The Grace of God #2

Mercy, Love, Faith and Grace Go Together

Fred R. Coulter—October 16, 2021

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!

We've seen that love and grace go together. Love, mercy and grace! Everything come from the love of God, and then the grace and mercy of God. You have to have the grace first in order to have mercy. Here's the definition of what grace is, from the Greek word 'charis':

God's Divine gracious favor and blessing. Gracious care, help good will, benefit, gift, goodness, benefaction, endowment.

It covers a lot of things. In the Old Testament, God says He's merciful and gracious! Those two things come in that order. Also, we find out that the grace of God was prophesied of in the Old Testament. Peter writes of it in 1-Peter. But before we get there, I'll read this again so that we really get it. It's so misconstrued in Protestantism and Catholicism, etc.

Booklet: Grace of God in the Bible

In-Depth Studies w/CDs:

• Grace of God
• God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping
• Grace Upon Grace

We will save grace upon grace for the last. Have you ever had that explained to you? If you've gone to a Protestant Church, have they ever explained that to you? Probably not!

From the booklet: Grace of God in the Bible:

Part 2—THE GRACE OF GOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

To understand the GRACE of God is to comprehend one of the most wonderful attributes of God; and is the KEY…

You need the key to put into the lock to open the understanding!

…to a deep, personal relationship between God the Father and every Christian, through Jesus Christ.

The GRACE of God expresses the GREATNESS OF HIS LOVE…

God wants that relationship directly between God and you and every other individual at the same time.

The GRACE of God expresses the GREATNESS OF HIS LOVE and the richness of His mercy!….

See how all three of those go together: love, grace and mercy.

…To live within and under the GRACE of God is to experience and appreciate the fantastic LOVE of God and His merciful kindness.

Contrary to religious speculations, grace is not just a theological tenant or topic of argument; drawing denominational battle lines; in fact, the GRACE OF GOD means LIFE ITSELF!….

I want you to think about that! Everyone wants to live forever. In the flesh, we're not going to! We all die in Adam! God gives life and it eventually means eternal life! Think about what a great grace that is going to be.

Satan has given the counterfeit: if you die your soul goes to heaven! Nowhere is that in the Bible! Nowhere! If you search around, every other pagan religion in the world has some form of going to heaven.

…Without grace there would be no salvation…

and there would be:

….NO CHRISTIANITY... NO ETERNAL LIFE! Indeed, GRACE IS THE FOUNDATION of true Christianity.

The New Testament reveals that God the Father's GRACE is an ALL ENCOMPASSING quality….

That comes from Him!

Let's see that Peter writes that this was spoken of by the Prophets before! I'll just mention again another essential feature of The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:

In the order that it is in all other Bibles, they follow the Latin Vulgate and that puts the General Epistles—James, 1st & 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd & 3rd John, and Jude—just before Revelation. What that does is move Romans right after the book of Acts. That highlights Rome! The General Epistles is where you find about:

• the love of God
• obedience to His commandments
• how the Law works
• who it's for
• how that ties into the grace of God

All of that in those seven General Epistles!

Let's understand how important it is that we know the grace of God and that God has called us. We may be few in number, and fewer than I suppose that we would like. We all like to have people and fellowship and all of this sort of thing, but there's another side to the coin, which is this:

With the troubles that we are facing, it's better that we are scattered, because we can still serve all the brethren via live transmissions.

1-Peter 1:1: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect strangers scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia."

All of those were areas where the Apostle Paul had ministered. But when the Apostle Paul was taken to Rome, Peter then took over those areas in writing a letter.

Sidebar: 1-Peter 5 answers where Peter was. Remember that after the angel let him out of jail and they final opened the door and let him in the house. He told them all about what was going on, and it says he left to go to another place.

We don't hear of Peter again until right toward the end before the temple was destroyed (2-Peter).

1-Peter 5:13: "The Churchin Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you, as does Mark, my son." That's the one who wrote the Gospel of Mark!

So, he wrote it from Babylon to those people in the northern part of what we call Asia Minor today.

