September 9, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
GRACE IS FOR FALLEN MEN, NEVER FALLEN ANGELS
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men.”
Titus 2:11, KJV.
“Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Rom. 5:!
- “Have sinned,” is not the same as “will.”
“By disobeying the commands of God, man [beginning with the first Adam], men fell under [the condemnation] of His Law. This called for the GRACE of God to appear in behalf of sinners. We should never have learned the meaning of this word, grace, had we not fallen!
“God loves the sinless angels, who do His service [as His ‘ministering spirits’], and are obedient to all His commands; but He does not give them grace. These heavenly beings know nothing of grace: they have never needed it; for they have never sinned.
“Grace is an attribute of God shown to undeserving human beings. We did not seek after it, but it was sent in search for us. God rejoices to bestow this grace upon everyone who HUNGERS for it. To everyone He presents TERMS of mercy, not because we are worthy, but because we are so UTTERLY UNWORTHY. Our NEED is the QUALIFICATION which gives us the assurance that we shall receive this gift.
“But God does not use His grace to make His law of none effect, or to take the place of His Law! God’s grace and the Law of His kingdom are in PERFECT HARMONY; they walk hand in hand.
“His grace makes it POSSIBLE for us to draw near to Him BY FAITH. By receiving it [grace], and letting it WORK in our lives, we TESTIFY to the validity of the law: we “exalt the law and make it honorable’ by carrying out its living PRINCIPLES through the POWER OF GRACE OF CHRIST; and by rendering pure, whole-hearted [not half-hearted, grudging, questioning] obedience, we WITNESS before the universe of heaven, and before an apostate world that is ‘making void the law of God’, to the POWER OF REDEMPTION.” E.G.White, God’s Amazing Grace, p. 10.
Remember what apostle Paul emphasizes: Grace is “the power of God unto salvation,” and salvation can only mean FROM, not IN sin! Indeed, “where sin abounds, grace much more abounds!” Sin is from Satan; grace is from God! Choose wisely unto eternal life, not eternal condemnation by the power of God’s Grace in Christ as imparted to penitent petitioner by the Holy Spirit! God bless all, NMF