Have we received the Grace of God in Vain?
We grow up and live in a society
where very few people emerge as leaders and the vast majority as followers. In
the Christian life however, each one must learn to stand on his/her two feet
firmly planted on the solid foundation which is Jesus Christ. Whatever one
builds on this foundation, his/her work will be shown for what it is, because
the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire
will test the quality of each man’s work (1Corinthians 3:12-13).
It is written, “But to each one
of us grace was or has been given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”
Grace is what brought us thus far in life, and it is grace that will bring us
to our final destiny. Grace is what taught our hearts to fear, and it is grace
that will relieve us of fear (Ephesians 4:7).
But what is this thing called
Grace? Grace is God’s gift to humanity; His unmerited favor through Jesus
Christ by whom we attained God's unmerited favor and so, we then, as workers
together with Him also pleading that we do not receive the grace of God in vain
and the way we do this is by knowing, understanding, believing and putting into
practice all the components constituting grace which are:
1. Eternal Life
Eternal life is a gift mankind
received from God despite our unworthiness as we have been duly admonished
saying: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus Christ is the source by which mankind receives
the gift of eternal life. For thus says the Lord; “And this is eternal life,
that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have
sent.” The apostle John also wrote saying; “And we know that the Son of God has
come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and
we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and
eternal life (Romans 5:23; John 17:3, 1John 5: 20).
The testimony or witness which
the Father has given us regarding His Son is that; “There are three that bear
witness on earth: The Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree
as one." The Spirit is Christ, the living Man from heaven, the water is
His flesh, and the blood His life.
It is said that, "if we
receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness
of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has
the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar,
because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And
this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in
His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does
not have life” (1John 5: 8-12).
Jesus Christ who is eternal life
gives to all men life, and breath, and everything else so that men will seek
Him, and perhaps reach out for Him, and find Him although He is not far from
each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our existence.
It is by one Spirit we were all
baptized or immersed into Him at His death and was begotten by Him at His
resurrected from the dead. According to the words of Jesus Christ, “I tell you
the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains
only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John
12:24).
This He said referring to His
body which is the true vine, and we are the branches. The branch that does not
bear fruit, the Father who is the husbandman cuts, and the one that does bear
fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. But for any branch to be
fruitful it must remain attached to the vine, because without Him one can do
nothing.
So how does a person receive this
precious gift of eternal life from Jesus Christ who is the source of life? Jesus
said quite emphatically; “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through Me.” He again said to Martha; “I am the
resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall
live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
(John
14:6; 11:25-26).
The question is, do we believe
this? If we believe this, then the other question is what it is about Jesus
Christ as being the resurrection and the life that we believe? And if we say
that we believe, how does a person receive eternal life?
Again, Jesus said quite
emphatically; “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has
everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the
wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven that
one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from
heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that
I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." (John
6:47-51).
I therefore beg to ask the
question again; do we truly believe that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and
the life! If we do, what must we do in order to receive this life?
Jesus said again; “Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink
His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood
has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food
indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood
abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of
the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread
which came down from heaven --- not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead.
He who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:53-58).
Therefore, to those who think
that they have eternal life, my question to them is, what it is about Jesus
Christ that one must believe in order to have eternal life? Are we therefore
feeding ourselves on the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood in order
to guarantee eternal life? If you do how often?
It is my firm belief that many
have unfortunately received this aspect of God’s grace in vain. But truly,
these times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere
to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in
righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this
to all by raising Him from the dead.
Like the apostle Paul wrote;
"I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, that
the eyes of our understanding being enlightened;
That we may know what is the hope
of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the
saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He
raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name
that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
And He put all things under His
feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body,
the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
I perceived that many have indeed
zeal for God, but without knowledge, and God expressed His disappointment to
this by saying; “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you
have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your
children” (Hosea 4:6).
God's people are being rejected
as priests unto God because they are failing to perform their main duty as priests
of our God. Because the main duty of a priest is to be holy to their God and
not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord
made by fire, and the bread of their God; therefore, they shall be holy. And
the only way one can be holy, is by eating of the thing by which the atonement
was made.
May the Lord have mercy on our
souls?
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To be continued
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
To be continued
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