Bible Text:
“Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity those who come to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them.” (Heb. 7:25 AMP).
This article is written under the inspiration of the scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17):
1. To make people understand the concept of God’s grace in Jesus Christ with all simplicity
2. To know how to appropriate the grace of God in our lives
3. To know why we can trust and have confidence in the grace of God in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
This article is aimed at helping people understand a little bit more about the concept of God’s grace. I found out that we cannot walk in the reality of what we don’t know. It is the truth that we know that will set us free (Jn. 8:32), which also means we cannot be freer than what we know. We will enjoy our freedom in Christ to the extent of our knowledge of Him (Gal. 5:1). We need to establish some fundamental gospel truths to help us have a clear understanding of the subject matter.
Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness…” (Mat. 6:33 KJV). These words of Jesus conveyed the life of His kingdom. It explained what the kingdom life is. The verse of that gospel of John did not convey the idea of the kingdom of God as a place (i.e., not as a thing of geographical location), but it conveyed an idea of a life! Understanding context enables us to have accurate interpretation of the Bible, and to achieve this, we should always allow the Bible to explain itself to us and not read our thoughts into the Bible. The Bible says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” In context, the word “and” in that verse is from the Greek word “kai”, translated as “even” or “which is also”. So, let us substitute “which is also” in the verse. It will be like this:
“But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, WHICH IS ALSO His righteousness…”. It means the Kingdom of God is the righteousness of God. So, what Jesus said was that the Kingdom of God is God’s righteousness. That’s very clear! Let’s confirm this with another verse of the Bible. Paul wrote to the Roman saints, and he said,
“For the KINGDOM of God is not meat and drink but RIGHTEOUSNESS…” (Rom. 14:17 KJV, emphasis added).
From those verses of scriptures in context, we can clearly see that righteousness is the life of the Kingdom of God.
What is righteousness according to the Bible? Righteousness from the New Testament Greek word “dikaiosunē”, which was translated as “character or act of equity” and “justification” (according to Strong’s Concordance). Thayer defined “righteousness” as “the condition acceptable to God” (Thayer’s definition of Hebrew and Greek Words). We can therefore say that righteousness means an equitable character or a justifiable character that is acceptable to God.
What is the meaning of the Kingdom according to the Bible? The word “kingdom” is from the Greek word “basileia”, which is translated as “rule” or a “realm” (Strong Concordance). Thayer defined “kingdom” as “royal power”, “kingship”, “dominion” and “rule” (Thayer’s Definition of Hebrew and Greek Words).
By putting all of these thoughts together, we will clearly understand what Jesus was saying. As the principal thing, we should seek to come under the dominion of God, which is the manifestation of His righteousness — the justifiable character that finds expression from His life. The kingdom of God is not a thing of a geographical location that can be seen with our eyes.” Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed’ (Luk 17:20 NIV).
“The kingdom of God is receiving the life of God in Christ to express His righteousness. The kingdom of God is a life that is established within, with the purpose of giving expression to the life in righteousness.”
Jesus said:
“For behold the kingdom of God is within you (in your hearts) and among you (surrounding you)” (Luk. 17:21 AMP).
Jesus is the standard of God’s righteousness. He is the only man that has fulfilled the righteousness that was demanded by the law of God (Mat. 3:15; 5:17). So, anybody who has not lived or will not live the way Jesus lived is not going to be acceptable to God. Jesus is the beloved son of God with whom He is well pleased (Mat. 3:17; 17:5). The standard of righteousness that the Law of God demanded was so strict and stringent that the Bible says:
“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it’ (Jas 2:10).
The Kingdom Life is the manifestation of God’s righteousness — the character that is justifiable before God. It is the character that flows from the life of God; no fault is found traceable to this kind of life. No law can find any fault against this kind of life (Gal. 5:22-23). Righteousness is the manifestation of God’s kind of life in Christ.
Jesus is the only man that has lived this kind of life. He was tempted at all points, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15 NIV). The righteousness of God in Christ is the standard of righteousness that God demands from every man, but no man could live up to this standard. God therefore made this kingdom life available in Christ by grace through faith. But thanks be to God, in Christ, God accepts man just as God has accepted Christ in Himself. In Christ, man has fulfilled the law for righteousness. If a man therefore wants to live by the law apart from Christ for his own righteousness, he must keep the whole law and not stumble at any point; but the law has condemned all men as sinners (Rom. 3:23) because of the inability of man to keep the righteous demands of the law. Through faith in Jesus Christ (who is the standard of God’s righteousness), those who could not keep the law for righteousness are freely justified and gifted with the righteousness of God (Rom. 5:17). All who have been condemned under the law as sinners now … are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24 NIV). This means that “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (Rom. 10:4 NIV).
Many believers of Christ today sincerely want to live the kingdom life; that is, they want to live in the way that is acceptable to God, but they do so by trying to mix their abilities or works with God’s grace. They indeed want to live righteously, but they try to live not depending on God’s grace in Christ. They intend to live according to God’s standard of righteousness by observing certain rules, relying on their abilities. Their perception suggests to them that receiving God’s grace is to help them keep the Law for righteousness. Grace is not received to enable us to keep the law for righteousness; grace is received to reign in life, which is manifesting the life of God’s righteousness. The Bible states that:
“For if by the transgression of one man, death spread its dark shadow and reigned through that one man’s sin, how much more will those who receive the abundance of God’s glorious grace, the gift of righteousness, reign as kings in the realm of life through the One, Jesus Christ!” (Rom. 5:17 TPT)
We do not receive grace from God to keep the law. The grace of God is not to enable us to keep the law. In Christ, we have fulfilled the law when we received Jesus as our righteousness (Rom. 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21). Now that we have received abundant grace, we are not designed to keep the law; we are designed as God’s workmanship in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17 & 21) to reign as kings in God’s kingdom of righteousness through the eternal life that we have received in Christ Jesus (Isa. 32:1; 1 Jn. 5:11-13). The law is not made for those who have received the righteousness of God (1 Tim. 1:9 KJV). Those who have received the gift of God’s righteousness by grace through faith are born to reign in life, manifesting the character of Christ to the world.
