16 Mar 2015 by Reverend Dr Jai Kumar –
Jesus has mediated for us a better covenant, a covenant of GRACE and not of WORKS, guaranteed for us by a cosigner (Hebrews 7:22).
It is a covenant marked by BELIEVING and RECEIVING instead of by EARNING and DESERVING.
Without the blood there is no power! The blood is of Jesus is everything!
It is the central doctrine of our faith, the present and eternal life of our souls. There is no pardon, no salvation, no righteousness, no sanctification, no justification, no heaven but by the blood of the Lord Jesus.
It is only by that one sacrificial death of Jesus Christ that was total in every aspect! That was complete in every respect! That we have access to a holy God and can stand right with Him today. We don’t stand right with God because of our religiosity! We don’t find favour with God because of our righteousness! We are not accepted in His presence because of our respectability! We don’t have a place in heaven because of how good we have lived in this world! The truth of the matter is that there was a divine exchange that took place on the cross by that sinless soul of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Nothing else can wipe away our sins except the blood of Jesus! Nothing else can push back the power of darkness expect the blood of Jesus! Nothing else can set us free expect the blood of Jesus! Nothing else can heal us of all our sickness and diseases except through the blood and broken body of our Lord Jesus!
In fact, according to the Law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. ( Heb.9:22)
The blood of Jesus speaks of mercy and forgiveness. He offered up His own blood at the mercy seat of the Father. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Rom 5:9)
Romans 3:22-23
This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
It is only by what CHRIST sacrificed for us on Calvary that you and I have a right standing with God. WE BECOME A RECIPIENT OF THE GRACE OF GOD BY FAITH AND NOT BY WORKS THAT ANY MAN CAN BOAST.
This was the very reason why Paul became so upset with the Galatians when he discovered they were going back, trying to earn their blessings by good works.
He says: “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” (Gal.3:1)
In other words, Paul was saying, “How in the world could you ever accept a doctrine of salvation by works when you have already tasted salvation by faith?
He said, “You started well in the spirit! You ran well! You performed well! He is asking, Is it some kind of evil spell or charm that has blinded you from walking in the truth? You have given up Christ and gone back under the Law.” You know what?
IT’S NOT YOUR GOING TO THAT WILL MESS YOU UP, BUT WHAT YOU ARE GOING BACK TO, WILL ULTIMATELY DESTROY YOU.
The Apostle Paul was used as the mouthpiece of God to introduce the Galatians to the truth of the Gospel. He was the one who preached THE GOSPEL OF GRACE; he was the one who exposed them to this awesome experience of the Christian faith (which was by faith plus nothing) in the accomplished and finished work of Jesus Christ.
They started well but unfortunately at some point they lost their way in the end. They had deserted the simple purity of a grace gospel and substituted it with a form of religion, inferior and impotent which was driven by performance and legalism.
So Paul, in the book of Galatians, is extremely concerned about the Galatians who were slipping away from the “salvation of grace” and coming under the law once again. In other words there were coming under bondage once again. Under fear and punishment! They could not get out of their old thinking! Their old mindset. They could not accept the fact that the “free gift of God’s grace” was to believe by faith through Jesus Christ. They felt it was too good to be real and true! And so they wanted to prove to God they deserve to be blessed. They wanted to earn their blessings through their performance. They could not understand that their God is a God of love,mercy and grace.
Now we know that Satan never stops trying to destroy God’s plan of salvation, so if God’s plan is a plan of GRACE, Satan will try to undo grace with WORKS. If it’s a plan of faith, he’ll try to influence your mind and convince you that you don’t have a right standing with God and therefore the only way is to be performance driven to prove to God you are worthy of His acceptance. This is the enemy’s plan and strategy and he has done this throughout human history right from the time of Adam’s fall.
Paul said, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith [faith of Jesus Christ], even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Jesus Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Gal.2:16). Nobody is saved any other way than by faith in God in Christ, in His death and resurrection.
The Law points the light on you! Grace focuses the light on Jesus! The law is punishment! Grace is forgiveness!
The Bible says that sin shall not have dominion over you when you are not under law but under grace. So if you are living in sin, you are definitely not under grace (Rom.6:14)
John 1:17
For the law was given through MOSES, GRACE and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ.
The law demands righteousness from bankrupt man. Grace provides righteousness as a gift. The law is fear, grace is love.
The story of Zacchaeus the tax collector in Luke 19
Behold there was a man named Zacchaeus; a Publican. A Publican is a Jew working for the Romans. They were wicked and unreasonable exploiting the people. Because of this they were normally excommunicated from the temple and thrown out of the Jewish community.
Jesus walked right up to Zacchaeus in Luke 19; Zacchaeus had said nothing to Jesus. He looks at him at the Sycamore tree. Jesus calls up to Zacchaeus to come down. “Today I am going to have lunch with you.” What is that? That is grace.
Let’s see what grace does to Zacchaeus. He runs ahead as Jesus gets to his house. All Jesus said was I am going to eat lunch with you. Jesus never told him to clean up his life, only then I will come to your house.
How did grace impacted Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus said: “This day I will give half my goods to the poor. And whatever I have stolen I will give fourfold to them.”
All Jesus said was ‘I am going to have lunch with you today’. Jesus did not tell him to put his life right! Can you see what grace can do to you today? I am telling you when you get embraced by the love of God, you bet your life, you don’t want to sin anymore. Only then Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to your house.”
“When you fall in love with Jesus, you will fall out of love with sin.”
You will never sin again. God sent His Son to die for you while you were still a sinner. Obviously, He does not love you only when you are perfect in your behaviour and thoughts. His love for you is unconditional.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Note: Rev Dr Jai Kumar is an ordained & licensed minister of Covenant Ministries International N.J. USA. He is also the representative of Faith International Bible School for Malaysia & Singapore. He is the founder and senior pastor of Full Gospel Outreach Ministry KL. A member of ECCM (Malaysia) Spiritual Adviser & overseer to various ministries and churches. An itinerant speaker with a passion for missions. He is also the author of a book entitled, ‘God’s Time Clock.’
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