Understanding The Grace Of God
(Restoration of Biblical understanding Of Free Will and God's Grace)
By Pastor G. Reckart
Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved
Grace
(Music: As The Deer Panteth)
Hebrew chen: kindness, favor (Strong's #2580).
First used when Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord (Gen 6:8). Noah found kindness and favor in the eyes of the Lord.
We will not backward apply New Testament doctrine of grace as many do. This is false and this is wrong.
Here is the record of Naoh and God's act of grace. Also proof of man's free will.
The world was wicked to the point God said it repenteth him that he made man. God determined to destroy all mankind. But one man was just, perfect, and walked with God all in free will. This was Noah (Gen 6:9). Consider that God cannot destroy a just and perfect man, a righteous man, a man who walked with him in the fellowship of holiness. This friendship brought Noah on the level of God's love that God could not destroy him with the wicked. To do so would have been unjust. It would have been a sin. Friends do not destroy friends. God could have destroyed Noah in spite of him being just and perfect, but it would make God a sinner, going against his very own principles of grace. Grace is kindness and should God not be kind to Noah it would have tarnished his grace. God had no choice but to give Noah kindness and favor. This is the grace God gave to his friend. This was not mercy or grace given to a sinner which we find in the New Testament doctrine on grace. On the contrary, this was grace given to a just and perfect man. Was Noah being just or perfect two merits that saved him from being destroyed with the wicked? If he was not just or perfect would he have still received grace? The rest of the world sure didn't.
What was it that God could not condemn? What was it in Noah he could not destroy with the wicked? According to Paul in Hebrews 11, Noah was a righteous man. What was his righteousness? We can say without reservation it was the righteousness of God. In other words, Noah lived according to all of the moral and spiritual qualities of God. Yes, we call this living by faith and performance by works (the just shall live by faith). But not works of man, because they are the works of God's own righteousness. Noah's righteousness was his own free will practice of God's righteousness. This we will see repeated later between Jesus and the New Testament saints.
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Grace here will always mean kindness and favor. But it goes to an additional level, it is a gift of love. God loved Noah and the fact he was a just and perfect man. By this Noah found grace. God had grace upon his own righteousness which Noah lived.
Now here is a wonderful fact of grace. It is a divine pardon. When God gives grace it cancels judgment that could come upon that person. Noah's righteous life was spared. So grace now can mean to spare life. This is what we find in the second use of grace in Genesis 19:19, when Lot thanks two angels for dragging him out of Sodom. He tells them he is thankful he has found grace by their saving his life. We do not want to forget this beautiful new revelation. It will mean so much to us when we get to Jesus and the New Testament.
I do not have the time or space in this short study on grace to comment on each and every use of grace in the Old Testament. But this is what I have found. Grace is used in text where life is spared. Where compassion is shown. Where love is expressed in favor. Where it is a reward for righteousness. Where a person condemned was pardoned. And where forgiveness was given. These all play a vital part in understanding grace when we come to the New Testament. There is no need to invent doctrines about grace that have no foundation in the Old Testament. When I studied grace in the Old Testament I was amazed at how through it peace was accomplished. Compassion and kindness were shown. Favor and hope were extended. Pardon and forgiveness through love were given. Another thing I discovered about grace was the self-judgment it imposed upon the giver. Generally, a person will show grace to others in the same way they themselves would want grace if they were the ones needing it. It is apparent that even God subjects himself to self-judgment when he gives grace. This shows up in the sacrifice of Calvary.
God is a balanced God. He has two sides: the judgment side and his mercy or grace side. Here is a little chart to illustrate God's two sides:
Two Sides of God |
|
Judgment |
Mercy |
| anger | compassion/kindness |
| wrath | mercy |
| war | peace |
| rejected | favor |
| cut off | hope |
| condemned | pardoned |
| judged | forgiven |
| hate | love |
| destroy | life spared |
| eternal death | grace |
While many are inventing new doctrines on the word grace and will protest against what I am about to say, it is still the truth and I will prove it.
The grace of God was measured by free will and human performance in Noah's day. If not, why mention of all the sins and evils for which God repented he had made man. Yes, their sins and iniquity reprobated them. Their works demanded God not measure to them his grace because they chose his judgment by rejecting Noah's preaching. Once God determines judgment for sin and cuts off any remedy, grace is an impossibility. There is a day of free will and grace for each soul and he/she dare not go past that day. God has limited his day of grace right now until the very day of the coming of Jesus. In Noah's day the people sinned their years of grace away and when the day of judgment came there was no more grace. The Ark was before them. Noah was safe inside by free will. God had shut the door. Grace was sealed in the Ark. The Ark was Noah's grace of God. This means also, that the Church is the replica of Noah's Ark and it also can be the place where God's grace will be given to those who escape the pollutions of the world.
God's grace, how beautiful, how majestic, how inspiring. And "free will"? How beautiful and a blessing.
We now turn to the New Testament use and application of grace.
The Greek word is charis: mercy, favor, by imp. love (Strong's 5485). It is first found in Luke 2:40 where it was said of Jesus: "the grace of God was upon him." Here we understand that Jesus was just, perfect, holy, righteous, and there was no guile in his mouth. He was perfectly righteous. There was no sin in him. God's grace was upon a perfect man.
