10 Feb 08
Originally posted by duecerGrace is a Person. The law of Moses was given. Grace came with Jesus Christ. When the Person of Jesus came to me grace came to me in Him.
describe garce, and how it appears in your life; I'm interested in different opinions.
"For the law was given through Moses; grace came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
Grace is the spontaneous working of the Person of Christ in every area of my life where I allow Him Lordship. He empowers. He enables. He supplies ability.
On one hand this is the grace with my innermost being, my spirit -
"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers ..." (Galatians 6:18)
On the other hand the grace with my spirit is simply the enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Himself -
"The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you" (2 Tim. 4:22)
Put these two truths together and they confirm my experience. The Lord is with my spirit. Therefore the grace is with my spirit. Grace came to me when Jesus the Lord came to me.
Grace to me is Christ giving His life to me to empower and enrich my life - "the last Adam became a life giving Spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45)
His grace to me is Him giving Himself to me. When He gives Himself to me He overflows in my reactions and in my actions. He is one spirit with me:
"He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17)
Meaning my innermost being has become one with His being. As He grows and matures in me it is no longer I that live by Christ that lives within me.
"I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me ..." (Gal. 2:20)
His living in me is His grace living and working in me.
"I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God which is with me." (1 Cor. 15:10)
One side of the experience is "not I but Christ". The other side of the experience is "not I but the grace of God".
So grace is really the enjoyment of this Person Christ. When He came, grace came.
I have to turn prayerfully within to touch this grace which is with my innermost being-
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit" (Phil. 4:23)
Since Christ lives in my spirit and is one spirit with my spirit His spirit also bears witness with my spirit that I am one of the children of God:
"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" (Rom. 8:16)
The grace of God is the enjoyment of this living Person Christ. The grace both brings salvation to me and trains me to live soberly and and godly.
"For the grace of God, bringing salvation to all men, has appeared, training us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present age..." (Titus 2:11,12)
This grace is sufficient for all kinds of trials:
"And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you ..." (2 Cor. 12:9)
His grace with me is His power made perfect in the midst of my weakness_
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness" ( 2 Cor. 12:9)
Therefore the grace of Christ is an empowering grace to me:
" ... be empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus" (2 tim. 2:1)
I can enter into the realm of the Person of Christ as grace and make my stand in Him, remaining and standing empowered in Him -
" ... this is the true grace of God; enter into this grace and stand in it." (1 Pet. 2:5)
Standing firm in this realm of the living Jesus God becomes to me the God of all grace developing me into His eternal glory to express Him -
" But the God of all grace, He who has called you into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus ..." ( 1 Pet. 5:10)
10 Feb 08
Originally posted by duecerTitus 2:11-13 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
describe garce, and how it appears in your life; I'm interested in different opinions.
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
10 Feb 08
Originally posted by duecerWhat I was taught about grace was that it was a gift from God, freely given, but not to everybody. I found that a bit annoying. How can we all be held to the same standard if some are given this spiritual boost because God likes them better? Then I decided to stop thinking about it and felt much better.
describe garce, and how it appears in your life; I'm interested in different opinions.
10 Feb 08
Originally posted by duecerIt’s a good question, duecer. I had a teacher once who said, “If you can define every word that you use, at least you’ll always know what you’re talking about.”
describe garce, and how it appears in your life; I'm interested in different opinions.
There are other “big” words, such as faith and love, that I have been able to define for myself—although those definitions seem to fall outside conventional discourse. Grace is a word that I still use, that I realize—in the face of your question—I have not defined sufficiently that even I know exactly what I’m talking about. I’ll think about it, and maybe I’ll make a preliminary pass on here, in hopes that being challenged will help me refine my thought.
10 Feb 08
Originally posted by vistesdIt's God's grace.Try letting Him define it for you! 😉
It’s a good question, duecer. I had a teacher once who said, “If you can define every word that you use, at least you’ll always know what you’re talking about.”
There are other “big” words, such as faith and love, that I have been able to define for myself—although those definitions seem to fall outside conventional discourse. Grace is a word th ...[text shortened]... make a preliminary pass on here, in hopes that being challenged will help me refine my thought.
10 Feb 08
1 edit
Originally posted by duecerI will steal a line from, "The Unforgiven" I saw the other day. In the movie you have Clint Eastwood pointing a gun at someone who had just killed his friend. As the man was vainly pleading for his life he tells Clint what a good person he had been throughout his life and how he did not deserve to die like this. Then Clint glibly says, "Deservens got noth'in to do with it", and then shoots his head off.
describe garce, and how it appears in your life; I'm interested in different opinions.
