Overcoming.

 1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 

1Jn 5:1  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

We want to overcome the world, don't we? Because overcoming the world is overcoming all the evil of this world.  

Joh 8:23  And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. 

Jesus wasn't OF this world.

1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 

1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 

1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. 

They are of the world,

We are not of the world.

We must overcome the world. 

Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 

We are NOT of the world.

Jesus is NOT of the world. 

We must be born of God to overcome the world.

We are born of God when we believe that Jesus is the Christ.

1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God

Jesus Christ CAME IN THE FLESH. 

It's so important to recognize what FLESH Jesus came into our world with. 

People sometimes want to believe that Jesus had special flesh when He was born. What was the point at all of Jesus taking on our humanity if He was going to have special flesh? Why bother taking on our flesh, being born of a dirt created creature if His dirt created flesh was not exactly as ours? He could have simply appeared as He had in the past- in the fire with Daniel- eating with Abraham before Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. Unless the LORD was going to be born as a babe of a woman -taking from that woman the flesh she was created with, that her mother and father were created with all the way back to the beginning there was NO POINT in His being born as a babe at all! He took on OUR FLESH, He took from His mother all the nutrients He needed to grow in her womb. He was made of the same flesh we were made of, the same flesh. His flesh had the ability to die, just as our flesh. His flesh could bleed, just as our flesh. The part of Him that was from the Holy Spirit that blessed Jesus' mother with the part needed to join with the part of Mary to create the fetus is all a part of the MYSTERY of God.  God who could speak in to being man himself, could speak into existence the bit needed inside of Jesus' mother for the babe to begin and grow within her.  Did that part that was spoken into existence in Mary's womb make Jesus super human, with special flesh unable to be damaged? No. We know it did not, Jesus bled. Jesus' flesh could be cut, His flesh was not made of steel or any supernatural essence that made it impervious to all the things that could harm any human being. 

When the supernature essence merged with human flesh it created a being that was sinless, but sin able. 

When we are born we are born without sin. We DO NOT sin until we yield to temptation, and succumb to that temptation. We are born sinless, but sin able as well.  

The difference between us and our Savior is, ALL of US sin. ALL of Us yield to the temptations and sin! Jesus never yielded to temptation. 

If WE say Jesus had a special one-up on us to keep from sinning then HE could NOT have taken our place, and triumphed over sin. Satan would have accused Him instantly of overcoming under false pretenses. THINK ABOUT IT! REALLY THINK!

If we were in a contest with one of the contestants having special powers that we didn't have would that contest be fair? No! We'd cry foul instantly! 

Satan and our Savior are at war for humanity. Satan wants them as his because they chose his way. Our Savior wants them as his because He created them and know they were influenced wrongly by Satan. In order to save humanity, our Savior came to earth as a human being and proved that a human could live sinless, even if Satan was there to tempt Him.  If Jesus had used some special power that only He had to withstand the temptations of Satan, Satan would have laughed at what Jesus was doing, because it would only have proved that a God could withstand his temptations, not a human being. 

Jesus conquered sin and when He did that, He won the war for humanity. All who would choose, and choose constantly over their lifetime, HIS victory as theirs would be saved by HIM. 

Unlike Adam, Jesus was born with flesh corrupted by many, many years of sin. Adam and Eve were born with flesh never tainted by generations of sin. Jesus had to overcome the history of sinful flesh. Jesus felt every single temptation in forms equal to every temptation any in mankind can experience. Jesus had to overcome all those temptations weighed down by thousands of years of sin. Jesus had to SAVE US by being born with flesh that we are born with, and that is why He was born of a woman and not simply as a newly made from the dust of the ground, man. 

Jesus had to overcome what we are, the humans we are right now.

Jesus had to ENDURE the lure of temptation and He did without EVER succumbing to the lure.  So many people err when they think they've sinned by the lure of sinning. Satan is going to present temptation after temptation, lure after lure, to try and get us to succumb as often as he can. He presented many lures to Jesus, three notable ones when Jesus went to the wilderness after He was baptized. Jesus met each of those monumental temptations with the Word of God. Don't think for one moment that those were the only temptations Jesus had to endure. 

Heb_4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

IN ALL POINTS TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE.

We cannot forget this, or deny this! Jesus was TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE. And in order for Jesus to be tempted LIKE AS WE ARE He had to be like us! 

So, yes, all must confess that Jesus Christ came in the FLESH, our flesh!

1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God

And we can OVERCOME the world because HE overcame this world!

