Today’s New Covenant nugget is from Ephesians 2:8-9
By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Grace is the power unto salvation… ‘salvation’ is a translation of the Greek word ‘sozo’, it includes healing, provision, divine health, prosperity, protection and every blessing from the Lord… and it is BY GRACE through faith in Jesus that we receive it, not by our works!
One of the biggest lies from the devil is that, as believers… if we do everything right, everything will turn out great, but if we miss step six of the seven steps, we will surely fail… and it will be our fault!
One of the greatest New Covenant truths is recognizing that Jesus already did everything right… He already defeated the enemy and secured our outcome, so, if we receive everything that Jesus did by grace through faith… everything will turn our great! The power of grace is released by putting our faith in what Jesus did… not by trusting in our works.
John 1:16-17 - “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Legalism was instituted through Moses, but grace and truth were instituted through Jesus.
THE OPPOSITE OF GRACE IS LEGALISM
THE OPPOSITE OF TRUTH IS DECEPTION
LEGALISM IS A DOCTRINE THAT IS BIRTHED IN DECEPTION
THE DOCTRINE OF LEGALISM IS THAT IF YOU DO EVERYTHING RIGHT, EVERYTHING WILL GO WELL AND EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG IN A PERSON’S LIFE IS BECAUSE THEY DID SOMETHING WRONG.
MOSES WAS ASSIGNED BY GOD TO INSTITUTE LEGALISM TO EXPOSE SIN AND THE DECEPTION OF THE DOCTRINE OF LEGALISM - TO PROVE THAT MAN CANNOT OVERCOME SIN THROUGH WORKS.
Romans 3:19-20 says, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
GRACE AND TRUTH IS THE OPPOSITE OF LEGALISM AND DECEPTION!
Let’s look at John 1:16-17 again… “Of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
GRACE DEFINED
The word translated as ‘grace’ is translated from the Greek word ‘cháris’ literally meaning ‘unearned, unmerited favor – unearned benefit and free access to the assets of another’.
AS BELIEVERS WE HAVE FREE ACCESS TO GOD’S ASSETS THROUGH CHRIST.
Because unmerited favor has been restored towards the Father through Jesus, BY GRACE, through faith in Jesus, we now have unlimited access to all that the Father has… to His supernatural ability, His wisdom, wealth, anointing, power and to all that He has.
THE ANOINTING ON GRACE GIVES US ACCESS TO REVELATION KNOWLEDGE AND DELIVERS US FROM DECEPTION.
EVERYTHING IN THE OLD COVENANT IS BASED UPON LEGALISM… MAN’S WORKS AND ABILITY, MANKIND HAVING TO DO EVERYTHING RIGHT, OBEDIENCE AND LIVING ACCORDING TO A REWARD AND PUNISHMENT SYSTEM. IN A WORD… ‘WORKS’.
EVERYTHING IN THE NEW COVENANT IS BASED UPON GRACE AND TRUTH GIVEN THROUGH JESUS… IT IS BASED UPON WHAT JESUS DID AND OUR UNLIMITED ACCESS TO ALL THAT GOD HAS AND TO ALL THAT GOD IS. IN A WORD… ‘FAITH’.
ONE SAYS, “I NEED TO DO MORE”, OR, “I AM NOT DOING IT RIGHT” THE OTHER SAYS, “I NEED TO PUT MY TRUST IN WHAT JESUS HAS DONE”, AND “I NEED TO FREELY RECEIVE WHAT JESUS HAS GIVEN”.
WHAT DOES ‘GRACE FOR GRACE’ MEAN?
John 1:16 says, “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” The Greek word translated as ‘for’ literally means ‘out of’… or, as a mirror ‘reflects’. Out of the fullness of Jesus we RECEIVE grace ‘in order’ to walk in grace and truth… we receive unlimited access to all the Father has, and that access gives us what we need to walk in grace and truth… grace for grace…
GRACE GIVES THE ABILITY TO WALK IN GRACE TOWARDS OURSELVES AND OTHERS AND THE ABILITY TO WALK IN FAITH TOWARDS THE LORD.
“FATHER, I RECEIVE GRACE THROUGH CHRIST TO WALK IN GRACE TOWARDS MYSELF AND OTHERS!”
Jesus said to Paul, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So, now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, for when I am weak (in my inability), then I am strong (in Christ’s ability and strength).” - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
When we receive grace for grace, the power of grace will be all that we ever need… because of grace, instead of failing because of weakness and inability, grace causes us to succeed in spite of our failures… in fact the power of Jesus’ grace in us works best in weakness, so that when we are weak, grace makes us strong in the strength of the Lord! So instead of weakness and failure disqualifying us like it does in legalism… it actually qualifies us under New Covenant grace. Thank God for the power of grace through Christ!
CONFESSION
“Father, I receive grace through Christ to live according to grace and truth!
I have faith in You! I do what I do by grace! I do what I do by Your supernatural ability, by Your wisdom and by Your power working in and through me!
I reject legalism! I reject self-reliance! I reject self-focus, I reject deception, and I receive grace and truth through Christ!
I walk in grace and truth towards myself and towards others.
I fully rely on grace working in me and through me by faith, in Jesus Name!”
In His amazing Love, Nick
