Ephesians 1:6 states we ought to live To the praise of the glory of his grace. That means everyday. We ought to be giving God Praise for his wonderful grace everyday, because His grace brought to us what Jesus provided for us. Without His grace we would have no blood covenant, no calvary, no resurrection, and no deliverance or healing.
Romans 4:1 asks a powerful question. “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?” In other words, Abraham got a hold of something. He found something that transformed his life. It changed his perception about his future, family and finances.
As you study this out you find out what Abraham discovered. That being, if he would simply believe the promises of God and accept God’s favor, God would count him righteous apart from works. That is exactly what happened.
So many Christians are still stuck in the old religious grind of trying to do a good work. They keep trying to get God to accept them, to get God to love them based on what they do. What is really happening when they go down that path is they are shunning the gift God has freely given them.
In effect they are saying the gift of His Son was not enough. I’ve got to do more. I’ve got to bring something to God. I’ve got to sacrifice something for God.That’s the old law.
Under the old covenant they had to bring something to the High Priest every year. A sacrifice of a lamb, goat, dove or something. There are religions today that believe once a year they should give something up for God. Then after the 40 days of lent is up, they go right back to whatever it was they gave up.
The same thing happened in Old Testament times. The moment after the sacrifice was made, and they left the temple, sin was right back on them.
So you see, it’s not the gift or sacrifice you bring to Him, it’s the gift and sacrifice He provided for you. It’s not what you can do for Him, it’s what He has already done for you. “The best thing you can do for God is embrace what God has done for you.”
If you want to sacrifice, bring the sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving. It’s all He’ll accept. Ya but, how can God love me, how can God accept me. He has to, because he can’t lie. Let me tell you God loves me as much as He loves Jesus.
God loves you as much as He loves Jesus. Here’s proof. John 17:23 “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me”.
Now that’s right out of the mouth of Jesus. He wanted the world to know that the Father loves us as much as He loves Jesus. Most Christians don’t know that. Most Christians don’t believe that. Most Christians won’t receive that, even though I just showed it to them in scripture. RED LETTERS. Jesus speaking.
John 3:16 didn’t say God so loved Texas, or New Mexico, or Jerusalem. It says, God so loved the world and whosoever. I’m a whosoever, so God loves me as much as He loves Jesus. AMEN!
So, back to Abraham. He found out God would love and accept him if he would simply believe God. Look at Romans 4:3. So when Abraham made a choice to accept God’s favor or His Grace, God told him He would count it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6 is the key verse of the bible. It says that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Basically God was saying to Abraham, I’ll put it in your account. That was a big thing then and it’s a big thing now.
We will delve into this further in Part Three of this study and destroy more wrong teachings about grace and works. Time to cut off the head of those pet snakes we been carrying around. It’s the truth you know that sets you free.
Grace and Peace.
