Grace Freely Given

 

Grace Freely Given

 

II Timothy 1:9

 

“..but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 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”

 

The people of God have been saved from everlasting through the purpose and grace of God with an everlasting salvation, as it is written: “But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end” (Isaiah 45:17). The Israel of God has been saved without beginning in the LORD. It is the LORD that has purposed to save some of the descendants of the first Adam in the Last Adam: “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (I Corinthians 15:45). The gracious purpose of God “according to the election of grace” (Romans 9:11) was given His people in Christ before the foundation of the world, before they had done neither any good or evil, as it is written: “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Romans 9:11-13).

 

The fact that God gave grace to some individuals of the human race in eternity past is the wellspring of their finding grace in time, as “Noah found grace” as it is written: “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. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:7-8). Many have found grace in the eyes of the LORD but only because He gave them grace through the blood of the everlasting covenant of grace before the world began. Lot found grace, as it is written: “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” (Genesis 19:19). Moses also found grace in the sight of the LORD, as it is written: “And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight” (Exodus 33;12). Gideon found grace as did the others, as it is written: “And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me” (Judges 6:17). All these men were sinners, as it is written: “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). And it is written: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And again it is written: “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Galatians 3:22). There was nothing in these men that made them the chosen of God, for God’s salvation is by grace and not of works, as it is written: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). And it is written: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).

 

God’s salvation is not because of the deserts of men in any manner or degree for it is written: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (I Corinthians 1:26-31). It is of the sovereign grace of God that any of the sons of Adam are in Christ Jesus. That is because there is nothing in any man that is worthy of the grace of God; but God gave His grace freely through Christ Jesus in the blood of the New Testament, as our Lord Jesus said: “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22-22). And: “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28).

 

It is the grace of God that bringeth salvation: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12). This grace is the unmerited favor of God and it is not earned by man’s will or effort, for it is written: “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16). The grace that was given in the everlasting covenant before the world was made is manifested by the birth from above, as it is written: “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). Those who are born from above were in themselves dead in trespasses and in sins: for it is written: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:1-6). These that were born again were quickened (made to live) by the Spirit of Christ for it is written: “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will” (John 5:21).

 

Those who are born from above are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once according to the will of God, as it is written: “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:7-10).

 

God saved His elect in eternity past, for it was then that He purposed in Himself to save them, as it is written: “The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand” (Isaiah 24:14). And again: “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9-10). For God calleth those things that are not as though they were: “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17).

 

 The effect of the elect having been chosen to eternal life is that their names were written in the Lamb’s book of life, as it is written: “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12:22-23). And it is written again: “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life” (Revelation 21:27).

 

 Those things that God has purposed in eternity past are sure to come pass in time for it is the same purpose and grace that arranges all things according to His determinate counsel, as it is written: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:22-23). The wicked are the executioners of  the will of God according to His will, for it is written: “Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: from men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes”. (Psalm 17:13-14).

 

Evil men of this world executed the will of God in the judgment hall of Pontius Pilate, as it is written: “The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:26-28). These men did exactly as they desired, and in so doing they fulfilled the purpose of God for it pleased the LORD to bruise His only begotten Son, as it is written: “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:8-10).

 

Notwithstanding the purpose of God, the wicked shall be judged according to their works. For it was by their own wicked hands that they crucified the Lord of glory. Their purpose came from their wicked hearts and those purposes were executed by their wicked hands. As It is written: “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man” (Matthew 15:18-20).

 

These are humbling facts for the human family. These things should teach us not to think more highly of ourselves than we aught to think. For we know that all mankind are taken from the same lump of fallen human nature, as it is written: “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles” (Romans 9:19-24)? “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it” (I Corinthians 4:7).

 

 

Therefore a lackadaisical attitude in those who profess to be born from above is intolerable. Those to whom it is given to know the Lord have reason to be full of joy at all times, for this is eternal life, as it is written: “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:1-3). And again the Holy Ghost has inspired the same apostle to witness this truth: “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life” (I John 5:20).

 

 Every believer should continually bear in mind that: “it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand” (Matthew 13:11-13). Because these things are freely given through grace, Christians should stand fast in the faith never taking for granted the greatness of the blessing we have freely received, as it is written: “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work” (II Thessalonians 2:13-17). “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (I John 5:21).

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writer’s blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gosprl preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.