GRACE - 7

YOUR PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED

Welcome to the last lesson in this teaching series on Grace. I hope you have been blessed so far by the overwhelming abundance of Grace that is in Christ Jesus. This is the joy that we have, that is, we have received freedom and life. With Grace, life is now meaningful.

We should however note that the faith which we have in Christ Jesus made it possible for us to obtain this Grace. Many years back, humans have been in a long search for a way out of sin, death, diseases, and all sorts of oppression.

The bible talked about how even the Angels desire to look into the provision of God for us, that we might be justified by Grace through our faith in Christ Jesus. This plan had been made ready and sealed from the beginning of the world, but God deem it fit to reserve it for this generation. This is how we know God’s love and his tender mercies. That we do not deserve the gift he has given to us. Our God is just a loving God.

Now, it is very important that we know the power of the transformation of Grace in the life of a believer. You see, when we became saved by Grace, we became the children of God. The bible posits that we also became citizens of the kingdom of God. So do not need to put SOME WORKS OF HOLINESS OR RIGHTEOUSNESS together again in other to gain access to the kingdom of God. Grace saved us, and has brought us already into the Kingdom of Our Father. We are now called sons and daughters of God.

We should therefore know that, God is now interested in having a healthy relationship with you and I. God’s purpose for relieving us from the works of the law is to make us become his child. To be become a child of God is the same as becoming saved by Grace by believing the gospel.

So Jesus said “Come unto me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”

The “heavy laden” is all about the burden of the law and the struggles of life. This was his call before when he came to make Grace available unto us. So there is rest in Grace.

A believer is not saved to struggle again, but to rest in the Grace of our lord Jesus Christ.

We are called unto rest. GRACE IS REST!

This has been the order of God from the beginning. Those who had problems and struggles with life and with God are those who do not believe God or believe his words.

So the writer of Hebrews said “And to whom swear he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?”… Then he proceeds by saying that “For we which have believed do enter into rest…” and then finally he said “For he that is entered into rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his”

So the day you believed the gospel is the day you rested from your works. Grace has taken over from you. So Grace is rest from all work, struggles and burdens. Look around you today; you will see many believers struggling with one thing or the other - sin, sickness, finance, job, academics, pain, among others; all these have been defeated by Jesus Christ and the victory has been made available to us by Grace through faith.

You will notice how that, Grace is attached to faith. This is because faith is the key to unlocking all packages made available through Grace. Truly they have been made free and available to us, but we need to access them and this can be done only through faith. Anyone without faith cannot enjoy Grace at all! Although Grace is made available unto them but they will continue to live indifferent from those who have not received Grace.

This is why it is very important for us to always be in the atmosphere where Grace is taught extensively and the message of Grace Transformation is preached.

I have heard and seen many people who got transformed by Grace. So many people with addictions of pornography, drugs have been freed without any struggle or work done by them. Just their faith in what Christ has made available by Grace.

Grace is the only way out of sin; we have been saying that from the beginning of this series. Grace is just the only way. No matter how and hard you may try to stop yourself from sinning, it will not work. It will amount to more frustrations. You can only be freed when you turn to the Lords’ Grace. 

This is how your problems can be solved.

There are many prayer points we pray today, which are not relevant in the kingdom of God. This is because we are supposed to pray with reference to the victory made available by the cross. The cross has made all these things available to us by Grace. These things can only be received by faith. We are not trying to get anything from God any more; we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We just need to bring these things into manifestation by our faith.

No matter what you are going through, your problem has been solved. Just turn to Grace!

This is how you reign in life, this is the victory we have, we have peace and we are not afraid of anything. Not even death, for we are the sons and daughters of God. Therefore, go and reign!

THE END

GRACE - 6

GRACE IS HYPER

There have been many labels on persons who exalt the Grace of God here and there in the body of Christ; there have been a certain group of believers who have been tagged HYPER-GRACE believers, especially when they are preachers and they talk less about sin and its effects.

Well, I will like to tell you now that I am one of them. But before you react, why not try to find out why I said so. This is because Grace itself is hyper, pure and powerful than what the human brain can reason. So there is nothing bad about Grace being hyper, Grace is beyond your reasoning.

