Hi! This is brother Scott with another Truth Time, Look in the Book!
Today is part 18 in my series, “Bible Key Words and Meanings A to Z.”
We move on to the letter “G.”
The word today is:
Grace – Which will be presented in two parts. Today is part one.
God’s grace is recorded throughout scripture prior to his covenant with Abram beginning with Noah:
(Genesis 6:5-8 KJV)
(5) And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
(6) And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
(7) And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
(8) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Later on, the Lord showed grace to Abram, later called, Abraham, by making a covenant with him:
(Genesis 15:1-6, 18 KJV)
(1) After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
(2) And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
(3) And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
(4) And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
(5) And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
(6) And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. ...
(18) In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
And then God showed grace to Abraham’s nephew, Lot, his wife, and his two daughters:
(Genesis 19:15-19 KJV)
(15) And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
(16) And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
(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.
(18) And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:
(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:
In Exodus 33 Moses was speaking with the Lord:
(Exodus 33:1 KJV)
(1) And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
Which, after a rather lengthy conversation culminated in:
(Exodus 33:17 KJV)
(17) And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
In Psalms the Lord gave grace:
(Psalms 84:11 KJV)
(11) For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
In the book of John, we read that God showed his grace by giving Jesus Christ to the world:
(John 1:14-17 KJV)
(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.
(15) John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
(16) And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
(17) For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
In the book of Acts, Saul of Tarsus was shown grace by the risen Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. Religion began to fade away, transitioning from Jew to Gentile, law to grace, Peter to Paul, fleshly circumcision and water baptism to spiritual circumcision and spiritual baptism.
(Acts 9:3-6 KJV)
(3) And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
(4) And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
(5) And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
(6) And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
As we have demonstrated, the grace of God has been documented throughout the entire Bible.
Peter mentions the word grace, but Paul preaches the dispensation of the grace of God.
Peter never mentions the dispensation of grace.
That is Paul’s message received by revelation of Jesus Christ, and it instructs on how we are to operate today.
1 Peter chapter 1 is where Peter says:
(1 Peter 1:13 KJV)
(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;
So, this demonstrates further that grace is mentioned all through the Bible.
But the grace Peter speaks of is the grace that is going to take care of the sins of the Little Flock.
(Acts 3:19 KJV)
(19) Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Notice Peter says their sins will be blotted out.
Peter is talking about at the revelation of Jesus Christ just like in 1 Peter 1:13.
When Christ returns to restore their kingdom here on earth, that is when that grace will blot out their sins.
God's grace will take care of their sins and blot them out at that time, not before.
Right now, they're in remission.
Both Peter and Paul are teaching about grace.
Peter preaches the cross and Paul preaches the cross.
But their knowledge of the cross and what they teach their particular audience is quite different.
Here is Paul preaching to the Ephesians:
(Ephesians 3:1-8 KJV)
(1) For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
(2) If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
(3) How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, (4) Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
(5) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
(6) That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
(7) Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
(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;
Definitely not the same as Peter’s preaching of grace.
In Galatians 2, the Holy Ghost opened the eyes of James, Cephas (Peter), and John to Paul's gospel.
(Galatians 2:9 KJV)
(9) And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
Furthermore, by works no flesh will be justified:
(Galatians 2:16 KJV)
(16) 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 by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
(Romans 3:24 KJV)
(24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
But surprisingly today, many if not most are not able to perceive this grace.
They understood that Jesus had given Paul further revelation than what they had been given. As a result, they gave Paul and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship and agreed to only go to the circumcision.
No more great commission for us during the dispensation of grace.
So, this gospel of the grace of God that was given to Paul, he calls it, “My gospel” three times:
(Romans 2:16 KJV)
(16) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
(Romans 16:25 KJV)
(25) Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
(2 Timothy 2:8 KJV)
(8) Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
Peter’s preaching of grace mentions Israel’s sins will be blotted out (Acts 3:19) when the times of refreshing shall come, but Paul’s message of grace tells how the world’s sins were forgiven at the cross:
(Ephesians 1:7 KJV) (7) In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
(2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV)
(19) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
To break that verse down:
*To wit, that God "was" - past tense
*in Christ, reconciling the world - the world including those who weren't born yet and couldn't believe the gospel - also past tense
*unto himself - God cannot reconcile himself to sin so he took sin out of the way.
*not imputing - not charging, not holding, not counting
*their (our) trespasses unto them (us) -
*and hath committed unto us - past tense
*the word of reconciliation
And grace also means salvation is no more of works, but of faith and belief:
(Romans 4:4-5 KJV)
(4) Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
(5) But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
(Romans 11:6 KJV)
(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 Timothy 1:9 KJV)
(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,
Grace will be concluded in Part 2 next time.
As always, like the noble Bereans did with Paul’s messages, I urge you to search the scriptures to see if what I am teaching is true. (Acts 17:11)
Grace and Peace.
This is brother Scott with another Truth Time, Look in the Book!
