The grace of God Part 2

Summary of Wednesday

What we learned.

We learned that in Christ the fullness of God’s Grace is revealed to mankind, outside of Christ there is no grace.

John 1:14–17 NKJV

14 And the Word became 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. 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

In order for us to partake of this grace we have to be in Christ Jesus. Since only those who are in Christ Jesus will be partakers of the manifold grace of God.

2 Timothy 1:8–11 (NKJV)

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,

9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

How do we get into Christ so we can be partakers of these grace, it is through the Gospel

Ephesians 3:4–7 (NKJV)

4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),

5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:

6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,

7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.

What is the Gospel?

Luke 24:46–48 NKJV

46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things.

Mark 16:15–16 NKJV

15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

so they went out and preached the Gospel which is revealed in Acts 2:37-38

Acts 2:37–39 NKJV

37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

It is through baptism in the name of Jesus Christ that we are placed into Christ.

Galatians 3:25–29 (NKJV)

25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Colossians 2:11–12 (NKJV)

11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

By being obedient to the Gospel, (obedience to baptism and Jesus name) we put on Christ and as a result we become partakers of the grace of God.

Romans 1:3–6 NKJV

3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. 5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

by being baptised into Christ we are placed into the grace of God. In Christ, we receieve grace upon grace.

Now in Christ, God bestows upon us all Kinds of graces.

John 1:16 NKJV

16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

We will now look at these graces that God bestows upon us.

The first Grace that we recieve in Christ from God are as follows

1. The Grace of salvation

Ephesians 2:1–9 (NKJV)

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Salvation is not something that you earn through the works of the law but it is a gift that is given to us in Christ Jesus through faith. This grace of salvation, like the rest of all graces is bestowed upon us through baptism in His name.

Galatians 3:26–27 (NKJV)

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

We believe the Gospel and obey it by being baptised in His name,

Romans 3:19–24 NKJV

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Falling short of the grace of salvation

Galatians 5:1–6 NKJV

1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

We stand on the grace of God but we can fall from the grace, if you seek to be justfied by the works of the Law.

In Galatia, people seeking an opportunity to boast, chose to justify themsleves before God through the works of the law. As a result they fell from Grace.

they began to be circumcised, observe days and months of festivals and new moons.

We can also fall from Grace if we use it as licence to Sin.

Jude 4 NKJV

4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

These people who turn the grace of God to lewdness (to Sin), are called ungodly men, and deny their God and saviour through their works.

Hebrews 12:15–17 NKJV

15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

Esau is called ungoldy and profane because he basically gave up the blessing his brithright for a morsal of bread.

The birthright can be seen symbolically as the grace of God, and the inheritence that comes from the grace of God, the morsel of bread can be seen as Sin.

The grace of God is suppose to lead you away from sin, you are suppose to give up sin because of the grace of God. The grace of God is not given so that you can be embolden to sin

Romans 6:15–23 NKJV

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The fruit of the grace of God, is rigtheousness and Holliness which ultimately will Eternal life.

the Grace of God is given so that it could make you holy and righteous before God.

Titus 2:11–14 NKJV

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

The grace of salvation, will teach each individual to deny ungodliness and worldy lust, and live soberly righteosly and godly in the present age. So at the end if we submit oursleve to the grace of God and do all all the things that this grace teaches us we will inherit the salvation of God.

Therefore those people who someohow think that the Grace of God give them the freedom to Sin, will be like Esau, who at the end when they expect to receive salvation will be condemed.

2. The grace of ministry

Romans 12:3–8 (NKJV)

3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,

5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;

Paul list out the different gift that is bestowed upon us by the grace of God for the edification of the Church. The list is not exhaustive

The key word there is “let us use them”. The grace that God has given you, must be discovered and then you must use them.

7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;

Ministry means service, so there are those who have the gift of service, this can include different type of services.

Teaching, it is not the

8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

There is also the grace of encouragment,

The grace of giving, 2 Corinthians 2:8

2 Corinthians 8:9 NKJV

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

We must use whatever grace God has placed upon our life, if we don’t God would have bestowed upon us his grace in vain.

2 Corinthians 6:1–4 NKJV

1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. 4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,

Matthew 25:14-30 Remember the 3 servants wich received different amount of talents from their masters

1 Corinthians 15:10 NKJV

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

The attitude towards the gifts that come by the grace of God

1 Peter 4:9–11 NKJV

9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

When we minister to the sainst the gift that God has bestowed upon us by his grace, we must do it with the Knowledge and acknowledgment that it is something that God has given us. So that you don’t take the glory nor do people give you the glory but God.

1 Corinthians 4:7 (NKJV)

7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

In other words what makes you so different from another saint, or what makes you so special since what you have is given by the grace of God?

The Gift that is bestowed upon us should not make us feel like we are special than another believer, or glory as if we it somehow this gift came from us, but rather keep us humble because all of it came from God.

3. Enabling Grace or helping Grace

Hebrews 4:15–16 NKJV

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This is the grace that enbales us and help us to endure and overcome different types of trials and temptation that we may go through.

2 Corinthians 12:7–9 NKJV

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

We get this grace only through prayer. This is why it is imperitive to have prayer life.

Those who have a prayer life will overcome all kinds of trial and temptation because they are near the throne of Grace, and that grace sustains them.

Mark 14:38 NKJV

38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

James 5:13 NKJV

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.

This grace will enable you to endure, it will sustain you and guard you so that your spirit, soul, body and mind is not in any way, shape or form damaged by the trial.

Psalm 34:19–20 NKJV

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. 20 He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.

He guards him and delivers him through his grace.

4. The grace of speach

Colossians 4:5–6 NKJV

5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

This is the grace that will enable you to answer each person, as you ought too.

it will give you the wisdom and understanding to be able to answer each person as you ought

Luke 21:15 NKJV

15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.

This does not mean that we should be lazy and not have anything prepared in your heart when you go out witnessing.

1 Peter 3:15 NKJV

15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

But rather you must do your part and then rely on God for the rest, through prayer

Proverbs 16:1 NKJV

1 The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

when you do this, you will minister grace.

5. The Grace of the Fear of God.

Hebrews 12:28–29 NKJV

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

Working with God, is like working with Fire.

There are boundaries that need to be constantly kept, if you step out of the line, the fire will consume you.

Serving God, can be benefitial or can be detremintle, so we have to the grace to serve God with reverence and Goldy fear. So that our familiority of God, does not embolden us to step over the Line.

Conclusion

2 Corinthians 9:8 NKJV

8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Let us pray that God may increase all grace in our life.

The Bible says he gives grace to the humble, so let us humble ourselves and call on God to give us the grace that we need.