The truth of redeeming grace

By the grace of God we have been saved, God’s grace is unparalleled in goodness and mercy.

Even though the grace message that is sometimes preached today leaves one with many questions, God’s redeeming grace that He shows us in His Word leaves no misunderstanding.

I hear of some teachings out there today that Christians are covered under the grace of God and therefore sin has no hold on them. In other words, they don’t have to repent when they sin. Although I don’t agree with that, I don’t see why some of the grace messages preached today should divide the body of Christ but help draw us together so we can fully understand each other and correctly apply the Word.

The Bible says we have been redeemed by the grace of God, we must understand when we are born again, our spirit is born again and as we see in Hebrews 4:12 in the division soul and spirit and in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, it says “May your whole spirit, soul and body”, revealing the threefold nature of man. When we are born again our spirit is saved by grace but our soul our mind and our intellect have to be looked at in the light of God’s Word, the Bible talks100 times to save the soul and that is done by getting the Word of God into us so we can overcome the flesh, that’s why the Word of God tells us if we sin, repent.

If we walk in the spirit, walk in love we can overcome those things in the flesh that are not becoming for a Christian, the flesh has to work out those things.

The Bible says love covers a multitude of sin, but it does not say all sin.

That’s why in Mark 11:24-25 it says forgive so your Father in heaven will forgive you. This scripture is talking about our soul here, our mind, our intellect, we have to do something, forgive, and if we don’t forgive will it affect our saving grace when we were spiritually born again? No, our relationship with the father is not broken when we sin, but our fellowship most likely can be affected as we see here in these Scriptures.

As a Christian, we have many blessings. Yes, God wants Christians to walk in health, prosperity, joy, peace, the list goes on. Don’t be hindered by misconstruing the grace message God intended for each believer.

The Bible talks about searing one’s conscience, from my own experience, it can be anything that you do that is not what Jesus would do. How about that 4-letter word, it can be used so much that pretty soon your sear your conscience and you don’t even know you use it.

Allow your conscience to show you in these areas in your life that need to be addressed. Get the Word of God into you.

God’s saving grace that he bestows upon us when we are born again shows us his great love he has for us. We don’t want to make it a personal I am perfect statement, God’s grace bestowed upon us has nothing to do with what we have done, it is all about Jesus’ saving grace.

I heard the other day that ministers of the gospel are falling to sin in large numbers, why is that? I don’t know that answer, but I do know we need to recognize sin in our life, repent, turn and go the other way. If not, sin will overtake one. Romans 12:1-2 says, “present your bodies a living sacrifice…” Even though a Christian is born again, their bodies have not been affected by God’s saving grace. We must understand that the new birth is a spiritual birth; the body, the soul and the mind have to be dealt with and that is done by getting the Word of God into you and renewing your mind.

For Christian to say they are covered under the grace of God and live an unrepentant lifestyle is really a copout. Yes, they are using part of God’s Word to live their lifestyle, rejecting the rest of the Bible.

That’s pretty strong, but 2nd Timothy 4:3, 4 talks about rejecting sound doctrine.

The gift of righteousness is bestowed upon us when were born again, which means we are right standing with God the Father. I get excited when I bring the gift of righteousness forward but that does not mean we are perfect, but we are forgiven.

Paul in the epistles talks many times about putting the flesh down, to walk in the spirit, to walk in love. If you get the Word of God into your innermost being, you can walk in the spirit, but only if you put the flesh down, because your flesh is not redeemed. Christians, we are to love one another.

When we walk in love, the world can see our walk then we can tell people about Jesus’ saving grace and eternal life

Lavon Barve ministers through Cup of Life Ministries in Wasilla, AK.