CRUMB 0065 – “EVER ABOUNDING GRACE”

Part #3 of “WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN?” 

“Jesus Christ is the epitome and the very Person of both  ‘Grace’ and Obedience.”

Christ’s perfect obedience to Heaven’s plan for the ages, unlocked the doors of our glorious eternal destiny once and for all.

Paul teaches us in [Romans 5:19] that just by that one act of disobedience by Adam, we all were made sinners.

But, he also tells us that because of the perfect obedience of Christ Jesus, we have been made righteous.

Around JESUS CHRIST, as the sun of the moral universe, revolve at their several distances, all nations and all important events, in the religious life of the world.

And all must, directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, bow in obedience and contribute to glorify HIS Name and advance HIS cause.

All things were created by HIM, and for HIM.” HE is “the desire of all nations.

 All Because of Christ’s Obedience

This obedience of Christ Jesus released the Grace of God to us sinners in all its fullness without measure.

Grace was released so much so, even to the point, the apostle tells us that, it overwhelmingly overshadowed the Law.

The Law, Holy and Righteous as it was, exposed sin in us in all its fullness of depravity.

And all it could do was only condemn us. It had no saving or redeeming power.

“BUT”, the ‘flipside’, says Paul in [Romans 5:20], “ where sin abounded, (God’s) grace did ‘much more’ abound”.

That is why, “what the Law could not do (for us), God did…..” [Romans 8:3].

Grace, The Sovereign King

Sin had the power to rule in us unto death, that eternal separation from God in the lake of fire.

BUT the Grace of God now released, because of Christ’s obedience, would take those reins over from sin.

This obedience of Christ Jesus, Paul tells us in [Philippians 2:8], was unto death, even the death of the cross”.

 Jesus Christ tasted that death for us, so that we would not have to do so.

The Bible in [Hebrews 2:9], says that Christ Jesus, “by the Grace of God should taste death for every man”.

This is the death that Jesus Christ, while being sinless, took it upon Himself to die for our sins.

And having successfully done so HE rose victoriously from his physical death.

Only a sinless natured body is free from the power and sting of death.

That is why it had to be only Christ Jesus Who was qualified to carry this out.

Do check out [CRUMB 0047] to really lay hold of this understanding.

Therefore, HE is the only place we need to be in to be free from both physical and spiritual death.

Only in HIM we shall be raised to an eternal life with God.

This resurrection of Christ Jesus could now judicially bring justification and righteousness to every man, willing to embrace Him by faith.

Talking about Jesus Christ, Paul says, “By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith” [Romans 1:5-6]. He says this calling was to be “among all nations, for His Name”.

And here is the thing, we also have been, by privilege, been called to that same obedience, “Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ”.

A Judicial Act Of Heaven

Justification’ is a judicial act of Heaven.

According to the “Truth of Scripture”, ‘justification is an irreversible legal acquittal from all our sins, past present and future.

And the ‘Righteousness’ belonging to God Himself is simultaneously imparted and imputed to us.

SO Grace, having taken over the reins from sin with total command and absolute authoritative preeminence, now brings true liberty.

It could now do what it was created and designed to do with ‘Blood bought” Authority.

It could now free us from the ‘power of sin’.

Sin, (that fallen human sin nature), though existing, would no longer have dominion over us [Romans 6:14].

That is why Paul, by revelation, can confidently tell us in [Romans 5:21]:

“That as sin had reigned unto death, ‘even so’ might Grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord”.

So having understood and embraced this “powerful and infallible truth” brings us to our next “what shall we say then?”

The Second “What Shall We Say Then” [Romans 6:1]

The Holy Spirit directs this valid question.

It’s directed to each of us who have embraced Christ Jesus and His ‘finished work’ on the cross by faith.

This question has probably birthed the most numerous ‘schools of thought’ the world over.

It has challenged the greatest theological minds in every generation since its inception.

And it’s really worth thinking about because we have so much going for us, and truly much to look forward to.

Eternal possessions coupled with glorious responsibilities are at stake, and a committed exercise of choice is the prime fundamental requirement here.

“What shall we say then?” Asks Paul for the second time in all of Scripture.

“Shall we continue in sin, that Grace may abound?” [Romans 6:1]

Facing The Truth Of Sin

Here is a truth regarding sin, that living sin nature.

Even though the Gospel saves us from the penalty of sin, the fallen sin nature still continues to exist in us.

It will be with us for the rest of our natural lives, always looking to cause us to stumble.

So it will always be a constant battle to keep resisting the temptations to sin, in some way or the other.

However, we are not alone in this battle.

The indwelling Holy Spirit of God is our Helper, and help He will indeed.

See what Scripture in [1 Corinthians 10:13] tells us concerning this.

God has promised that He will not allow us “to be tempted above (or beyond) all that ye are able (to bear or handle).

Furthermore God, “will with the temptation, also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it”.

 It Is Still About Choices

However, the truth of the matter is that we do have to make the choice.

Do we take the escape route that God provides or do we not? For the way of escape will always be available. The Word is true.