If we want to look at a daily life of human performance where the just live by faith, we have only to look at Jesus. Here we see it perfected to the highest level of Godliness a person can achieve. Adam had it before he fell. Now the works of Jesus of whatever measure, of whatever religious practice, of his own accord, were done in the flesh with a pure heart. This is performance works. We cannot find fault with his works. I find no fault. In fact I do not seek to find fault. In all that he did, said, and lived, he was perfect. He was a just man, a man without condemnation. He was not in need of God's grace for salvation. He did not need a pardon. He was not lost! He could not come under the wrath or judgment of God for any of his human works of performance. God could not reject them. In the flesh Jesus overcame all the temptations and lusts of the world. He was so holy that he could not even die if chose not to. He was not under Adam's curse. Here was a man more perfect then Enoch or Elijah who never saw death. Jesus said these words:
"No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself" (John 10:18a).
This is total free will.
In fact, God could not take the life of Jesus. It was God's law that the day Adam sinned that was the day he would be subject to death. There was no day of sin in the life of Christ, the second Adam. The second Adam as was the first was made perfect. No need for escaping original sin by santizing Mary so she could birth a child with sinless blood. Sin is not inherited in the blood anyway. The second Adam was rightoeus. The second Adam as God manifest in the flesh was a friend of the first Adam. The second Adam laid down his life for his friend, the first Adam. Jesus did this all of free will. He was without sin. Therefore God could not place death upon him for a penalty. By free will Jesus had to lay down his own life for the first Adam's race.
If Jesus had not willingly allowed himself to die, he would have never died. But herein we begin to see how Jesus could give us grace, when he would take our place for the death penalty and the judgment for sin. It is here we can observe that if Jesus sees a sinner using free will with the right faith he will spare his life. This is grace. This is divine pardon.
The Righteousness Of Christ:
What is the free will righteousness of Christ we should dwell upon? What is the finished work of Christ on the Cross? Is it the shedding of his blood without any connection to his life of righteousness? A fool may say yes but not a real Believer. In what way did God judge Jesus upon the Cross that his blood would atone for sins? Was it not that by free will Jesus took upon himself our sins instantly causing the judgment of God? That through his substitute death grace could come upon the world through faith in his sacrifice?
What is it like to be a free will Christ-Like person? Are there really any free will Christ-Like Christians in the world? How many have accepted the lie they cannot escape being sinful because they do not have a free will to do so? Many believe they will not have the righteousness of Christ in their own human performance because God has limited their free will and they cannot. This is false. They are led to fear God will rejected them if they use free will and have any human performance after the pattern of the righteousness of Christ.
The Calvinist and One Steppers create an interesting contradiction: God accepted the free will human works of righteous performance of Christ. It is Jesus in us by free will faith that leads us to the same works of righteousness. AND GOD IS GOING TO REJECT US because we have limited grace and cannot achieve it? Remember, it is the righteousness of Christ in us working, not we ourselves working, and not we following the Catholic model of grace through man-made religious works that Jesus did not do. Maybe if I draw a chart here I can show you how God judged Jesus upon the Cross by his own self-judgment comparing holy to holy, righteous to righteous, and without sin to without sin. God could not condemn or reject the finished righteous work of Jesus without condemning himself.
It is here we will get a clear and beautiful picture of grace
which in the life of the Messieh has now become ours: and through this God
gives us grace by Jesus Christ.
We have heard it from the time our ears were awakened to get something from the preaching. It is those words: "THE FINISHED WORK OF CALVARY." Although these words are not in the New Testament, and therefore no meaning subscribed; we accept them as factual but our interpretation is somewhat different. Here is why. The human performance of Jesus as a holy and righteous man qualified him as the Lamb of God, whose blood could be shed for the sins of the world. If Jesus would have sinned his blood would not have saved anyone. Therefore, we conclude, that the shedding of blood, righteous blood, holy blood, pure blood, is so interconnected to the free will human performance of Jesus and his righteousness, that without it there can be no Calvary. I cannot speak of the finished work of Christ without these being combined. Christ could not have finished any "work" with human performance if he had not been a totally righteous Lamb without spot. And "spot" here is directed at the human works of righteous performance as well as his entire spiritual perfection. The very term "spot" comes from the sacrifice that had to be inspected from nose to tail for fleshly imperfections. It would have absolutely no application to Jesus at all unless we address him according to the works of the flesh. While many from the Calvinist and One Steppers (Baptist and other Evangelicals) will scream "cult" at me, I am bold to say that it is these very works of free will, it was righteous performance that God looked at in Jesus, saw the perfection of holiness, and accepted the sacrifice. Deny it and you are false.
Not by works of righteousness whuch we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5).
The word "by" here means: according, by way of, because of, as a result of.
Washing of regeneration, what does that mean? It is the same thing as "washing of re-birth." Now where do we find re-birth or being born again associated with washing? Why it is in John 3:3-5 and being born of the water. And in Acts 2:38 baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. But is the washing or baptism of re-generation salvation? No, it must also be accompanied by "renewing of the Holy Ghost." Can a person then be renewed by saying the sinner's prayer? No. Can a person say they have been gone through the washing of regeneration by having faith alone in Jesus on Calvary? No. This text shows us that mercy or grace is given to the sinner by way of, because of, as a result of: the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. The problem of faith only theory is those who spread this false doctrine teach the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost are not necessary for salvation. These people are false.
