Understanding the Bible kind of grace

Psa 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psa 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

The Bible talks about a place where there is complete protection for the believer. And it does not require the believer to do anything, they should only remain very close to the most High.

Jam 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

The closer you remain to God in though, word, action or attitude, the safer you will be. Most people in our modern way of living is always trying to see how far they can stretch their boundaries without breaking the law or mauling accepted social taboo’s. There are those who flirt openly with criminality and overstepping the boundaries of morality.  Many will tell you that it is okay to explore and experiment as long as you are not caught in the act. Many people fail to consider why God gave Israel the 10 commandments. The 10 commandments were not given because God did not want people to have fun. Whether people realize this or not, the 10 commandments was given to Israel and to modern Christians as protection.

Think of a new computer, when you first load an operating system onto that computer using an original installation disk, that completed installation is considered to be a clean installation. It has not yet been corrupted in any way because no other data has yet been introduced to your fresh operating system. However, should you decide to browse the internet without first installing a suitable virus protection program, then you may soon have a badly infested operation system which will soon start to behave very strangely. If this situation is not dealt with the operating system may reach a point where it is so compromised that it simple can no longer function.

You see Adam was the perfect computer, which was loaded with a perfect operating system and God as a loving and responsible creator proceeded to provide Adam with all the virus protection required.

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

As long as Adam obeyed God the operating system continued to function according to the instructions given by God. However, when faced with temptation, Adam manually and willfully overrode the virus protection program allowing the virus supplied by Satan to penetrate the operating system and there all the problems for creation started.

A simple virus protection program was no longer feasible, not because the God produced virus protection program did not work, but because people continued to override the system rendering it useless against attacks from outside. That is why the 10 commandments even though it was a superior kind of virus protection continued to fail because it was constantly overridden by rebellious people who failed to understand why those commandments was given in the first place. Paul gives us some insight into his own struggle as far as obedience is concerned.

Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Rom 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

This is the predicament in which every human being finds themselves. We are sinful and rebellious creatures who have been completely corrupted by harmful viruses to the point where doing good constantly does not come naturally anymore but rather it is a constant struggle between the forces of good and evil within us.

The story is told about a missionary who once spoke to an Indian chief and he asked the chief how he experienced the presence of good and evil in his life. The chief confessed the there was two dogs fighting constantly within him, a white dog and a black dog and he himself decide which dog will win any particular fight. This is exactly what Paul has described in the above scriptures, that doing good no longer comes naturally, even for dedicated believers, it is something which believers has to work at constantly. Fortunately, God once again has a solution.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Paul says that with his mind he serves the law of God but with his flesh the law of sin.

Rom 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.

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

God’s answer to all this was Jesus who Himself became our substitute, dying in our place on the cross of Calvary. Jesus Himself was the ultimate virus protection. When we accept Jesus Christ, our spirit is reborn and our sins is washed away and the guilt and condemnation is removed. Notice that verse 3 says that the law was made ineffectual because of the weakness of the flesh but Jesus taking on a fleshly body without succumbing to the weakness of that body became the perfect Lamb of God that succeeded in removing the one obstacles which continued to defeat humans.

I shared the story of the cross in a previous post, how the Israelites under Divine instruction set up their camp in the form of a cross. And this is why God was able to patiently endure the rebellion of those Israelites because every time God looked down upon them He remembered that there would be a cross, where His Son would be the substitute for mankind. If the coming crucifixion provided protection for ancient Israel, how much more will we be protected who live while the crucified Lord is in heaven where has become our mediator.

1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Respectfully how can God judge anyone when the One who paid mankind’s debt is sitting on the right-hand side of the throne of God speaking to God on our behalf.

Hebrews 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

No this does not give us a license to sin but when we sin, we have the opportunity to confess those sins and to instantly receive God’s forgiveness.

1Jo 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1Jo 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Verse 9 says that when we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Why is this? Jesus on the cross paid all our debts in full and guaranteed our pardon once and for all. Therefore, respectfully speaking, when you confess your sins, God has a legal duty to forgive you because you cannot be held responsible for something for which Jesus has already been punished. For the sake of complete clarity, one can go so far as to say that God has no other choice but to forgive your sins because Jesus your Savior is sitting on God’s right hand with the nail prints still visible in His hands and His shed blood on the mercy seat before the throne. God is completely just and fair and there is no way that God will condemn you while His blessed Son is in heaven to speak on your behalf.

However, we spoke earlier about people pushing the boundaries, always trying to see with how much they can successfully get away. They fail to realize that living in this way carries a huge risk. You become insensitive, sin and disobedience become a way of life and the more you violate your conscience the less effective will your conscience be and the more viruses is introduced to your operating system.

Ezra 9:6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.

The word blush appears three time in the Bible. In the above verse the persons conscious works as it is supposed to and he is so ashamed that he actually blushes and could not lift his face while speaking to God. This is the ideal situation for the child of God to be in, where we obey our conscience and where we are genuinely ashamed when we do things which are not right.

Jeremiah 6:15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

Here Jeremiah is faced with a different situation where Israel has progressed so far in their rebellion against God to the point where they are no longer ashamed and they no longer blush when they do things which are wrong. This situation is repeated in the next verse.

Jeremiah 8:12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

Becoming hardened in rebellion is never a good thing and it is possible to reach the point of return without realizing it.

Pro 29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

It is a very dangerous thing to willfully continued to persist in rebellion. You see God speaks to your Spirit and your conscious can be called the voice of God’s Spirit. If your conscious is no longer sensitive, you by your own choice have cut yourself off from God. Once you lose that Divine input your decline is accelerated ten-fold and you are quickly corrupted to the point where you are so infected with viruses that you declare all out war on God and everything which He represents.

Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

Heb 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Heb 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

When you continue to reject God’s grace there eventually remains no more forgiveness for your sins.

1Timothy 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

 Having their conscience seared with a hot iron is language which a cattle farmer will understand. Cattle farmers use a hot branding iron to mark their cattle so that they can be identified in the event of theft or when the cattle stray too far and have to be located and identified. Branding destroys the sensitivity in that are where the mark is applied and likewise violating your conscience over a period of time will result in a conscience which is no longer sensitive and such a person will no longer blush when doing wrong.

Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

The above verse says clearly that there will always be more than enough grace to cover the sins which are committed. Once again this does not give us a license to sin, doing so will be contrary to the true purpose of the cross which wants to deliver us from the power of sin. God’s grace is more than sufficient for all of our needs; however, it is entirely possible to remove yourself from God’s grace. This is regrettable and it goes against everything which God has done from the beginning until now.

Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

God has no desire that wicked people should die, rather He encourage them to turn from their wickedness so that they may live. Many people have a completely wrong impression of who and what God is and what He have done for them through the death of His Son. God’s grace is sufficient for you and your family and the Father is ready and willing to act on your behalf. All you need to do is to continue to believe. Continue to study the Bible so that you can learn who and what God is and how completely committed he is to His creation. There is nothing that God will not do for you when you stand on his promises.

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Thank you very much. God bless you, Amen.