Grace according to the Bible not Christendom!

Titus 2:11-15 (KJV)

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Verse 11 and 12, What a powerful message on the grace of God. Do you notice how it contradicts what the pulpit preachers teach about grace?

It was because of Jehovah's grace toward us that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to the world, in order to reconcile the world unto Himself. It was Jehovah's free gift to us. It is through the agency of the Holy Spirit that teaches us to deny ungodliness and the lusts of this world. The indwelling Jehovah (Holy Spirit) imparts to us the fruit of the Spirit which causes us to live righteously. The indwelling Jehovah is the Holy Spirit of the Father and Son.

The Holy Spirit in us is the Father and Son living inside us. Colossians 1:27 says Christ in us is the hope of glory. Jude 24 says that Christ is able to keep us from falling. It is by the grace of God and Christ which we can stand. Grace is that divine influence upon the heart that leads one to live a holy life. It is the divine benefit and favour given to us freely. Grace is not a license to keep sinning or to live a lukewarm life.

Grace comes from the Greek word "Charis" (Strongs 5485) and means "favour, thanks, holy influence upon souls to keep and strengthen them in Christian faith and knowledge, benefit, bounty, recompense, reward, merciful kindness, the exherting of God's influence to lead a Christian to increase in affection and the exercise of Christian virtues."

As you can see, nowwhere in the definition of "grace" is there a license to sin and an escape clause for one to keep sinning and trampling the Son of God underfoot. Also the very definition of grace is contrary to living a lukewarm life. If a believer truly has grace in his/her life he/she will exhibit Christians virtues. The false preachers of Christendom have misrepresented what God's grace is. Some of these false teachers fall into the Jude 4 category.

Jude 4 (KJV)

4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember that Jesus Christ in us can keep us from falling (sinning).

The grace of God does not cause us to sin so that we can come back repeatedly and ask for forgiveness, but rather the grace of God leads us to deny ungodliness and to live a holy life.

Verse 13, our hope is in the appearing of our Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is our Jehovah Emmanuel, God with us. The Father is the original Jehovah and His Son Jesus Christ is also Jehovah, as He inherited the name that is above all names. Just as a natural son inherits his father's name, Jesus is every bit Jehovah that His Father is, because He received that name due to His birthright being the true literal of the Father. Jesus doesn't have the name Jehovah as some mere title but it is rightly His by divine inheritance. Jesus is our blessed hope.

Verse 14, Jesus poured himself out as an offering for our sakes (Isaiah 53:12). Jesus Hebrew name is Jehoshua which means "the Salvation of Jehovah". Jesus is the Father's means of Salvation for us. Jesus is our redeemer.

The word "redeem" comes from the Greek word "Iutroo" and means "to release on receipt of ransom, to liberate, to redeem, to deliver from evils of every kind, internal and external."

Jesus was our ransom sacrifice. He came to liberate us from iniquity which is lawlessness (transgression of Jehovah's law). He came to purify us and make unto Himself a peculiar people. Note, that only by being purified by the Son of God can we be His, a peculiar people. We are purified when we come to the cross and become born again confessing that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 4:15). We then repent of our sins and sealing our faith by being baptized into Christ (John 3, Romans 6:3-6). Once we are born again, then we go to the most holy in the heavens sanctuary for forgiveness of sins as the cross forgives our past sins.

Christ is the focus of both ministry's, the ransom sacrifice at the cross and the work as the High Priest in the most holy place. Only by partaking in both aspects of Christ's ministry can we be purified. First, when we are born again then daily as we ask for forgiveness by going to the Most Holy place as Christ intercedes on our behalf to the Father. Christ doesn't intercede for us so that we can trample Him under foot and count his blood as a am unholy thing  (Hebrews 10:29).

Many use the ministry of Christ whether at the cross or the most holy place as a license or an excuse to sin. Christ work as  High Preist is not so we can live in sin or live lukewarm lives but rather it's to provide us with a merciful intercessor as our Messiah was tempted in all points like us and can sympathize with our human frailty. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that a much deeper and precious truth than Christ being our High Preist so that we can just live in sin and continually ask for forgiveness for living in sin?

He is our High Preist so that due to our human weakness, when we do sin, we have such a merciful Saviour that He is just and willing to forgive our sins. Remember the text says that Jesus came to redeem (to liberate, to deliver from all kinds of evil) from all iniquity not so that we can keep transgressing the law.

Many today scoff at the idea that we can keep the commandments of Jehovah. But does the bible teach?

Luke 1:5-6 (KJV)

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Do you see that? Both Zacharias and Elisabeth were righteous. What made them righteous? The text says they walked in all the commandments and ordinances of Jehovah and were blameless.

These two verses refute the false teaching that man/woman cannot keep the commandments of God. It also refutes the false teaching that Jesus came to die on the cross so that we can have a once and for all pass to sin and then use grace as a way of excusing it. Remember, sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4).

We are expected to wage war against the flesh by taking up the full armor of Jehovah (Ephesians 6). Only by walking in the commandments of Jehovah can we be purified as Christ's peculiar people.

The word "peculiar" is rendered in the  Greek "periousios" which means "that which is one's own, belonging to one's possession, a people selected by God from other nations for his own possession."

In order to be Christ's peculiar possession  called out from the world we must exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Remember, the fruit of the Holy Spirit demonstrates attributes that are contrary to sin. It is by the indwelling Jehovah (Holy Spirit) that we can live righteously the way Zacharias and Elisabeth did. What makes us a peculiar treasure unto Christ is by keeping His and His Father's commandments. This what seperates us from those in the world. If we use grace as a means of living in sin or as an excuse for it, then we are no different from the world hence we are not peculiar.

Notice the last part of verse 14 where it says "zealous of good works". Many in Christendom today do away with the importance of good works. However the bible teaches the exact opposite of many of the Churches of Christendom and speaks volumes about the importance of good works. In fact, man will be judged according to his works (2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 2:6,7).

Verse 15, according to Paul we are to speak these things  which in context of the chapter, has to do with right living (righteousness). We are to exhort the brethren to live righteously and rebuke with authority those who refuse to live righteously and follow the sound and sincere words of scripture. We are to let no man despise us when we follow the words of holy scripture and preach righteousness.