The question of Grace is a question appreciated differently by the so-called Christian religious community, and even by authentic children of God. Some empty it of its meaning in a carnal fear of giving in to sin and indulging in all forms of vice. Others, however, extend its meaning to what it is not, to ease their conscience while they indulge in various manifestations of the flesh. Whether in one extremity or another, we must be careful to guard ourselves from the flesh; the devil who prowls like a lion is likely to grab us as soon as we leave the domain of the Spirit, of the precious Holy Spirit of Christ.
The origin of Grace
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster."
God makes us understand through his Word, that the Law, which is a good thing, was given to us with a specific purpose, to reveal to us our incapacity to follow God, to be pleasing to him, whatever our efforts, our goodness. disposition of heart. Simply because we, or rather our flesh, is incapable of being pleasant to Him by its nature. This Law, intended to clearly reveal our incapacity to follow God, had the final aim of disposing our hearts to receive Christ when he appeared; he who alone is pleasing to God, he who alone by baptizing us with His Spirit, by making his Spirit live in us, is capable of making us pleasing to God. As we are told: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27)
The Life of Grace
All Christians know that Salvation is obtained by Grace, but many are unaware that as much as it is obtained in this way, it is also experienced. Indeed, the presence of Christ does not sanctify our works, nor give our flesh the strength to finally be able to follow the Lord. But Grace confirms the incapacity of the flesh to follow God, Grace brings our old man to the Cross through identification with Christ, Grace comes to deposit the Spirit of Christ in our spirit, Grace comes to give us the capacity to live the Life of Christ . So it is not our life in itself that is pleasing to God, but the life of his Spirit in us, the unfolded life of Christ in us. It is therefore impossible to be pleasing to God as long as we do not submit to this Spirit of God, as long as we do not cede the rudder of our life to Him. Only the Spirit of Christ is able to henceforth overcome sin in our lives, only this Spirit of Christ is able to make us capable of worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth: Worship, Service, Sanctification, Life that God approves are only those of the Holy Spirit in us.
Trials of faith
The life of faith is strewn with trials and it is the attitude that we must have towards them which gives rise to the debates taking place in the Church since its birth in the time of the apostles. But we could then legitimately ask ourselves the question: why do we still have to face trials when we have already obtained everything through Grace? Indeed, throughout our Christian life, we inevitably face various trials; their major goal being to demonstrate the presence of Christ in us: this as a testimony to our own soul, but also to the world. This is clearly revealed to us by the Apostle John in these words: 1 Jonh 3:1-10, 14-16, 18-24
Grace vs Law ?
It is often insinuated that because of Grace, we are no longer guilty or accused of sin, whatever we do.
Indeed, we owe our salvation exclusively to Christ who grants it to us by his Grace, but accepting Christ, accepting his Salvation, does not only consist of accessing Heaven, it consists of living this Life that he has acquired for us. In other words, this life of Christ, this Salvation of Christ is not a life that begins after we leave this earth, but just when Christ enters our life, just when he breathes in our spiritual nostrils (Genesis 2:7, John 20:22) his precious Holy Spirit. If throughout the Scriptures we are therefore warned against a life of disorder, it is because leading such a life, we would grieve the Holy Spirit, and ultimately fall from the Faith. And if by our carelessness we reject Christ after having joyfully accepted him, there is no other sacrifice that can be made to redeem us.(Hebrews 10:26-29).
Thus, God's anger against the sinner today does not ultimately come from his sin since he himself is incapable of living otherwise, but it is the refusal to accept Christ in his life, which makes him odious before our Creator. Likewise, for the born again believer, God's exasperation would come from that he seeks through his own capacity to honor God, to convince himself of a supposed capacity in himself, or on the contrary that he believes Christ incapable of freeing him from the experience of a sin which seems to be attached to his person and therefore renounces to fight in the spirit. Every son, and even every “worthy” child, has the permanent concern of being pleasing to his Father. And this is the attitude that God expects of us, that our determination to be pleasing to Him, leads us to constantly search the Scriptures in order to recognize Him better and better, that this determination leads us to constantly pray for the supply of his Holy Spirit, may this will lead us to constantly have faith in Him, even at the height of the trial. This must be our attitude of heart in faith; to renounce it is to renounce faith, it is to renounce living the Life of Christ, it is to renounce the Life of Christ not only here below, but also in the beyond.
