Abounding Grace

When you ask the average Christian to define grace, you will hear them define it as "unmerited favor"
This definition has been generally touted and taught in the church and to the church even though the definition is wrong
Grace is "unmerited favor" to unbelievers whenever it is extended to them but to the Born Again Christian, Grace has been fully purchased and gifted through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
The Bible says the law came through Moses but Grace and Truth (Reality) came through Jesus Christ
The word Grace is synonymous with Jesus

When you study the decision-making, speeches, and actions of Jesus while he was here, you will see how different it was from those of the Pharisees and keepers of the law
The adherents of Moses knew only the Law and lived by it
Jesus was full of Grace and He demonstrated it shamelessly

The law was always in conflict with Grace, the two never mixed
The law said, "Stone a woman caught in adultery"
Grace says, "He who has no sin should cast the first stone"
The law said, "Do not heal on Sabbath day"
Grace says, "This daughter of Abraham deserves to be free"
The law said, "Zacchaeus is a sinner not to be friends with"
Grace says, "This day salvation has come into your home"
The law said, "If he was a Holy man, he would know what sort of woman was pouring alabaster oil on him"
Grace says, "Let her be, she is celebrating grace"

Jesus didn't behave like, "Unmerited favor"
Jesus behaved like, "A new dispensation has come"
Moses was a dispensation of law
Jesus was a dispensation of Grace
Grace was the new supernatural order that those who believed in Jesus were brought into
It was not unmerited
It was a gift that came with salvation and being filled with the Holy Spirit
A believer therefore must be full of grace
His speech, action, mannerism, conduct, mindset, and attitude must exude grace exclusively, for this is His or her nature

Many who define grace as unmerited favor act as if grace is something that happens to one by chance or luck.
If ten of you are standing at a bus stop and a car came to pick up only one, they will say the person is enjoying grace
Ten people were vying for promotion and only one got it
They say the person has grace

Grace, in this context, is not a lifestyle
Favor and grace are not synonyms
Grace is God bringing us out of darkness into his marvelous light through Jesus Christ even when we were yet sinners
Favor is the tangible evidence that a person has the approval of the Lord.
Favour and Mercy are close in deed but Grace is totally different

Grace is a whole new mindset, a whole new lifestyle, a whole new way of thinking, a whole new way of living
It is not a thing that happens to us, it is a life that we live consciously after we have become believers
Grace is the evidence of the supernatural at work in a believer

A man or woman living a life of grace does not struggle to get things done in any capacity
Even when he is surrounded by enemies, they defer to Him
His conduct towards them is full of love, kindness, understanding, and affection
Abraham had to buy a cave at Machpelah after Sarah died

Read again how he negotiated with the Hittites and how they regarded him
That is grace in action
They didn't do him a favor; they didn't have mercy on him
They responded to grace with grace
This was how David's men responded to him too 

They responded to grace with grace
This was how the disciples of Jesus responded to him
Grace brings out the best in people, even in those who do not know or understand it
When an unbeliever encounters a man or woman full of grace, he or she is left in awe
Grace is the nature of the divine life made manifest in a human reality

Grace struggles for nothing because it controls everything
The Pharisees and Sadducees in the days of Jesus wouldn't accept that the days of the law, ritual, and sacrifices were over
They fought the new order with everything but the more they fought, the more Grace won

Grace took over the world from under their feet, made relics out of them
Many religious folks today have found a way to mix grace with the law and preach it as a gospel to the world
No wonder their understanding is darkened and they do not produce the results of the gospel as they ought to

Some said grace preachers are condoning sin.
All they had to do was look at their own lives and ministries truthfully, and they will see that all they had produced with their strict law and rules-ladened gospels are white-washed tombs

It is only those under grace and who live out grace as a lifestyle that can boldly declare the counsel of the Lord without any form of condemnation or guilt
They extend to others the same supernatural ability to forgive and love even those who are regarded as unlovable

The supernatural abound to them in a way that baffles the mundane
If you live a day full of grace, you will come to an understanding of Christ beyond words
You will come into a place of knowledge about how to live out a graced life every day
You will quit all your struggles and come to a wealthy place

You will not only grow in grace; it will abound unto you in a way that will shock you to the marrow
We will be looking at Grace in our May edition of Night of Glory
We will learn through practical examples how to live fully in Grace consciousness and thrive

-GSW-