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Under Grace! By Pastor Bill Taylor A publication of My Father's House, inc. Volume 8/ Issue 7 Prophecy: I am the high and lofty One who dwells with those who are low, humble, and contrite. I am the mighty God who turns the fruitful place into a desert and a desert into a fruitful place. My hand has made all things and My hand can destroy and My hand can nurture all that I have made. And I watch over all things and reign over all things with justice, with equity, with grace, and with mercy. And I always do what is right and I never do what is not right. For I am complete in all that is good and all that is righteous. And I see nations in perplexity, seas and waves roaring and men’s hearts failing them for fear, because they do not know Me though I have made them, though I have put the breath into their lungs, though I have sent the rain to their fields, though I have created the seed that feeds them they do not know Me and they do not want to know Me. And so I see nations in perplexity, the seas and the waves roaring and men’s hearts failing for fear. Because they wouldn’t fear Me they shall fear the very nature that supports them. They wouldn’t understand Me so they shall not understand the very universe in which they dwell. And yet I see another people, I see a people drawing nearer, and nearer, and nearer to Me. A people who want to know Me and delight in knowing Me. A people who glorify Me, who love Me, who worship and praise Me, who serve Me. A people who I call My own, a people for whom I have created a new universe, a new heaven and a new earth, a place fit for My children. And I tell you, My people, My bride, My beloved, do not fear the things that are taking place and will take place around you as I bring to an end the wickedness of men who feed from My breast and spit in My face. For I must bring this to an end so that I can bring forth what I have desired from the beginnings of time, a family that I can delight in, who delight in Me and a heaven and earth fit for My children. And I shall accomplish this work quickly, saith the Lord. And I shall bring My children home soon. And by My grace I shall make you fit for that which I have made fit for you, saith the Lord. (Prophecy delivered at “My Father’s House”) “For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace” (Ro6:14) To be under law would mean that the law is your master. But the fact that true believers are not under the Mosaic Law, does not mean we are not under any kind of law at all. Paul says, “and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win the Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law;” (1Co9:20) “to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ),” (v21) So Paul knows he is not under the Mosaic law, but he is under grace and yet he says that doesn’t mean I am without law towards God. Paul knows he is under a law that comes from God but it is not the Old Testament written law and so concerning all those who are under grace the Mosaic law is not their master, but grace is their master. Because grace itself is a law. And being under grace does not mean you are without law. It means you are under the law of grace. To be under something is to be in submission to it. And one way the law of grace is expressed is “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Ro8:2) To be set free from the law of sin and death or the written Mosaic law, then requires you to be under the law of Christ. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; (Jas2:8) So to do well you must fulfill the law of love: Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Ro13:10) And being under law towards Christ will cause us to love in such a way as to fulfill the law. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph3:17,19) Then if Christ lives in you, the law of the Spirit in Christ will cause you to fulfill the law by the Spirit. 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. (Ro8:4) For you are not under the law of a fleshly commandment, but you are now under obedience to Christ Himself. Who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. (Heb7:16) But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. (Ro7:6) and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. (2Co5:15) Now the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of grace. (Heb10:29) So to be under grace means you are set free from the written law because you are obeying a higher and better law; the law of Christ Himself Who abides in you and leads you in the right thing to do by His grace and His love. To be under grace is not to be without law towards God, but it is to be under obedience to Christ Himself, being led by His Spirit. So how greatly do those err who think that because we are not under the written law, we are free to do anything we want or even to sin with impunity. When in reality the righteous are under a higher law than the written law. But we know that the (written) law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the (written) law is not made for a righteous person, (1Ti1:8-9) The only people who are not under the written law are the truly righteous. The reason being because the righteous are under the higher law of God’s Spirit. who show the work of the law written in their hearts, (Ro2:15) And even though they don’t have the written law they are a law unto themselves. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them. (Ro2:14-15) Then the people who are truly righteous are not being held to the written law because the written law is not made for a righteous person but it was made for the lawless. Knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, (1Ti1:9-10) Thus if someone were to think, “I’m not under the law but under grace” means he can sin without fear of punishment – then such a person is under the written laws and will be punished. Because the only people who are not under the law but under grace are the ones who have submitted unto the righteousness of God that comes thru faith, which means not only are they not lawless but that they are participating in an even higher standard of righteousness than the written law can produce. For the truly righteous people are a people who desire to do good and God has granted them grace that they may do even better than they could by trying to do good through the works of the law. So grace is a gift that God gives to the truly righteous in order that the truly righteous may become more righteous. To him who has more is given. (Mt25:29) And grace is not a liberty that God gives to allow people to sin with impunity because the very fact that a person is fit to receive grace is an indication that he doesn’t want to sin; he wants to improve himself and he wants to be a truly righteous person and God’s grace is given to help him. In fact, God’s grace is the power that will enable him to do right. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1Co15:10) Whereas the person who thinks that, “I’m not under the law means I can sin,” he is the unrighteous one that the law is made for. He is also the one Jude talks about who, “turns the grace of our God into lasciviousness,” (Jude4) or into lawlessness thinking that because they are not under the law that they can do whatever they want. But notice the fact that we are not under the written law doesn’t mean we do whatever we want; it means we are looking to a different master to determine what we do. And that master is Christ Himself. And if we are truly obedient to Christ then we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and we are not under the law. But if we do not obey the gospel (2The1:8) then we are not righteous and we will be judged by the law. Knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, The law is made for people who do not have the love of God in their hearts and therefore these people are selfish and mean and can be very dangerous to other people and therefore they must be placed under the restrictions of law just as though you are putting an animal in a cage. Because they behave like animals, they must be caged like animals. The law is their cage. The law is made for these kinds of people because these people do not control themselves. and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, (1Ti1:9-11) Sound doctrine is the true teachings of Christianity by which the righteous order their behavior; because they trust and love the Lord they live by His teachings. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slave whom you obey, whether of sin (leading) to death, or of obedience (leading) to righteousness? (Ro6:14,16) Notice leading is not there in the original text. It is an italicized word in the scripture. You are under obedience to righteousness. But you are under the obedience that comes from God by faith. “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another--” (Ro7:4) You are not a widow with no husband. You have a new husband. The old husband was the law. And the law, Galatians says, was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law was a tutor. The law kept us under restrictions so that we didn’t fall into a place where sin was ruling over us to such an extent that we couldn’t get to Christ. The law would keep the righteous, who follow the law, in a state that they were able to get to the new covenant grace of Christ when that grace was made available to them. And then when you come to Christ you don’t need the schoolmaster anymore. We have the Master now and not just a schoolmaster. And so we have traded the law as a lower master for the highest Master – Christ Himself. And that means we are under Christ’s Lordship. And we’ve exchanged the inferior righteousness of the law for the superior righteousness of Christ. And this all equates perfectly with Christ being Head of the church – Head of the believer – Head of the body – not the law but the lawmaker Himself is Head. So we’ve been set free from following the dead letter of the law to be led by the living Spirit of the living God – Christ Himself. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. (Ro7:6) And that the lawmaker, Christ, is willing to be Lord to us and lead us and guide us by His Spirit, is grace. So when Christ is the one we are under, we are under grace. And that grace gives us power and good help from God. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb4:16) Come boldly to the throne of grace! Why? So that you can receive what you need to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. (Phil 2:12) So that Christ can guide you and empower you to overcome every obstacle and problem in your life that you may attain to His everlasting kingdom. And because grace is given to help, we can see it certainly isn’t just a license that says we can sin or do anything you want without fear of punishment. Grace is light and power. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, (Tit2:11-12) Here grace is light. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1Co15:10) Here grace is power. So grace to help can be expressed in a lot of ways – the grace of God to overcome enemies – the grace of God for you to be able to obey Him and stand up for Him and not deny Him in the face of the most terrible tyrants – the grace to know what the right thing to do is so you don’t get under condemnation by doing something wrong; the grace to endure and persevere in righteousness; the grace to bring forth good fruit. The person who truly desires to be righteous wants to do right and he knows the law is fallible because it is subject to his own feeble misinterpretations in the weakness of his flesh and his own strengths or abilities to understand. He needs something better than the law and he is crying out, “God, You be my Master, not the law. Don’t just give me the law and leave me to try to do it myself. Help me Jesus by You doing it through me. Be my Master, Jesus.” And Jesus answers the cry of the humble who truly wants that grace to help and says, “I’ll come to you and I will be your help and I will live My righteousness through you, for you, in you.” