GOG - 20 - Grace Dened (Part 2)
www.thecarpenterschurch.org
(Part 2) In the previous article, we looked at some denitions of grace. We saw that grace is eternal life, the gift of God and unmerited favour. In this article, we will conclude what we started on grace as unmerited favour and look at more things about the grace of God .
Grace Is Unmerited Favour (Continued) 23 The wages of sin is death but the grace of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:23
That word “wages” is the word opsonion in the Greek. It is a word that refers to the rations, stipend or pay a soldier receives. It is comparable to when a soldier has bread and a small sh is added to the bread. This, denitely, doesn't sound like a lot of pay. This is what Satan pays to anyone who serves him. Sin pays for services rendered, grace on the other hand, gives a free gift for doing nothing. Paul is making a contrast between wages and grace. Sin pays wages, stipend or a ration for service rendered but grace is a free gift that you get for doing absolutely nothing. Even the mercy you received; you did nothing to receive it. That too is unmerited favour. This is also implied by the previous denition of gift because a true gift is unmerited and unsolicited. It is not a gift when you hint, beg, manipulate, or coerce to get it. Recently, I was gifted a car and I did not lobby or manipulate the family into giving me the car. I made no suggestion, neither from the pulpit nor anywhere else. Some pastors would hint, threaten, and manipulate their members until they would gather together and buy them one. Then, the same pastor will come out to testify of how he got the car when his members have all been beaten and battered by his soliciting. I never did that. I never even told anyone that my car had been in the mechanic for months. If I did that, it would no longer be a gift but it would have been pressure. For something to be a gift, it has to be unsolicited and unmerited and that is what grace is. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 (NKJV) 8 For by the grace have you been saved in time past completely through faith with the result that your salvation persists through present time and this salvation is not from you as a source. Ephesians 2:8 (Kenneth Wuest)
8 Thus He shows for all the time the tremendous generosity of the grace and kindness He has expressed towards us in Christ Jesus. It was nothing you could or did achieve - it was God’s gift to you. Ephesians 2:8 (Philips)
There was nothing you did or could do to make yourself worthy of the grace of God. It's unmerited. Merit is the quality of particularly being good or worthy to deserve praise or reward. So, it means that where there is God and grace, there is no place for merit. That means in the body of Christ or in the local church, there is no place for merit. You may say, “What are you saying, Pastor? Haven't you heard the saying: don't put a novice in a place of authority?” Let me break it down with some very simple examples. Have you ever questioned the principles used in appointing leaders in your local assembly? When a person is called out in the banns of leadership, is your rst thought, “That one too?” Do you push it further and say, “Why not me?” Then, you try to evaluate the principles on your own. You won't nd any fault because it is not by merit, it is grace at work. This is the only time merit is allowed to step aside for divine grace. Every other time, merit is awesome. I am a proponent of merit. I believe meritocracy needs to come back to my country Nigeria. I believe mediocrity needs to be removed. Merit removes nepotism and ethnicity from a government. Illiterates would neither hold positions of authority nor represent the nation. In the church, there are all kinds of nonsense. People are put in positions because they are related to the head pastor. Churches have become a family maa. You might say that's loyalty. Pastor Charles Omofomah (of blessed memory) who was the presiding pastor of The Carpenter's Church passed on to glory and I am the one in that ofce currently. We don't have the same last name neither are we from the same place. Only grace could have done that. Where grace is respected, all these vices of nepotism, ethnicity, tribalism, corruption, mediocrity and the rest of them hold no water. They should not be found in the body of Christ. The only reason why a person should be appointed a pastor is grace. 9 All the other apostles are greater than I am. I say this because I persecuted the church of God. That is why I am not even good enough to be called an apostle. 1 Corinthians 15:9 (ERV)
Paul is saying here that he is not good enough. Do you remember that about yourself? Without His
Pastor Nkechi Ene (Mrs.) grace, you're not good enough. What makes you considerable for the job is the grace He gave you and you did absolutely nothing to deserve it. You may say, “I've been developing myself”. The ability and the gift you're developing, who gave it to you? If there wasn't a gift in the rst place, will there be anything to develop? Paul said, “I'm not even good enough”. The BBE translation says, “I am the least of the apostles having no right to be named as an apostle”. Some people have developed so much pride because they think that they deserve the positions they occupy. The Philip’s translation of 1 Corinthians 15:9 says, “I am the least of all the messengers and, indeed, I do not deserve that title at all”. What is it that you currently have that deep down within you, you think you deserve? Some people even go as far as saying, “It is that seed I sowed?” Who gave you the seed and taught you how to sow in the rst place? Such people are disgruntled with what they have, and with what God has given them. It is not enough anymore because they think they worked hard and deserve to have more. The result of such attitude is that you may miss out on God's goodness and favour. Get a revelation of the grace of God and how you don't deserve where you are and watch how God will promote you with such speed, you'll get dizzy. Take your eyes off the outward. Celebrate the grace upon other people. Celebrate when promotion comes to those who don't deserve it. Have you not seen where a man who has been a Christian and also a virgin nally wanted to get married, God gives him an ex-prostitute as a wife? That is what grace does. Sow in that marriage and celebrate with them. That exprostitute may not deserve a virgin brother as a husband but the grace of God gave him to her. When you see something that doesn't make sense but it makes grace, celebrate it. Then, you will be celebrated as well.