1-Peter 1:2: "Who have been chosen…" Think about that! Many are called, but few are chosen!It says in Rev. 17 that we are

• the called—we have to answer it
• the chosen—when we answer the call
• the faithful—all the way through the rest of our lives after being called and chosen

"…according to the predetermined knowledge of God the Father, by sanctification through the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace and peace" (v 2).

Every Epistle of Paul has in it a salutation: Grace and Peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!

What does that do? That sanctions all the rest of the epistles as inspired of God! Maybe you have never thought of it that way, but it is that way!

Verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, according to His abundant mercy…"

We're going to see mercy, love and grace go together all the time!

"…has begotten us again…"

Booklet: What Do You Mean: Born Again and Born of God? These are also false doctrines that you find in Protestantism. When a person receives the Holy Spirit of God, they are not born again! When is a person born again?

You were born once in the flesh, born again is when you're resurrected from the dead. Jesus is called the Firstborn from among the dead! The only person who was born again is Jesus Christ! Nobody else, because the resurrection hasn't taken place.

Think about all of these things, and think about how everything in Christianity in the world is all messed up with:

• false doctrines
• false teachings
• wrong understanding of the Scriptures

Why is that? Because they keep Sunday and the holidays instead of Sabbath and the Holy Days! That would never dawn on them because they would never think of it. Now the world is getting ready for the day of death from Satan the devil: Halloween!

"…unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; unto an inheritance…" (vs 3-4).

• What is God going to give us?
• What is it going to be like to be a spirit being?
• What is it going to be like, as we cover when we go through 'Day 8' and New Jerusalem?

Think about everything that we have on the earth, and then what God is going to do! We're going to be co-inheritors with Jesus! All of this is by the grace of God! Think about that!

• Is there any way you can earn it?
• How much can you pay to get eternal life?
• NOTHING!

But you must come to God in conversion and repentance, and receive His Holy Spirit, love Him and live under His grace and keep His commandments so you can obtain it.

"…incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for us… [because Christ is going to bring it when He comes] … who are being safeguarded by the power of God through faith… [faith, mercy, love and grace] …for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time" (vs 4-5).

Even there were many areas in the past where people thought Jesus' coming was right away. But it wasn't, because they didn't understand prophecies. For all who have been in Protestantism, there is no secret rapture! That is a hoax!

Verse 6: "In this you yourselves greatly rejoice; though for the present, if it is necessary,you are in distress for a little while by various trials."

Why do we have trials? Some trials we can understand, but some trials we can't understand at the time they are happening! We can understand them a little later on. Why do we have trials? Because our faith needs to be tested! Do you really believe?

Remember all those people who used to attend church? When a certain man died many of them said, 'Bye! Bye! Not going to see you anymore! They didn't have any depth in them to survive!

Think about the trials we're going to be facing today! If we're not strong in the:

• grace of God
• faith of God
• love of God
• mercy of God

We're going to have a difficult time surviving!

Verse 7: "In order that the proving of your faith, which is much more precious than gold that perishes…" Think about that!

• coming through a trial
• overcoming
• having God to help you
• having His Spirit to give you understanding

is more precious than gold!

"…though it is being tested by fire, may be found unto praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ… [which will be the resurrection] …whom, not having seen, you love; in Whom, though at the present time you do not see Him, you believe, and rejoice with unspeakable joy, and filled with glory" (vs 7-9).

That's what it needs to be inside of us, even though we may have distress during the trial!

Verse 9: "And are receiving the end of your faith—even the salvation of your lives; concerning which salvation the prophets who prophesied…" (vs 9-10).

He's talking about what the Prophets prophesied. Remember that there 356 references to Jesus Christ—prophesies and references—in the Old Testament! Also remember that the apostles only had the Old Testament to preach from. Think about how much God has given us in addition to what they had.

"…of the grace that would come to you have diligently searched out and intently inquired, searching into what way and what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was indicating, testifying beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and these glories that would follow" (vs 10-11).

So, it was given, and that's an amazing thing!