How can you explain how our GOD put on a human body, came down to earth and was condemned as a SUBSTITUTE FOR MAN, and as a result being KILLED BY MAN? How can you explain that? Is that not hyper? If we say that Jesus is God and that GOD DIED FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD when no man was found worthy to do so, is that not hyper? Is that a normal thing?

Then what else do we call Grace, if not the OVERWHELMING RECKLESS LOVE OF GOD? What else is Grace if not the UNSPEAKABLE IMPUTATION OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS CHRIST TO US and the ETERNAL SALVATION OFFERED WITH AN ETERNAL SEAL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT without our works? Is the Grace of God not hyper?

Listen, Grace is not the same as what people do when they DO HOLINESS WORKS to maintain their salvation at all, you cannot maintain what is given to you by Grace. Grace is beyond the maintenance of man.

So until you dig deeper into God’s pool of Grace, you will not be able to apprehend God’s love. This is because Grace is hyper and the love of God is very deep.

So there is no WORKS REQUIRED FROM YOU AS A BELIEVER. You have been enveloped by his majestic Grace. That Grace is VERY SUFFICIENT FOR YOU.

Now when Paul the Apostle complained of one “thorn in his flesh” and asked that God should take it away, God said “His strength is made perfect in Paul’s weakness” and that “His Grace is sufficient for Paul”… you see that? So there is no amount of sin that you may have, the Grace of God is greater than your weaknesses. The Grace of God is UNBOUNDED, IT IS HYPER!

So Paul now said “MOST GLADLY, I will RATHER GLORY IN MY INFIRMITIES that the power of Christ may rest on me”. This is the same confidence that a believer confesses when they are struggling with any sin, so grace is hyper!

Again during Paul’s letter to the Romans he said “shall we continue in sin that Grace may abound? God forbid” It is very unfortunate that “those who are offended by the simplicity of Grace” use this particular bible verse to preach against Grace.

Why did he say so? The next verse reads “Because we are dead to sin!” So he was not saying that we dare not commit sin again, that if we mistakenly or even knowingly commit a sin, grace does not cover. That is not what he is saying. Man is prone to sin because the soul of man is not saved yet, it is a long process. It is only the spirit of man that is saved and seal eternally. So your weaknesses or sins may not be your WISH OR WILL but an agency at work in you, which will reduce everyday with the outworking power of the Holy Spirit. However, this does not affect the Grace of God on you. In fact, the outworking power of the Holy Spirit that will eventually deliver you from such sin is the work of 

Grace! It is not going to be your works at all! You will get tired!

Now, Paul in the same passage where he said “shall we continue in sin…” made it clear that “where sin abounds, Grace abound much more!” You get?

For example, suppose we can weigh sin and you are said to have 100kg of sin, then there is more than 100kg of Grace available to CANCEL OUT ALL YOUR SINS! If it is 5 BILLION TONNES, there is more than 5 BILLION TONNES of Grace available to NULIFY ALL YOUR SINS! Grace is unlimited, Grace is hyper!

Do not think that the Grace of God can be exhausted, the more you sin the more the Grace upon you increases to nullify your sins. This is because the Grace that saved you is not humanly but divine, and it is available without measure. You cannot quantify anything that is of God. Talk of God’s Grace, mercy, love, holiness, righteousness, favor… name it! You cannot quantify them.

So there is no amount of sin that anyone can commit that is greater than the Grace of God.

This implies that TO THE BELIEVER, SIN IS DEAD! There is no amount of sin that you may commit that can send you to hell! Sin does not exist in the eternally sealed spirit of the believer. They have been justified forever by the eternal blood of Christ! This is the truth, meditate on it and live it! 

All your sins have been forgiven!

So Grace has been hyper from the start! If your Grace is not hyper, then it is not pure Grace! One great teacher said that “Grace plus little works is called mixture” and that this “mixture” is worse than “works”. Remember it is better to be cold or hot than to be lukewarm. So DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MIX GRACE WITH LAW, it will not work.

If you cannot FULLY AND COMPLETELY DEPEND UPON GRACE (THE FINISHED WORKS OF JESUS CHRIST) FOR EVERYTHING, then you are not practicing pure Grace. You are practicing mixture, and you are worse!

Take it or leave it, the pure Grace of God that saves is hyper! It has no boundary! And it is built upon the sacred eternal blood of Christ which redeemed us eternally!

