Live Forgiven

Everyone wants to know what God has planned for their lives, yet He has told us everything we need to do and how we should act in every situation.  The biggest thing we need to understand is that we HAVE BEEN forgiven by grace through faith.  Have been means it has already happened, it is already accomplished.  In other words, IT IS FINISHED!  What we need to do then is to walk or live under that truth.  We must live as though you have been forgiven of all sins, because you have.

We all know that Ephesians 2:8,9 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." 

How have we been saved?  By grace through faith, plus NOTHING.

What does verse 10 say?  Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."   How do we do we walk in good works?  God has chosen before the foundation of the world that we should live correctly not to be forgiven, but because we have been forgiven.  We have another verse to explain how we are to walk in good works.

Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

How did we receive Christ?  By grace through faith.  In other words, we trusted what He said in His book and we believed it through faith.  We should live the same way.  We should read what the Bible says and apply it in our lives, but be careful.  The Bible says to build an ark, should we do that?  No!  So, there are some things that do not apply to you and I today.  Okay, how do we figure this out?  I am glad you asked that question.

We must follow God's divine method of Bible study.  He told us in II Timothy 2:15, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 

There must be a right way to divide the Bible and there must be a wrong way to divide the Bible.  In order to figure out which one we need to follow, it seems we should ask the person God chose to write that verse down for us to study.  Who was that person?  The Apostle Paul.  We know of verses in Ephesians 2:11-13, 7, "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.", "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."

These tell us that there is a difference between Jews and Gentiles in time past, but now there is no difference, and that in the ages to come, God would show forth exceeding riches of His grace through Jesus Christ. 

That means, if the Bible makes a difference between Jew and Gentiles, then you are in times past.  If there is no difference, then you are in but now.  The ages to come just signifies time after the catching away of the Body of Christ through eternity future.

In order for us to live unforgiven, we must first know we are forgiven.  The only part of scripture that speaks to us about the fact that we have been forgiven of all trespasses without works, by grace through faith, is found in Romans through Philemon.  Which coincidentally are written by the Apostle Paul.  He is God's spokesman for the Church, the Body of Christ.  He is our apostle.  Quit reading verses that are written to the Nation of Israel and applying them to your life.  They were not told that they have been forgiven of all trespasses.  They were not told that they were to live by grace through faith.  You will be spiritually anemic when it comes to serving God in the manner He suggests. 

Therefore, begin in Romans read through Philemon.  Begin to understand all that we have in Christ, and live it.

Grace and Peace
Greg Resor
Complete in Him

HEY!! We have a secret! Tell everyone.

Ephesians 3:2-6, 2  If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3  How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4  Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5  Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.

Have you heard of the dispensation of the grace of God?

Why not?

God thought it very important to talk about, so much so, He wrote it down on paper through the pen of the Apostle Paul.  The dispensation of the grace of God consists of a mystery, which was never made known to anyone in the history of the world, until God revealed it to Paul.  

What is the mystery?

It is not as simple as that, but in a nutshell it is that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.  Still, not that simple.  God has changed the way he deals with humankind in a way which was never seen nor heard of in the history of the world.  Many pastors simply choose not to teach Ephesians 3, because they do not want to change the religious, denominational led, doctrinal statements.  Why?  They must each answer to that question themselves. 

However, God has changed the manner in which He is dealing with mankind today, and He has given us everything we need to learn about it and live it in our lives.  According to Ephesians chapter 3 the dispensation of the grace of God was only revealed to Paul.  This verse, along with other verses, shows how God used Paul to promote a new doctrine and it was only by revelation from the risen Lord, that this information was disseminated.

Peter did not know about this before Paul.  Neither did he preach it.

The twelve did not know about this before Paul.  Neither did they preach it.

Christ did not peach this while He was on the earth.

To be continued, 

Greg Resor

Complete in Him