Praise be to the most precious and the only exalted Name of our heavenly Father, Saviour and soon coming King of kings, Lord Jesus Christ. Unto Him be all the glory, honour, power and dominion now and forever. Amen.
And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. – John 1:16
When we receive the grace of God by faith, it works in our life in all fulness (Rom 5:2). Many times, we limit the grace of God by our understanding and faith. It is especially important that we receive the grace of God by faith in all fulness.
Most times, the grace of God is considered as a weak word. It is thought of as something that is needed only for the weak and feeble. Also, it is thought of as doing the work of covering up sin and so on. While it is true that grace is needed for the weak, we need to understand it is not just for those that are thought to be weak. In fact, everyone who have not received the grace of God is weak in the sight of God.
It is especially important to understand that grace is not a weak word. It is a word of strength and power. In Acts 4:33, the word of the Lord declares, “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”. The apostles of the early Church witnessed with great power because great grace was upon them all. Here we see the secret of great power is great grace. Hereby we understand that grace is not a weak word but a word of strength and power.
Only when we understand this, we can see the grace of God work in all fulness in our lives. God has given us His grace, not just for partial work but to work in all fulness. There are dual sides to the work of God’s grace. Just like a coin has two sides, the work of God’s grace in the life of a believer has two parts.
In Psalm 40:2, the Scripture declares, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”. This Scripture can be divided into two parts. The first part says how the Lord brings us out of the horrible pit of sin and a miry clay which pulls us deeper and deeper. Yes, it is the grace of God that lifted us, washed us, cleansed us and made us whiter than snow. The work of God’s grace never ends there. It continues in the next part where it says, He set my feet upon the rock and established my goings. After the work of God’s grace in the first part we must let the grace of God do the next part of grace work.
He lifted us out from the horrible pit for a purpose. That purpose is not for us to fall back again so that He can do that same first part repeatedly. When grace lifts us up from the miry clay and the horrible pit of sin, it further works in our life so that our feet be set upon the rock and our goings in Christ is established. When we are aware of this work of God’s grace in the second part, we will not fall back again but have the power and strength to carry on without falling. When we fail to understand this, we will be expecting grace to do the first part of its work repeatedly.
Yes, the grace of God can lift us umpteen number of times when we cry from the horrible pit. But such work alone will not fulfil the work of God’s grace in all fulness. Many times, people fall repeatedly thinking that grace will pick them up. Yes, the Scriptures like, Pro 24:16 says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”. But they should not be used as a point to justify the repeated falls. This Scripture must give us a hope that the righteous always arise but the wicked perish.
The same Holy Scriptures declare in Jude 1:24, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”. This is the work of God’s grace in the second part. His grace not only lifts us up from the miry clay but set our feet upon the rock and see to that we will never fall back again. God almighty through His grace is able to keep us from falling.
When we read only the first five chapters in the book of Romans, a question might linger in our mind, saying is it okay to sin? If grace has done so much why don’t we allow ourselves to sin. The Holy Spirit knew that such question will creep into our minds. Hence we see in the beginning of the sixth chapter the following as Romans 6:1-4 declares, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”. The grace that washed and cleansed us also empowers us to walk in the newness of life.
Yes, in Rom 5:20, the Scripture says, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”. But at the same time where grace abound, good works abound. That is what the same Holy Scripture says in 2 Cor 9:8 as it declares, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:”. The first part of the work of God’s grace will be followed by the second part of the it’s work. Only then the work of God’s grace will complete its work in all fulness. That is for what Christ Jesus came (John 1:14,17). He gives grace upon grace to do it’s work in all fulness.
When grace rules our life, righteousness is revealed (Rom 5:21). There is an evidence that the Scripture talks about to know whether we are living our life in the fulness of God’s grace. That is in Rom 6:14 where it says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”. Sin has no place when we let the grace of God govern our life completely. This is what the real grace of God teaches as Titus 2:11,12 declares, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;”. Let us allow God’s abundant grace to rule and reign over our lives in all totality.
Grace with us,
Bro. Jamey F. Davis
March 1, 2021
News for Believers 