No sin can stop us! No power of hell can pull us! No Satan can defeat us! No death can take us!

We are under the umbrella of his UNLIMITED GRACE!

For those of you, who are struggling with one sin or the other, turn to Grace! You see, it is only the Grace of God that can save you totally from your sinful habit! Not the law! And you also need to bear in mind that your sinful habit has been paid for; your salvation is not affected by it because it is the GRACE ABOUNDS MUCH MORE THAN SIN that gave you the salvation, not your works! It is this same Grace that you need to trust for your total liberation from that habit!

If you are looking for one thing in the kingdom that is hyper, it God’s Love and God’s Grace! Very hyper!

William McDowell said in one of his songs “I am at a loss of words” when he wants to describe these things.

The Grace of God is not a license to sin but the antidote and solution to sin. When you soak yourself into the pool of HYPER GRACE, you will touch a greater dimension of God’s love and your worries will flee.

There are no worries when you are FULLY (not one leg Grace, one leg works) under the Grace of God!

You have peace instead and you have a new identity – the Sons and Daughters of God. You are now made greater than all powers and principalities. This can only be done by a Grace that is HYPER!

Remain blessed!

GRACE - 5

SALVATION IS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH ALONE

Alright, we have done a lot of discussions on the inadequacies of the works of the law. We have also established the fact that no one can be justified by the works of the law. The law is good but Grace is best. Grace is the solution to the problems of the world. Grace is the antidote to the sin problem of mankind not the law.

Now we shall look away from the comparison between law and Grace and then focus on Grace in these last three lessons.

Now it is imperative to establish at this point that the salvation of man is ONLY RECEIVED by Grace through faith in Christ Jesus. There is no other means by which man can be saved.

Now, in February edition of the #Basileia tagged “understanding salvation”, we discussed the original meaning of salvation and considered all the dimensions that salvation can take. That salvation can be a past event (spirit), a continuous process (soul) and a future event (body). However, all these dimensions of salvation can only be administered by Grace through faith.

The salvation experience is not something that any man can obtain. Salvation CANNOT BE ACHIEVED, it can ONLY BE RECEIVED and this salvation can be received through faith. Faith in whom? Faith in Christ Jesus. How do we mean by “faith in Christ Jesus”? We mean that anyone who will be saved by Grace need only to believe in the finished WORKS (not your works) of the cross as the SUBSTITUTIONARY WORK done for him or her. In order words, that Jesus Christ has done those works in his or her stead and there is no more works to be done.

It has been declared that no man can be saved by DOING THE WORKS OF THE LAW

Now we shall also declare that NO MAN CAN BE SAVED BY THEIR WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS OR HOLINESS. Titus records it that “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…”

None of man’s holiness or righteousness can earn man salvation. That was why Jesus told his disciples that except their righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees, they will not enter the kingdom. He was referring to the righteousness of God as the only righteousness that can be acceptable which is only available through Grace at salvation. Nobody can enter the kingdom of heaven with their own righteousness.

Salvation is strictly available by Grace. God made this so, that no one should boast that is their doing. Throughout the scriptures, God has been known for not sharing his glory with any man and that will never change. This is why he made salvation to be strictly by Grace and not of works.

See how Paul puts it in the book of Ephesians…

“For by Grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” Eph 2:8-9

You see that? ... God solved the scenario of man boasting in their works by making salvation strictly by Grace. In order words, WE DO NOT CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING TO SAVE OURSELVES, GOD DID ALL THE WORK HIMSELF.

So it is very important that we bear this in mind whenever we are presenting the gospel.

The gospel of salvation is the gospel of Grace. It is not the gospel of works at all. The era of DO and DONTS is past. No one can be justified by obeying the law; justification can only be by Grace.

See how Paul puts it again…

“Knowing that a man is not Justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” Galatians 2:16

“But no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the Just shall live by faith” Galatians 3:11

So we are saved by Grace and this Grace cannot be maintained by our works. When you start keeping commandments in other not be rejected after you have been saved by the gospel of Grace, you are ignorant of the power of Grace, and you will fall from Grace in due time.

See how Paul puts it again…

“Christ is become of now effect unto you, whosoever of you is justified by the law; ye are fallen from Grace” Galatians 5:4

The Grace of God is greater than ANY SIN. There is no sin habit that is greater than Grace.

