The Gospel of the Grace of God

     The gospel of the grace of God is the only thing that will deliver a man from sin, its penalty and power, and from the perils of this present age. The ultimate penalty for sin is God's eternal judgment in the lake of fire.

Paul states the gospel of the grace of God very plainly in 1 Corinthians 15:3,4:

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

Please think hard about the next two questions: Do you understand that you are a sinner? Do you believe what this verse is saying; that Christ died for your sins? These are the first two questions that were asked of me when I was led to the Lord and after a moments thought upon each question I answered “yes,” to both. After all, I thought, this is the Bible so these things must be true. But what do you say to these two questions? If your answer is “yes” then we are ready for a third question, the same third question that was asked of me: Would you like to trust Him as your risen Savior, trust that He did all that is needed to pay for your sins—past, present and, future—and believe on Him and Him alone as your Savior? There is nothing you can do, you must give up on everything else and trust His death alone as the payment for your sins.

The gospel the Lord proclaimed in Matthew was the “Gospel of the Kingdom.” The one in 1 Corinthians 15 is called “the Gospel of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24). This is because we are living in the dispensation of the grace of God (Ephesians 3:2) and not under the prophetic kingdom program. Today we can walk up to anyone on earth and tell them that though they are dead in trespasses and sins and can not do anything to help themselves Christ died for their sins—He paid for all their sins—and arose the third day. If they will believe this good news—believe that He died for their sins—and call out to Him and trust Him and Him alone as their risen savior He will save them for time and eternity by His grace. We have no good works to bring neither can we trust in any of our own efforts:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9)

I also quote Romans 6:23 and Acts 16:32:

      “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

 “…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Bring a man this truth and you bring him to the opportunity to trust Christ as his savior. Faith alone in Christ alone is all that God requires—all that God will accept!

      This is the message that brings hope to a cursed race—a depraved society. This is where a man finds the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. This is where happiness and blessing begins!

“Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Romans 4:6-8).

      The word “blessed” really means happy. If we look for the corresponding Greek word we find it in Romans 4:6–8:

Happy is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin! This is the fortunate position of all who have come and believed the gospel of grace—who have trusted Christ as Savior. How happy are we above all men! This is the description of a man whose sins are forgiven, whose life is “…hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Is this you, my friend? I hope it is.

      This, then, is how we come into the real blessings of God today; not by such things as obeying the Sermon on the Mount—though those characteristics are always precious in God’s eyes—but by coming to Christ and trusting Him as Savior. Furthermore, we learn that in Him we are “…blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). We can only learn of these blessings by reading and understanding the revelation of God’s present economy of grace found only in the Pauline epistles.

      It is the epistles of Paul alone that unfold “the revelation of the mystery” (Romans 16:25), and it is understanding this truth that sheds light on how to interpret and apply all the rest of the Word of God. Paul’s letters are the key that unlocks the rest of the Bible to our complete understanding. All of the issues that are progressively revealed in the Scriptures are concluded as a part and parcel of the revelations given to Paul. The place of the law; justification by faith; the basis of Israel’s salvation and kingdom; the place of sign gifts; all are answered by the truth God gave through Paul.

      Have you seen the revelation of the mystery, my friend? Are you aware that God is not presently dealing with the sign nation—the nation Israel, and that He has set them aside temporarily as a nation and is dealing with the world as individual sinners in a dispensation of grace? How happy—blessed are those who will accept this truth from the Word of God!

      Why is this so important? Because this is the truth about what God is doing today! How many are confused about what God is actually doing. Is He still administering the sign gifts? Is He still proclaiming the kingdom is at hand? Is He still water baptizing? Are we expecting to go through the time of Jacob’s trouble? The answer to these questions is “no,” but how do we know? There is a way to know exactly what God is doing today in this day and age and there is a way to know how to be a part of it. It is by recognizing the revelation of the mystery—the present dispensation of the grace of God—given to us through Paul.

      I trust that you can say “amen” to this and that you are willing to obey God in this truth and also to begin to weep for the lost of our sinful nation, which would still be our state except by God’s wonderful grace! May this be the day our hearts become solemn in this resolve.

     It is my fear, however, that we are too busy enjoying the “good” life and we have become tolerant of sinful practices. We have joined the world in many forms of pleasure that rob us of our ability to be salt and light. May the Lord help us to be poor in spirit (sad) for the condition of those around us so that our testimony to them might be of Him.

Can you define he gospel of grace? Can you explain it? This is an obvious necessity if you are going to lead others to Him.

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