Grace Upon Grace:  Key to All Understanding

by Gale Maiden

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:8-10, NAS)

Grace is God's ability in us to accomplish that which we can never accomplish in our own abilities. We are saved by God's ability in us. This gift of grace empowering is reckoned by having the gift of faith from God. Yes, Grace comes from God, salvation is a gift from God and faith is also a gift of God.

GRACE, SALVATION and FAITH are all gifts of God. Let's generally define each:

GRACE is God's ability in us to accomplish that which we can never accomplish in ourselves. (Phil 2:12)

SALVATION has its beginning in our new birth. Salvation is not just a conversion but also a now and ever present demonstration of God's ability to continuously save us. (II Corinthians 6:1-2)

FAITH is God's salvation plan spoken into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

"So faith {comes} from hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom 10:17)

We have all heard grace defined as unmerited favor and truly it is just that. By no merit (works, excellence, quality) of our own can we be converted and walk in salvation. Unmerited favor is a very general definition of Grace. Grace from a more practical understanding again is God's ability in us to cause us to accomplish that which we could never accomplish.

When I found out that grace is God's ability in me to accomplish all that I have no hope of accomplishing, my life forever changed. In the hopelessness of self-ability to overcome life's struggles, I discovered that God in His loving power is willing and able to bring victory in every instance. God's children are winners!

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place." (II Corinthians 2:14, NAS)

God's grace (His ability) is always there to bring us into His ongoing salvation through the hearing of faith. It is not our faith, but the faith that God gives. Jesus the Christ (anointed) is our Savior and has made this saving grace available to all who will have the faith (word) of God.

"And the Word became flesh (in Jesus), and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, FULL OF GRACE and truth." (John 1:14, NAS)

For 33 ½ years, Jesus walked this Earth, empowered totally by the grace of God. In His greatest hour of temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane, it was the grace of God that empowered Him to fulfill the will of His Father that is His death on the cross.

"But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, {namely,} Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that BY THE GRACE OF GOD He might taste death for everyone." (Heb 2:9, NAS)

Walk Victoriously

Just as Jesus walked victoriously in the world, full of grace and truth we are to walk likewise! How can this be?

"For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." (John 1:16, NAS)

We are commanded to receive the grace of God by faith. The glorious kingdom of God, which cannot be moved, will fill us, making us immovable, as we fulfill the following:

"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." (Heb 12:28, KJV)

The world systems are constantly placing death commands upon the abilities of our flesh. Only by humbling ourselves to the greater grace (abilities) of God will we overcome the world.   

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore {it} says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6, NAS)

There can be no excuses for anything short of total victory!  The GRACE UPON GRACE of God in Jesus the Christ has made total victory available!

This message of encouragement and hope in God's grace must be preached continuously!

As a spiritual father the Apostle Paul wrote the following to his spiritual son Timothy. Here Paul emphasizes the fact that grace exercised through faith will produce great inward strength and a most needed understanding of the things of God.

Grace Understood is an Understanding of All Things

As the following scripture declares, it is in an understanding of grace that we will acquire for believers an understanding of all things.

I am hearing in the spirit a cry throughout the earth for understanding concerning the present times. The Lord dropped this phrase recently into my spirit. I heard the spirit say that, "Only in understanding are we motivated and empowered to stand under."

We are called to undergird the works assigned to us from God. If I can understand the faith works assigned to me then I can with grace, confidence and assurance place my shoulder and heart under such to demonstrate the Kingdom of God in the earth. Again I believe that by grace understood all things will be righteously discerned and understood.

We as the Church of God in the days ahead will see that only the understanding which has passed through the filter of understood grace may be called the Kingdom of God on earth. Glory to God!

The Apostle Paul to the Apostle Timothy, His Spiritual Son

2 Timothy 2:1-7

1. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
3. Suffer hardship with {me,} as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
4. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
5. And also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.
6. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.
7. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

We must CONSIDER OR UNDERSTAND that verses 1-6 declare that which by the GRACE OF GOD we are to accomplish in order to understand all things!

May the love and grace of God consume you.

Gale Maiden

www.fathersheartministry.com