Let me make this clear. A sinner cannot claim salvation without Christ because he/she has done good deeds. Salvation as a result of good deeds does not need Calvary. A sinner cannot produce righteousness by good deeds. Righteousness does not come from doing good deeds. The deeds of the flesh cannot work the righteousness of God. Righteousness cannot be inherited from good deeds. A sinner comes to God with good or bad deeds and unrighreousness but no righteousness. He will be saved without any righteousness whatsoever. Man cannot receive God's righteousness until Christ is in him. This happens with the baptism of the Holy Ghost which is the Spirit of Christ. Righteousness is of inheritance and this is impossible until he becomes a child of God. But getting saved and living saved are two different things not to be confused. Each step of salvation is a connection to the righteousness of Christ on Calvary. So that repentance, water baptism and being filled with the Holy Ghost are all three interconnected to the righteousness of Christ and his finished works on Calvary. Without Christ sacrifce there is no repentance, water baptism, or being filled with the Holy Ghost and no righteousness. Therefore, repentance is grace given, water baptism is grace given, and the Holy Ghost baptism is grace given. If these are gifts of grace how could they be works of man?
For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death (2Cor 7:10)
Repentance is a gift of God's grace. Man did not invent this act of the soul. If a person repents because of God's gift of grace he is not working his own righteousness. He is using God's tool of mercy. What brings Godly sorrow? Does a sinner bring it upon themselves? No, this Godly sorrow is a gift of God. It is a natural response to the preaching of the Gospel. The Holy Ghost brings condemnation and conviction of the guilt of sin. If the sinner will not hardned their heart and give way to this calling of God, they will experience Godly sorrow. The Godly sorrow in a sinner worketh repentance. Godly sorrow is not a work invented by man to get God's attention. Only God can bring Godly sorrow and if a person falls down on their knees by God's gift of repentance and begins to cry out in Godly sorrow, it is all the WORK OF GOD. Paul says we are not to repent (turn from), this work of God taking place within us.
But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him (Acts 10:35).
This was the early Church response to Cornelius who before his New Testament salvation was devout and feared God, gave alms, and prayed always. The angel said to him that his prayers and alms had come up before God as a memorial. Because of these works of righteousness God sent Peter to his house to tell him words that he might be saved. Was he saved by those memorial works? No, or he would not have needed Peter. But was his righteous works accepted by God as an evidence of his faith? Yes. Here is where his faith without salvation brought him to his next level of faith and salvation. But please note Cornelius did do works of righteousness that caused God to send him grace through the salvation message. We can see his righteous works were the same as those of Jesus before his salvation, but after salvation they would be the very works of Christ in him.
It is impossible for a saved person who has Christ dwelling within by free will not to live a holy and righteous life. And it is impossible to live a holy and righteous life without Christ dwelling within. And I will say this, defile the temple of God with unrighteous sin and works of the flesh and Jesus will not abide in us. In fact, God will withdraw his grace and destroy us. Grace then is contingent upon the righteousness of Christ for us to obtain it. It is then his righteousness working in us that keeps grace upon us. The very minute a person rejects the righteous life of Christ and defiles their temple with sinful and ungodly behavior, that is the very minute God's grace is lifted and we fall under wrath and judgment.
Full or limited grace?
The meaning given to "grace" by many can be misleading and often
false. When they do not include the doctrine of free-will and its complete
use in salvation, they end up false.
How grace was understood in the Old Testament is most often now distorted by those trying to backward interpret their doctrines based upon New Testament theories. In fact, the New Testament use is distorted by many. From these new doctrines men like John Calvin could conjure up his limited grace doctrine of predestination. He would also advance his theory that grace was unmerited favor, being suggested in his argument of those predestinated to be saved by grace and those to be damned not to receive grace.
In Calvin's grace doctrine there is no free will and those predestinated to be damned will not receive God's grace. He claims God damned them for his own reason. They call this the doctrine of Sovereign Will. It is Calvin's imagination that if God allows free will and full grace to everyone that he cannot have a Sovereign Will. It is a shame that some men try to be a god to God and to teach him how to be Sovereign to validate their theories. Calvin's view of God's grace then is limited to those without free will who were predestinated. This brings in the false doctrine of eternal grace. Meaning those predestinated to receive grace have been sealed for all eternity to be saved and they cannot leave that number through any act of their own. So, in Calvin's new doctrine, a person predestinated to receive grace is born that way. Born saved. The same with the damned, born damned. So Calvin's view of Calvary is that Jesus offered up a partial sacrifice only for the predestinated. Those within the Presbyterian churches can claim they are saved by unmerited favor because this is the explanation of predestinated eternal grace. It is false to use the term "unmerited favor" for grace and not mean by this Calvin's explanation of predestinated eternal grace.
Calvin's new doctrine was designed against the free will teachings of the papacy, that Catholics can earn their salvation by doing good works. By good works we mean the religious acts they must do in order to be good Catholics and by which they can claim they are saved. Salvation in the Catholic church is simple: free will to accept Jesus plus works the church assigns. The Catholic church teaches that Jesus could not fully save, one must comply with several doctrines of the church to help Jesus save them. Foremost is the doctrine of the trinity. If a person does not believe in the trinity they are not considered saved. Catholics believe Jesus does not save anyone who does not believe in the trinity. From this doctrine others are added until a Catholic member must do many more religious works not found in the Bible to be saved. Salvation then in the Catholic church is Jesus and religious works, which works are not works of the Old Testament Law, nor works of the righteousness of Christ.