I think this example is simliar to grace but in reverse. It is when we come to the realization that what we deserved forturnatly did not happen to us. Just be glad Clint is not God. LOL.
10 Feb 08
1 edit
The grace of God is someone (I say SOMEONE - a Divine Person) I enjoy when I am willing to humble myself under His headship.
" ... God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore be humbled under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time." (1 Peter 5:5b,6)
I circumvent this grace many times and forfiet it simply because I am too proud. He resists me in that condition. When I allow Him to be Lord - He gives grace.
10 Feb 08
Originally posted by whodeyThere would have been a lot less bloodshed throughout the bible if Clint were god.
I will steal a line from, "The Unforgiven" I saw the other day. In the movie you have Clint Eastwood pointing a gun at someone who had just killed his friend. As the man was vainly pleading for his life he tells Clint what a good person he had been throughout his life and how he did not deserve to die like this. Then Clint glibly says, "Deservens got noth' ...[text shortened]... at what we deserved forturnatly did not happen to us. Just be glad Clint is not God. LOL.
10 Feb 08
1 edit
Originally posted by duecerMore on the experience of grace:
describe garce, and how it appears in your life; I'm interested in different opinions.
Grace to me is a a living matter which, like body cells, grow and multiply in my life, as Christ takes over more of my life:
" ... Grace to you and peace be multiplied" (1 Pet. 1:2c)
This is my experience. The enjoyment of the elements of Christ grow in us not only by addition but by multiplication like the multiplication of cells.
This grace of the Lord Jesus Christ being with me is an intrinsic component of the operation of the Trinity for my salvation. Along with the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the Trinity completes His operation by bestowing into my living the grace of the Person Christ:
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." ( 2 Cor. 13:14)
You might say that love of the Father is the source of eternal life. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit keeps me in touch continually with the eternal life. And the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ keeps me living the eternal life daily hour by hour.
The grace of God is something that Christian can perceive and detect that other Christians also have:
"And perceiving the grace given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars gave to me and to Barnabas the right hand of fellowship" (Gal. 2:9)
Sometimes Christian workers go to a place and detect and SEE that God's grace is working in the congregation of those people:
" Who, when he [Barnabas] arrived and saw the grace of God, rejoiced and encouraged them all ..." (Acts 11:23)
Grace is not only God's power working in the believers. Grace was also God's mercy working over the believers justifying them objectively before God according to God's standard:
"Being justified freely by His grace" (Rom. 3:24)
God brings me out from under the principle of law keeping into the principle of enjoying His grace:
"For sin will not lord it over you, for you are not under the law but under grace." (Rom. 6:14)
When you are humbled by the realization that another divine Person is within you empowering you, you realize that you have been given grace:
"For I say through the grace given to me ... , " (Rom. 12:3a)
We believers in Christ are granted spiritual gifts according to the amount of grace of God given to each of us:
"And having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us ..." (Rom. 12:6a)
From coming again and again to Christ to experience grace, one realizes that she or he is being ruled by the grace of God. That means His very seat of authority, His throne in our life is a throne of grace:
"Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help." (Heb. 4:16)
His authority becomes a matter of His ruling us through His dispensing of grace to grant us timely help, mercy. We can come forward boldly to the throne of grace to receive God's empowering and strengthening in every and all circumstances.
God installs this grace into the innermost being of the believer in Christ:
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit" (Philemon 25)
"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen." (Gal. 6:18)
This grace with the innermost spirit of the Christian is actually the Lord Jesus Himself with her spirit:
"The Lord be with your spirit, Grace be with you" (2 Tim. 4:22)
This grace can be with all those who have an incorrupted love for Jesus Christ:
"Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility" (Eph. 6:24)
10 Feb 08
3 edits
Originally posted by rwingettAre you sure about that?
There would have been a lot less bloodshed throughout the bible if Clint were god.
So tell me rwingett, do you feel lucky today? In all the exitement I can't remember if there were 5 bullets in the gun or only 4. So I guess you will have to ask the question, Do you feel lucky today? Well, do ya punkgett? Make my day!! ðŸ˜
Edit: One thing is for sure, it would lighten the load of the judicial system considerably. You would either be dead or innocent. Also, I can't see Clint willingly going to the cross for our sorry butts. In fact, I can't think of anyone who would.
10 Feb 08
4 edits
Originally posted by duecerWhen I received Christ as a living Person into my innermost spirit, gradually I learned to live more in the grace of Christ. Then I learned to live by layer upon layer of grace. Yesterday's grace was gone. Today I needed a fresh supply of grace. So I experienced "grace upon grace"
describe garce, and how it appears in your life; I'm interested in different opinions.
"For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace" (John 1:16)