Some persons believe that when we exalt Grace or when we preach Grace, we are condoning sin or that we are using Grace to cover our sins. NO and NEVER!

WE DO NOT USE GRACE AS A LICENSE TO SIN. This is because Sin is DEAD! There is no sin again to the believer who is saved by Grace. Christ has destroyed sin and its power thousands of years ago. So we are not even bothered about sin. Grace does not condone sin; rather it is the law that strengthens sin.

See how Paul puts it….

“The sting of death is sin; and THE STRENGTH OF SIN IS THE LAW” 1 Corinthians 15:56

The Grace of God rather saves man and sees that salvation to the end. It is the same Grace of God that saved the spirit of man that will do the work of the soul salvation as well as the body salvation. 

All are by Grace through faith. Faith is the currency of the kingdom. God designed it so.

The Grace of God does not encourage sin; rather it delivers man from sin. All your sins and struggles can only be solved when you turn to Grace. For Grace, sin is nothing, where sin abounds, Grace abounds the More.

God bless you!

GRACE - 4

GRACE IS GRACE, WORKS IS WORKS

When the bible talks about Grace, it is referring to the action of God’s love for humanity in saving them from their sins.

Grace is not in any way intertwining with works. There is no commonalty between Grace and works. They are distinct and never interwoven.

Grace is a gift and it is dependent on the giver and not the receiver. The giver determines the gift and gives it to the receiver without any struggle or works required from the receiver.

Grace is Grace and works is works

We have established it in previous lessons that Works are associated with the law. It is the law that demands some works from those who observe it. Grace does demand any work whatsoever. Grace is a free gift from God.

When Moses gave the Israelites the law, it was required of the Jews to do certain works and to obey every rule strictly keeping all ordinances. They must DO before they are justified by the law.

When Jesus Christ came, the law was no longer needed. This is because the law has accomplished what it was made for. Just as John the Baptist was meant to come and prepare the way for the salvation before Jesus Christ, so also the law was that which was meant to prepare the way for Grace to take charge.

The difficulty of the law and its burden was necessary in order to appreciate God’s love when Grace comes. The love of God was demonstrated when he sent Jesus Christ to die for the sins of the world. 

The world was deep in their sins and there was a desperate need for a savior, yet none was worthy. So when Christ came to fill that position, we received Grace.

Man caused the problem that has come upon them by themselves. Therefore man was supposed to provide solutions for their problems, but God provided the solutions instead through Jesus Christ when man was helpless. This is Grace.

All what Jesus Christ did for us; from when he was arrested, flogged, crucified, resurrected and till the time he ascended to heaven is called the FINISHED WORKS of redemption. So the works that we couldn’t DO was what Jesus Christ has done for all those who believe in him.

So the work that Christ did was to DONE FOR US! And this works is FINISHED!

Therefore there are no more works left UNDONE!

Every work that we need to do for our justification has been done by Jesus Christ.

We do not need to do ANY WORKS AGAIN; we just need to receive GRACE.

And this Grace is received by BELIEVING IN THE WORKS that has been done for you.

If you do not believe that those works that Jesus did was done for you, then you have not received Grace. Anyone who chooses to do some works in order to be justified or accepted by God is frustrating this free gift of Grace that has been made available.

So then GRACE IS STRICTLY GRACE AND WORKS IS STRICTLY WORKS.

You cannot mix these two. You cannot have the two. Anyone that is under Grace is no longer under works; anyone that trusts their works is not relying on Grace. These two cannot be in operation at the same time.

However, know that this is the dispensation of Grace. Anyone who chose to remain under the dictates of the law is declaring Grace insufficient and therefore Grace will not work for such person.

Some people have dubiously chosen to TRUST THEIR HOLY WORKS and then use GRACE to COMPLEMENT their works. It is NOT POSSIBLE. It will not work.

If you want to be justified by works, then go ahead, if by Grace then go ahead. But the bible tells us that no one can be justified by their works. So Grace is the only way by which we can be accepted by God. And this Grace must be pure Grace. Not Grace mixed with religion or the works of the law.