Catholics have never been a holiness or Godly people. They believe they obtain the grace of God through free will, the sacraments, and their many religious works in spite of the fact they are sinners who have no plans to give up their evils. These religious works and sacraments are purely human invented and they cannot be compared with the righteous works of human performance found in Christ. But does this merit destroying the biblical doctrine of free will?
Self-righteousness
Many people think they can make up their own religion and not follow the life of Jesus Christ at all. Anyone who thinks God will accept them by practice of a man-made religion is trying to be saved by self-righteousness. Here is an example:
Buddhism is a man-made religion. It is a complete religious philosophy wherein there is no God. Everything within it is body and mind directed. Regardless of how moral, how peaceful, how friendly, the good behavior: all of this is associated with the life and teachings of Buddha. If a person believes following Buddha' philosophy makes him holy or righteous, this claimed righteousness is self righteousness because they are not practiced from a relationship with Jesus or God. In fact, God did not have anything to do with the creation of the Buddha religious system promoting them. God has nothing to do with this religion. The glory of God has never been seen in, near, or around it. Buddhism is not the religious life Jesus lived in his holiness. Jesus did not present Buddhism to God on Calvary for acceptance of his human works, they cannot be accepted as the righteousness of Christ. This is an example of trying to claim salvation by works of righteousness. I hesitate to say the works of righteousness because I do not deem any good work of the Buddhist to be such since they are not founded upon biblical principles.
Self-righteousness is where a person not following the righteousness of Christ determines themselves to be righteous by self judgment. Their righteousness has no direct connection with the free will righteous finished works of Jesus Christ on Calvary. The righteousness which a person may claim in connection to Christ within them, is not self-righteousness. Any accusation that a person's righteousness in Christ is self-righteousness is false. Flat out lying.
The righteousness of Jesus all comes in one package contained in his holiness. We are not allowed to pick and choose part of his holiness or righteousness, mingle them with our own invented religious rituals and works, and be saved. It is total Christ or none at all. It is the real Jesus and not another one invented to comply with religious inventions. It is his total holiness and righteousness or none at all. There is no salvation in accepting a partial Jesus and rejecting the rest. Paul said such were accursed. You cannot accept his righteousness and reject his holiness. Faith in Jesus is believing in the whole Jesus: complete with his holiness and his works of righteousness. Thus, we are saved by his finished works of righteousness, his holiness, which his shed blood now represents.
Works of the Law
The entire works of the Law was to forgive man for his moral and spiritual failures. Any and all moral failure is also a failure of spiritual righteousness.
Animal sacrifices were offered by faith by the repentant sinner. God set forth that if a person sinned they must bring the right sacrifice as a sign of repentance, and he would give them forgiveness. Two things are here at work. Faith that God will do what his sacrifice system promised; and second, that God's future judgment for the sin was stopped. The sinner was not given justification under the sacrificial system, which is when God would count the forgiven sinner totally righteousness. Justification was reserved for the finished works of Jesus on Calvary. JUstification could not come by the Law because God did not include this blessing within it. Justification was reserved to come by the finished works of Calvary represented in the shed blood. This was to be embodied in water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38).
Now here is the beauty of Calvary that so many cannot grasp. If God can grant forgiveness by animal blood, how much more we can have forgiveness through the blood of Jesus as God's final plan of salvation? We learn from Paul that the Apostles saw in the sacrifice of Jesus justification of the sinner.
What is justification?
It is when God no longer sees the person as a sinner, or a forgiven sinner, but as a cleansed, purified, sanctified soul wherein the holiness and righteousness of Christ is now imputed. The just spiritual state of Jesus is now superimposed upon the converted sinner. When I say imputed, I mean God counts and gives these spiritual recognitions to the person justified. Now if God imputes them, they are indeed inside of us. With this we fall into the condition of Abraham wherein God counts him righteous. We now have these two spiritual conditions within us and they will be manifest in our lives. We cannot have or claim them and live an unholy and ungodly life. We cannot claim them and do wickedness and sin. Any person who does wickedness, sin, or evil, does not have the imputed holiness or righteousness of Christ within them. Abraham is our example of the free will life a person will live after this blessing has been bestowed upon them.
I want to point out an important other beauty of Calvary. This will affect many millions of people.
Under the Law there were many sins for which there was no animal sacrifice and thus no forgiveness. All death penalty sins under the Law had no sacrifice whereby the person could obtain forgiveness. All cut-off sins whereby a person was severed from the blessing of forgiveness had no sacrifice whereby a person could obtain forgiveness. I will not list them all here, but let me name just a few:
Idolatry, the having, or worship of any false
god or idol;
Taking the name of God in vain (cursing or using in an evil manner);
Breaking the sabbath;
Dishonor of mother and father;
Murder;
Adultery and other sexual sins (fornication);
Practice of witchcraft;
All sins of abomination;
Others.......
There was no remedy for these sins and evils. There were no animal sacrifices prescribed to bring forgiveness. They each had the death penalty.
But a wonderful thing happened. Jesus took upon himself all the death penalty sins and died in the place of all those who under the Law could not obtain forgiveness or justification. His death also satisfied God for the forgiveness of all sin of those who did not commit a death penalty offense. So, Jesus died for all that all may be forgiven and imputed holiness and righteousness, where in justification is obtained.
