'Grace
Back to 'Philippians 3:11'
The current definition ofgrace is "forgiveness." To be saved "by grace" is to be forgiven. By grace we go to Heaven when we die to live in a mansion of glory.
One contemporary expression is,grace is "God’s riches at Christ’s expense." The concept is that all the Glory of Christ is given to us through the Lord’s love and mercy. We do nothing. Jesus paid the whole price of agony and we receive the fullness of the inheritance merely by accepting it. We are not required to share His suffering.
The toiling saints who plod along determinedly, bearing their cross after the Master, can evaluate this expression properly. They know the cost one must pay in order to lay hold on the inheritance of the sons of God. They know the travail of soul that is necessary if we are to overcome the world, Satan, and our lusts and self-will.
They know the faith and obedience God requires of those whom He has called to His side and how shallow is the concept that grace is God’s riches at Christ’s expense. God’s witnesses of today (as has been true of the saints of every age) are sharing in Christ’s suffering and are being transformed according to His death on the cross and His triumphant resurrection.
The scriptural definition ofgrace is "Divine enablement." God’s grace is the Divine enablement that flows from His Person through Christ. Grace is forgiveness. Grace is teaching. Grace is power. Grace is wisdom. Grace is Divine Virtue. Grace is the joy of giving. Grace is all we need to enable us to fulfill the calling of God that is on us. The purest definition of Divine grace is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
We are saved "by grace," meaning that God has come to fallen man and has offered to him the means of coming back into fellowship with God. Grace includes forgiveness because forgiveness is the first step in the long process of reconciliation, of atonement.
But to limit grace to forgiveness is to declare that God is willing to forgive us but is neither able nor willing to do anything beyond that. He would like for us to be the image of His Son but there is little He can do about it. Therefore He extends "grace" to us, meaning that He waives His requirements and permits us to enter joy in the spirit realm. What an impoverished understanding the current definition of grace is!
God has been extending mercy and grace to mankind ever since He was compelled to remove Adam and Eve from the danger of their becoming immortal sinners. The Church Era is not distinguished by the fact that God for the first time has shown mercy, forgiveness, and help to man. Rather, the Church age is distinguished by the quality and quantity of the grace that is available through Christ.
Never before has there been a blood sacrifice that has the authority to purge the conscience of the sanctified.
Never before has man been given to eat of the body and blood of God.
Never before has man actually seen God in human form.
Never before has the Nature of God been planted in man.
Never before has man had access to the Most Holy Place in Heaven.
Never before has God poured His Spirit on all flesh.
God has poured grace on us through Christ; not just forgiveness, but every Divine enablement that we need in order to overcome all sin and to enter union with God through Christ. God has not stopped with forgiving us. God is calling us to His throne—there to reign with Him throughout eternity.
In order to attain to the throne we must, through the Lord’s abundant grace, overcome all the forces of death that come against us continually. Through Christ we must overcome the adversary just as He Himself was required to overcome the adversary (Revelation 3:21).
To limit our definition of "grace" toforgiveness is to grasp only a small fragment of the storehouse of Divine abundance that is being offered by the Lord Jesus Christ to whoever will receive.