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (Jn14:23) And that is grace. God does it for us because He wants to help us get to heaven, so we can be with Him forever. He lives in us; He shows us how to do good, and He empowers us to do right. So we are under law towards God. to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), (1Co9:21) And one of the laws we are under is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Ro8:1-2) Because you are under law towards God, not being under the written law or Mosaic law does not give you the right to disobey God, which is always sin. Being under grace doesn’t give you the right to sin, because even though the written law isn’t your master any more God still is. If you walk in the Spirit you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. (Gal 5:16) You do not have the right to disobey the Spirit anymore than the person under the law has the right to disobey the law. In other words, there is a consequence to disobeying the Spirit. And if we are under the law we are expected to obey the law, and the penalty for breaking the law is death. But the penalty for disobeying the Spirit is also death. (Ro8:13) If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; (Jas2:8) if you do not keep the royal law of love you will not do well. The law of love is another law we are under towards God even and especially when we are under grace. So to disobey God when we are under grace has serious consequences. And yet there is great advantage to us being under grace, because it says, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. (Ro4:15) So the person under the law, when he breaks the law the wrath of God will come upon him, or the wrath of God will be stored up to come upon him in the judgment. Because breaking the law is something that angers God and you better not do it if you are under law. Whereas the person who is walking in the Spirit, the danger to him is not breaking the law, but the danger is grieving the Spirit, resisting the Spirit, disobeying the Spirit. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Eph4:30) But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them. (Is63:10) So if you are under the law, disobeying the law will bring about wrath. But under grace grieving the Spirit may cause God to turn against you as an enemy. And they tested God in their heart by asking for the food of their fancy. Therefore the Lord heard and was furious; (Ps78:18,21) The things that we may do that would grieve the Holy Spirit can cause God to be very angry. Therefore the LORD heard this and was furious; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel, because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation. (Ps78:21-22) So grieving the Spirit can cause God to turn against you and if so you would lose the seal of your redemption, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Eph4:30) and thus lose your salvation. Now to be led by the Spirit has to work from faith. And Galatians tells us we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Gal 3:14) And having the promise of the Spirit through faith means that we have the Spirit of Jesus Christ to show us what to do, to empower us to do it, so that we can indeed live a righteous life. But it all comes down to being obedient and submissive to the Spirit. And if we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith, then the promise of the Spirit is given as a gracious gift, it is grace itself. The Spirit is the grace that God gives so that we can walk in God’s ways. So the danger to the person who is walking in the Spirit, in a sense, is that if he were to abuse the grace or insult the Spirit, then the Spirit will be taken away from him. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. (Heb10:28) If you break the written law it brings death. But, Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common (profane) thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? (Heb10:29) Because to claim that you are under grace and then disobey the Spirit is to insult the Spirit of Grace. And the Spirit is Jesus Christ and to trample the Son of God underfoot is to resist Him, despise Him and reject His instructions. He offers you the pearls of His grace and you not only reject His Lordship but turn on Him like a swine trampling an enemy. And counting the blood of the covenant a common thing means it is not sacred to you or precious. So it ought to be a rare occasion for a believer to fall into sin and need to use the precious blood again – but these people think it a common everyday thing to sin and repent, sin and repent. As though the blood of Christ was shed so you could keep on sinning as much as you wish. So you treat the blood of the covenant as if it were a common thing. Remember Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of soup. He counted his birthright as a common thing, not worth anything but a bowl of soup. And people who count the precious blood of the covenant by which Jesus has given us this great gift to be led by grace as though they don’t want the Spirit of Grace, they just want the forgiveness that they may enjoy their sin but escape the punishment; these are a very wicked people and they will not escape the judgment of God. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Mt1:28-30) Jesus has offered Himself in death and in life – that we may be forgiven and attain to the righteousness of God by the grace of His Spirit in us. And we do not have to exert some major effort in trying to figure out what to do to please God from day to day, we just ask Jesus and He will show us how to live right. We do not have to carry the burden alone anymore; Jesus is with us by grace. For example, I do not have to get up everyday and fight to keep the world off me. When I am in the Spirit of Christ I am not even interested in the world. It is not a battle for me anymore to get in the Spirit. The grace I get from God makes me want to pray, I want to be in church, I want to do the Glory of His Grace books. Worldly carnal events and entertainments have no appeal to me. I just am not interested. But because of Christ being in me by grace – I love to do the will of God. Many church people have to fight to spend even a little time in prayer etc, because so many other things appeal to them. Whereas to the person who has the Spirit, the Spirit changes what appeals to him, so that what is in me is what is in Jesus. So that what I want to do is what Jesus wants to do, what appeals to me is what appeals to Him. And that is grace. And it is grace that God has given this Spirit of Jesus to me. But because I have fought the fight of faith to enter into the Spirit I have an extraordinary victory that makes righteousness very easy. The yoke is easy and the burden is light. Whereas the person who is trying to do righteousness in the flesh, they never get a victory. They have to struggle every day, all the time trying to keep the law. Because they do not have the law written on their heart, they do not have an affection for God’s things, so it is difficult for them to do them. They do not delight to do God’s will. (Ps40:8;Heb10:9) Their affections are in the wrong places, and it’s as though they are keeping their true fleshly desires in a cage, but that flesh is always struggling to get out. And because God has given me the Spirit I do not have to fight