We are justified by the finished works of Jesus on Calvary which now his blood is the testament. His blood is the witness of his finished works of human performance. Oh how great the Cup of Communion as we put it to our lips and drink.
Even his death is a free will human performance. It is with great respect and pride in Jesus that we accept his work of redemption and find no fault in his works of righteousness. In fact, we love his righteousness so much we accept them in our own life as he lives within us working out his own purpose. We want Jesus to live in our body and feel at home as if he was in his own human body before Calvary. We do not want Jesus to live in us as we continue in sins and evils. We are not that disrespectful as a host to the Divine glory of our God. God will not dwell in an unclean temple and we understand perfectly what holiness and righteousness are all about and they are not works of human invention.
Works of the Old Testament Law that are not the righteousness of Jesus are not part of our religious faith. These works of the law are not the same thing as the righteousness of the Law. Many confuse these and fabricate false doctrines. The works are the rituals: the sacrifices, the ministry of the Levites; the high priest annual atonement with goats; the red-heifer practices; the divers washings; not planting mixed seeds; dietary rules; keeping of days, new moons, sabbaths; and so forth. Here is where many fall off the deep end, because they include in their identification of works of the Law the righteousness of all the moral conduct prescribed in the Law. Moral conduct is not the righteousness of the Law it is the righteousness of God the person has accepted by free will into their own life. The works of the Law were designed to protect and to make reconciliation if a person failed in righteousness. The righteousness of the Law is the mercy obtained by forgiveness through animal sacrifices. According to the Law of God, if a person sinned and wanted to be righteous again by forgiveness, they had to offer the proper animal sacrifice. We no longer have this righteousness of the Law because forgiveness by animal sacrifices is ended.
All blood sacrifices had for their purpose to obtain forgiveness for the sins of the individual who failed in their moral performance. If failure of moral performance was not God's focus in blood sacrifices then there is no purpose at all. It is here we must see that works of moral performance where there is no sin do not require a blood sacrifice. Love for instance is a moral performance. There is no law against love. Love does not need a blood sacrifice. Jesus himself did not need a blood sacrifice because of his love and being without sin. His moral works of righteousness were totally perfect. Was he righteous because he performed the ritual works of the Law? No! Was he righteous because he was counted righteous by the blood of an animal sacrifice? No! Was he righteous because he observed the rituals of the law and had faith in the ashes of red heifers, the atonement goats, the observance of new moons, practice of feast days, etc.? No! His righteousness was his holiness. He was without sin because he committed no sin. Jesus Christ did not need any of the Law to be counted righteous. In himself, he was totally righteous. He is the perfection of righteousness. Therefore, it is by his righteousness we are saved, it being transferred to his shed blood and this to our water baptism. And, it is his righteousness that we have within us that becomes our righteousness. Anyone who claims our righteousness which is the righteousness of Christ working in us, is works of the law, works of man, are teaching falsehood. All of our righteousness is the righteousness of Christ. It was God's grace for us to have this righteousness, for us to have salvation by it through baptism: or we would have no hope.
This is why Acts 2:38 becomes so vitally important and essential.
Within this one verse all the revelation of God's grace is bound up.
There can be no faith without free will:
Repentance: Turning from sin and evil to God is an act of free will and faith. We are now willing to face him and confess our sins with a spirit of humility and sorrow. This can take place with or without tears. It usually occurs when a person feels great conviction for their sins. Most acts of repentance brings a feeling of self-purging. Joy can accompany the completion of emptying the soul and freeing it from bondage to sin. The person repenting has a deep sense of pleasing God for the rest of their life. They know that if it was not for Jesus dieing on the Cross they would have no hope their repentance would be accepted. Calvary and Jesus on the Cross fills the mind of a repentant sinner. When they bow their knees at an altar it is as if they are bowing at the foot of the Cross. Repentance brings the Cross from Golgotha in Jerusalem to the place where the sinner repents. Repentance without Calvary is not possible. Therefore, repentance is where the grace of God's forgiveness is given. It is right here that free will and grace becomes a relationship with God.
Water baptism: this water of faith becomes the symbol of the grave in which Jesus by his free will was laid down after his death. We cannot all go to the tomb in Jerusalem to feel the awe of the place where Jesus conquered death. But in our place of baptism the awe is present as if we were at the tomb in Jerusalem. Paul tells us in Romans 6 that we are buried with him in baptism. As the repentant convert stands in the water being prepared for burial in baptism, he or she is instructed that by their own free will they are to die out now to the world, to sin, to all things that are not holy and righteous, and are to be severed from their past for ever. They are now going through the waters of separation, the waters of sanctification, the waters of justification, and will rise without condemnation in a spiritual resurrection as a new creation and fully saved in the sight of God. Just as Jesus laid down his life by free will we go down in baptism by free will. Baptism without faith in the resurrection of Christ is not acceptable. Therefore, water baptism is the place where the grace of God's justification takes place. There can be no being in Christ until a person has been raised from water baptism. We are then by one baptism of water and Spirit raised in the operation of the resurrection to be in Christ. Herein we are by grace justified by the blood of Jesus that washed away our sins when we were baptized.