But it is so sad today that many believers started on the foundation of grace through faith, and at a point in their walk, they stop depending on the grace of God for righteousness and life. This is actually what Paul the apostle regarded as the perversion of the gospel in his epistle to Galatians. These believers started by God’s gift of grace but resulted in works to stand approved before God. They thought faith in Jesus Christ was not enough again. Which means trusting Jesus for His life no longer has the ability to keep them spiritual.
In the gospel of Christ, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, not from faith to works (Rom. 1:17 KJV). It means we receive the gift of righteousness from God by faith, and we continue to walk in the righteousness of God by faith. The Bible says:
“”So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him” (Col. 2:6 NIV).
We received all that God has made available in Christ for us in Christ by faith, and we are to continue in them by faith. Praise God.
So, now that we are in Christ, trying so hard to please God by relying on our ability to keep certain rules or religious standards to become acceptable to God is a perversion of the Gospel of Christ.
Jesus, many times as recorded in the Gospels, used earthly or physical realities to explain spiritual realities to convey His message with simplicity for comprehension. In the Gospels, He used illustrations and, many times, parables to communicate kingdom truths. This He did, to communicate His idea and purpose for mankind.
I will use an illustration to explain the concept of God’s grace. Sometimes, to understand spiritual realities, using earthly realities can be helpful (Jn. 3:12). If we don’t understand the concept of God’s grace, we won’t enjoy its workings in our lives experientially in reality.
To illustrate the concept of grace, it is like you are travelling to a place like the United States of America from Nigeria, and to get there, you need to travel by air. You cannot get to America by yourself. You don’t have wings to fly, so you need something that has the ability to carry you there safely and fast — an aeroplane. When you are in that plane, what you do is that you look for a seat to sit and relax. The job of the plane is to carry you. You are not the one carrying the plane; it is the plane’s work to carry you. The plane bears your whole weight and loads. Inside the plane, you don’t do anything other than sit and rest! What you are doing is that you are resting on the work that has been done on the plane to carry you to your destination.
It is, however, foolish for a man to be in an aircraft and still want to fly by himself. Inside the aircraft, you don’t do anything; if there is anything to do, it is to sit, relax and rest. There is no working, running or flying to get to your destination inside the plane. If you could fly to America by yourself, you wouldn’t enter the plane to begin with. But because you don’t have the ability to fly in/by yourself, you need the plane to fly you to your destination. Now that you are in the plane, you trust that the plane will carry you, and you relax knowing that the pilot will do his job. You have so much confidence that the plane will definitely carry you to your destination, home and dry.
It is, however, sad that people have such great confidence in a plane and have that great trust in an earthly pilot but never have such faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to help them live right before God. If we can have such confidence in man’s work on earthly things, shouldn’t we greatly trust the Almighty God in Christ Jesus over spiritual things?
Grace is likened to be the plane. Grace works like the plane. And the Pilot is Jesus Christ, the one who is the author and finisher of grace (Jn. 1:17). You can’t fly to America by yourself, just like you can’t be righteous or live righteously by yourself. The plan of God’s grace is God’s provision in Christ to help us live a life acceptable to God. In this plane of grace, we are to sit, relax and rest; and most importantly, we are to trust in our Pilot—Jesus, our Saviour. We are called to sit, relax and rest in the grace of God in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6; Psa. 2:4). Grace is God’s ability to do through us what we cannot do by ourselves. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve as a gift. We receive this gift of grace by faith, and we must continue to live by faith to enjoy the gift of grace, not from faith to works; it is from faith to faith (Rom. 1:17 KJV).
—We cannot be righteous or live righteously in/by ourselves apart from Jesus, no matter how we try. Our righteousness is like a filthy rag before God (Isa. 64:6).
—We cannot live a sanctified life by ourselves; Jesus had sanctified Himself for our sake (Jn. 17:19).
- The only option we have to be approved before God is to trust Jesus, by receiving Him as a gift for our righteousness, forgiveness, redemption, sanctification, justification and salvation (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:8-9; Col. 1:14; Eph. 1:7; Rom. 5:17).
Jesus Himself is the aircraft of grace. Jesus is the pilot of the aircraft of grace, and those who have come to God through Jesus Christ are the crew members. He has called us (his crew members) to enter into His aircraft of grace to fly with him (as his coworkers), and he promised us that, when we enter into Him, we will find rest for our souls (Mat. 11:28-30).
Do you want to live righteously? Trust Jesus! Do you want to live a sanctified life? Trust Jesus! Do you want to manifest the fruit of the Spirit? Trust Jesus! We can trust Him to accomplish in us, and do through us, what we cannot do by our own abilities. We are to live by faith to express the life of God in righteousness. As we have become righteous by faith, we are to live right before God by faith.” For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Rom. 1:17 KJV).
Can we trust Jesus? Yes! Why can we trust Him? Because “… He is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them. Glory!!!
Grace Always.
Thank you sir. More insight in Jesus name.