Verse 12: "To whom it was revealed that, not for themselves, but to us they were ministering these things, which now have been announced to you by those who have preached the Gospel to you by the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven—into which things the angels desire to look."

Let's come to a verse that all of Christendom knows and quotes, and they used to have signs at football games, basketball games. The only sign I've seen recently quoting the Bible is on the way home from Costco there's a sign that says: Acts 2:38, but it doesn't tell you a thing about what you need to do.

For people who don't know the Bible, they don't have a clue as to what that is. But this is the one that everybody knows, but it also is one that in all other translations it is not translated correctly. It is in The Faithful Version:

John 3:15: "So that everyone who believes in Him…" Belief is not a profession!

• profession is an acknowledgement
• belief is something that you have internalized

Belief comes from you and projects out what you're really thinking. To believe also implies obedience. If you believe something you will do it.

 "So that everyone…" is hard to figure. If you look down through history and all that has happened, and those who do not know about the Holy Days of God don't have a clue how God is going to do this to everyone:past, present and future. If you don't understand that, then you get our brand new book, 2nd edition: God Plan Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days {order at truthofGod.org} That will tell you how God is going to do this.

God is so loving, kind, gracious and merciful that those who were not called, after the Millennium He's going to resurrect them to a second physical life for an opportunity for salvation to believe.

That is so great and overwhelming it's almost hard to grasp. But God will fulfill it for everyone! They will have the opportunity.

"…may not perish, but may have everlasting life" (v 15).

Why is God doing this? Because He loves the world! He doesn't love their sin. He's going to judge and punish their sins! That's what we're seeing going on in the world today.

Verse 16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son…"

I've covered that in great detail in the book: God Plan Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days. It's also covered in things concerning the Passover. Most of Protestantism doesn't have a clue as to what the Passover is. I'll tell you that He died—Jesus Christ—on the Passover Day in 3 A.D.; He is our Passover Lamb and Sacrifice on the Passover Day. That's when it took place.

"…so that everyone who believes in Him may not…" (v 16).

The King James says 'should not'; but it's may! Should is more like shall! 'May' is entirely different! Why should it be translated may? Because the Greek is in what is called 'the subjunctive'! That means that verb in itself tells us that there are conditions.

The rest of the New Testament and the Bible tells us what those conditions are. God loves the world and loves you. What's one of the first conditions that you have to follow? You must believe Him! Then you must repent and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God.

Now, when that occurs, you are ready to start living a Christian life. The way that they have it in Protestantism today, that doesn't bring anything at all. It may be an emotional feeling, but emotions never save. Witness all the tears that are cried by everyone whenever there's war, death and destruction. Do those tears do any good? No!

"…may not perish, but may have everlasting life" (v 16).

• Do you think that God is going to give life to anyone who doesn't love Him?
• Why have Jesus come?
• Why have all the things in the New Testament?
• Why are we told to believe the Word of God?

All of those things are necessary!

John 17—this is Jesus' last prayer; the 'Lord's Prayer' is not Matt. 6. that's the Lord's instruction on how to pray. This gives us a glimpse as to what eternal life is going to be, and how we are going to live and function in New Jerusalem. It's going to be on a level that our mind cannot grasp it. But we can get some glimmers of it through Scriptures like this:

John 17:11: "And I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name…"

Think about that! If you're truly converted, you are kept in the Father's name. Why? Because we're all going to be the sons and daughter's of God at the resurrection!

"…those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one, even as We are one.When I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. I protected those whom You have given Me, and not one of them has perished except the son of perdition… [Judas Iscariot] …in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to You…" (vs 11-13).

Think about this: here He is in the Garden of Gethsemane and it's getting close to midnight and He's praying. His sweat is like great drops of blood falling to the ground. He's praying this prayer for those who are going to be converted now through the Gospel and later on through the Millennium and then the Last Great Day.

If you don't understand that, I'm going to tell you again, you write for the book: God Plan Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days!

"…and these things I am speaking while yet in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in them" (v 13).

That joy, even in times and difficulties and sorrow give you a steadfastness that will help see you through it.

Verse 14: "I have given them Your words…"

Remember that Jesus said, 'Everything I speak, I speak because the Father commanded Me to speak it!' Think about that!