If we choose not to, then we can and will fall, and that fall can cause an injury to us in some way.

However, the good news is that we can get up and continue on our spiritual journey without condemnation.

That existing sin nature in us is the devil’s weapon to bring condemnation in our lives and walk with God.

And the only way we can overcome that condemnation is by believing God’s Word in [Romans 8:1].

Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus”.

SO now we don’t need to continue in that fallen sin state, whatever it may be.

And this is because of God’s “ever-abounding” Grace.

All our sins have been paid for.

This is what Paul the apostle is trying to address when he asks the question:

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that Grace may abound?”

“God forbid” or “by no means”, he says, and then goes on to give us the reason why in [Romans 6:2].

“How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Paul is by ‘no means’ suggesting that we will lose our salvation.

“That will always remain a finished work of redemption in our lives”.

An Important Truth Of The Cross

Right here, the apostle Paul brings out the reality of what actually happened to us in relation to the cross.

In simple terms, this is what he is telling us in [Romans 6:3-7]:

God saw us ‘in Christ’ dying on that cross.

HE saw us buried in that tomb with Christ.

And finally HE saw us raised up with Christ Jesus to a newness of life.

This is exactly how God sees us today.

And because of this, we have in actuality, been freed from that existing sin nature that is in us.

And God is encouraging and exhorting us to see ourselves the way HE truthfully sees us in [Romans 6:11].

Even though our sin nature, ‘that old dog’, still dwells in us, God sees us as ‘dead’ to it.

Hence the apostle Paul tells us:

“Likewise reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin (that old sinful nature), but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”.

Because of what Christ has done, that old sin nature ‘no longer’ has dominion over us [Romans 6:14].

Then Paul gives us the reason why, “for ye are not under the Law but under Grace”.

He is telling it to us, exactly as it truthfully is, even though he knows how our minds are capable of working:

“What then? shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under Grace?” [Romans 6:15]

Being Honest With Ourselves

Lets face it! Let’s be honest with ourselves!

Most, if not all of us who have experienced the “pleasures of sin” are very likely to think that way.

For sin is pleasurable. And though fallen, it is an honest ‘fact of life’.

And God knows the deceitfulness of our evil heart! [Jeremiah 17:9].

So HE makes His point in [Galatians 6:7]:

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”.

The universal spiritual law of the harvest is still unchangingly and actively applicable today.

“We will reap what we sow”.

It has always been a matter of personal choice way back from the time of creation right down to this very hour.

That has never changed! 

Who’s Slave? We Get To Choose

Sin is bondage! It’s as simple as that and we don’t need a religion to tell us so. We know it!

And the cross of Christ Jesus is the only remedy that can and does free us from that bondage.

Truly trusting in the Gospel of our salvation instantly activates that freedom.

The truth is that doctrinally, our salvation cannot be taken away by sin, because Christ Jesus has paid for it in full.

We never need to fear that.

By faith we know and accept that.

However, and this is a BIG ‘however’, we will not experience that freedom if we continue to live in sin.

Paul explains that we are all slaves to whomsoever and whatsoever we choose to obey.

Freedom Through The Cross A Reality

The reality of the cross is that we have been freed from sin and become slaves of God’s Righteousness.

That is a solid Biblical Truth [Romans 6:18].

However, there is a difference between ‘truth’ and ‘experience’.

And being in slavery to sin, will never allow us to experience that wonderful freedom, even though we are saved.

Further, it will never allow us to be fruitful as God intends for us to be, resulting in loss of eternal rewards.

Yes, we’ll have Heaven, for it is not a reward, but a free gift [Romans 6:23].

However, there are great rewards and they have to be earned by and through fruitfulness in our current life.

And there is a specific day of judgment set aside specifically for the dispensation of these rewards for every believer.

We get to take NOTHING from here. It’s all only ‘THERE’!

So the question is, can a saved person fall into sin?

Yes he can, and the truth is that he will in some way or the other.

However, we don’t need to stay there, but ‘we’ must exercise that choice to bring Praise and Glory to His Name.

And that is what our salvation is really all about!

Having irrevocably received it by faith, we are yet called, by personal choice, to “work it out” with reverential “fear and trembling” [Philippians 2:12].

Heaven awaits to see where our heart really lies!

 

This continues in Part #4 of the next Crumb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About Joshua David Mukerji

A life filled with depravity, a conscience hardened and seared as with a hot iron, with eyes filled with tears on a road leading to nowhere, with an amputated spirit, devoid of any meaningful hope or purpose, moving on like a ship on a tumultuous sea without a sail, the author, from out of nowhere, has an encounter with a Living God that would radically change his life. With an infallible Hope imputed into his spirit, he moves on. Not claiming to have got there yet, but one thing he does: forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, he presses on with this Hope that will never fail. If you feel you somehow or in some way connect with any part of this, stick around. There are messages of True and Living Hope coming your way. You ‘will’ get there yet!!!
View all posts by Joshua David Mukerji →

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