Holy Ghost baptism: this is part of God's grace upon the believer. We have grace through the blood of Jesus and now we will receive grace by the work of the Holy Ghost. It is a gift to acknowledge eternal life has been reserved for the convert. If the convert remains in Christ, is not severed from the vine, continues in their salvation and faith, allows the holiness and righteousness of Jesus to reign in their mortal bodies: these will receive the promise of a holy resurrection and reward of eternal life in heaven. The Holy Ghost baptism is also a sign that if a person has not been water baptized in the name of Jesus Christ they should do so immediately (see Acts 10). If they refuse, even if they received the Holy Ghost, they are not saved. It takes a new birth of water and Spirit to be saved.
Water and Spirit baptisms but not in sequential order:
Contrary to the thinking of some, birth or baptism in water does not need to precede Spirit baptism.
There is nothing in John 3:3-5 that says they must be done sequential. But they both must be accomplished, that is the point. If Spirit baptism precedes water baptism the believer must go the waters of separation quickly to have the grace of being born again. Being born again is the work of God's grace. If the whole of being born again is God's grace then the parts of being born again: viz, water baptism and Spirit baptism, are also God's grace. And, if only one part is accomplished and the other neglected or rejected, the whole is not complete so a person IS NOT BORN AGAIN.
Saved by grace through faith: It is a common thing to hear from our enemies that Oneness Apostolics do not believe in salvation by grace through faith. That has been a lie from the first time it was spoken and remains a lie each time it is repeated. We are a people who believe in the grace of God. We believe we are saved by grace through faith. We are staunch believers in free will. And we see this in Acts 2:38 which we believe is God's plan of salvation where free will must be exercised or it cannot be obeyed or complied with. Why do we believe this? Because it is the only text of scripture where an Apostle connects all the works of Christ for salvation and how we by free will and faith are saved by it.
Works of righteousness which we have done: One of the other common lies of our enemies is that Oneness Apostolics believe they are saved by their standards of holiness which they call works or human performance. No, this is a lie which circulates all over the world to deceive souls not to come and fellowship with us and receive the Holy Ghost. These men who rail against us have one focus, they do not want souls to come and receive the Holy Ghost. So they invent lies to scare them away from us. To make them fearful. And when all else fails they will call us a cult. That is the biggie that is supposed to scare even the most advanced seekers of God. All of this negative slander is because these hate holiness and want to live uncondemned in their sins and worldliness.
Here are the facts. Those who understand Apostolic theology know we teach a sinner before salvation is fully and totally condemned. They know that without repentance, water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, and being filled with the Holy Ghost: a person is not saved. They also know that if an unrepentant sinner has moral goodness we do not believe this eliminates a need for repentance or the rest of Acts 2:38. In fact, we preach and teach that if a person believes they can present their moral goodness to God and they do not need salvation in Christ, that this is a sin. We believe it is a sin to reject Christ no matter how good a person's morals are. Additionally, we do not care how many righteous things a person does or how much of our holiness standards they accept, if they reject Jesus and Acts 2:38 they are lost. We have preached you can dress up a fence post and it will not save it.
We do not believe as the Egyptians, that we come to God and he places all of our good part on one side of the scales and all of our bad on the other, and if our good out-weighs the bad, he grants us salvation. No, this is the false picture our enemies paint and it is all lies. Some of our own Apostolic Pentecostals who have gone liberal and charismatic now make the same false accusations to cover up for their backslidings. We have had many come to our churches and love the beauty of our holiness and want immediately to be like us. We tell them being like us will not save you. We tell them that what we are is the holiness and righteousness of Christ working in and through us. They can do it of free will, even from the heart, but if it is not Christ in them, then they are trying to be saved by works of their own. We teach clearly that it is Christ in us doing the works even as it was God in Christ doing the works. Christ would not have been accepted without the works of God in him and we will not be accepted without the works of Christ in us.
We teach all of our converts that when they repent, as they are convicted by the work of the Holy Ghost to prepare their body as a temple of God, they are to allow the Holy Ghost and Scripture show them the holiness and righteousness of Christ. They are to accept these and love them. They are to seek for salvation and the Holy Ghost baptism, not by their works but but their faith and worship. We never tell anyone to go to the altar and present your works and ask God to fill you with the Holy Ghost. In fact, we tell them to enter into a relationship with God in prayer and worship. We know when the Holy Ghost comes in, the holiness and righteousness of Christ will not be rejected if they are not deceived to deny them.
So, we teach sinners and converts they can bring nothing to repentance, nothing to water baptism, to obtain salvation by their own works. The real Apostolic Ministers will not allow baptismal converts to come to baptism wearing ungodly clothing or any kind of jewelry. They are taught they will have a resurrection and how they come up is how they want God to see them the rest of their life. The way they are when the Minister lifts them up, he is saying that is the way he wants to present them to Christ in the resurrection.