Sidebar: Whenever you read and study the Bible, these are the words of God! These are the spoken words of Christ on paper. So, whenever you study the Bible, you're being taught by God through His Word to you. There's no other book in the world like it! That's what we need to look at, and hold God's Word in that light always.

• it is precious
• it is Holy
• it is great
• it is marvelous
• it leads to salvation

Verse 14: "I have given them Your words and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You would take them out of the world… [though there are times we wished He would] …but that You would keep them from the evil one" (vs 14-15).

Think of that as part of God's grace to keep Satan the devil from us! Isn't that something? That's why we need to understand His Word!

Verse 16: "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them…"—make Holy!

You can't be Holy in the flesh the way that God wants you to be Holy when you're a spirit being. You can be Holy in the flesh to the extent that you have the Holy Spirit. Think about how great God's plan is going to be! This is what is necessary in understanding about the grace of God. None of this would happen without the grace of God!

"…sanctify them in Your Truth; Your Word is the Truth" (v 17).

That's why you hear me say all the time: What we need is the Truth, the Truth, the Truth! Nothing but the Truth! That comes from the Word of God and the Bible! No doctrines of men is God going to accept! They have to come from Him!

"…sanctify them in Your Truth; Your Word is the Truth" (v 17).

That's why we need Bible Study every day. Think of it this way: IF you don't study God hasn't spoken to you! Have you ever thought of it that way? IFyou study the Word of God, God is speaking to you through what is written, and communicating to you His thoughts and purpose what He wants you to do!

Verse 18: "Even as You did send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself so that they also may be sanctified in Your Truth" (vs 18-19).

How many times does He mention Truth, especially in this day when Satan is deceiving the whole world!

Did you know that Jesus prayed for all of those who would be called later on?

Verse 20: "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who shall believe in Me through their word."

That's a prayer that is ongoing continuously with people being called. This helps give us an understanding of how great the Word of God is. Notice the goal; notice why God has grace, mercy, peace and love.

Verse 21: "That they all may be one, even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You…"

Think about the closeness that They have! That's how close God wants us to be with Him when we're resurrected. Be at one with God!

"…that they also may be one in Us…" (v 21)—God the Father and Jesus Christ!

What do you read in Rev. 22. When John saw the Throne, there was a Throne of God and the Throne of the Lamb, and living water coming out from underneath it. This is what Jesus is talking about. This is where it's going to end up.

"…in order that the world may believe that You did send Me" (v 21).

They won't believe it until Christ returns and we are resurrected. You talk about surprise! It's going to be something!

Verse 22: "And I have given them the glory that You gave to Me, in order that they may be one, in the same way that We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected… [a process] …into one; and that the world may know that You did send Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me" (vs 22-23). Think about that!

• How much does God love you?
• How much do you love God back?

It's not a one-way process of God to people! It's from God to those whom He calls, and love back to God the way that it should be! By the way, the book of John and the Epistles of John tell you so much about:

• what we need to do.
• how much God cares for us
• what He wants us to do
• how we need to do it
• the love of God
• the Truth of God
• how to fight off deception

There's a lot of deception out there!

John 1—here's John telling us who we're dealing with.

(break@38:28)

I want to mention, again, the three In-Depth Studies with CDs:

• Grace of God
• God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping

The Protestants think that if you have the grace of God you don't need to keep His commandments. That's like saying that if you have a flat tire, you don't need to put air in it.

• Grace Upon Grace

We will finish with grace upon grace in this short series on grace. I think it's necessary for us to go through it with the times of all of these troubles. I don't know about you, but I am so absolutely frustrated in watching the news. It's all controlled with 50% lies. They don't tell you the truth of what's going on, and they don't understand a very major thing that God teaches, which is our current troubles are not physical and political. They are spiritual, because as a nation we have left God!

John 14 tells us about Jesus, what He did. He was God before He became Jesus Christ, so He was God manifested in the flesh!

John 1:14: "And the Word… [tie in v 1, was God] …became flesh and tabernacled among us… [temporarily lived with us] …(and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of grace and truth."

