Christians often say religious things without any idea of the intense meaning of it. One of those sayings is about grace. “Grace” is said to be unmerited favor, but is that all it is? As unmerited it is not deserved. Because of sin, for all have, nobody deserves the favor of God.
The Calvinistic concept of
salvation is by grace alone (sola gratia). Nobody should argue that
point. God as God reserves the right to grant favors however it is that pleases
Him.
However, God is not a dictator
who bases His grace without regard to the state of the offender. Good kings
will even pardon criminals because they understand the crime and the mindset of
the criminals.
Sinners are criminals on planet Earth. Earthlings suffer the Stockholm Syndrome; for those unfamiliar with the term, it is when the captive becomes one of the captors and joins leagues with his adversaries. They enjoy both the lifestyle of the captors and even admire the leader of the pack who kidnapped them. Essentially, mankind are criminals in a prison without bars. Hence, only Christ can set them free, as it is written from the words of Jesus:
You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free; if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:32,36)
Firstly, the captive must understand that he is in prison. Because of original sin, sinful mankind has been cast into a prison, to wit:
So, He (God) drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Gen 3:24)
Either in or out is
ambiguous; man was driven out of the sanctuary into peril and
persecution. For those who love the world so much, you essentially enjoy imprisonment,
even failing to understand it is a prison wherein you reside. Our crimes and
prison are very well described in Genesis chapter three. There is no way
to escape from our prison because it is well-guarded by prison guards (cherubim)
and flame-throwers with “flaming swords.”
The Way to the Tree of Life is
the way to eternal life in Paradise. The goal of any Christian should be to
escape this prison and live forever in freedom in a great city that has been
prepared for them in another realm.
To escape, first you must
understand that there is a prison and you are in it. You aren’t outside looking
in, but in the world looking out. Gravity ensures that you never escape, but
Jesus alone can overcome the world.
Jesus Himself said, “Be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He escaped death at the Resurrection
and ascended from this prison. He was “glorified” (John 7:39) as He was removed
from prison and rewarded with life in another kingdom, not of this world. If
Jesus could escape from this prison, so can anyone who follows Him!
Jesus is full of grace and truth
(John 1:14). Since He escaped the world, so can you by His grace. Grace from
Jesus is Virtue that He can share. It is not a material thing to propel anyone
through the door from Earth to heaven, but a Spirit. More on that in a moment.
However, the Virtue that Jesus lost at the crucifixion to save the world weakened
Him to the point of death but His death
provided the power for any who desires to escape to escape the world.
How to get out of this prison?
First you must understand that you live in a prison even if you think its
warden is not so bad. (I’m referring to the Prince of the Power of the Air,
Satan; Ephes 2:2). Satan is not full of grace but only deception; it is as if
you have grace but if you trust God, for it, you will be sought for escaping
Satan’s control: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8).
Satan does not watch prisoners
that toe his line, but those who align with Jesus. As any prisoner understands,
alignment with true justice makes crooked wardens angry. It is his kingdom, and
you must obey his laws. If your law belongs to Jesus, then you are the worst
criminal who much be watched day and night. Jesus escaped His prison, and if He
can do it, you can in the same way.
Jesus died to the world. He
escaped by death and arrived in Paradise for a visit until His room was ready.
In like manner, God has provided a mansion for those who follow Him in Paradise
as well (John 14:2).
After you understand that you are
in prison, the next thing to do is to find a way out. Jesus is the Way, the
Truth, and the Life, who said, “No man comes unto the Father, but by Me” (John
14:6). The way out is the Way, way out… out of this world into another realm
where Jesus, not Satan is sovereign (John 18:36). How can anyone get across the
firmament from here to there? Jesus is “The Firm Thing” — the Door to Paradise
(John 10:9). Jesus is the firm bridge across the great gulf.
What is the “passport” from Earth
to Paradise in Heaven. The Name Jesus (Yeshua). His name is the Way and
to cross-over is by His Name only.
The escape begins with a plan and
a future, according to the prophet Jeremiah. The future is not in this world,
but in Paradise. That must be your destination — a return to the Garden of
Eden, now a great city populated by the saints who escaped the world before us.
