Mystery #3 mystery of grace through faith

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭16:24-27‬ 

 

Introduction:

 

The definition of Grace is important to understand. Initial salvation/justification (deliverance) was made during Christ’s shed blood on the cross, that the first work of grace was an unconditional act by God to shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins for the entire world. Grace then becomes the power to keep His moral law and to forsake ungodliness.Grace is God’s favor on man. God is always ready to share His favor and benefit as He is for us and not against us. He is always ready and waiting. We have divine access whether we use it is another question. If we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. But if we deny Him, He will also deny us. (2 Timothy reference)

 

Grace for the race is now a key in the New Testament through Jesus. This grace for the race started with the Church Age and is individually at our conversion/rebirth.

 

Paul in his presentation to the Romans presents his argument as if standing in a Roman courtroom.

He is telling us legally what God has done for us to fulfill the righteous requirement of His law.
Paul initially reminds the court that all are guilty and condemned to the penalty set forth by God’s righteous law. But Christ, as the last Adam, was delivered for our trespasses and raised for our justification. 

 

God has given us grace to walk righteously, to live righteously. Faith, as in the faith of Abraham, will now fulfill the moral law given to Moses. It will fulfill this law within us. “…In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.”

 

The New Testament combines the faith of Abraham and the moral law of Moses and harmonizes them through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Now, because of Christ, we can finish our race by grace through faith by the power of the gift of the holy spirit. This is the race of becoming holy, conformed back into His complete image again!

 

The entire world now, Jew and Gentile, have been given access into the promises by grace through faith.

This is the very reason why the judgement of God to come is a dominant theme of Paul to the churches.

That because of what Christ has done for all humanity, all will give an account, non believer and believer alike, for this incredible gift of grace. This gift we come to find out mainly from Chapter 8, is the gift of Holy Spirit. (How many times mentioned? - 20 times)

 

“Do we then make void the law, certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law…Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God…For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more, those who receive an abundance of grace and through the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ…What shall we say then, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound…certainly not!…For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace…For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death…That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit…And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that i might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off…For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness IN PART has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins…Having gifts that differ according to the grace…Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law…The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen…Now to him who is able to strengthen you….for the obedience of faith.”

 

Conclusion:

 

The Holy Spirit’s job is to fulfill the law within us because “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good”. (Romans 7:12) Paul’s message is that because Christ died, you also died…because Christ rose again we also rise again and die to our sin by grace through faith. We are able to not be a slave to the flesh, the world or the devil. It is this grace, this mission, that defines love. Paul tells us you cannot define love without obedience to God’s standard. This is the good news. God made a way for us to keep His standard. 

 

The end goal is to receive the promises that God has offered to Isreal, which has been made available to the church. You can gain access into these promises but there is a fear that you can likewise be cutoff. This is the warning from the judge to the court. 

 

*Do we need this. 3rd time mentioned.

The last chapter and verses of Romans 16:24-27 make this mystery clear:

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” 

 

It is clear that Paul’s mission to the church is to teach us how to receive all of God’s promises and not be cut off. Without the Old Testament understanding of the promises given to Abraham and the failed attempts of the Isrealites to fulfill them through Moses, the church has made a grievous error. It has taken these passages out of context and applied them to salvation pertaining to heaven and hell.

 

Case: “There is no condemnation in Christ”….do not miss the next part “for those who walk by the spirit and not by the flesh”.

Rebuttal: Hebrews points out that you can still make God angry, just like they did in the wilderness with the Isrealites.

Tribulation - believers can still go through tribulation if not walking in the spirit

 

(See Key to Grace; Key to Roman Courtroom; Key to the Complete Gospel)