Stop and think about this for a minute! That being the case, think about the lies that pastors, teachers and churches believe concerning the laws and commandments of God.

• the Law is Truth
• the Word is Truth

Yet, they have all kinds of lies for their doctrines. One of the biggest lies is their misunderstanding of grace!

Verse 16: "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace."

They love to quote v 17 as if the Law has been done away. "For the Law was given through Moses, and the grace and the Truth came through Jesus Christ."

No, we will see later that we are not to keep the commandments of God just in the letter. We're to keep them in the spirit! In other words, God's Spirit within us motivating us to keep the commandments of God and keep them in a way that God wants.

They miss the whole point! That's why you hear me say that all of the religion of Christianity today in America are the ones responsible for the lawless that's being multiplied; because of:

• all of their lies against God
• all of their lies against the Truth of what we need to do
• the rejection of the commandments of God

They have caused the lawless conditions and the rejection of God so that we find ourselves where we are today in America.

We are called through grace. Stop and think about it. God begins to draw us when we're still sinners. In His calling and drawing us, He reveals to us our sins.

John 6:44: "No one can come to Me…"

Everyone listen up! There are a lot of self-righteous people thinking they can come to God their way! If you're keeping Sunday, you're trying to come to God your way! Not Christ's way!

You can't have Christ unless you repent and obey! It won't work! That's a combination of grace and law!

"…unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him…" (v 44).

So, it's God the Father Himself! Think about this: What are we in this world? Nothing! None of us are anything! Look at all the big, important people—supposedly—and what are we compared to them? Nothing! If they knew about us they would probably sneer at us and lift up their noses and look down on us, because we're not like them!

God has called the weak, the poor, and those who will believe Him. But it is the Father! I can't emphasize this enough, or speak of it enough, but it is the Father, the Great Sovereign of the universe Who is dealing with us to have His Spirit come to us and draw us while we were yet sinners!

Think about that! Tie that together with John 3:15-16. that's what is important. Then Jesus said:

"…and I will raise him up at the last day" (v 44). That is Pentecost, which is the last day of the 50-day count!.

• Is there not a 50-day count to Pentecost? Yes!
• Is the 50th day the last day? Yes!

This does not mean the Last Great Day! That takes place later on.

Verse 45: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'…."

That's why God has called us! So we can learn from Him! Isn't that an amazing thing that we have the Bible and the Word of God so we can learn of God! That's truly an amazing thing! Think about it! It's like everything else that God does.

• Look at what He has created; it's innumerable!
• Start with the stars!
• Look at the sand; innumerable!
• Look at all the microbes, even in our bodies, innumerable!
• Look at all the cells and everything!

Likewise with His Word! The more that we study and go over it, the more that we learn. 'Shall all be taught by God.'

"…Therefore, everyone who has heard from the Father, and has learned, comes to Me" (v 45).

That's why you repent and confess your sins to God through Jesus Christ. Let's look at the other side of this same coin. This is like a two-headed coin.

Lot's of times we read Scriptures and we don't stop and think about what it says, what it really means. Let's see if we can do it with:

John 14:6: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the Way…"

• Every Muslim, listen up! You say that Jesus is a way. No!
• Buddhists, listen up! Jesus is "…the Way…"
• All Sunday-keeping Christians and Catholics listen up! Jesus is the Way! Why do you pray to Mary, who is still in the grave!

"…and the Truth…" (v 6). We have to ask ourselves all the time:

• Do we really want the Truth?
• What if someone speaks to you Truth, but you don't like that person?

or

• You might like the way that they say it? Nevertheless, it is true!
• How do you react?

Same way with the Word of God!

• What happens when you read the Word of God, which is Truth, and it strikes you in a way that you don't like it?
• What do you want? A lie?

If you want lies, Satan's got plenty of them to give you!

"…and the Life…" (v 6). You don't have eternal life without Jesus Christ! It is God's way, not our way!

"…no one comes to the Father except through Me" (v 6).

Those three verses tie together: John 6:44-45 and John 14:6. They are all important!