Grace Is God's Divine Ability Grace is God's divine ability given to you to do what He has called you to do. It is His divine enablement poured out upon you. The word “ability” means possession of the means or skill to do something. It is your talent, skill, and prociency in a particular area. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high,
The Carpenter’s Church, Greenville, Port Harcourt. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other, without the prior permission of the above.
GOG - 20 - Grace Dened (Part 2)
www.thecarpenterschurch.org
He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men”. 9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also rst descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might ll all things.) 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, Ephesians 4: 7-11
The Scripture says, to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. So, we can see that those ofces are called graces. The ofce of a pastor, and that of an apostle is are graces. The singular qualication to occupy any of those ve ofces, and indeed, to fulll any purpose of God upon your life is nothing else but the grace of God. Therefore, whatever it is God has called you to do is a grace because the only way you can fulll that which God has called you to do is by the gift of grace. Grace is God's divine ability given to you, not to do what you want, or think you're qualied for or what you should be doing. It is only given to you for what God has called you to do. He will not equip you with His divine ability to run your own dreams. It has to be what He called you to be, then you can do it on the wings of His grace. It is like carrying out a task as though God Himself was doing it. Imagine that! It means, when I stand to teach as a pastor, by the grace of God, it is actually Jesus teaching. You don't have to wish that you were there two thousand years ago when Jesus taught in the synagogue and in the temple. Jesus said He would send another comforter (John 14:16) just like Himself Who will live in you, and teach you all things. So, as long as there is no other qualication than grace, it is Jesus speaking to you. However, if I became a pastor because my husband is a pastor, or I've been a faithful sister in church, and I got promoted to being a pastor, it would not be Jesus speaking through me. There are a lot of places termed churches that Jesus does not speak from the pulpit. Though they use the Bible, have all the lingo, the church looks good, and they even speak in tongues, but Jesus doesn't speak from the pulpit. Jesus will only be at a pulpit that is occupied by grace. That is why the most unlikely and unusual vessel can get on a pulpit, speak to you, and you get your deliverance. You may miss your miracle because you're looking at the physical appearance of the one ministering to you. Jesus will only speak from a pulpit occupied by grace. The only qualication for anyone to minister is grace, that is the true meaning of “What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD)”. Grace does things the way Jesus would do them if He were to be on earth now. That is what grace is. Grace is God's divine ability as though He was the One doing it. Paul could say about himself in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 that, “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me”. The Phillip’s translation says, “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me”. From the Kenneth Wuest translation, “For as for myself, I am the least of the
apostles, I am not t, I have no other qualication to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God but by the grace of God, I am what I am and His grace to me did not turn out in vain but I laboured to the point of exhaustion more abundantly than them all, however, not I myself but the grace of God, which laboured with me, therefore whether it were I or they, thus are we preaching and thus did you believe”. The statement, “…but by the grace of God I am what I am” is a very powerful statement with a two-fold cure. In one breath, it cures you of the problem of inadequacy, inferiority, unworthiness, and lack of privileges. On the other hand, it cures you of the problem of superiority, privileges, a sense of worthiness, qualications, or rights. So, if you have a strong sense of inferiority, you're very aware of your unworthiness and lack of privileges; you grew up poor and wretched or uneducated, maybe that's who you are. Paul was like that. Paul actually means small or little. That was already a potential trigger for inferiority complex. No offence meant to short men, but many times, when a man is short, because of societal expectations and romantic stories of tall, dark and handsome men, short men are constantly aware of their height. Sometimes they marry very tall women, hoping that their children especially their sons won't get the same gene. You have the Word of God if you are short, that is all that matters. You don't need to overeducate and over achieve, trying to make up for the height.
