Grace
Pastor J. R. Wilhite, author
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Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. If Noah had not found grace in the eyes of the Lord, he would have drowned in the flood and all mankind would have ended. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. First faith, Noah had faith that God would flood the earth, and the substance of things hoped for, his salvation from the flood was the Mark. The Mark was the evidence of things not seen, the flood. It was grace that allowed Noah to use his faith. Proof, Noah with only faith, and not grace, would not have been informed of what was to come and how to prepare for it, so it was the grace of God that saved Noah, or at least gave Noah the ability to have faith. Our faith can only be used and exercised if we know where and what for. So by grace God informed Noah, and then by faith, Noah believed God.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God
Genesis 19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
Genesis 19:18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:
Genesis 19:19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
Genesis 19:20 Behold now, this city [is] near to flee unto, and it [is] a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, ([is] it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
Genesis 19:21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
So by the grace Lot had from the Lord a city was saved.
Genesis 33:10 And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
Genesis 33:15 And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee [some] of the folk that [are] with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.
Luke 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
What does that mean, "grace for grace"? Think about as being two graces, one for all mankind, and one for you personally. We have a personal God.
Acts 14:3 Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
Acts 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.
Acts 18:27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:
Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
The grace of God, we hear people saying I will give a period of grace. Say a bill is do on the 15th, well the grace period might be 3 days, 5 days or even 30 days. This means during this time they will not charge you for being late because that is your period of grace
God gives us grace, a time to work out our salvation, a time to repent, a time to receive the revelation needed to stop sinning in the area we receive the revelation.
Acts 20:32 And now, brethren, I comend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
Romans 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called [to be] saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice that grace is used in the opening and closing of the letters of the new testament.
Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
The Blood of Jesus redeems us from sin, but grace is what helps us to stay redeemed. When you sin grace is covering you until you repent, and when you repent the sin is removed from you. It is like an umbrella, when it rains you use an umbrella to keep as dry as possible. This is our salvation.
So we have all fallen short and are of sin, then we accept Jesus and made new and clean, but sin then pops up in our life. And grace covers us and the Holy Spirit convicts us of that sin so we will repent. We repent and are forgiven and the sin is forgotten.
Romans 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Romans 4:16 Therefore [it is] of faith, that [it might be] by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Our faith comes from the Word (faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)), and the Word is Jesus (John 1:14). And our faith in the grace of God that carries us through to the promise.
Romans 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:15 But not as the offence, so also [is] the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, [which is] by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Romans 5:16 And not as [it was] by one that sinned, [so is] the gift: for the judgment [was] by one to condemnation, but the free gift [is] of many offences unto justification.
Romans 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Romans 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Romans 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then [is it] no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if [it be] of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
2 Corinthians 4:15 For all things [are] for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
So as grace is our gift that we have received from God, so not that our salvation could be earned, but a gift, that no man could boast. Saying see what I have done to earn my salvation, but instead, by the grace of God am I saved, and then the glory goes unto God and not man.
2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, [as] workers together [with him], beseech [you] also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
2 Corinthians 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
Jesus left the Father and came down here to us and took the sin of the world on Himself so we could be saved.
2 Corinthians 9:8 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:
2 Corinthians 9:14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.
2 Corinthians 12:6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but [now] I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me [to be], or [that] he heareth of me.
2 Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
2 Corinthians 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
In weakness of our will (when our will is weak), God is strong in us, but when our will is strong He is weak in us. We need to turn our will power over to Him. When we allow our will to bend towards the ways of the world in anything we are not in His will. It is easier to allow our will to be swayed and ruled and controlled by the flesh. But remember the flesh is not the body it is a way of life, it is the way of the world. We are a soul with a body that is more connected to the world due to the flesh, and a spirit warring with that flesh.
We the soul have a spirit from God and a flesh of the world. And it is easier to allow the flesh to rule than to allow the spirit to be in control. And this is done by our will, if our will is strong, meaning we are not forcing it to conform, then it is strong, strong against the ways of God. But when our will is conformed to follow God then it is weak and God is able to use us and help us. Our soul is our mind, will and emotions, the emotions more than not work towards the flesh, the will if subject to God work towards the kingdom and our mind is right allowing which ever to happen. In our mind we decide, No, I am not going to allow my emotions and the flesh to control me. Then our will comes up and tries to fight our decision due to years of training towards the ways of the flesh. But then our will has to conform to our decision and when it does it is weak and God can help. And during this time grace is there helping us through while the battle is raging over who or what will rule in our lives. When we decide it is God, grace stays and helps, but if we do not decide and go back and forth then we are casting grace and God to the wind.
Galatians 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Yes, we can fall from grace and that means we can fall from salvation, so there is no once saved always saved.
Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God
Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Ephesians 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
The measure is the amount you need to come through victorious, as sin abounds, grace abounds more.
2 Thessalonians 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given [us] everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
1 Timothy 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Not just to some, God did not sit back and say you, you and you are saved, but all men. Where it says many are called but few are chosen, that is because God calls us all, but all of us do not listen to the call. And predestination, is like you are watching the parade go by on the street level. All you can see is what is right there on that street. But if you were on a 5 story building looking down, you could see the beginning of the parade route, the middle and the end. And that is all predestination is God saw it all and knew it all and we were predestine based on what we had already done.
Titus 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Hebrews 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby many be defiled;
1 Peter 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace [that should come] unto you:
1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1 Peter 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, [even so] minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace, and [in] the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him [be] glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Revelation 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you all. Amen.
Is there a sin unto death?
Yes, the only sin that is unto death, that can not be forgiven is the sin not under the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy [against] the [Holy] Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Meaning, if you are in the Spirit of God (God is a Spirit) then there is no sin unforgivable. But like in the rain, if you are not under the umbrella you will get wet. Imagine the Holy Spirit as the umbrella, if you are under it then you can be forgiven, but you have to ask for forgiveness, just as you have to open the umbrella and get under it, you may have to shift it one way or another to protect you from the rain. Like when the rain is coming straight down you have it right over your head, but if it is coming more at an angle, you might angle the umbrella one way or another. First you have to be in the spirit, then you have to ask for forgiveness. It is easy to receive the Holy Spirit, you ask God for His Spirit, and you find out that it was always there, just waiting for an invitation to come in and help. Remember God is a gentleman He is not like Satan who forces, God knocks and ask to come in.
Can I sin and be forgiven, yes, but you can not sin and sin and sin deliberately, and you will not knowingly if you are walking in the Holy Spirit. You can sin and not realize you have sin, then the Holy Spirit will conflict you of that sin, so you can ask forgiveness and not be under it any more.
Salvation through the blood of Jesus, grace brought by the Holy Spirit, in grace you are given time to get through the sins and the power to overcome them.
What is usually lacking is discipline, we need to be disciplined,
Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have comanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
So if you are in the body of Christ and are sinning stop it, and if you can not, ask God, He will help, you just need to learn to be disciplined of by the Holy Spirit to overcome the sins of the world.
Romans 8:1 [There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Remember if you are trying to overcome, there is a time, a period of grace for this, so do not let it get you down, if you fall down, get back up and try again. Sometimes we try of ourselves and of ourselves we will never be able to overcome, but of God we will, so do not try on your own, go to the Father and ask Him, He will guide you.
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.Grace is unmerited favor and Spiritual Power to excel. When you were with out favor grace came not due to what you did, but because of God's love for you. And in that grace is power to excel in the body of Christ, to overcome the ways of the world.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
2-20-04 H.O.M.E.