We are called through grace. The call goes out, however it is: you hear it, read it, see it, whatever.

2-Thess.—even though this is toward the end of the writings of Paul, this was the first one that he wrote.

2-Thessalonians 2:13: "Now, we are duty-bound to give thanks to God always concerning you, brethren, who are beloved by the Lord… [love from God to you] …because God from the beginning has called you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth."

The beginning—when the Gospel started being preached.

Verse 14: "Unto which He called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

That's quite a statement! What's it's going to be like to be a glorified spirit being? Think about that! Jesus said that those who are in the resurrection are going to shine like the sun!What's that like?

See how great this is through the grace of God that He's giving to all of us and will take place at the resurrection.

Verse 15: "So then, brethren, stand firm… [don't be like a reed waving in the wind] …and hold fast the ordinances that you were taught…"

We can also say today with that, the New Testament that God inspired to be written for us so we can have it today.

"…whether by word or by our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God—even our Father, Who loved us… [notice everything that He's emphasizing here] …and gave us eternal encouragement and good hope through grace…. [by His calling] …Encourage your hearts and establish you in every good word and work" (vs 15-17).

• What are good works?
• What did we read to start with? The Law is perfect!

The Ten Commandments, look at them. This is where everyone needs to start. If you obey and keep the Ten Commandments—and that is your work—what kind of work is it? It's a good work; one that God wants you to do!

"…every good word and work"—what you say and what you do! That's amazing! That's something to really think about.

We believe through grace, because it's God's grace working in our lives:

• that brings us along
• that helps us to overcome the sin
• that gives us understanding of His Word
• that shows us what He is doing

We're told many times to believe, believe, believe! If we really believe it's through grace! Let's see what Paul says about our calling, what we should do and believe!

Acts 18:27: "And when he was determined to travel to Achaia, the brethren wrote to the disciples, exhorting them to welcome him…"—Apollos

This is Pricilla and Aquila going over things with Apollos who only knew the baptism of John. But he was mighty in the Scriptures, so when he was brought up to day concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that's what he knew and preached, because he had the Old Testament.

"…and after arriving, he greatly helped those who had believedthrough grace" (v 27).

There it is right there! Why do you believe what you believe? A miracle is taking place in your life when you receive the Holy Spirit of God. Out in the world you're blinded!

• blinded by Satan
• blinded by your false beliefs
• blinded by the society around you

So you can't understand the Truth!

You are called through grace

Let's see what Paul says about being an apostle and serving the people of God. I want all who are elders and teachers to understand that God has called you to this so you can serve the brethren!

Galatians is quite a book. By the way, if you've got The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version you need to study Appendix Z: Understanding Paul's Difficult Scriptures Concerning the Law and Commandments of God

There are some very difficult, and are made more difficult because of Protestant interpretation. So, you need to know the Truth so you can understand grace. Let's see what Paul says concerning his calling:

Galatians 1:1: "Paul, an apostle, not sent from men nor made by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead; and all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia" (vs 1-2).

Notice in every one of Paul's epistles he has right in the beginning this way:

Verse 3: "Grace and peace be to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ."

That's quite a thing to really understand. Every time you read the Word of God, it's from God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Verse 4: Who gave Himself for our sins, in order that He might deliver us from the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father." What is the will of God?

• that we love Him and keep His commandments
• that we learn from Him and prepare for eternal life

Verse 5: "To Whom be the glory into the ages of eternity. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly being turned away from Him…" (vs 5-6).

That's what Satan wants to do. He doesn't come in full blast and bowl you over. He comes in with a little bit of this, a little bit of that! If you accept it, he gives a little bit of this and a little bit of that again, and again, and again to draw you away!

Just like Jesus said. What was His first warning to the apostles in Matt. 24? Beware! For many shall come in my name saying that I'm the Christ! Lo and behold, it happened in the 1st century! That's what we're talking about here.

"…that you are so quickly being turned away from Him Who called you into the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which in reality is not another Gospel; but there are some who are troubling you and are desiring to pervert the Gospel of Christ" (vs 6-7).