Our Faith

 1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 

(Excerpt)

'From the list that the Lord has drawn in 2 Cor. 6:1-10, it is plain that there is nothing that can ever come into the life of the believer in Christ but that the grace of God will take it and turn it to the good of the believer and make it serve only to his advancement toward perfection in Christ Jesus. This the grace of God will do always and nothing but this if only the believer will allow the Lord to have His own way in his life; if only he will allow grace to reign. Thus it is that "all things are for your sakes" and this is how "all things work together for good to them that love God." This is grand. It is indeed glorious. It is salvation itself. This is how the believer is enabled "always" to "triumph in Christ."

This however is but half the story. The Lord proposes not only to save him who now believes, but he will use him in ministering to all others the knowledge of God, that they also may believe. We are not to think that the Lord's grace and gifts to us are only for us. They are for us first, that is true. But they are for us first in order that not only we ourselves shall be saved but that we may be enabled to benefit all others in communicating to them the knowledge of God. We ourselves must be partakers of salvation before we can lead others to it. Therefore it is written, "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." And "all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation."

Thus every man who receives the grace of God at the same time receives with it the ministry of that grace to all others. Every one who finds himself reconciled to God receives with that reconciliation the ministry of reconciliation to all others. Here also the exhortation applies, "We . . . beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain."

Are you a partaker of grace? Then "minister the same" to others; do not receive it in vain.  Are you reconciled to God? Then know that He has given to you also the ministry of reconciliation. Have you received this ministry in vain?

If we do not receive the grace of God in vain, if only we will allow grace to reign, the Lord will cause it to be that "in all things" we shall approve "ourselves as the ministers of God." This is the truth. The Lord says it, and it is so. "In all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God." That is, in all things we shall be conveying to others the knowledge of God. And thus the Lord proposes not only to cause us always "to triumph in Christ" on our own part, but also to make "manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place." That is, he proposes to make known to others by us and in every place the knowledge of himself.

We cannot do this of ourselves. He is to do it by us. 

We are to cooperate with Him. 

We are to be workers together with Him. 

And when we do thus cooperate with Him, then as certainly as we do so, so certainly will He cause us always to triumph in Christ and will also make manifest the knowledge of Himself by us in every place.  He can do it; thank the Lord. Do not say, do not even think, that He cannot do this by you. He can do it by you.  He will, too, if only you will not receive His grace in vain.

If you will only let grace reign; if you will be a worker together with Him.

It is true that there is a mystery about how this can be. It is a mystery how God can make manifest the knowledge of Himself by such persons as you and I are, in any place, much less in every place. Yet mystery though it be, it is the very truth. But do we not believe the mystery of God? Assuredly we do believe it. Then never forget that the mystery of God is God manifest in the flesh. And you and I are flesh. Then the mystery of God is God manifest in you and me who believe. Believe it.

Do not forget, either, that the mystery of God is not God manifest in sinless flesh, but God manifest in sinful flesh. 

There could never be any mystery about God's manifesting Himself in sinless flesh--in one who had no connection whatever with sin. That would be plain enough. But that He can manifest Himself in flesh laden with sin and with all the tendencies to sin, such as ours is--that is a mystery. 

Yea, it is the mystery of God. And it is a glorious fact, thank the Lord! 

Believe it. And before all the world, and for the joy of every person in the world, in Jesus Christ He has demonstrated that this great mystery is indeed a fact in human experience. For "as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same." "In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren." And therefore God "made him to be sin for us." "He hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Thus, in our flesh, having our nature laden with iniquity and Himself made to be sin, Christ Jesus lived in this world, tempted in all points like as we are and yet God always caused Him to triumph in Him and made manifest the savor of His knowledge by Him in every place. Thus God was manifest in the flesh--in our flesh, in human flesh laden with sin--and made to be sin in itself, weak and tempted as ours is.  And thus the mystery of God was made known to all nations for the obedience of the faith. O, believe it!

And this is the mystery of God today and forever--God manifest in the flesh, in human flesh, in flesh, laden with sin, tempted and tried. In this flesh God will make manifest the knowledge of Himself in every place where the believer is found. Believe it and praise His holy name!

This is the mystery which today in the third angel's message is again to be made known to all nations for the obedience of the faith. This is the mystery of God, which in this time is to be "finished,"--not only finished in the sense of being ended to the world, but finished in the sense of being brought to completion in its grand work in the believer. This is the time when the mystery of God is to be finished in the sense that God is to be manifest in the flesh in every true believer, in every place where that believer shall be found. This is, in deed and in truth, the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

"Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world," I have revealed God in the flesh. Our faith is the victory that has overcome the world. Therefore, and now, "Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place."'