against the fleshly disinclinations towards doing God’s will. The Spirit gives me strong desires towards doing the very things God will bless. So my righteousness is not worked out of a bondage forcing self to do good – but out of a joyful liberty – wanting to do good and being set free to do it. To be righteous you must do these things, like praying, witnessing, reading your bible, and not loving the world or the things of the world. But to do all these things, like praying, setting your affections on things above, loving your enemies; to do all these things God asks us to do without the Spirit would be a grievous chore, but because of the Spirit of life and grace in Christ, it has become a joy to do righteousness. I do not have a big battle to do right because Jesus is the one who is putting the right feelings in me. What makes it hard to do these things is when you do not feel like doing them, but Jesus is putting the right feelings in His people. Of course, there is a fight of faith to get into this grace. When you are in the flesh, you have to overcome it, you have to crucify it, you have to believe you receive and you have to stay in faith until you get the breakthrough. But the fight we are fighting is a fight of faith for Christ to establish His Spiritual government in us. Now, why would He do that to somebody who does not want to obey Him? So it begins with a true desire to obey and serve Him rightly. So you see how utterly ridiculous those so called churches and so called Christians are who think we are saved by grace without obedience; such as think He saves us in spite of our continuing in sin, and we will always be sinners in this life. But true believers can never stay sinners when the Spirit of grace is the very Spirit of obedience. We have the Spirit of Christ’s joyful obedience making us joyfully obedient. Those who think grace is license to sin do not even know Jesus or His grace. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1Jn2:4) When Jesus comes into the believer He comes to be the Master. The law used to be my master but the law is just too imperfect. The weakness of the flesh causes you not to be able to do it well enough. So Jesus comes in to become the complete Master, the Master of everything, and your faith for Him to come in doesn’t set you free from the idea that you have to obey righteousness. You are actually going to obey righteousness even more so, by obeying Christ in person; righteousness incarnate. You will now be obeying the righteousness of the living God Himself. New covenant Christianity begins when you can say, “God, I do not want to try to obey You through Your law. Your law is too imprecise; it is not good enough for me. I want to obey You personally, I want You to tell me what to do. Please God, you come in and live with me in my heart and show me what to do. Cause me to feel like doing what I need to do. And give me the strength to do it.” And Jesus answers, “I will help you. I will live in you and give you the grace to do God’s righteousness.” (Gal 2:20) And that is where real Christianity is found. And it is only found in people who want to be truly righteous, and people who know they cannot be really righteous on their own. So the grace is not a license to sin, but it is exactly the opposite; it is the power of God to be Christ like. And it comes to the people who desire to be righteous just like Jesus. And they are going to succeed not by their own power, because they know they cannot. They will succeed because they know God will help them by grace, and they trust God to help them, and He does help them. And when we get the faith that overcomes, all these things become a reality in us. The life of Christ becomes real in us, and the love of the things of God becomes real in us and it is not a burden and it is not a battle to be righteous. But to people who resist the Spirit, how can they possibly say they are under grace when it is the Spirit who is the grace? And in order to be under Him you would have to be obedient to Him. And to people who do not have faith for the Spirit to manifest, faith for Christ to live in them, faith for God to show them the right way; without that faith there will be no leading, there will be no presence of God, there will be no righteousness of God because God is showing you what to do; there will be none of that. So what do they have? They have the law or they have their church's customs. They have to be under the law or something like it because they do not have Christ to lead them. But the true believer in Christ is learning and desiring to be led by the Spirit, which is to be led by grace. It is to be ruled over by God’s grace. That true believer is sure to be growing in faith; he is certain to be growing in grace; he will be continually learning to do better. And as long as he is making true progress towards being conformed to Christ, God will not deal harshly with his mistakes. When you disobey the law, you get wrath. But when you intend to follow the Spirit but you miss the Spirit because you just are not sure yet what is of the Spirit, the wrath of God is not going to come upon you for that. Because when you are learning to be led by the Spirit you are under grace and you are not under the law where wrath comes on you when you miss a step. When you miss the Spirit, but you really do not want to miss the Spirit, the Spirit and God are going to be merciful to you, and they will keep working with you to help you do better. You see God will not impute sin to you when you miss the Spirit out of ignorance or lack of experience, but when your intent is to obey the Spirit and you are still learning to do that. Part of learning is making mistakes – seeing what doesn’t work! And when baby Christians are learning to follow the Spirit, they are likely to make some mistakes. But their intention is not wicked, they are not rebelling against the Spirit, they are not purposely disobeying the Spirit. And so what they lack is experience, but God will help them get that experience, and He is not going to deal with them wrathfully. He will chasten, but in love and not in wrath. If we have a heart that really wants to be right with God, our Lord will deal with us gently and helpfully to get us to the place where we are established in Christ. So life in the Spirit pertains to the process of you becoming established in the faith where you can know the Spirit, and stay in the Spirit. And while you are diligently learning of Christ you are under