We stand in this grace and they're trying to pervert it! Notice how strong he is, and this is the kind of attitude we need to have concerning our calling and doing what God wants us to do, as well!

Verse 8: "But if we…" Talking about himself!

Think about all of those who used to be with us! All the ministers who used to be with us! I know of one minister who now is a Lutheran minister and wears a cross! How did that happen? A little turning here! A little turning there! A little turning here! A little turning there! A little turning here! A little turning there! Misunderstanding! Lies! Then BINGO!

"…or even an angel from heaven… [a Godly angel wouldn't do it, but a satanic angel would; Satan has his angels] …should preach a gospel to you that is contrary to what we have preached, LET HIM BE ACCURSED!" (v 8). That's how important grace is!

• you don't want to pervert it
• you don't want to make it different
• you don't want to give your interpretation
• you want God's interpretation

So, Paul repeats it:

Verse 9: "As we have said before, I also now say again. If anyone is preaching a gospel contrary to what you have received, LET HIM BE ACCURSED!"

What does that tell you about most of Christianity in the world? We're called through grace and this is how God does it!

You believe through grace

We are to believe in Jesus Christ through grace! God gives us that belief! That is a gift of grace from God. Our minds are constructed in such a way that we operate by belief. You always believe before you do it. Let's see how that works.

John 20:30: "Now then, Jesus did many other miracles in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book."

John 21:25: " But there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I do not suppose that even the world itself could contain the books that would be written. Amen."

John 20:31[transcriber's correction]: "But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, you may have life through His name."

Of course, you are saved by grace, which we will get to! You are called through grace, you believe through grace, now:

Repentance and grace together

• Why did you repent?
• Have you ever asked that?

Since most people, including us when we were in the world, were not willing to admit our wrongs. You find justification! Just like what happened when Adam and Eve sinned. God said, 'What is this you have done.' Adam said, 'The woman! Your fault, God!' He talked to the woman and she said, 'The snake! He deceived me!'

Then God cursed the serpent, and Adam and Eve because of their sin. That cut the grace of God off for centuries. Now let's talk about repentance and grace.

• Why did you repent?
• Where did you get the conviction that you were so wrong that you repent?

And repent with tears!

When you come to understand the depths of your sins, even now and later, it brings you to tears that really God was merciful. He didn't reveal to us right at first how really evil the human heart is. That's a hard one to take! Think about it.

Look at poor Job. Here he was blameless in the letter of the Law. You don't understand what his problem is. I didn't until going through it many times. But basically his problem was, and the reason that God let Satan—not allowed, but let him—bring all the troubles upon Job was because Job was doing what God commanded, but he attributed all the goodness to himself.

In doing that, he was worshipping himself and thinking that he was as righteous as God. So, even this righteous man repented. He didn't give glory to God. He didn't say, 'Thank you, God, for this so that I can do that.' Thank you God for giving these things. No! Job said, 'I did this! I did that! I did the other thing!'

So, here we are, Paul is talking about this thing. Ask yourself this question: Why did you repent?

Romans 2:1: "Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone who judges another; for in that in which you judge the other, you are condemning your own self; for you who judge another are doing the same things."

Isn't that what happens? People come up and condemn for this, but they're also doing something. They're living in sin!

Verse 2: "But we know that the judgment of God is according to Truth upon those who commit such things."

That's why you can never escape the Truth! Even if you don't believe in God, the truth of the action of His laws and commandments are going to come upon you, because they are as automatic as the gravity that holds us to the earth.

Verse 3: "Now, do you think yourself, O man, whoever is judging those who commit such things, and you are practicing them yourself, that you shall escape the judgment of God?"

No! God is no respecter of persons; it's going to come!

Verse 4: "Or do you despise the riches of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the graciousness of God leads you to repentance?"

The King James says 'kindness.' But the root word there is 'charis' for grace. So, why did you repent? "…the graciousness of God leads you to repentance." He gives into your mind via His Spirit that you can see your sins for what they are and how bad they are so you can repent. What happened when that happened to Job? Let's see what Job did!