Excerpt - Advent Review and Sabbath Herald A.T. Jones Sept. 26, 1896

Grace to Save.

 

Satan's Goal- to cause the destruction, the complete and utter destruction of any human being he possible can. 

Jesus's Goal- to save any and all human beings He can from the destruction of Satan, by GRACE.

*******(Excerpt)

'But every believer, by his very profession, says that he has received the grace of God. 

Then if in the believer grace does not reign instead of sin, if grace does not have dominion instead of sin, it is plain enough that he is receiving the grace of God in vain. If grace is not bringing the believer onward toward a perfect man in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, then he is receiving the grace of God in vain. Therefore the exhortation of the Scripture is, "We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain." 2 Cor. 6:1.

The grace of God is fully able to accomplish that for which it is given, if only it is allowed to work.

We have seen that grace being altogether from God, the power of grace is nothing but the power of God. 

It is plain enough therefore that the power of God is abundantly able to accomplish all for which it is given--the salvation of the soul, deliverance from sin and from the power of it, the reign of righteousness in the life, and the perfecting of the believer unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ--if only it can have place in the heart and in the life to work according to the will of God.

But the power of God is "unto salvation to everyone that believeth." 

Unbelief frustrates the grace of god. 

Many believe and receive the grace of God for the salvation from sins that are past but are content with that and do not give it the same place in the soul to reign against the power of sin, that they did to save from sins of the past. 

This, too, is but another phase of unbelief. So as to the one great final object of grace--the perfection of the life in the likeness of Christ-- they do practically receive the grace of God in vain.

"We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) Giving no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed." Nor does this word "ministry" refer simply to the ordained ministry of the pulpit. It includes everyone who receives the grace of God or that has named the name of Christ. For "as every man hath received the gift,  even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 

Therefore he does not want anyone to receive the grace of God in vain, lest that grace and its blessed working be misrepresented to the world and so men be further hindered from yielding to it. He does not want His grace to be received in vain, because when it is, offense is given in many things, and the ministry of grace itself is blamed. Yet when the grace of God is not received in vain but is given the place that belongs to it, "no offense" will be given "in anything," and the ministry will not only be not blamed but will be blest.

And now to show how complete and all-pervading the reign of grace will be in the life where it is not received in vain, the Lord has set down the following list, embracing "all thing," and in which we shall approve ourselves unto God. Read it carefully:

   In all things approving ourselves unto God,

   In much patience,

   In afflictions,

   In necessities,

   In distresses,

   In stripes,

   In imprisonments,

   In tumults,

   In labors,

   In watchings,

   In fastings;

   By pureness,

   By knowledge,

   By longsuffering,

   By kindness,

   By the Holy Ghost,

   By love unfeigned,

   By the word of truth,

   By the power of God,

   By the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

   By honor and dishonor,

   By evil report and good report;

   As deceivers, and yet true;

   As unknown, and yet well known;

   As dying, and, behold, we live;

   As chastened, and not killed;

   As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;

   As poor, yet making many rich;

   As having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

This list covers all the experiences that can ever enter into the life of any believer in this world. It shows that where the grace of God is not received in vain, that grace will so take possession and control of the life, that every experience that enters into the life will be taken by grace and turned to making us approved unto God and building us up in perfection unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. "We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain."'

Excerpt - Advent Review and Sabbath Herald A.T. Jones Sept. 22, 1896

The Work of Grace Must Be Believed.

 Frustrating the Work of Grace.

Excerpt- Advent Review and Sabbath Herald A.T. Jones Sept. 22, 1896

Can every believer have grace enough to keep him free from sinning? 

Yes.

Indeed, everybody in the world can have enough to keep him from sinning. Enough is given, and it is given for this purpose. If anyone does not have it, it is not because enough has not been given, but because he does not take that which has been given.  

For "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Eph. 4:7. The measure of the gift of Christ is Himself wholly, and that is the measure of "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." To the fullness of the Godhead there is, indeed, no measure; it is boundless. It is simply the infinity of God. 

Yet that is the only measure of the grace that is given to every one of us. The boundless measure of the fullness of the Godhead is the only thing that can express the proportion of grace that is given to everyone who is in this world. For "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Rom 5:20

This grace is given in order that "as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord," and in order that sin shall not have dominion over you, because you are under grace. Rom_5:21

It is given also "for the perfecting of the saints." Eph_4:12 

The object of it is to bring each one to perfection in Christ Jesus--to the perfection too, that is fully up to God's standard, for it is given for the building up of the body of Christ, "till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."  Eph 4:13 

It is given to "every one of us," "till we all come" to perfection, even by the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Again, this grace is given to every one where sin abounds and it brings salvation to everyone to whom it is given. Bringing salvation in itself, the measure of the salvation which it brings to everyone is only the measure of its own fullness, which is nothing less than the measure of the fullness of the Godhead.

