Gods Grace

God’s Grace The day of Pentecost (Acts 2) touched off what the Apostle Paul calls the “administration of God’s grace.” You may have heard folks in different churches talk about the term dispensationalism. Dispensation (used in the KJV) and administration (used in newer versions) are synonymous, they mean pretty much the same thing. What they are talking about is that scholars have noticed that during different periods of man’s history, God has dealt with mankind in different ways. God dealt directly through special men such as Noah, Abraham and Moses. His Holy Spirit worked through judges, through kings, and through prophets. In each of these cases, the Holy Spirit worked through these men to direct his will for his chosen people and all mankind. Christ was supposed to usher in a new dispensation, the Kingdom of Heaven. But just as prophecy predicted, the Kingdom was placed on hold and another instituted in its place. The dispensation instituted is the dispensation of grace, that we all live in today, which the Apostle Paul explains in detail. In this dispensation, the Holy Spirit is given to each person who receives the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (the gospel) by faith and this Spirit works in our hearts to conform us into the image of Christ. Paul’s most direct explanation of the purpose of this dispensation is given in the book of Ephesians when he says: Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. – Ephesians 3:2-6 So what Paul is saying here is that the gentiles (everyone that cannot trace their lineage to one of the twelve tribes of Israel) can become part of God’s family through faith in the gospel. It means that God is taking for himself a remnant (a small portion) of gentiles. Since the gentiles were never given the law and commandments of God, we could not be expected to try to keep them. We wouldn’t be any more successful at it than our brothers the Israelites. So, in this dispensation, Paul explains: But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that, in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:4-10 There is a whole lot to talk about in this passage, but we are talking about grace. So, we see by this last passage that God’s grace is a gift, given to us freely for our faith, so it cannot be earned and is given to us even though we don’t deserve it. My sermons here don’t get me any closer to going to heaven, nor do any of the prayers I say for you, nor any of the healing that might come through my prayers. None of anything that I do for Jesus gets me any closer to going to heaven than I already am. Paul backs this passage up in a couple of other places in scripture: In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. – Ephesians 1:5-6 Here we see that we are also adopted to God’s family through his grace but that, again, it is given to us freely. Paul gives us the how and why in Romans: But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. – Romans 3:21-26 From this passage we see that God’s grace is free to us because Christ paid the price of our sin debt at the cross. This may not seem fair on the face of it because we sinned, not Jesus, but we see here that God did it this way so that he could forgive the sins committed prior to Jesus and, after Jesus, we are forgiven for that same blood shed on the cross. This is also why it cannot be earned by our works and Paul says this very clearly later in Romans: So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. – Romans 11:5-6 So, lets break this down to its bottom line. For our faith in the work of Jesus at the cross we are freely given favor by God that we cannot earn, did not earn, cannot earn and do not deserve. Yet we get it anyway. Then what’s the point of trying to live a good life? Of giving up our little pet sins? Of preaching and teaching and helping and giving? Why not just keep on sinning but while believing? Paul addresses this too: What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may have a new life. – Romans 6:1-4 And: What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. – Romans 6:15-18 From these two passages we should get that the whole point of God’s grace given to us freely is so that we can participate in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. That is, just as he died on the cross, we die to sin and are resurrected into righteousness. The old is gone, the new has come! Sin makes us slaves; God’s grace sets us free of that slavery to sin and makes us slaves to righteousness instead. But what does that look like in our daily lives? For each person the answer to that question will be different. What I can say is that, for me, Jesus has changed the way I think and feel about the decisions I make. In the meantime, he has provided for me, blessed me, turned all kinds of things around in my life, answers my prayers constantly, given my life meaning and purpose, and made my life so fulfilling that I have become so thankful and grateful that I cannot help but do the things I do. I cannot help preaching, praying, and healing. I cannot help living a life that glorifies him. For by God’s grace, I have become a willing slave to his righteousness. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Amen.