Everyone who is an atheist, everyone who is self-righteous and thinks that you know everything you need to know about God, which we can't, and no one can. I want you to think about what God is saying to Job and what He did to Job. Here's the challenge:

If you think you're so righteous, see if you can take up this challenge of God to Job. Job was more righteous in the letter of the Law than any other man on the face of the earth. But he did not give God the credit! He said, 'Oh, if I could talk to God!' So God finally said, 'Job, here I am! Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?'

Job 40:1: "And the LORD answered Job and said, 'Shall he who contends with the Almighty instruct Him?…'" (vs 1-2).

Job was trying to instruct God! Can anyone instruct God in what to do? Either the Father or the Son? NO!

"'…He who reproves God, let him answer it'" (v 2)

Job was saying that his righteousness is as good as God! That's reproving God! Accusing Him!

Verse 3: "And Job answered the LORD and said, 'Behold, I am vile!….'" (vs 3-4).

This directly came from God to Job! When we come to repentance, it's through the graciousness of God, that we acknowledge it. Job finally acknowledged it! "…I am vile!…."; and that's what you'll find out about yourself! You will learn three important things:

• the way of man is not in him to direct his feet
• the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things
• there's a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death

You come to understand those three things through repentance. This is what Job did here when he said 'I am vile!'

"…What shall I answer You? I will lay my hand on my mouth…. [it's about time Job shut up] …Once I have spoken; but I will not answer; yea, twice, but I will proceed no further" (vs 4-5).

Verse 6: "And the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said."

• IF you think you're strong enough to take on God
• IF you think you know so much that you can be without God
• IF you think you can extend your life through whatever means that men are trying to bring eternal life to themselves

Read this:

Verse 7: "Gird up your loins now like a man. I will demand of you, and you declare unto Me. Will you even annul My judgment?" (vs 7-8).

Think about that for all the Protestantville. If you think I'm hard on them, wait till God gets a hold of them! They're not going to like it! What's going to happen? In that day of judgment, many will say,

Lord, Lord, didn't we preach in your name? Didn't we cast out demons in your name? Didn't we do many wonderful works in your name?

What is Jesus going to say? I never knew you!

Matthew 7:23: "And then I will confess to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness.'"

Job 40:8: "…Will you condemn Me so that you may be righteous?"

They say, 'The God of the Old Testament was a harsh God.' That's the one who became Jesus Christ, but they say, 'Jesus is nice a loving.' Really? Read Revelation and what He's going to do to the world when He returns. It's not going to be nice and loving, and His entrance and coming to the earth is going to be death, destruction and gloom!

Verse 9: "And have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?"

• IF  you think you're righteous
• IF you think you're good, if you think you're going to go to heaven the way that you think

try this on for size:

Verse 10: "Deck yourself now with majesty and excellency, and array yourself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of your wrath; and behold everyone who is proud, and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in darkness. Then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you" (vs 10-14).

Salvation only comes through repentance! Repentance is through Christ! Everything that we do in relationship to things of God has come through grace!

This is such a great thing in our lives! In part three we're going to learn we're saved through grace. But what does it mean to be saved?

Scriptural References:

• 1 Peter 1:1
• 1 Peter 5:13
• 1 Peter 1:2-12
• John 3:15-16
• John 17:11-23
• John 1:14, 16-17
• John 6:44-45
• John 14:6
• 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
• Acts 18:27
• Galatians 1:1-9
• John 20:30
• John 21:25
• John 20:31
• Romans 2:1-4
• Job 40:1-8
• Matthew 7:23
• Job 40:8-14

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 17
• Matthew 6
• Epistles of John
• Revelation 22
• John 1:1
• Matthew 24

Also referenced:

Booklets by Fred R. Coulter:

• Grace of God in the Bible
• What Do You Mean: Born Again and Born of God?

In-Depth Studies:

• Grace of God
• God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping
• Grace Upon Grace

Book: God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days by Fred R. Coulter

Appendix Z: Understanding Paul's Difficult Scriptures Concerning the Law and Commandments of God (The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version)

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 10/20/21

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