The Mistery of Grace
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Introduction
Introduction
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—
2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,
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.
The process of Spiritual formation requires
++Information
++Revelation
++Impartation
2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
Information
++Is insight perceive through observation
++Is processed through personal experiences
What does it mean?
++We want justice!
++Black lives Matter!
++Stop the Steal!
++Government corruption!
In our polarizing culture it is quite possible that opinions will vary.
We are in many ways bound to our labels
We are in many ways bound to our labels
Labels are a way were
++Categories
++Organize
++Place things in acceptable order
++Know what to expect
We don’t expect
++Nice people to do bad things
++Bad things to happen to good people
Even our definition of what is good and what is bad is also a label.
Enough information can make a label feel permanent.
Enough information can make a label feel permanent.
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Ephesian 3:8 “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints”
Information can effect our view of ourself
To me
++I am less
++Others are more
I am less gifted, less talented, less capable
Others can do it much better.
The inadequacy that we see in ourselves is all about comparison.
12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.
Others are the wrong unit of measure
Information is limited
9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!
Aren’t you glad the whole story hasn’t been told?
What Paul would declare
++Was more than information
++Was greater than historical facts
++Information about the real you is incomplete
God knows you
God knows you
God loves you
God loves you
Why would God care and why should he care about me?
I am not special, gifted or talented
While we compare ourselves to others, someone is comparing themselves to us.
Our true value is not determined by us.
Our true value is not determined by us.
16 Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him.
17 And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house.
18 Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house.
19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him.
20 So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21 And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.”
22 Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23 And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ”
24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king.
25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”
26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”
27 So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered What Is the Dispensation of Grace?
This dispensation of Grace is often referred to as the Church Age because it is during this era that Jesus is building His Church (Matthew 16:18). It began at Pentecost (Acts 2) and will end when all who are born again by the baptism of the Holy Spirit are raptured out of this world to be with Jesus Himself (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). The Church is mentioned again in Revelation 19 as returning to earth with the Lord Jesus at His Second Coming.
Grace is God’s benevolence to the undeserving. Grace is the rule of life for the Church, and through the Church God’s grace is extended to the whole world, as the gospel of Jesus Christ is taken to the ends of the earth. It has been said that grace saved us (Ephesians 2:8–9), it supports us (Romans 5:2), it teaches us (Titus 2:11–12), and it disciplines us (1 Corinthians 11:28–32; Hebrews 12:5–11). With the Holy Spirit indwelling His Church, we are able to walk with the Lord and live as He intends (Philippians 2:13; Ephesians 2:10; 5:17–18; Philippians 1:6; 4:13; Romans 8:14). It is not heaven yet, and it is far short of perfection, but as the Church is being sanctified, it provides a little taste of heaven on earth (Ephesians 2:21–22).