We teach strongly that no person is saved by their own works. We teach our holiness and righteousness is from Jesus alone, and these are the manifestations of his own works when he was in his own flesh. We do not deny our holiness or our righteousness come from Jesus. We openly confess they are not our own. And we prove this by pointing out how backsliders cannot and will not live this sanctified crucified life once Christ is not in them. They cannot live a holiness crucified life when Jesus departs from them. This is manifest in the very lives of our enemies. They do not have the holiness and righteousness of Jesus manifest in or through them. Why? Because Jesus is not in them, although by their false faith only claim of salvation: they claim they have received Jesus Christ into their heart. Jesus is in them and does not manifest his holiness and righteousness? You figure that. And in some cases, our enemies have all the conduct of a demonic. And they claim Jesus is in their heart? No, Apostolic Pentecostals are very clear on the grace of God that leads us to repentance. We are very careful of not crossing the line and refusing to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts (Titus 2:11-12). Now this is the grace we have. Grace to us is a relationship with God but it is more, it is a gift from God. Grace can be a substance and it can be a relationship, both. Faith likewise can be a substance and a relationship, both.
If we are to understand the mystery of grace, we must turn to the face of God. It is his love revealed in a most beautiful way to those whom he should have destroyed. Grace is always projected to the one in need of mercy. If I try to understand mercy I can come up with no better word then compassion. Herein a side of God shines through eternity down to the earth. When God made Adam he loved him. All we know is there was a bond between man and his Creator. Adam loved God also. In this perfect relationship, free from sin, there was no need of grace or mercy. But when Adam sinned, and God was hurt, the need for grace and mercy came into existence. God showed mercy and compassion when he slew animals and shed their blood and made Adam and Eve coats of skin. To some this was nothing. But to us Apostolic Pentecostals the coats of skin are a witness of God's mercy, his grace. Right here, outward holiness begins as a sign of God's grace and mercy. Holy garments? Did God make something unrighteous here? Can holy garments ever be unrighteousness? Yes, Adam and Eve put on God's garments. Acceptance of these was a sign of repentance and sorrow. Even so, acceptance of the holiness and righteousness of Christ, that they become our own covering, is the witness of God's grace and mercy. Our holiness of Christ in us and through us is our preparation for the Lamb's robe of righteousness to be given to those whom he gave grace according to Acts 2:38.
The Lord's Annual Passover:
While some have made the Communion a ritual like the Catholic and Protestant churches, the real Apostolic Pentecostals consider the Lord's Supper to be a celebration of God's grace. We are careful to explain the 33 and 1/2 years of holy life represented in the unleavened bread. We lovingly bring attention to the righteousness of Christ in all of his human performance. There was never a break-down and slip of sin. He was undefiled. He was the second Adam. As the first was made without sin so was the second. The body of Jesus was conceived and totally made without sin. Mary was pregnant with a perfect child. Jesus, King of the Jews, was born in Bethlehem. From the manger to Calvary our Lord was just, perfect, and holiness was his image. All of this represented in the unleavened bread.
We understand that it is the perfect Lamb that qualifies the blood, not perfect blood that qualifies the Lamb. Because of our revelation of the perfect Lamb according to the flesh: we can now see how his righteousness is transferred to the Cup. Yes, in this Cup is the New Testament in his blood. No Old Testament works or salvation here. Totally New Testament. We see in the Cup the representation of his pure blood. As we behold the Cup, look at its red appearance, we think of Calvary as blood dripped from his hands and feet to the ground. We visualize the sufferings from which it flowed. We appreciate and respect all of the holiness and righteousness the Cup represents. We come to the table in respect. If one needs to sanctify theirself we provide a time to pray for one another. And when the time has come we consecrate the emblems of our Master. We eat the unleavened bread and put the Cup to our lips and drink. Yes, this is in commemoration of God's grace. We are thankful and we discern the Lord's body for all of its glory. We will not forget his holiness or his righteousness until he returns.
Next year Jerusalem!
Shalom....
I understand and love God's grace, do you?
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Performance Works or Righteousness of Christ
Emails from two ministers, a Baptist and a Oneness made the same old accusation that our water baptism and holiness standards are human performance of works and not of faith. Claiming they were not only unbiblical but that God would reject us because we are not trusting in Christ alone for salvation. The accusation included the same old false doctrine that we are saved by faith only and this faith is not a performance work.
First, these accusations are false as usual. What they call performance works we call performance faith. When I ask these men if there is any performance faith at all in what they believe, they write back that anything past faith in Christ alone and his finished works on Calvary is works. So, they have no need of a performance faith because there is none? Both claimed grace is unmerited favor and the unconditional love of God. Which means God gives grace without a person doing anything to obtain it. This is false.
This false doctrine is built upon the theory that when Adam sinned and fell from grace, that all mankind was afterward fully and totally apostated to the point of utter depravity. That in this depravity man cannot please God and anything he does that is righteous is rejected because it is like offering up a rotting and stenching sacrifice. Using such like repulsive illustrations, the Calvinist and One Steppers now can claim our salvation is all by grace only. With this picture burned into their minds the ignorant will accept the lie that mankind was so depraved he could not be pleasing to God with anything he did. But this is proven false when we read the Old Testament and see many men and women who please God and they were not saved according to their theory of grace. When I asked these men if faith itself is not a human work, a merit, they refuse to answer. They have their lies about Hebrews 11 and those who pleased God by faith in that chapter. It is a lie that God cast man down to the point he was utterly depraved and they could do nothing to change their condition. If this was true, then the people who died in the flood were depraved because God made them that way. And it would have been God's fault that their imaginations and hearts were wicked. I reject the lie of total depravity the Calvinist and One Steppers use to teach their grace only doctrine. When I asked if a person refuses to have faith in Christ does God give them grace anyway. Their answer is: if a person does not trust in Christ as their Savior by faith, then God will not save them by grace.
