THE BRIDE AND GRACE

              

          THE BRIDE AND GRACE

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

{Song: Amazing Grace by John Newton,Olney Hymns 1779}

¹⁶ And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

¹⁷ For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. {John 1:16-17}

“…But grace” suggests that there was something in operation which is now antagonized, negated and contradicted by grace and that is the law. He removes the first to establish the second. This implies that the first which is the law is no longer valid and should never be practised by His bride the church (You). The laws and its systems ended with the arrival of Christ for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. If the law is no longer valid why has the church refused to let it go? In my opinion, I think she is unawares of its expiry date. The law was to be valid only for a given period of time and this is shown in Galatians 3

¹⁹ Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Note carefully “till the seed should come” for the validity period of the law was to be only till the seed come not after the seed has come. Christ is that seed that has come to whom the promise was made and at his death and resurrection the law expired. Any church who still uses the law is only taking an expired drug and will have complications. The law was ordained by angels through the hand of a mediator but the groom wants to have direct contact with his bride not through a mediator. The law was only to lead us to our groom so we can have a one to one relationship with him.

²⁴ Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

²⁵ But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.{Galatians 3:24-25}

The law was only a school master to lead us to our groom for justification by faith. The law could never justify anyone, only faith can. Therefore anyone who depends on the law to be justified must be ignorant of this:

¹¹ But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith. {Galatians 3:11}

Now she has met her justifier why should she still hold on to that which cannot justify. She has been handed over to her groom by her schoolmaster and she must therefore let go of the hands of her schoolmaster and hold on to her groom lest she provokes her groom to jealousy. She must never serve two masters at a time. She must remove her eyes from her schoolmaster no matter how charming he might look and look unto Jesus the author and finisher of her faith.

⁴ Your “husband,” your master, used to be the Jewish law; but you “died,” as it were, with Christ on the cross; and since you are “dead,” you are no longer “married to the law,” and it has no more control over you. Then you came back to life again when Christ did and are a new person. And now you are “married,” so to speak, to the one who rose from the dead, so that you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God.{Romans 7:4 TLB}

No church should look unto the law no matter how good it might seem lest she become an adulterer and ignite the jealousy of her groom.

There is something better than the seemingly good law. Something sweeter than the first wine. It is called GRACE. It is the new wine;

1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

² And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

³ And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

⁴ Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

⁵ His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

⁶ And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

⁷ Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

⁸ And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

⁹ When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.{John 2:1-10}

The first miracle the groom ever did was to turn water into wine. This new wine is the grace needed to purify the bride and make her qualified for the marriage. The marriage could not have been possibly completed if this new wine was not made available by the miraculous groom. Take note that the pots were arranged according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews. This indicates that He came to purify His bride with the new wine of Grace. The old wine “the law” could never purify her”

It is important to note that the old wine got finished suggesting the end of the law. The law got finished for grace to show up. And you know what? This new wine tastes better than the old one that got finished. He saved the best for the last. Therefore no matter how sweet the law was, grace far more exceeds its sweetness. No man prefers an older wine when there is a newer and sweeter one. Dear church, get drunk in this new wine of grace. Drink in full. Bring your vessels not a few. ”of his fullness have we all received and grace for grace”

Grace for grace church! Grace for grace bride! Grace for grace!!!

                                                                                          

¹⁶ And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

¹⁷ For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.{John 1:16-17}

Only this grace could purify and give birth to our true Identity. We are his bride by the grace of God .Paul put it this way:

2     But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.{1Corinthians 15:10}

We were saved by grace and not by the works of the law therefore we must also be sustained by grace. We can therefore not boast except in the cross of Christ.

⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. {Ephesians 2:8-9}

I see most churches trying to continue in the flesh what they could never start. What only God could do by His undeserving grace is now being paraded by the church to have been perfected by her adherence to the law. Only a foolish bride will think that she can perfect what her groom alone started and can sustain. This is a great deception in the body of Christ today and Paul cried against it in Galatia;

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

² This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

³ Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

⁴ Have ye suffered so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain.

⁵ He therefore that ministered to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? {Galatians 3:1-5}

The church must never try to combine the new wine with the old. Grace alone matters now. The old wine was with the old covenant but now there is a new covenant of grace built on better promises. It is this new covenant of grace that binds us to our groom.

John the disciple puts it this way:

¹⁴ And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. {John 1:14}

The disciples testified that when the glory of Jesus was revealed to them they saw Him as he really is. What did they see? They saw Him full of GRACE and TRUTH. This means that the groom came to give us grace. That is the truth. The truth is on the side of grace. If it is not grace then it is not truth. Anything else apart from grace is false. The law is false because it is not grace. The law enslaves but the truth of grace sets us free. For you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. It is this grace that sets us free from the bondage of sin. We are saved by this grace.

3     For God has revealed his grace for the salvation of all people. ¹² That grace instructs us to give up ungodly living and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this world,{Titus 2:11-12 GNT}

There is no salvation without the grace of God. It is this grace that helps us to give up ungodly living and worldly passions so that we can live righteously in this world. Therefore we need an abundance of grace so we must receive of his fullness and GRACE FOR GRACE. It must be grace upon grace, never should grace be mixed with law. It has to be purely grace in its fullness.

Even Moses and Elijah bore record to the fact that grace is all that matters now. Moses represents the law and Elijah the prophets. At the transfiguration, it was obvious that only grace matters now never to be combined with the law and the prophets.

17 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

² And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

³ And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

⁴ Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

⁵ While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

⁶ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

7   And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

8   And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.{Matthew 17:1-8}

The story above revealed that no church should build a tent for the law and the prophets. The church must no longer accommodate the law and the prophets with grace. Only Christ full of Grace and Truth must we accept. Hear ye Him. The law (Moses) disappeared, the prophets (Elijah) disappeared. They bore witness to the truth that only Grace matters now. Therefore the Church must depend on Grace alone if she must reign in life.

²¹ But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

²² Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:{Romans 3:21-22}

 Now we stand on grace ground having being justified by faith. We live on grace ground. We have peace with God and what awaits us is glory not shame. All because of His grace through our groom Jesus Christ.

 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

² By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.{Romans 5:1-2}

NOTES FROM ARTICLE 8

(1)                Christ brought grace and truth as opposed to the law of Moses

(2)                He came full of grace and truth and we have received of His fullness GRACE for GRACE

(3)                The grace is the new wine and it is sweeter and better than the law

(4)                This grace sets us free once we know the truth. If it is not grace then it is not truth

(5)                This grace helps us to give up ungodly living and worldly passions so we can live righteously.

(6)                We must not combine the law and grace. Only grace matters now.

(7)                There is no salvation without grace. Only grace can save people.

(8)                 Grace brings about justification but law condemnation

(9)                 We must hold on to that which justifies and let go of that which condemns.