It is only to the guilty undeserving souls who finally recognize that they are lost souls in need of reconciliation with God that God offers “the Forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His Grace” (Eph. 1:7). All humans are born alienated from God. The “natural man” has a mind twisted due to the “sin [nature] in the flesh” of all men from birth.
As I was doing my daily walk this morning in the dark, I was impressed to write this addressing the question of; Are We STILL ‘Sinners’?
It is important for us to study “the Word of truth” comparing Scripture with Scripture to determine what applies to us and what does not apply to us during this age of the “dispensation of the grace of God,” so as to arrive at the truth.
The last great book of the Bible opens with the words: “The revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:1) and from these words it derives its title: “The Revelation.” In this book of the Bible the Messianic Apostle John deals largely with the 2nd coming or return of Christ in glory to judge and then reign in His long-promised Millennial Kingdom on earth.
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:” – Col 2:6
One symptom of a spiritual growth that is hindered is uncertainty, doubt, and confusion about how we should live. The cause of this does not come from a lack of options or information, but from a misunderstanding of how we receive Christ in the first place.
A ‘shadow law’ is often presented to believers by some that says,
The largest segment of the organized Christendom, The Roman Catholic Church, has long opposed the Bible teaching for this age of the Gentiles, wherein ‘salvation is by grace, through faith alone.’ Rather, Rome teaches that it is by grace, through faith ... PLUS certain required good works [rites, rituals, and other performance requirements]. This of course negates God's 'pure 100% grace' basis of salvation through 'faith' alone.
There is no epistle in which we find more about the grace of God than that great and wonderful epistle of Paul to the Ephesians! It is one of his prison epistles and, interestingly enough, he was actually and literally in jail for telling a secret… the secret of the mystery (Eph. 6:19-20). Evidently, he had a great deal of opposition in trying to make this secret known. That's rather unusual, isn't it?
Forgiveness Under Grace Today
Some three thousand years ago, and about one thousand years before Christ, the Psalmist said:
3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Psalm 130:3-4 (KJV)
Perhaps you at one time pondered “the gift of God” of Ephesians 2:8-9, asking is the gift to be understood as being… salvation, or is it grace, or is it faith?
“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 KJV)
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to determine what Galatian believers thought taking the rite of circumcision would accomplish for them spiritually after having begun in the Spirit by faith. I doubt that they knew themselves.
The “Law” simply identified and exposed sin (Rom. 7:7). The Law could never make one righteous or produce the good fruits of righteousness. The Laws of God on Stone have no life to give. The Law was meant to frustrate and push convicted, humbled, sincere people to find Salvation by another means… by faith in the Cross-work of Jesus Christ.