body of Christ. The Father still deals with us as individuals and not just as a group of people. We don't have to rely on the word of ten spies, like those in the Wilderness did. I don't have to take their word about what God's Promise is. I can go to my Heavenly Father to find His Promise and His Grace. Just because some don't believe that God is still a Healer today, doesn't mean that I have to remain sick.
We all know Christians who don't believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the speaking in tongues. We probably know other Christians who do believe in these things. Should we miss out on such a Blessing of Grace, which allows us to pray in other tongues and speak to the Father in such a Glorious manner, just because some don't believe in that? 1Corinthians 14:2 (Amplified) tells us, "For one who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning because in the Holy Spirit he utters secret Truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding."
I can put faith in God's Promise and receive the Holy Spirit, even though others believe, "These things have passed away." Do I have the right in Jesus, to pursue this Promise by faith? Or, should I listen to those who don't believe? It's God's will that we have the ability to choose whether or not to believe. I'm not staying in the Wilderness, just because others said we are "grasshoppers in the sight of the giants who live in the Promised Land." I have a God-given right to the Mysteries of the Kingdom, by and through the Holy Spirit. I have a direct line to the Father and can know the Secret Truth and hidden things not obvious to the understanding. Does this make me a "good Christian or a bad Christian? It makes me a Christian who refuses to have someone else tell me, "Who I am in Christ."
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