Doctrine #41: Grace

Grace from God was upon Jesus. "Grace" is "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life." Grace cannot be defined as "unmerited favor"...Jesus, the Son of God, would have merited favor from God.

This was the opposite of being reprobate. Speak things (WHAT) that fit with (right HOW) sound Doctrine (God's Doctrine)...WHY?

The reason WHY we ought to speak things befitting sound Doctrine was so that we got these effects from aged men and aged women...

...as well as from young men. Titus speaking sound Doctrine would result in the aged men, aged women, and young men representing righteous behavior, which would help keep the church in order.

In this verse "ensample" meant "having a sample of the original; all tests prove it is the same as original, not a copy." Verse 7 stated that Titus ought to have the original right causes within himself, which would be the Holy Spirit, who is God. If we have God in us via the Holy Spirit, and we choose to let Him influence our actions, then our Doctrine will be uncorrupted...

...our speech not only cannot be condemned, but those who speak contrary to us will be ashamed because they will not be able to speak evil of us. These were effects of allowing God to direct our actions via the Holy Spirit. These were effects of grace: the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life.

Exhort servants to be obedient to their masters so that they can adorn (show, embellish) the Doctrine of God, our Saviour in all things. Again, "gainsaying" referred to appearing to have the right WHAT but actually supporting it with a wrong HOW/WHY. From the beginning of this chapter, Paul had given the Righteous effects of being an "ensample", of having God within us via the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to direct our actions. Next, Paul blatantly explained the cause (right HOW/WHY) of these Righteous effects...

…because the grace of God that brings Salvation has appeared to all men, the atonement of Salvation is not limited but is available to all. Paul stated the cause (right HOW/WHY) of this was grace, however Paul was not finished explaining grace...

Doctrine: Grace (God's influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life) teaches/instructs us (WHY/HOW) to do the following right WHAT's: deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly.

Doctrine: Christ gave Himself for us so that He could redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar (His own) people that are zealous (eagerly desiring a thing) of good works. Christ's death and resurrection (and going away) provided the ability for us to have grace via the Holy Spirit, and Salvation is attained by this grace.

Masters should be just and equal because they are servants of a higher Master: God. How a master treats their servants is a statement of their will in how they want to be treated by their Master. Like we stated during the discussion of this same topic in Ephesians 6:9, a way to apply this to today's culture is to see masters as bosses/employers and servants as employees.

This was the same prayer Paul requested at the end of his letter to the Ephesians.

Walking in wisdom is making profitable decisions. This is done by walking in grace. Verse 5 was focused on HOW believers ought to interact with unbelievers, which was also covered in several chapters in 1 Corinthians.

We should also let God direct our speech. Salt does not add flavor, it removes bitterness. Our approach to unbelievers ought to help them remove their bitterness, which would be unique to each person we talk to. Additionally, our approach should not be done from our own strength because we get stuck in ruts of tradition and tend to use the same approach on everyone. The Holy Spirit, via grace, is the best way for us to answer everyone.

Paul contrasted corrupt speech with our job description in the Bride: speaking the truth in love. We can administer grace unto others. This happens when the Holy Spirit works through us towards another person.

Peter wrote this letter to believers.

God's divine power has given us all things that pertain to life (ability to repair) and godliness (Righteousness by grace) through the knowledge of Him.

We are given great and precious promises so that we might be partakers of God. This is by faith. The promises have not happened yet.

This chapter gave a more specific description of what Jesus provided: Biblical Grace - "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life."

Doctrine: Grace cannot be "unmerited favor" or else we would have to sin more so that "grace may abound." "Unmerited favor" would be given after a person sins. "Biblical Grace" is given to help the individual avoid sinning.

If we lack wisdom (profitable decision) we should ask God and He will give to all men liberally. This is grace: asking God to work through us so that we have profitable actions. We can have wisdom without knowledge and understanding because we can allow God to influence our actions via the Holy Spirit.

If grace meant "unmerited favor," how would I "grow in grace"? I would need to increase the amount of areas in my life where I could be considered "unmerited"! This means I would have to get worse and progressively live unjustly, in order for me to grow in grace!

"Grace" is "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life." Growing in grace does mean that I increase in my ability to hear God's Voice and allow that Voice to come through in my words/actions.

Theme of Chapter 3: Peter warned the day of judgment would come with the earth and heavens being dissolved with fire.

This second epistle from Peter was written to the same readers as his first epistle, and for the same purpose: present Doctrine from an emotional perspective in order to exhort believers to suffer well. While it was assumed that Peter wrote this letter also from Babylon, this was not known for sure. Also, the date of this letter could be anywhere between 61 to 65 AD, from one to five years after Peter's first letter. One theme that was different from Peter's first letter was the foretelling of a great apostasy in the last days, which made this letter similar to 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Jude, and Revelation.

Because Jesus was tempted in His "points," we can boldly ask for grace to find help in time of need. Remember, "grace" is "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life." We can initiate grace. We can choose to ask God to work through us to handle temptations. This does not result in Salvation. When we initiate grace, it results in Reward. When God initiates grace and we choose to allow it to reflect in our life, it results in Salvation. Jesus experienced the utmost temptation according to who He is and He overcame it through grace, through choosing to ask God to work through Him to handle the temptation. If Jesus was like us and was able to get grace in His time of need, we can trust that we will have grace in our times of need.

