17 Nov 2014 by Reverend Dr Jai Kumar –
The divine exchange that took place on the cross of Calvary is the key to our new life in Christ. We need to be continuously focused on the CROSS and never take our focus away from the CROSS in order to stay and triumph in this new life that Christ purchased for you and me.
The truth is, I am totally pure and righteous because of what Jesus did on the cross for me. Nothing but the blood of Jesus has washed me, cleansed me, justified me, sanctified and made me righteous as a child of God. Not by my righteousness! But His righteousness!
The cross is the place of your victory. The cross is the place of your salvation.. The cross is the place of your strength. The cross is the place of your forgiveness. The cross is the place of your inheritance as a child of the most high God. The cross is the place where you can draw every need for your very survival and hope in this life. This is the TRUTH that we must hang on to with all our heart and mind.
John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
Christians have been delivered from the law. (Romans 7:1-6) Jesus paid the price to fulfill the law. In fact Paul says that the law was nailed to the cross with Him! (Col 2:14)
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.(Rom. 10:4) For the law was given through Moses; GRACE and TRUTH came through JESUS CHRIST. John 2:17
ABRAHAMIC COVENANT OF GRACE
In Gen.12, God expressed His grace towards Abraham. God went up to Abraham. Abraham had done nothing to deserve it. He was just an ordinary guy standing there in an environment of idolatry. His father was an idol maker. That city in which Abraham dwelled was filled with idolatry.
God walks up to Abraham and He says to him: “As for me I will bless you and you will be a blessing to all the nations of the world.” You know what? Abraham had done nothing to deserve this! He was not some special person out there! The problem with us is that we have unconsciously become so religious that we are unable to accept God’s unmerited favour.
The unmerited favour of God is beyond the understanding of the human mind.
God made a covenant with Abraham because Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Therefore Abraham is a Father to all those who believe God by faith. The covenant was to be an everlasting unconditional covenant!
Jesus said; If you are Abraham’s children you would do what he did (John 8:39). The point Jesus was making here is that Abraham was not made right because he did right. Abraham was made right because he believed God. It was his faith that made him right. So all those who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing that Abraham received.
But those who depend on the law to make them right with God come under the curse of the law. For the scripture says “Cursed” is everyone who does not observe and obey every written word of the Law (Deut. 27:26). So it is clear that no one can be made right by observing the law. It is through faith that a righteous person has life. (Gal.3:10)
Nehemiah 9:13-17 Israel rejected God and His way right from the beginning of their relationship. They not only rejected Him and His way but also became a major vehicle for facilitating the spread of the false heathen worship all over the world.
Romans 10:3
For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
The law came when the children of Israel exchanged the “Abrahamic covenant of grace” to the covenant of law which was given through Moses (Exo 19,20). The moment the Israelites were delivered from bondage from Egypt they became arrogant, rebellious and ungrateful. They forgot the grace of God that set them free and brought them out of Egypt. They forgot the supernatural provision of grace: The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. They forgot the fresh manna and the meat that sustained them in the wilderness. They couldn’t wait; instead they went back into idolatry. They preferred to worship ‘a golden calf ‘ in substitute for the invisible Creator. They wanted a god where they could control and call upon in their own convenience (Exo. 32:2-10).
So quickly they forgot the goodness and mercy of God. That behavior really made God sick! They provoked and grieved Him in the wilderness! They did not remember His power of grace. They tested and provoked the Most High God, and did not keep His testimonies, but turned back and acted unfaithfully and ungratefully like their fathers.
The next thing you see is God throwing the Ten Commandments and the law at them. They wanted to be independent of God and preferred their performance and self-effort instead of coming under God’s goodness, mercy and grace. When they decided to exchange the Abrahamic covenant of grace with the covenant of law, God had to govern them under the law with curses and blessings according to their performance.
What is the law by the way? Trying to earn God’s forgiveness, trying to prove to God that you are worthy to be BLESSED AND FAVOURED. Trying to work out your salvation by your own merits (self-effort). The law is an unbearable yoke (Acts 15:10).
Grace on the other hand says you are loved in spite of your actions. God has given you the gift of grace that you didn’t earn; neither did you pay for it. In other words, God is saying to you, live your life based on my goodness and love towards you. Not based on your performance. That is what grace is.
Isn’t it ridiculously preposterous for anyone to even dare to think that one could add anything more to the accomplished work of the cross by the sinless soul of God’s Son. That “one perfect offering; that one perfect blood”, once and for all, wiped out everything that stood against us.
WE ARE NOT UNDER LAW ANYMORE, WE ARE UNDER GRACE
In this Gospel of Grace, the righteousness of God is revealed. The Gospel of Grace is the power of God. It is revealed from faith to faith and not from law to law. I am righteous by faith not by the law! Under the law I am condemned. Under the law I have failed to make the mark.
Rom.1:17
“The righteous shall live by faith.”
Under grace your faithfulness is not the centre of the equation. God’s faithfulness is the centre of the equation. Under grace it’s not all about you but it’s all about God, His mercy! His compassion! His love! Can anybody ever understand this? If there was a way to save ourselves, do you think God would have allowed His only beloved Son to go to the cross to die for us?
WE HAVE VICTORY IN CHRIST
Some people are practicing DEATH instead of walking in the ABUNDANT LIFE. What did Jesus say in John 10:10?
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
You know what are the symptoms of death? Negative thinking, unforgiveness, low self esteem, ‘can’t make it’ mentality, depression, anxiety, worry, fear, sickness , poverty. Let me remind you that all these natural causes if allowed to affect you will ultimately lead to death. I am serious.
This is not what you are created for! You are created to express the life of God as “a born again Christian.” You are created to reflect the love of God in your life. You are created to walk the ABUNDANT LIFE purchased for you through the blood of Jesus by applying your faith and stepping into it.
The question I want ask you is that, what could you have possibly done to become a born again Christian? Out of 7 billion people of this world God has chosen you! Isn’t that awesome for you to grasp that it’s God’s grace and nothing else? Please understand you could have done nothing to get where you are today in Christ.
YOU CAN DO NOTHING TO EARN GOD’S FAVOUR UPON YOUR LIFE
I would say there is nothing I could have done to prove myself worthy of this gift of salvation and being born again. I was saved by GRACE through FAITH alone!! That’s a gift of God so that no man can boast about it. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it (Eph. 2:9). Our faith, our conversion, and our eternal salvation, are not the result of our works, lest any man should boast. These things are not brought to pass by anything done by us, therefore all boasting is shut out.
Always be reminded God will never accept your ignorance as an excuse. Obviously the enemy is waiting for an opportunity to take over when you walk in ignorance. He knows you are vulnerable and he will not hesitate to find you and indoctrinate you with the wrong theology that “you don’t have a right standing with God” and that you need to perform to earn God’s blessings instead of walking in God’s blessings. That’s where you will fall into the trap of the enemy.
Don’t ever say it’s because of how good you were! Don’t ever say it’s because of your faithfulness. Don’t ever say it’s because of your background, you were able to be born again! You will be treading on dangerous grounds if you do that. It’s like trampling on the blood of Jesus.
However, whatever good I do in my life now that I am born again I do it out of love for God. Can you see the difference in attitude?!
Paul says in (Rom.3:31)
Do we then overthrow the law now that we are saved by grace through faith? Absolutely not! By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law……..we raise the bar through an attitude of genuine love for God.
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, Spiritual Adviser & overseer of Capstone Ministries/Capstone Community Church -C3 (Bangalore); Co-founder and adviser of Kingdom Christian Fellowship, Subang Jaya, he is also the author of a book entitled, ‘God’s Time Clock.’
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