It's assumed, historically, that Paul was a short man. That was enough reason for an inferiority complex. To add to it, he was the only apostle who didn't walk on this earth with Jesus. He neither ate nor met Him physically; that could have given him a complex and also, that is part of the reason why he separated himself when he got his call. Paul would have been constantly reminded that he didn't walk with Jesus on this earth if he had hung around the other apostles. He had enough reasons to be unworthy and have a complex, but he says, “I am what I am by the grace of God”. Whether I am short, or knew Jesus physically or not, it means nothing to me. On the other extreme, the same Paul had to be cured by the grace of God because he had enough materials to have a superiority complex. He had the privileged Roman citizenship on top of being Jewish. He was well educated, and trained by the distinguished rabbi, Gamaliel. He was well educated in the Jewish law compared to the likes of Peter and John who the Bible tells us in Acts 4:13, that people marveled at their boldness. The words used to describe them were agramatos and idiotes. Agramatos means illiterate, and unlearned while idiotes means crude, or bush. They were shermen. So, Paul could have had a superiority complex but the grace of God cured him of that too. Can you say of yourself, “I am what I am by the grace of God and not by your academic qualications
because none of that matters. When God chooses to bestow His grace upon you, He is poised to carry out with His own ability, that thing that He has called you to do. When you can say, “I am what I am by the grace of God”, then you have received the cure for inferiority or superiority complex. When Pastor Charles Omofomah (my spiritual father) went home to be with the Lord in February 2013, it became obvious I was going to take over the mantle of leadership in the ministry. I was like, “How is this going to happen?” I spent many days in my ofce crying. Sometimes, I'll talk to God, sometimes, I'll talk to Pastor Charles, as though he could hear me. One day, I just cried out, “Oh God, I'm just so little, I can't do this”. Then, I heard Him chuckle and say, “That's exactly how I want you”. The tears dried up quickly and I was like, “What?” He said, “You are perfect, this is exactly the way I want you. You are little. Yes, indeed you are, but that is what I can work with. Now, bring that little you and let Me pour My grace for this new level into you. I don't want you big by yourself, I need no qualications from you. You are exactly in the position I want you”. That was the last time I cried over that matter because God had answered me. Grace is God's divine ability to do what He; not what you applied for, or what you think you should be doing, but what He has called you to do. Paul also said, “His grace towards me was not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:10). In the Phillip’s translation, he said, “The grace you gave me has not proved a barren gift”. Isn't that powerful? Has the grace God gave you been a barren gift in your life? Are you okay not producing children of grace? Has your grace affected other lives? Has your grace brought increase that has affected the kingdom? Can you say like Paul, “His grace towards me has not been a barren gift”? What have you done with God's divine ability that has been given and placed upon you? It's not your ability, the minute it's your ability, you have missed it. Paul also said, “I laboured more abundantly than they all. Yet not I but the grace of God which was with me”. There was grace but there was labour and it was grace that labored. How does that happen? When I spend hours studying, knowing to move from the Phillip’s to other translations of the Bible just in case there are some more truths there; I see an interesting Scripture and say, “Wow! By the grace of God, I am what I am, His grace to us was not in vain. I wonder how this is translated somewhere else. Let's check what Phillip’s and Wuest have to say”. Then I open the Phillip’s translation and I saw “barren gifts”. That is how grace labours. Grace is not opposed to labour. Grace is not an excuse for laziness and slothfulness. When grace labours, you don't need to. When you plug into grace, it's so sweet that you loose track of time. You could be writing a song or just singing or meditating on a song and, you go from one song to another. You could be a creative person, planning a script. You start writing and you keep modifying the script, two hours later, you are out with everything excellently done. Grace is labouring and you are enjoying it. You don't hustle to nd money, you hustle to nd and fulll your purpose because when you nd purpose, you access grace. To be continued.
The Carpenter’s Church, Greenville, Port Harcourt. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other, without the prior permission of the above.