Theme of Chapter 4: Paul continued his premise that Jesus was above everything. In this chapter, Paul proved Jesus was above every earthly priest by covering the concept of grace. Believers are saved by grace through faith, by choosing to rest: ceasing from being a first cause and allowing the Holy Spirit to initiate His Will. Paul showed we could initiate grace in order to deal with temptation.

James referenced Proverbs 3:34. The proud were the ones who were speaking in their own strength for the world. This actually limited the ability of the Holy Spirit to speak through the person, which was grace. James referenced the scripture to show that God resisted the proud. The only way God can grow a person not flowing in grace is from the outside, from resisting them. However, God gives more grace to the humble. God grows the humble person more from the inside. Believers are humble and will be able to speak more and more for God via grace. God has provided everything necessary for Salvation. The proud people are at fault when they do not receive grace. Pride is "unwilling to consider you are wrong and in need of nothing." Someone in pride is not going to reflect God's influence in their life, they are going to present their own influence which is actually from the world. They will speak for the world.

Paul knew it was not profitable to glory in himself. Remember, in the previous chapter Paul qualified all the glory for himself (excluding his weakness) by stating it was "foolishness." However, Paul needed to speak of visions and revelations to the church in Corinth. He used the previous chapters to set an important context: The spiritual was more important than the physical. Paul had more to boast of physically than the Corinthians but would only boast of his weaknesses.

Important point: Paul was not boasting about himself at all. That was the context of the following verses...

Paul knew a man (himself) who was taken up to the third heaven. Paul, being humble, did not testify of himself regarding this story. This was why Paul said it was a man he knew, which would have included him knowing himself. If he had said it was himself, he would have been boasting and contradicting the previous two chapters.

Doctrine: There were three realms known as "heaven" in the Bible:

• The most common would be the eternal abode of God, angels, and the redeemed. This was what Paul referred to as the "third heaven" here in 2 Corinthians 12:2. Also, Satan and his minions have access to this realm. This realm is territory that only someone with the Holy Spirit dwelling in their heart, and great understanding of spiritual warfare, should claim the authority to be combative.
• Next, the word "heaven" referred to what we call "outer space." Genesis 1:14-18 spoke of this firmament of heaven where the sun, moon, and stars were placed. This would be the "second heaven".
• Finally, the word "heaven" referred to the sky. Psalm 19:1 stated: "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his handiwork." The word heavens in this verse meant "visible heavens, sky." The same was true for Genesis 1:28-30 when it spoke of the birds of the heavens. This would/could be referred to as the "first heaven."

The "third heaven" was called "Paradise". Paul did not know if he bodily went to Paradise or spiritually. Paul heard unspeakable words that were unlawful for him to utter. Paul had revelation that he could not blatantly divulge because it would violate God's Commands. This section was referenced during the commentary for the Book of Ephesians because that book was Paul's general explanation of the meaning of life he blatantly received during the time referenced here but could never blatantly reveal.

Critical point: Paul reiterated he would not glory/boast. Paul only gloried in his weaknesses.

Paul reiterated two more times that he would not glory/boast. Paul just stated three times in two sentences that he would not boast. Remember this because, believe it or not, some public teachers and pastors today completely forget this point during their interpretation of the next verse...

God allowed a messenger of Satan to "buffet" (to strike with the fist, give one a blow with the fist) Paul so that he would not be exalted above measure. All we know about this was Paul called it "a thorn in the flesh." It could have been a physical malady or limitation.

Paul received this thorn so that other people would not exalt him.

This thorn was not so that Paul did not exalt himself.

Paul had made it clear that he did not desire to exalt himself. Anyone who teaches that Paul would have boasted of himself, just called Paul a liar, three times. This thorn in the flesh would cause people to respect Paul but not think he was perfect.

Paul asked God for the thorn to be removed three times.

The Lord told him that His grace was sufficient because God's strength is made perfect in weakness. This meant that because of the thorn, Paul would have to rely on God more through grace. Notice, this chapter began with Paul receiving revelation, which was not a sin. We have shown that Paul did not boast.

Critical point: Paul had done nothing wrong in this account.

This verse proved that "unmerited favor" couldn't be the definition of grace. Some people try to make grace into "unmerited favor" by stating Paul sinned. Looking at the context of the previous two chapters, we can see Paul set up this story by repeatedly making the point that God is strongest through a person who is weak, that God's grace works through a person's humility.

The Mind/Soul and the Holy Spirit need to work through a person's flesh. This verse showed that the Holy Spirit comes out strongest through a person where their flesh is weakest, which is grace: "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life."

An additional thought concerning this chapter was that Paul being exalted overly much would lead to others giving to him, and Paul not having as much Reward. God's plan to cause people not to exalt him overly much would result in more Reward for Paul, which was a better plan for Paul than Paul's plan of removing the thorn.

Paul blatantly stated that he took pleasure in his weaknesses. If these weaknesses were sin (e.g., boasting) then Paul would be saying he took pleasure in sinning. Clearly, this chapter could not be interpreted that Paul did something wrong, otherwise, Paul's message would be contradictory. Paul stated WHY he took pleasure in weakness: because when he was weak (in the flesh) God was strong through grace.