grace. And you will not be having God’s wrath on you as you are learning, if your heart is right; if you are not knowingly grieving the Spirit. To the true believer who really desires to learn of Christ the way to please God there will be a whole different attitude from God towards you. “for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.” (Jn16:27) God will look upon you as you look on a child that is learning to walk. And He will look at your good efforts and love you for them in spite of the fact that you are not perfected yet. He sees the continual improvement and He knows, given grace to help and time you will arrive at perfection. So He works patiently with you to complete the work because you are diligently moving in the right direction. It is when somebody turns away from grace, returns to the world, and the ways of the flesh that is when God gets angry. That is when you are grieving the Spirit; that is when you are insulting the Spirit of grace. When you are claiming to be under grace, but in fact you are resisting and ignoring the grace that would perfect you. “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” (2Ti4:10) And if you are going to turn away from grace you cannot escape being under the law. God will put the law on you and hold you to it. Because grace is offered to people who will receive it voluntarily, but the law is not made for people to receive it voluntarily; it is made for wicked people and it is enforced upon them whether they like it or not. The law is made for people who do not want to be under law but it is because of their unrighteousness they must be contained by law so they are under it anyway, and they are punished for breaking it anyway whether they receive the law themselves or not. The law is God’s way of protecting the righteous from the wicked. (Ro13:3-4) Good people do not need a law to contain them, because they do not do evil, and what a law has with it is a punishment. But grace does not have to have that kind of a punishment with it, because as long as you are under grace, obedient to grace, pursuing grace, there is no reason for God to punish you in that way, because you are progressing in the right direction, growing in holiness. So being under grace is never an excuse to behave in a lawless manner! What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! (Ro6:15) Because if you purposely sin then you are not under grace; if you do that you are grieving the Spirit of grace and He will become your enemy. And He will impute the law to you, and treat you like a lawbreaker, or even worse Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb10:28-31) These people who think that grace is a license to sin – they reject holiness and true righteousness. They think that every thing that pertains to holiness comes from law; never, ever recognizing what grace is about. They think holiness is a bunch of rules. But it has never been rules with us; holiness is not rules. True holiness comes from the Spirit of holiness, the grace of God inside the believer, but it does look like “law” to the people who do not understand grace. But do you know why they don’t understand? They have no faith. These are faithless people. They may have some knowledge but not faith. And you cannot get to grace without faith. You cannot get the Spirit without faith. A person without faith will never understand what it really means to walk in the Spirit – or have Christ live in you and sup with you. These people live by their own understanding, worldly wisdom, and carnal knowledge. What they don’t understand they reject. And because it takes a step of faith to take hold of grace, they will not do it. Faith always seems to have a “risk” in it and to the faithless the “risk” is too high. They always make excuses for not entering in, but they are no different than the evil spies that would not go into the promised land. They do not know God; they do not understand His ways. These are the Baptists, the Catholics, the dead denominations; unholy, unrighteous, faithless and worldly. They are fallen from grace. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, (1Ti6:3) From such withdraw yourself. (1Ti6:5) Doctrine is a very important subject to real Christians. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, (2Ti4:3) That time is very much upon us right now. Sound doctrine always has to do with behavior. Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. (Tit1:9) But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, (Tit2:1) This is about behavior. In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, (Tit2:7) The doctrine which is according to godliness (1Ti6:3) is doctrine that tells you how a Christian ought to behave. Sound doctrine instructs us in behavior. So if the church does not have sound doctrine it will not have the behavior that is according to godliness. As in a church that teaches “once saved-always saved” where people think that they do not have to follow the Spirit and that they can just follow their flesh and still go to heaven; that doctrine is not according to godliness; that doctrine undermines godly behavior by making people think they can sin with impunity; sin without being punished or endangering their salvation. Any doctrine that allows people to believe they can do things that are not according to godliness, is a doctrine of demons. Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.” (Ge3:4) From the beginning, the lie of the devil has always been you can sin and not die. The Apostle Paul warns us that in the last days there will be doctrines of demons. One of those demonic doctrines that is very visible in the catholic church is their celibate priesthood. (1Ti4:1-3) And the news is full of stories of pedophile, homosexual and fornicating priests; whereas the Bible says Christians should marry rather than burn in lust. (1Co7:9) So the catholic church has rejected sound doctrine to take hold of doctrines of demons, and instead of a behavior that accords with godliness, catholics and their priests behave abominably. Wherever a doctrine is not according to godliness you get ungodly behavior. Now, God will reward you according to your works. From Psalm 62:12 to Romans 2:6 to Revelations 22:12 God rewards according to works. And since He will certainly reward or punish you according to your works you had better have works and behavior that He can reward. So sound doctrine shows you what kind of behavior God likes and what kind of behavior God can reward. Doctrine sets the standard, but then grace fulfills the standard. So when sound doctrine specifies to you what the standard is you do not try to fulfill it by the power of your flesh, but you go to God and ask Him for the grace to behave in the way that accords with godliness. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb4:16) And whatever that particular problem or shortcoming in your life is, the Spirit of Grace will give you the power to overcome it. “Give me grace to overcome my temper. Give me grace to overcome my shyness.” Now, we have seen God do that here at “My Father’s House.” In previous years, some of our people did not participate in the prayer meeting, because they were shy, but when sound doctrine revealed to us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2Ti1:7) and we are required to pray for one another, (Jas5:16) we asked God to give our brethren grace to overcome their shyness and He did. When you find out that you are expected to express your love for the brethren by doing something to edify them, that sound doctrine causes you to bring something to church that will bless them: How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. (1Co14:26) So because of sound doctrine you will be motivated to bring in a good prayer, a good testimony, a prophecy or something to bless and edify the church. But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. (1Co14:6,12) Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; (Ro12:6) So because sound doctrine shows you what you are required to do if you are to obey God, it causes you to push through the shyness and break into obedience to God by asking God for grace to help you. (Mt11:12;Heb4:16) And then what happens is you are changed by grace; grace makes you more Christ-like. Because you see the standard that is set by sound doctrine and then because you go to God for the grace to meet the standard, and He gives you Christ in you, the Spirit of Christ so you can fight the fight of faith and win. Then you are changed. Now, that change makes you look more like Jesus. And every step of faith that you take in order to comply with the doctrine that accords with godliness is going to bring grace into your life to make you more like Jesus. Because the doctrine that accords with godliness is the doctrine that makes you just like Jesus. As He is so are we in this world. (1Jn4:17) And when you see the standard you are seeing Jesus. That is what you need in order to become what you need to be; the sound doctrine that shows you Jesus; His behavior. And when you ask for His grace, the grace of Christ comes into you and from the inside He gives you understanding of His doctrine; He gives you the ability to see what to do and the power to do it by the Spirit. And by His grace you will overcome when you take your steps of faith by His Spirit. And then you’ve entered into the place where Jesus rules in you. You enter into the place where Jesus is in control in your life. Another area in your soul has now been conquered by the mighty Christ and is under submission to Christ and Christ is ruling and reigning in you from the inside, through grace; because you want Him to reign in you; because you are humble and you know you need Him to lead you in the way of life; because you have faith that He will help you, and He does. And it is all grace, but it is faith too, and it is doctrine too. But the wicked, foolish people in the false church, they think that doctrine is all rules and laws, and they think they are free from that. Well, you know how stupid that is. Why did the people who taught us about grace, also teach so much doctrine? Do you think you understand grace in such a way that you can throw away all their doctrine? They did not understand it that way. They saw no controversy between grace and doctrine. And if you think there is one you must be misunderstanding grace, you fools and blind! Because Paul understands grace better than any of you and he’s the one who taught you every thing you know about grace and yet he also understands doctrine, and he is teaching sound doctrine every place he goes. Paul sure has not thrown doctrine away in favor of grace. Absolutely not! Doctrine and grace are brother and sister; they are brethren; they walk together. Doctrine shows you what you need to do, grace helps you do it. Churches that are non-doctrinal cannot be gracious. Because what is the grace for? To give you the ability to make sound doctrine live; to bring righteous doctrine to life in you is what the grace is for. “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” (Gal 2:21) How righteous could you be under the law? Well, there was a degree of righteousness there. Behavior is controlled somewhat by law. But law is not good enough. And I cannot settle for the righteousness that comes from the law, because God has crucified His Son in order to open up a door for me to have the better righteousness that comes by grace. And I must not reject that grace. I must receive what God has paid such a dear price to give me. He has opened the door for Christ to come into my heart, and live the righteous life of a son of God in me. And He died so He could do that, and I refuse to waste that death. I will not have Christ die in vain for me. There is a purpose to why He died for me, and I aim to let Him fulfill His purpose. If He paid such a high price to make me righteous by grace then I must be made righteous. And I will let Him do it His way! And His way is grace. And it is the grace that Christ actually lives in the believer. You can see it in But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (Jas4:6) The humble are the ones that receive grace. These proud Baptists – so full of their man-made theology, their worthless doctrines and intellectual pride – there is not any grace in any of them. God does not give grace to proud people. He gives grace to people who see their need; the people who say, “I need you, Jesus, to live in me. I need your help to be righteous. Lord, I want to be righteous and I will do what you tell me to do; I will take the step of faith.” When Jesus tells me to do something and I obey that is the hearing of faith. And I am receiving the promise of the Spirit through the hearing of faith. When I do what Jesus tells me to do the Spirit comes in and gives me the victory. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. (2The2:16-17) Every good word and work puts them on an equal basis; word and work. But God has given us a good hope. Good hope is a hope that does not disappoint. Good hope is a hope that is sure to come to pass. Now, why is it a good hope? Because of grace. Why are we going to get to heaven? His grace is sufficient for us. His grace is sufficient for us is not an excuse for us to do nothing. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13) It is because His grace strengthens me that I can do all things – whatever God wills that I do. His grace is sufficient for us is a statement of the mighty power of God to accomplish what He purposes in us. His grace is sufficient to conform me to Christ. His grace is sufficient to get the world and the love of the world out of me. His grace is sufficient to fill me with the knowledge of His will and cause me to walk in a way that is worthy of Him. His grace is sufficient to fill me with the love of Christ. His grace is sufficient to give me the wisdom of God. His grace is sufficient to give me the victory over every temptation and every enemy that satan or this world can throw at me. His grace is sufficient to make me perfect in Christ Jesus. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2Ti2:1) How much grace is in Him? What could you possibly need that He cannot supply. What that pertains to your salvation would He not be willing to give? He died on a cross so you could have grace to become a son of God! What would He withhold that you need when He gave everything He had for you? Nothing! He has already proven that. He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Ro8:32) So we have a good hope through grace. And we can be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2Ti2:1) knowing that God’s grace will supply whatever we need to attain to eternal life – God’s grace will not fail us. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2Pe3:18) The more you see of the riches in God’s grace, the more faith you can have and the more faith you have in Christ the more grace He will give you. “To him who has more is given.” God wants you to abound in His grace. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, (Eph1:7-8) Much grace is available for you but you must take hold of that grace. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. (Heb12:28) We can have all the grace we need to serve God acceptably. All we have to do is come boldly to the throne of grace to get it. Hebrews warns us, exhort one another daily, (Heb3:15) do not let sin get a hold of you. looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. (Heb12:15,16) Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. (Heb13:9) Everything that has to do with your salvation has to do with your heart. Everything that has to do with faith has to do with your heart. Everything that has to do with your life has to do with your heart. Out of the heart are the issues of life. (Pr4:23) A good man out of a good heart brings forth good treasure. (Mt12:35) The words of your mouth are going to come out of what is in your heart. Purify your heart you double-minded. (Jas4:8) God’s greatest work is done in the heart, and the heart is established by grace. What makes my heart right? What makes my heart acceptable to God? Grace. What makes my heart what it ought to be? Grace. There’s a big difference between the grace of God and the grace of man – God always gives grace that you may be enabled to obey Him – to fall short of His grace is to not have the grace to obey – which therefore means you will disobey and commit sin. Man’s grace is just the opposite. When man gives himself grace it’s always an allowance to sin. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude1:4) This means they wrongly interpret God’s grace as permission to sin and be forgiven. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, (Heb10:26) Jesus forgives your sin so that you can stop sinning – not so you can continue to sin. Those who interpret grace as a license to sin are ungodly men. Jude says so. These are the Baptist type churches who claim we are sinners saved by grace to keep sinning, because we can’t ever be anything but sinners, but to believe this is to “deny the Lord.” Jude says so. Jesus came to destroy the works of the evil one. (1Jn3:8) “To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” (Acts3:26) God’s grace teaches us not to sin. (Tit3:11-12) And it’s by grace Christ comes to dwell in my heart. And it’s the grace of Christ living in me that makes my heart right. “Christ in me, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27) How foolish are these false Christians and false churches; their speculations and their theories that do not produce the righteousness of Christ; do not produce Christ living in them. How foolish to think that grace is merely the forgiveness of sins, when the heart has to be established by grace if you are to be saved. To be established by grace means much more than just knowing you’re forgiven. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. (Jas2:12) Now when we began this teaching, we showed you that the fact that we are not under the written or mosaic law but under grace – (Ro6:14) does not mean that we are without law towards God; for we are under law towards Christ (1Co9:21) and the law we are under includes the royal law of love – (Jas2:8) and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. (Ro8:2) And here we see we will be judged by the law of liberty. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2Co3:17) Obviously if we are to be judged by the law of liberty then our liberty does not permit us to do just anything we want. But we have been granted liberty for the purpose that we might use our freedom rightly. And if we use it wrongly we will answer to Christ for that. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; (2Co5:10-11) So this judgment is not just for rewards, because it will be terrifying if you do not please the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. (2Co5:9) Now Jesus paid a high price for your liberty, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Gal 5:1) not so that you could use your liberty to sin or to please yourself, but so you could please God. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” (Ro15:2-3) And so you will answer to Christ for how you use that liberty. For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Gal 5:13) Then to be under grace is to be at liberty but not a kind of liberty that would allow you to indulge your selfish pleasures or to sin – but it is liberty to serve others in the good things of Christ. