The scriptural definition of grace is "Divine enablement." God's grace is the Divine enablement that flows from His Person through Christ. Grace is forgiveness. Grace is teaching. Grace is power. Grace is wisdom. Grace is Divine Virtue. Grace is the joy of giving. Grace is all we need to enable us to fulfill the calling of God that is on us. The purest definition of Divine grace is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

We are saved "by grace," meaning that God has come to fallen man and has offered to him the means of coming back into fellowship with God. Grace includes forgiveness because forgiveness is the first step in the long process of reconciliation, of atonement.

But to limit grace to forgiveness is to declare that God is willing to forgive us but is neither able nor willing to do anything beyond that. He would like for us to be the image of His Son but there is little He can do about it. Therefore He extends "grace" to us, meaning that He waives His requirements and permits us to enter joy in the spirit realm. What an impoverished understanding the current definition of grace is!

God has been extending mercy and grace to mankind ever since He was compelled to remove Adam and Eve from the danger of their becoming immortal sinners. The Church Era is not distinguished by the fact that God for the first time has shown mercy, forgiveness, and help to man. Rather, the Church age is distinguished by the quality and quantity of the grace that is available through Christ.

Never before has there been a blood sacrifice that has the authority to purge the conscience of the sanctified.

Never before has man been given to eat of the body and blood of God.

Never before has man actually seen God in human form.

Never before has the Nature of God been planted in man.

Never before has man had access to the Most Holy Place in Heaven.

Never before has God poured His Spirit on all flesh.

God has poured grace on us through Christ; not just forgiveness, but every Divine enablement that we need in order to overcome all sin and to enter union with God through Christ. God has not stopped with forgiving us. God is calling us to His throne—there to reign with Him throughout eternity.

In order to attain the throne we must, through the Lord's abundant grace, overcome all the forces of death that come against us continually. Through Christ we must overcome the adversary just as He Himself was required to overcome the adversary (Revelation 3:21).

To limit our definition of "grace" to forgiveness is to grasp only a small fragment of the storehouse of Divine abundance that is being offered by the Lord Jesus Christ to whoever will receive.

Faith

The current definition of faith is "belief that a particular set of theological statements is true." If one holds fast to his belief in his "statement of faith" he will go to Heaven when he dies and live in a mansion.

Denominations are based on such statements of faith. The Christians have fought among themselves for hundreds of years because of differences in their statements of faith and in their church customs.

The irony of this is that statements of faith and church customs are of little value in the Kingdom of God.

To be continued.