Yesterday I took us through the Grace of GOD today I will look into that which is of Christ Jesus that as a young boy GOD developed within Him. For when these two become One they are more powerful than we know and fully comprehend as they do His works within Redeemed mans soul in preparation for mans Salvation from this earth of darkness and sin's curse of death by fire. For it is GOD's great Love which we have seen is steadfastly set upon us that also works within the Redeemed soul and through it to reach the world around us in witness of GOD's great Truth and realities'. Now for Pastor Hoekstra and his teaching of Grace and then with the use of the ESV translation and the LORD's help by His Spirit and Truth I will undertake to reveal the Grace of the Lord Jesus.
"God Working in Us Unto Obedience"
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13)
"We have been considering from various perspectives the great truth that GOD wants us to grow in obedience to His Will (plan and purpose). Initially the lordship of Jesus makes disobedience seem unacceptable and by our fallen nature resist the Spirit within us. "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? " (Luke 6:46). Our Lord taught His early disciples to be instructing all future disciples concerning obedience: "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20). Our present passage offers profound insight on this matter by describing GOD's working within us unto obedience. "It is GOD Who works in you both to Will and to do for His good pleasure." Just as it was with the Lord Jesus, in accord with the Lord's prayer of John 17.
This subject is introduced by a call to "work out your own salvation." Notice, we are not called to work for our salvation. Salvation is a gift of GOD's Grace, freely received by faith. "For 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" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Still, this gift of Salvation is GOD within us by His Grace to be worked out (developed outwardly) to an obedient life, a life that fulfills "His good pleasure."
This calling is to be approached in "fear and trembling." Initially, our temptation may be to approach this request with unabashed self-confidence. If it were not for the work of the Holy Spirit who reveals our true condition as being naked and utterly bankrupt of any and all natural ability to acquire anything on our now, while in the state of Redemption. Eventually, we begin to understand that we must respond in "fear" [a reverential awe] and "trembling" (a profound sense of inadequacy). The next phrase explains why we are to engage this responsibility with such unusual attitudes: "for it is GOD Who works in you." If the Salvation that GOD has placed in our inner man is to ever become a visible walk that pleases Him, it will always be a result of us allowing Him to do an ongoing work deep within us. "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts . . . you are manifestly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living GOD, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart" (Jeremiah 31:33 and 2Corinthians 3:3). This is the wonder of true Christ-likeness or Oneness living. It is based upon GOD working within our hearts."
The Grace of Christ:
Exhibited in Childhood,
Luke 2:39-40 and John 1:14-18 "When they had performed everything according to the Law of the LORD, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the grace of God was upon Him."
John 1:14-18 "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about Him, and cried out, "This was He of Whom I said, 'He Who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me.'") For from His fullness we have all received, Grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen GOD; the only GOD, Who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known."
Manifested in Self-Sacrifice,
2Corinthians 8:7-15 "As you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of Grace also. I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your Love also is genuine. For you know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich. In this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."
Sufficient for all human needs,
2Corinthians 12:1-10 "I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the LORD. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, GOD knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, GOD knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the Revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the LORD about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, "My Grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Bestowed upon Sinful man,
1Timothy 1:12-17 "I thank Him Who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our LORD, because He judged me faithful, appointing me to His service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the Grace of our LORD overflowed for me with the faith and love that are Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe Him for Eternal Life. To the King of the Ages, immortal, invisible, the only GOD, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
The Source of Power,
2Timothy 2:1-7 and Revelation 22:21 "You then, my child, be strengthened by the Grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also (inferring that there are few who actually posses this Grace). Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the One Who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the LORD Will give you understanding in everything."
Revelation 22:21 "The Grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen."
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