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. (1Co6:12) All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. (1Co10:23) So to be under grace does not mean I am free to sin but that I am expected to use my freedom wisely and responsibly to forward the cause of Christ and to help my neighbors and brethren. For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. (Ro14:11-12) One of the common lies in the false churches today is that Christians have already been judged in Christ Jesus and therefore they will not face any judgment. From these scriptures you can see that is not true. We will give account of ourselves to Christ and we will be judged by Him as to whether we used His grace well or abused His grace – and His wrath will be poured out on those who are found wanting. “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Mt7:23) “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt8:11-12) “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” (Mt22:13) “the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt24:50-51) “And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:’” (Mt25:30,41) All of these scriptures indicate that the Lord’s coming will be a time of fierce judgment for many people who think they are believers. Those who think because they are not under law but grace, means that they are not even under law to Christ, will be terrified to find out they have been completely rejected by Him in that day. “Depart from Me you who practice lawlessness.” (Mt7:23) Now if a governor were to give pardon to a criminal – wouldn’t he be expecting that criminal to live such an upright life from then on as to justify his pardon and demonstrate the wisdom of the governor in granting him mercy. But if that one who was pardoned returns to a life of crime of how much worse punishment do you suppose the governor will inflict upon him for his violation not just of the law but also the pardon and the governor’s good grace? For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb10:26-31) This says we are not under the Mosaic law but under grace yet because we all have been pardoned by the mercy of God in Christ we now owe it to God to not abuse His grace lest He would repent that He had ever pardoned us. But rather, we owe it to God to use His grace to live the best Christian life we possibly can – that we may glorify God in every way and justify His mercy towards us that although we were once sinners we have now become His greatest delight – the people who are the very righteousness of God in the world and therefore the habitation of Christ Jesus; a people who because they are not under the written law but under grace have come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (Eph4:13) To God be the glory. Amen. Prophecy: Thus saith the Lord; My people, when Jesus was speaking thru the prophets, notice He didn’t speak only of the good things that would take place. But He prophesied of His own sufferings and He did not argue with Me concerning the things He would suffer. But take note, He delighted to do My will. And He knew that as He was upon this earth that I would give Him the grace to go thru all that needed to be done to fulfill My will. And I tell you, My people, delight to do My will and I will give you the grace and I am giving you the grace to go thru all that you need to go thru to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. My Son endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him and the Christ in you endures the cross because He sees the joy set before Him. My Son knew soon He would be home with Me. And My people, the ones who are bearing their cross, the true people of God, they have that joy in them because they know too they’ll soon be home with Me when the work is over and they will have a reward just as My Son had a reward. He sits down at the right hand of God. And My people, that will soon be so for you in Heaven. You will sit down with the Son at the Marriage Supper. And you will dine and have great joy and you will be able to go with the saints and speak of the things you did in Christ and be of the same Spirit, and like precious faith. And that, I say, is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. He’s the One who delights to do My will. He didn’t fear the things He had to suffer or what He had to go thru, but He looked to Me and to My grace knowing His race would soon be finished. And that He would soon be in His eternal glory, home with Me and so will the saints who have Christ in them, thus saith the Lord. Prophecy: My standards have not changed. Only the times have changed. And I tell you that I am not accepting less from the new covenant people than I accepted from the old covenant people. Because Christ’s sacrifice is greater, and the sacrifice of Christ far exceeds those sacrifices of the Old Testament, your lives and your holiness also must be greater and far exceed that righteousness of the Old Testament peoples. And to those of you who have separated yourselves and to those of you who have given of yourselves unto Me that truly My Son may live in you, that you would be My dwelling place and the habitation of My Spirit; I will give you all the promises that are in My New Covenant, My people. For I am not doing a work to diminish; I am not diminishing the promises, but the promises in the New are far greater than that of the Old. And as you attain to Me, you will receive grace for more. And you are beholding more of Me and you are living in more of My promises, My people. And those who are outside, they will see that because they are outside they cannot receive of the blessings that I have for My church, and they will not receive of the promises, but they will see every day how they are cut off from My Spirit, and they are cut off from My presence, because they have no faith in them. For I am doing a work in this day and age to take you from holiness to holiness. To take you where you are sanctified in your mind, where you are sanctified in Spirit, and in your soul, and in your body, and you know Me in the Spirit, saith the Lord. And I am dwelling in you and you are seeing Me manifest and move in you by the life that you live in grace and that is the testimony that you give. And I will be formed in you, and I will by My holiness and by My sanctification and by My grace, be glorified in you, saith the Lord. (Prophecies delivered at “My Father’s House”)
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