I contend their faith is a merit and a performance work.
For the sake of not wanting my readers to be confused, because this issue can be made very confusing, I want to take Hebrews chapter 11 and do an analysis of the faith examples presented by the Apostle Paul. These prove God did not cast men down into total depravity and they could do nothing to please God. Here is my chart proving total depravity is a lie and that mankind could have faith toward God throughout the Old Testament. It is this kind of faith that pleases God.
Performance Faith - Performance Works |
|
Performance Faith |
Performance Works |
| By faith Abel | Offered more perfect sacrifice |
| By Faith Enoch | Testimony that pleased God |
| By faith Noah | Prepared an ark for the saving |
| By faith Abraham | Obeyed, and went out |
| By faith Sara | Conceived and delivered a child |
| By faith Abraham | Offered up Isaac |
| By faith Isaac | Blessed Jacob and Esau |
| By faith Jacob | Blessed both sons of Joseph |
| By faith Joseph | Gave command about his bones |
| By faith Moses parents | Hid him three months |
| By faith Moses | Refuse to be called son of Pharoah's daughter; by faith he forsook Egypt; through faith he kept the Passover; |
| Israel by faith | Passed through the red sea |
| By faith the walls of Jericho | Fell after being compassed seven days |
| By faith Rahab the harlot | Because she received spies with peace |
| By faith Gideon | Subdued kingdoms |
| By faith Sampson | Subdued kingdoms |
| By faith Jephthae | Subdued kingdoms |
| By faith David, Samuel, the Prophets | Subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the sword, in weakness made strong, valiant fighters, dead were raised to life, etc. |
These examples show that God has not limited himself to accepting only one act of faith. This is the Baptist answer to Calvinism and his predestinated limited eternal grace. I make this statement again to present this as clear as I can: Calvin believed that before God made man he pre-selected a group of people he would give grace to and those he did not give grace he would damn and cast into the lake of fire as eternally guilty of sin. This is contained in the Westminster Confession:
"III. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained to everlasting death.
IV. These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it can not be either increased or diminished" (Westminster Confession 3:3-4, 1646, by 121 religious leaders).
These statements, taken from Calvin's Compends, were designed to war against one specific doctrine held by Catholics and some of the Anabaptists. It is called FREE WILL. Catholics believe all men have a free will to be saved or not to be saved. So did many Anabaptist. Calvin objected to the doctrine of "free will." If "free will" is a biblical fact, then all of Calvin's theories crash down to the ground including his falsehood of grace being the unmerited favor of God. It was the word "unmerited" that has stuck in the minds of generations afterward and upon which many other false doctrines have been started.
The Anabaptist who accepted free will were a holiness movement that allowed all of the gifts of the Spirit including speaking in tongues. They took one step away from Calvinism with their one step salvation, believe/faith only doctrine. In other words they believed in limited free will. That man had free will to do only one thing, have faith in the finished works of Jesus on Calvary. If they used their free will to do this one thing, then they believed the confessor was unconditionally and eternally saved and could never fall from grace. They went on to teach believer's baptism. A person was not baptized to be saved, they were baptized because they already were saved. This is the birth of the "One Steppers."
They opposed Calvin's theory of no free will and that God damned some men who could never be saved, being victims of his wrath unto eternal death. The One Steppers believed that if Jesus died for all then all had the availability of salvation. The One Steppers never went back to the early Church model found in the book of Acts. It is from different splinter groups of the Anabaptist that the modern Baptist descend. The question is, was the doctrine of one step biblical? Was it just as false as the Calvin doctrine they opposed? Was the theory it was based upon valid that man had only one free will choice? What was the theory of Calvinism that the One Steppers held on to that made it impossible for them to return to the book of Acts Church model? It is called 'Divine Grace":
"Grace is the unmerited favor of God."
From this another false doctrine was born that characterized all other free-will acts of faith as works. In other words, if there was only one act of free will a person could have, by which faith reached the grace of God, then there were no more acts of free will faith a person could do that reached the grace of God. These saw grace as a substance and not as a relationship. We see grace all the way from repentance to the resurrection and then on into eternity. So it is a relationship not a substance.
Finally we must address free will. Take a look at my chart on Hebrew 11 and observe the free will active in all the heroes of faith. Notice there is no such thing as limited free will. Nor is there any record of one time or one event free will. Free will is a part of our spiritual anatomy. It is a part of our thinking, our conscience, and the basis of our faith. There is no such thing as faith if there is no free will. And if there are may acts of faith there are many acts of free will.
Here is an example of free will:
"But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:16 ).
A rewarder without free will operating faith;
A rewarder without coming by free will to God;
A rewarder without by free will believing;
A rewarder without free will seeking him;
We conclude that Calvin was false.
We conclude that all One Steppers are false.
We conclude that the Catholic church is false.
We conclude that free will salvation is found in Acts 2:38.
We conclude that our holiness and righteousness is by free will, the holiness
and righteousness of Christ in us.
We conclude that the human performance of holiness and righteous works are
the finished works of Christ on Calvary.
We conclude that water baptism by faith and grace is received by the convert
as born of the water.
We conclude that all teachings by whoever that faith and grace is limited
to one act of the free will is false.
I point you once again to Acts 2:38 and admonish one and all by faith to
obey the Apostle Peter.
Pastor G. Reckart