The discipline of faith
Christ sent his disciples to make disciples of all nations. But we could ask ourselves the question of knowing, if before knowing Christ, all our discipline had not allowed us for a long time to lead a life of holiness, why would we be invited again to a new discipline?
The answer is that the Flesh cannot be disciplined, that is why, by His own death, the Lord Jesus also crucified our old man (Romans 6:6). On the other hand, the newborn that we have become by accepting Christ into our life, needs discipline to grow in his new life. Just as, as a human, a baby needs discipline to step by step learn to walk (then run), to eat (spiritual milk then strong meat), to grasp the natural realities of life. (then the hidden mysteries), ... in the same way, although having the Holy Spirit who makes us a child of God with all the characteristics relating to it; it is through continued discipline that we will learn to fully manifest the character, the fruit of the spirit thus described: Galatians 5:22-23
To renounce the discipline of the Holy Spirit is therefore to refuse that the nature of Christ is fully manifested in us, it is to renounce seeking the stature of the fulness of Christ, the state of the perfect man (Ephesians 4:13). And like a child or adolescent refusing to eat properly, to do physical and even intellectual exercise; we would experience spiritual malformations, a totally abnormal Christian life, the worst being experiencing spiritual death, because the Spirit of God will not always argue with us if we choose to be rebellious to his voice.
Some Characteristics of Grace
- Humility
The child of God, knowing that Salvation has been granted to him by Grace and that it is by Grace that he abides in Christ, will always be careful not to show any pride, knowing that it was by Grace that he had Revelation, that it was by Grace that he had the good Will to follow Christ and that it was by Grace that the Spirit of God in him made him capable of living this life; as it is written: "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Corinthians 4:7)
- Readiness to spread the good News
When we are aware of an excellent opportunity accessible to the one we love, then it is without hesitation and with spontaneity that we often run to inform him. It is the same with Grace, not only can we access it, but we can also share the News, without this penalizing us a little. Secondly, it is an opportunity for others, because it requires no conditions, no prior holiness, no intrinsic value; but just the will to accept being transformed by Christ. Let's see two illustrations of this in the Scriptures:
- 4 Leper Samaritans realise the Grace of Deliverance from Famine (2 Kings 7:1-10)
At the time of the prophet Elisha, the territory of Israel was divided: Judah had Jerusalem as its royal city, while Israel (the rest) had Samaria as its royal city. It was in that context that Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, besieged Samaria with his entire army, which plunged this city into a tragic famine (2 Kings 6:24-25). Elisha then announced a prophecy that some unfortunately did not understand. To paraphrase, starvation would give way to an extremely cheaper life. The scene that interests us here takes place when certain (4) lepers from Samaria, tired of suffering from hunger, chose to go to the Syrian camp in the hope of finding something to survive there, saying to themselves that even if they were killed, it wouldn't change much anyway, since by remaining in the city, they would inevitably die of starvation. To their great surprise, not seeing anyone (God having miraculously caused the Syrian army to flee) they took supplies once and even twice... But they pulled themselves together, and this is the characteristic of one who discovers deliverance through Grace: they recalled that it was their responsibility to announce to the whole city that God had delivered them, that there where enough provisions for everyone. From then on we could buy food at low prices. Yes, the price of Grace consists just in accepting to be transformed by the Lord Jesus Christ!
- The Samaritan woman
We meditate quite deeply on the Samritan woman's encounter with the Lord in this article (Meeting of the Samaritan woman with Christ). But we just want to return to the spontaneity and joy with which, once she realized that she had the long-awaited Messiah in front of her, once she realized that the Lord Himself was offering her Life, despite a complicated past, she knew that the Grace of the Lord was available even for her fellow citizens and also ran to bring them the good News!
Beyond everything that has been argued throughout this article, we pray to the Lord himself, through the work of his indispensable Holy Spirit, to constantly enlighten us all on what Grace is in its Nature. , and the experience we must make of it. To the Glory of God the Father and Christ Jesus!
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