You must understand that there is
life elsewhere, not on any planet, but another realm. To live in that much
different environment, earth flesh would be of no efficacy. God is wise to
that; for the trip across, He will provide for you new incorruptible flesh, “Being
born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by The Word of God,
which lives and abides forever” (1 Pet 1:23).
The Word of God (Jesus) imbues
you with His virtue… free of charge, thank you. He paid the price for your
voyage already, to wit: “(Jesus) who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works” (Tit 2:4).
Jesus already paid the price by
sacrificing Himself for whosoever believes in Him (John 3:16). He made the
propitiation of His own blood (Rom 3:25). He appeased the Father on your behalf
by His own self-sacrifice (“propitiation”). That action was an act of grace one
time for all people.
That is the One of the House of David of whom the prophet Zechariah spoke:
I will pour upon the
house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and
of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they
shall mourn for Him, as one mourn for His only son, and shall be in bitterness
for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (Zech 12:10)
As the “son of David” it was Jesus who
was of “The House of David.” He would provide the
“spirit of grace.” Grace is therefore sharing the Spirit of God.
“Spirit,” in Hebrew is ruah (רוּחַ). Reading from right to left, resh
refers to the Authority, being Almighty God who alone is sovereign. Next comes
the letter vav, future man or the Messiah, and lastly comes the letter chet,
literally a ladde, fence, or bars, and representing life beyond the firm wall.
That is the Way across the great divide between Earth and Heaven. Both grace and God-breathed, or ruah; hence grace is by the breath of God breathing life, not yourselves.
“Grace” is the
dynamic of that escape route from sure death to life. Grace is simply “hen”
in the Hebrew (חֵן); the letters chet –
nun. Chet is separation of some type, whereas the letter nun
represents rebirth. Born again (John 3:7) is rebirth Chet Nun, or “grace”
in English. Grace is God dividing His divine seed (nun) into man to
make a son of God. It worked for Jesus, so it will for any who follow the Way
of Jesus.
Born again is literally “engendered from above”
Just as God bestowed His Image into Adam for him to have dominion over the other kinds, he does the same for sinners to lift them to a higher state (Jas 4:1). The action of lifting a man or woman to a higher state than before is regeneration.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life, for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17)
“Whosever” is anybody. There is
only one condition: belief in Jesus; not that He exists but that He is full of
grace. Grace is breathed, so you must believe that Jesus breathes the life and
nobody else. It is not by works that you are saved, but the work of God that
you do not even merit breathing!
How to be saved by grace? You
lift-up Jesus as Moses lifted-up the serpent on the pole. Of course, you are no
camel, so you can only lift Jesus up like a camel might.
The Hebrew letter gimmel
is characterized by the footprint of a camel. The footprint of a camel is
evidence that a real camel exists and as Paul told the Romans, “The invisible
things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead…” (Rom 1:20). Jesus
left His footprint all over the Holy Land and His gospel is that “footprint”
and it is truth; He is here but unseen. Hence, the Holy Ghost of Jesus is the
bearer of us in our journey.
The dead serpent on the pole was
the “footprint,” or image, of Satan with it dead. Jesus would do that. Jesus
was there in the Spirit of Grace when the Israelites who believed were saved.
They did not see Jesus, but experienced His unmerited favor (grace). Why? Because
when they looked at the serpent, they saw Jesus on the Cross. It was not work
they did but thought.
“Work” is both ergo and katergazomai
in the Greek, but are physical work and cognition, respectively. The latter is
just an accomplishment with no dynamics required. That is the dynamic of
grace — the work of the Spirit of God on your behalf.
Jesus experienced death on your behalf, Because He did so, you need not. He accomplished life for you, and all you need to do is live it. To live only means that you understand that grace is an underserved gift free to you for the having. What must you do? Merely think!
Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace for the Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1:16-18)
From whom does grace emanate?
Moses gave The Law, but Jesus gave the Spirit of Grace when He propitiated His life-blood
on your behalf since your blood, unlike His, is not the perfect sacrifice that
has efficacy.
Grace is the Spirit that rebirths
a sinful person into a Christian. Grace is to be used, not hidden, so the grace
that you have must be shared. Grace is not grace if it is not shared.
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