You cannot depend on Grace and ALSO believe that your WORKS OF SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS will help you maintain the Grace that you received. You cannot maintain God’s gift. Grace is not humanly, it is divine.

When we are able to distinguish between the functions of the law and Grace properly, we will be able to separate religion from the real faith.

Salvation is designed by God to be by GRACE THROUGH FAITH ALONE so that no one will boast.

WE ARE NOTHING WITHOUT THIS GRACE; GRACE IS THE SOLUTION TO ALL WORLD PROBLEMS!

GRACE - 3

I HAVE NOT COME TO ABOLISH THE LAW, BUT TO FULFILL IT – WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

There have been too many argument concerning “Law” and “Grace” that it has almost become a long time debate among believers.

Some of these arguments are:

·                     Whether we are completely no longer under the law

·                     That getting saved does not guarantee the entrance into the kingdom of God; that we need to keep certain laws especially holiness to the end before we can be sure of our salvation.

·                     That Jesus Christ has not come to abolish the law at all as recorded in the book of Matthew

·                     That the OT laws still apply to us today as believers and we must not violate any

·                     That if a believer is found wanting in all of God’s divine laws, despite being saved by Grace, they will still go to hell.

Now these things have divided the body of Christ for a long time now. God is not the author of confusion; these conflicts were developed by early Christian fathers who did not take their time to study what the scripture’s judgment is, concerning law and Grace.

Although, many agree that we are no longer in the dispensation of the law as this is very clear in the bible. We are now in the dispensation of Grace. However, certain persons seem to get offended by the simplicity of this Grace, because it does not condone 0.0001% of the law at all.

Paul said, if it is of works, then it is no more Grace and if it is Grace, then it is no more works. 

Otherwise we would say that Grace is not really Grace and works is not really works. That is, if we say something is Grace, then it is actually PURE GRACE.

Grace actually is something that is totally unmerited, not worked for. It is something that is undeserving. Therefore it is very logical to say that Grace and works cannot be mixed. Grace is a gift and not dependent on the receiver but on the giver.

Now, the conflict of whether we are still required to observe the law together with Grace is what I will like to address right now. The word of God is clear, but because of the weakness in the flesh of man, it becomes difficult to comprehend God’s love for humanity. The gospel of Grace is VERY SIMPLE. We often say “as simple as ABC”, but the gospel of Grace is even simpler than ABC. This is because God saves the sinner by a free gift independent of the works of righteousness of such person. A sinner is always saved by Grace; no works of righteousness can save anybody.

So the issue of whether one needs to DO SOME WORKS to preserve or maintain the salvation that was received by Grace is unreasonable. And that is why some persons get offended, by its simplicity!

And since we shall address this simplicity and why Grace needs no maintenance in the next lesson, let us ONLY do justice to the popular confusion of what Christ meant in the book of Matthew by NOT ABOLISHING THE LAW BUT FULFILLING IT.

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”

Now, let us bear in mind; that the dispensation of the law ended with Christ. We have seen that over and over, that we have been translated from being under the law to Grace the day Christ resurrected. 

So the bone of contention is not whether we are now under Grace or not… see how Paul puts it “For sin shall no longer be your master, because YOU ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE.” Romans 6:14

So now we just need to settle the conflict of whether we can MAINTAIN GRACE WITH OUR WORKS as some persons have claimed referencing Jesus’ statement.

Now Jesus Christ said “I have not come to ABOLISH the law.”

Now the word “abolish” means to formally put an end to (a system, practice, or institution). So definitely Jesus is saying that he has not come to put to an end to the practice of the law. That since he did not give the law (Moses did), then he won’t be the one to ask them to stop obeying demands of the law.  

But was Jesus encouraging them to continue with the law? See what he said next…

 “I am not come to destroy, but to FULFILL”

Now what does Jesus mean by fulfilling the law?

The verb “fulfill” means TO FILL A NEED OR WANT. It also means to meet expectations, or live up to a standard.

So when Jesus said he has come to FULFILL THE LAW, it means he has come to provide the need or want that the law could not provide. It means Christ has come to meet up with the expectations of the law that NO ONE has been able to meet. It means Christ came to meet up with the standards of the law, so that he could free every man from the yoke of the law.  Christ represented us all in fulfilling the demands of the law.

