Lost in Grace

Radical Grace. We often in our daily lives can too quickly forget what a measure of God's grace is upon our lives. No longer are we bound by old law, that enslaves, (Romans 7:6, Galatians 3:24-29), but rather we live under grace of God and the Blood of the Lamb (1 Peter 1:19, Revelation 12:11). The perfectionist inside most of us wants to prove our worth and please our Lord, but the truth is "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8). Jesus Christ who is God and Man (Hebrews 2:1-18, John 1:1-15, John 17:20-23, Colossians 2:9 and 1 John 4:2) extends his wounded hands and was perfection for us (Hebrews 10:14, Colossians 1:28 NLT or ESV). Instead of being compelled to merit our eternal life, we are given grace, unmerited favor with God through Christ. If we would but allow ourselves to rest under Christ's blood and grace, for surly that is what He meant, "Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ake my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." (Matthew 11:28-30).

Medievalists and our own maddening contemporary sermons have made our Savior often look like a perpetually grumpy warlord and overlord who always is looking for a fault. In truth, Jesus Christ loves you. He died on cross for you and extends His forgiveness for your sins, the convering of His blood, and a New Covenant of free access to God (Romans 5:2, Ephesians 2:18) and freedom from heavy burdens (Matthew 11:28-30), and salvation from hell and a doomed existence on Earth (John 10:10, John 3:16). Grace has been extended to our race, and yet so many try to erect a curtain in front of it, John Calvin with his strange doctrines (TULIP), the Judaizers (Jews in 33-90 A.D. who pretended to be Christians and preached you had to follow all Law instead of accepting Gospel of Grace) of Paul's time with Circumcision (see Galatians 5:1-12, actually the whole Epistle to Galatians is about the Judaizers, so is 2 Corinthians 11), and Roman Catholics with their Sacraments. It seems the evil one is hard at work trying to convince people they aren't saved by grace, when we are, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Grace, Unmerited Favor), not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9), "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," (Ephesians 2:4-5), "On the contrary, we believe it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are," (Acts 15:11), "and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So then, it does not depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy." (Romans 3:24, Romans 9:16), "Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace," (Ephesians 1:7), "In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace," (Romans 11:5-6), "You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace," (Galatians 5:4), "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace," (Romans 6:14), "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly/  I  do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die, O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth,before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified," (Galatians 2:21 to Galatians 3:1), "The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord," (Romans 5:20-21), "After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. "And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith, Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? "But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are," (Acts 15:7-11), "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," (Romans 5:6-8), "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God," (Acts 20:24), "But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ," (Romans 5:15-17), "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace," (2 Thessalonians 2:16), "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need," (Hebrews 4:16), and "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His Grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3-4-7). The liberty of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ has done it, "It is Finished," (John 19:30) and we do not have to keep a score card with God and be good enough to be accepted, loved, and admitted into heaven; instead its the reverse, we believe Christ is good enough, that He accepts us, loves us, and admits us into heaven through His precious blood and sacrifice for sin (Romans 3;25, 1 John 2:1-2). The burden of our faults and imperfections are handing over to Christ, we need not worry anymore if we are in Christ (John 17:20-23) and believe and confess Him (Romans 10:9-10). All we have to do is believe Jesus who is God (Colossians 2:9) was good enough for us, that He is perfect (Colossians 1:28, Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21) and through Him we become perfect at last, Him working in us (Philippians 2:13 NKJV and Colossians 2:9) and having covered us in His blood so that Father no longer sees our sin (Hebrews 8:12), but His Son,

Radical Grace is the belief in the Gospel as written in New Testament by five writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul [seven if you count Peter and James]. It is to believe, "9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God," (Romans 6:9-10), "Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit," (1 Peter 3:18), "Otherwise, He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself, so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him," (Hebrews 9:26, 28), "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life," (John 3:16), "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him," (John 3:36), "For it is My Father's will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day," (John 6:40), "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies," (John 11:25), and "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation./Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation" (Romans 10:9-10 NASB and AMPC). Why then do so many brothers and sisters fall into the trap of meriting and preforming, and trying to be perfect and save themselves with their filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)? The answer is pride, they do not want to release their path to heaven because then it reduces them to a sinner who needs a Savior, and removes all accolades of being a mini-almighty or demi-god. The other reason is insecurity, people read books by Orthodox writers, Roman Catholics, and even take Paul's words out of context like, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,: a better translation is: Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear (respect, honor)," (Philippians 2:12 ESV and NLT), and turn it into a never ending gauntlet of being good enough for God. Perhaps the insecurity also arises from fact they haven't felt, seen, or been around love, instead abuse and hurt have been their companions through life and so this free offer of grace and love through Christ is unknown to them and it takes time for them to trust and realize Christ's sacrifice and love is enough.

The Love of God is assured to us because God is love (1 John 4;8). Jesus Christ is full manifestation of this love, for He is fullness of Godhead (Colossians 2:9 ESV, KJV). On the cross Jesus showed His passionate love for mankind, taking man and woman's mistakes all the way back to Adam tell the last sin before Christ Returns upon Himself. This is call propitiation, and it is love at level that most of us can hardly comprehend, that God laid down his life, suffered, and took what we did wrong and its punishment upon Himself. We should never tire of the image of Christ on the cross, or the Gospel, for it is love written in blood and carved in God's flesh (body). Christ bears the marks of His love for us, His grace, and all we have to do is accept, believe in Him, and we shall not only have Him dwell in us (Colossians 1:27) but also we shall be with God who is love for eternity in the New Heaven and Earth (Revelation 21:1-34). If we could get lost in grace, and let Jesus take our mistakes, and let Him be perfect enough as He is perfect, and let Him be perfecting us from within in love, then we would discover by being lost in God's grace, and we become the righteousness of God through grace (2 Corinthians 5:21).