In this Episode we shall complete our theme on -Grace and Faith, with the topic-Grace:
The Power and Ability of God.
In the last 3 Episodes we have been considering the powerful significance of the Grace
of God in our lives. We have seen that God has provided for our salvation; that He has
finished and completely provided for everything we need to live our lives on earth; and
that He accomplished this in the creation of the world and in the finished works of Christ
by His Grace. We have also seen that our part in the Covenant relationship between us
and God is to respond positively to His Grace by faith. In the last Episode we saw that
God expects us to live our lives within a stable balance of His Grace and Faith.
To some who have been listening to my teachings in the last 3 Episodes, it may seem
that the teaching on the doctrine of Grace is an attempt to encourage Christians to live a
lazy life since God has provided everything for them. In fact some argue that teaching
people about the Grace of God is a license to sin since some people have gone to the
extreme of believing they don’t have to make effort to receive or maintain salvation.
I agree that some people are misrepresenting the truth of the Gospel of grace and using
the grace of God as an excuse for being lazy or living licentious lifestyles. As a result,
many do not even want to hear the word, ‘grace’. But rejecting the gospel of grace
because some people are misusing it is wrong. Every child of God is entrusted with the
ministry of spreading the gospel of grace and therefore should not back away from the
truth of God’s grace as found in His Word or take the easy way out. On the importance
of preaching the gospel of grace, Apostle Paul said in Acts 20:24:
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and
complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the gospel of
God's grace.
To Apostle Paul, the Gospel of Grace is the Gospel of Christ. Life was worth living only
if he could preach the gospel of grace.
If you insist on downplaying the significance of the Grace of God in your relationship
with Him, you only drive a wedge between you and God, and you miss out on the great
blessings available to us through the abundance of the grace of God. If you don’t
embrace the grace of God as the basis of your walk with Him; if you don’t internalize the
truth that your relationship with God is a function of His love for you and His Grace and
not because you have made effort to deserve His goodness, you can only relate to God
from a distance
Denying and resisting the doctrine of grace will not change the truth that it is the
foundation of our relationship with God. Instead of downplaying it, we should rather
study the word of God to understand what it says about the grace of God. We should
heed Apostle Paul’s advice to Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:1 to “be strong in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus.”

The main purpose of God for our lives is to live lives that glorify His name. So for those
who believe teaching about the Grace of God encourages laziness and licentious living,
you need to also understand that the Grace of God comes as a package of unmerited
gifts. And that this package includes not only forgiveness of sins, and other blessings
and privileges but also the power and ability of God operating in us to enable us
accomplish His plans and purposes for our lives. Titus 3:11-12 states
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It
teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-
controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
According to this scripture, the grace of God operating in us gives us the ability to deny
ungodliness and to live Godly and controlled lives. The Grace of God fills us with power
and anointing.
The grace of God is also the power and ability of God in us that sets us free from the
dominion of sin. Romans 6:14 states
For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Sin and carnality cannot have dominion over a Christian who understands and keys in
to the truth that the Grace of God has already liberated him from sin.
Clearly, these scriptures negate the argument that the gospel of Grace teaches laziness
and is a license to sin. A genuine understanding of the gospel of grace and the power of
God’s grace actually liberates us from sin and sets us free from the yoke of guilt,
condemnation and all kinds of addictions.
However, the difference between a person who has embraced the Grace of God and
the person who is struggling in the flesh is that the person who has keyed in to the
Grace of God desires to live a life that pleases God because of His love for God; not
because He wants to escape punishment. He knows he has already escaped hell. So
he does not live under condemnation. He yields to the Holy Spirit to help Him and he
cultivates a relationship with the Holy Spirit. As our relationship with the Holy Spirit
grows, we lose the desire to live ungodly lives or gratify the flesh according to Galatians
5:16. We start bearing the fruit of the spirit and we progress to performing works of faith
which are works initiated by the Holy Spirit as a result of His indwelling of the Believer.
The difference between the works of flesh which I have been teaching against since we
started on this theme and the works of faith is that a person performs works of flesh in
the belief that it will obtain salvation for him or save him from going to hell. A person
who understands the Grace of God on the other hand is assured of his salvation; he
knows God loves him; and he is prompted by the Holy Spirit and his love for God to
perform works of faith. Such works like the different ministries we perform in Church and
other works that are undertaken as a result of the prompting of the Holy Spirit would
occur naturally, not by struggling and are backed by the Grace of God.

In his Book, ‘Grace’ Bob Lenz explains the difference between works of flesh and works
of faith in a most remarkable way. He said that Mother Teresa, the legendary Roman
Catholic Nun who set up orphanages and performed remarkable selfless humanitarian
works during her lifetime did not go to heaven because of her good works. She went to
heaven because she believed in Jesus and His life, death and resurrection. She did not
go to heaven because of the orphanages she built and her enormous humanitarian
works. But Mother Teresa lived her life to express the love of God to the world. Mother
Teresa expressed her love for Jesus by loving others. She did not do it to gain
salvation. She did it because of her salvation.
So yes, God appreciates and accepts the works we perform as a result of our love for
Him and to further His kingdom on earth; but rejects the works we perform to impress
Him and to purchase salvation and the gifts and blessings He has already purchased for
us, Ephesians 2:8-10 makes reference to these two kinds of works:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which
God prepared in advance for us to do”.
So God rejects the first but accepts the second because he prepared us to perform
them.
My conclusion on this theme on Saved and Established by Grace Through Faith is that
when we understand the enormity and awesomeness of the gift of God’s grace; and it
sinks deep into our subconscious that God really loves us unconditionally and perfectly;
in spite of our weaknesses and imperfections, we would want nothing better than to love
Him, serve Him and live a life pleasing to Him. A friend likens our reaction to the grace
of God to the reaction of a poor man who receives a Rolls Royce as a gift. Obviously
the recipient of such an expensive gift would not treat that gift carelessly. He would
preserve it and take very good care of it because of its value.
The person who abuses the grace of God does not understand the incomprehensible
love behind the gift of grace; he opens himself to attacks of the devil and on the last
day, he will not receive any rewards!
So rather than resist the beautiful gift of God’s grace with its huge blessings because of
the person who abuses the grace of God, we should pity the abuser for denying himself
the privilege of reigning in life through the abundance of grace.