Recall that we said in the previous lesson that the law was given to man in order to point man to the need for Grace. That man was put under the law to in order to expose the inadequacies of man. So when Christ said he has not come to abolish the law, he meant he cannot ask them to do away with the law just like that, he has come to fulfill the demands of the law instead so that we can be freed from its dominion.

Therefore indirectly, Jesus Christ was the end of the rule of the law. When Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, the law became powerless because all humanity was in Jesus Christ.

Remember that all humanity was in Adam before he sinned. You did not become a sinner because you sin; you became a sinner because Adam sinned. Therefore when Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, you also did fulfill the law in him. That is just why you are no longer under the law. You fulfilled the law with Christ.

See how Paul puts it finally…

Romans 8:3-4 “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: THAT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LAW MIGHT BE FULFILLED IN US.

We didn’t run away from the law because it is too tough, the law was fulfilled by Jesus Christ for us.

Amen.

GRACE - 2

WHAT THE LAW COULD NOT DO

In a very good attempt to understand the power and the importance of Grace, we shall consider by contradiction what the law could not do. Since the law is the sponsor of works. We sometime interchange the word “law” to mean “works” and to mean the opposite of “Grace”

This is because the law requires your good and righteous works in order for you to be justified, while Grace does not. Grace is a free thing.

Paul said in Romans 8 “For WHAT THE LAW COULD NOT DO, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh”

Now, when we talk of “law”, we do refer to the laws given by Moses and all DOs and DONTs that is required for salvation or justification.

See how John puts it…

“For the law was given by Moses, but Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”

Renowned teacher, Pastor Joseph Prince once emphasized on the presence of “Truth” on the side of Grace in the passage above, and I will also like to point further that “truth” was not just on the other side of the law but also that the law has no partner. This is because the AIM of the law was to bring us to the need for Grace.

So what the law could not do is exactly what Grace has done for you and me, defeating sin and justifying us without any of our righteous works.

See how Paul puts it in Galatians 3:24, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith”

You see that?

So the law does not have any good to offer mankind. It was mainly given to mankind, in order for us to acknowledge our weaknesses and our need for Grace. What we need is Grace, but we will not appreciate Grace if we were not first given the law. So Paul said; the law was our school master.

Other versions said…

“So the law was put in charge TO LEAD US to Christ that we might be justified by faith” NIV

“So the law served [to us Jews] AS OUR TRAINER [our Guardian, our guide to Christ, to lead us] until Christ [came], that we might be justified declared righteous, put in right standing with God, by and through faith.” AMP

You see that? (KJV) said the law was our SCHOOL MASTER, (AMP) made it clearer that the law was our TRAINER, and then the (NIV) explains it all by saying that the law was given to LEAD US TO Christ (Grace).

Below are few SHORTCOMINGS and INADEQUACIES of the law;

·       

•   The law is an unbearable yoke. (Acts 15:10)
• ·         The law reveals sin but cannot fix it. (Romans 3:20)
• ·         The law brings wrath upon those who follow it. (Romans 4:15)
• ·         The purpose of the law was to increase sin. (Romans 5:20)
• ·         The law which promises life only brings death through sin. (Romans 7:10)
• ·         The law makes you sinful beyond measure. (Romans 7:13)
• ·         The law is weak. (Romans 8:2-3)
• ·         The strength of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56)
• ·         The law has as a ministry called the ministry of death. (2 Corinthians 3:7 - verses 7-11 are an explicit reference to the Ten Commandments)
• ·         The law is a ministry of condemnation. (2 Corinthians 3:9)
• ·         The law has no glory at all in comparison with the New Covenant. (2 Corinthians 3:10)
• ·         The law has faded away. (2 Corinthians 3:11)
• ·         Anywhere the law is preached it produces a mind-hardening and a heart-hardening veil. (2 Corinthians 3:14-15)
• ·         The law justifies nobody. (Galatians 2:16)
• ·         The law curses all who practice it and fail to do it perfectly. (Galatians 3:10)
• ·         The law functioned in God’s purpose as a temporary covenant from Moses till John the Baptist announced Christ. (Galatians 3:16 & 19, also see… Matthew 11:12-13, Luke 16:16)
• ·         If the law worked, God would have used it to save us. (Galatians 3:21)
• ·         The law was our prisoner. (Galatians 3:23)
• ·         The law makes you a slave like Hagar. (Galatians 4:24)
• ·         The law is weak, useless and makes nothing perfect. (Hebrews 7:18-19)
• ·         God has found fault with it and created a better covenant, enacted on better promises. (Hebrews 8:7-8)
• ·         It is obsolete. (Hebrews 8:13)
• ·         It is only a shadow of good things to come and will never make you perfect. (Hebrews 10:1)
• ·         Although the law is good, perfect and holy but cannot help you be good, perfect or holy. (Romans 7:7-12)
• 
  

When you consider all these things above, you will agree that the law is not the plan of God for man.

