"...I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand." (1 Peter 5:12b)In other words, if you want to know what the true grace of God really is, you must hear what God says it is in His Word. Christ warned us that the end of this present Age would be characterized by very powerful and pervasive spiritual deception. Yet, he was not talking about the gross forms of pagan religions involving demonism, mysticism and vain rituals, whereby the whole ignorant and unbelieving world has ever been led astray. Rather, Christ's warnings concerning very dangerous kinds of spiritual deception were explicitly directed to Christian persons, warning us that "many" would come in Christ's name, saying, "I am Chirst" (Matthew 24:5; et al). The Church is thus warned to be on guard against many who have now come, saying, that they are Christ's ambassadors, his apostles and prophets, his pastors and teachers--
and they are beguiling multitudes of unstable souls
by means of their sophistry, their slick manipulation
of God's Word.
Popular, or, I should rather say, wildly popular preaching insists that the grace of God has already put away the sin of the world--no, not at Calvary, but from the very foundation of the world. For, was not Christ, as a lamb, slain 'from the foundation of the world'? God took the initiative to save not this and that individual soul, but all of humanity; so it is argued. Man is utterly incapable to do anything at all to effect his own salvation: therefore, God has done it all! All that remains to us is to "embrace grace", and dance the night away.....
Rarely, if ever, is there any substantive discussion, among popular preachers and teachers, regarding the awful truth about sin, its nature, its power and consequences. The meaning of Christ's suffering and death is only given out by them to exalt the unconditional love of God (as they wrongly suppose); whereas, God's perfect and eternal hatred of sin--as demonstrated in the outpouring of God's wrath against him (Jesus) who was "made to be sin" and hung upon a cross, is smoothly glossed over by those same artful deceivers. You will not hear those false prophets tell the people that all unregenerate souls are under condemnation and face eternal damnation, because of sin.
Those wolves in sheeps clothing claim that the Law of God, consisting in the Old Testament of the Bible--including the Ten Commandments, is diametrically opposed to grace. The Law brings death, so they say, but grace by its very nature brings total forgiveness and life.
But such statements are made false by reason of the shadowy light in which they are cast. The Law does not bring death. It is man's rebellion against the Law that brings death. True enough, the Bible says that the Law is incapable to bring life. But that is not the same thing as to say that the Law brings death to humanity. The Law exposes mankind's inherently sinful nature and, so, it is intended by God to compel men to seek unto Christ not only for his forgiveness but also for his power to save from sin.
"The law was given by Moses", the Scripture says, "but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). Thank God! But it is not a contrast between law and grace that is set forth in the foregoing passage. Rather, God is saying that, whereas Moses showed unto humanity God's holiness and righteousness in the context of the Law; nevertheless, the Divine power that is needful in order for individuals to actually live according to the righteousness revealed in the Law, is only found in the Person of Jesus Christ. None can be righteous and live holy apart from union with Jesus Christ in his Spirit--which, in the Bible, is called the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Grace.
The true grace of God is his own Spirit given to those who will obey him (Acts 5:32; Hebrews 5:9; et al). God does not accept the person of a sinner. God will only accept those who repent and turn, in their hearts as well as in their actions, away from sin to serve God in spirit and in truth.
I have yet to hear any of the devil's ungodly gaggle of preachers dare to come near to handle this Word:
Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1
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