God’s desire is not for his people to be ruled by the Law which has no good thing to offer, it has been producing worse results than when it does not exist. When there was no law, there was no sin. The entrance of the law gave sin more power, although sin was already in the world. The law was the sponsor of sin, it published sin the more.

This however does not mean that the law is bad. The law is perfect and good as said above, but it does not make its doers perfect and good.

So what the law could not do is what Grace has done.

Grace was the answer that mankind needed. Grace is the solution to sin, death and hell.

Grace is the provision for the problem of SIN. The law cannot save anyone from sin, only Grace can save.

GRACE - 1

THE DEFINITION OF GRACE

The word “Grace” means an undeserved, unmerited favor. That is, something received which was not worked for.

The word is described in the English dictionary as a sense of propriety and consideration, that is, when you accommodate something which on a normal ground shouldn’t be accommodated or you consider something you shouldn’t have been considered normally.

It is also defined as a disposition to kindness and compassion, especially to those who offend you. 

Again, it is described as a period of time past the deadline for fulfilling an obligation during which a penalty that would be imposed for being late is waived, especially an extended period granted as a special favor.

But in the scriptures, Grace is described as just the free and unmerited favor (a gift) or beneficence of God.

Grace is not something you get added to your works, Grace is actually a gift of God independent of your works, seeing that your works cannot accomplish what you want it to accomplish.

Grace is what happened when God saves a sinner. Grace is God’s response to the inability of mankind to save themselves.

Grace is usually described by some believers as an extra time of repentance for sinners to be accepted, this is however as a result of one of the English dictionary definition of Grace, but according to the bible; it is actually a favor granted to sinners who could not save themselves.

When man fell from his original position in the beginning, he fell from so many things. This fall gave entrance to sin which also gave entrance to death. The presence and dominion of sin made it necessary for the introduction of law. The law was introduced in other to publish the necessity of Grace. Grace was necessary and needed but the law was introduced first.

Sin became the sole problem of mankind and the source of many other problems. The presence of sin made other atrocities and problems to thrive. There was massive entrance of other evil practices because sin entered into the world.

Paul said in the book of Romans that, Sin entered into the world and the death reign by sin. However, there are many other things that entered and reigned as a result of sin which the apostle did not mention in that passage, probably because of context.

Although sin championed the course, while death is the end of it all, however he only mentioned these two, there are many other evil works as a result of the sin of the first man in between. For example, sickness entered as a result of sin.

So man became dominated with many bad and unpleasant things. The law was then given to provide solution to them. However, the law was helpless, not that the law was not good enough but that man was not good enough to obey the demands of the law. The law was very strict; they became more problems for man instead of solution.

Now, in the course of this series, we shall see why God gave the law to man seeing that he knew how man would not be able to fulfill the demands of the law. By this only, can we understand and cherish Grace.

We shall also discover that not the whole human race was given the law; the law was given to the Israelites only. The other races were said to be in total darkness, they were called Gentiles. They live according to their senses. So their case was even worse, they were so helpless and had no hope of deliverance from sin and its consequences.

But right now the Grace of God has been made available to all humans, whether Jew or Gentile. The Grace of God is God’s provision for the problem of sin.

Sin Reigned since the fall till the Grace came.

The Law tried but could not overcome, Grace came and sin was destroyed.

And since every problem we have in this world came as a result of sin, then if anyone receives this Grace that is above sin, such person will experience victory in his or her life.

Grace is the secret to a victorious life.

Every religion attempts to provide peace and victory over the challenges and situations of life but the Grace of God is the best and in fact the ONLY solution because it is more powerful than sin and it is very much available through faith in Christ Jesus.