As boundless grace is given to every one bringing salvation to the extent of its own full measure, then if any one does not have boundless salvation, why is it? Plainly it can be only because he will not take that which is given.

As boundless grace is given to everyone in order that it shall reign in him against all the power of sin, as certainly as ever sin reigned and in order that sin shall not have dominion, then if sin still reigns in anyone, if sin yet has dominion over anyone, where lies the fault? 

Clearly, it lies only in this, that he will not allow the grace to do for him and in him that which it is given to do. 

By unbelief he frustrates the grace of God. So far as he is concerned, the grace has been given in vain.

To be continued.

We are not our own hope, Christ is our hope!

 Joy unspeakable. 

1Pe_1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory

We don't see Christ, but we know Christ. Christ is in us, our hope. 

Col_1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory

Christ in us as our hope is a reality we must latch onto. We are not our own hope!!!

WE ARE NOT OUR OWN HOPE! You and I cannot save ourselves! 

CHRIST IS OUR HOPE! Christ IN US.

Christ has all the power in Him, power given to Him by the Father God. Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to comfort us with the Hope of Christ IN us.

Christ our hope this is joy unspeakable! Christ who we love! Rejoice! All glory to God!

(Excerpt)

'It can never be repeated too often, that under the reign of grace it is just as easy to do right, as under the reign of sin it is easy to do wrong. This must be so, for if there is not more power in grace than there is in sin, then there can be no salvation from sin. But there is salvation from sin. This no one who believes Christianity can deny.

Yet salvation from sin certainly depends upon there being more power in grace than there is in sin. Then, there being more power in grace than there is in sin, it cannot possibly be otherwise than that wherever the power of grace can have control, it will be just as easy to do right as without this it is easy to do wrong.

No man ever yet naturally found it difficult to do wrong. His great difficulty has always been to do right. 

But this is because man naturally is enslaved to a power--the power of sin--that is absolute in its reign. And so long as that power has sway, it is not only difficult but impossible to do the good that he knows and that he would. But let a mightier power than that have sway, then is it not plain enough that it will be just as easy to serve the will of the mightier power, when it reigns, as it was to serve the will of the other power, when it reigned?

But grace is not simply more powerful than is sin. If this were indeed all, even then there would be fullness of hope and good cheer to every sinner in the world. But this, good as it would be, is not all. It is not nearly all.  There is much more power in grace than there is in sin.

For "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Rom_5:20  

And just as much more power in grace than there is in sin, just so much more hope and good cheer there are for every sinner in the world.

How much more power, then, is there in grace than there is in sin? Let me think a moment. Let me ask myself a question or two. Whence comes grace? From God, to be sure. 

"Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ."  1Co 1:3 

Whence comes sin? From the devil, of course. Sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. Well, then, how much more power is there in grace than there is in sin? It is as plain as ABC that there is just as much more power in grace than there is in sin, as there is more power in God than there is in the devil. 

It is therefore also perfectly plain that the reign of grace is the reign of God, and that the reign of sin is the reign of Satan. 

And is it not therefore perfectly plain also that it is just as easy to serve God by the power of God as it is to serve Satan with the power of Satan?

WHERE THE DIFFICULTY COMES IN, IN ALL THIS, IS THAT SO MANY PEOPLE TRY TO SERVE GOD WITH THE POWER OF SATAN.

But that can never be done. 

"Either make the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt." Men cannot gather grapes of thorns nor figs of thistles. The tree must be made good, root and branch.  It must be made new. "Ye must be born again." "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."

Let no one ever attempt to serve God with anything but the present, living power of God that makes him a new creature, with nothing but the much more abundant grace that condemns sin in the flesh and reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Then the service of God will indeed be in "newness of life." Then it will be found that His yoke is indeed "easy" and His burden "light."  Then His service will be found indeed to be with "joy unspeakable and full of glory."

Did Jesus ever find it difficult to do right? Every one will instantly say, No. But why? He was just as human as we are. He took flesh and blood the same as ours. "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." And the kind of flesh that He was made in this world was precisely such as was in this world. "In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren." "In all things!" It does not say, In all things but one. There is no exception. He was made in all things like as we are. He was of Himself as weak as we are, for He said, "I can of mine own self do nothing."

Why, then, being in all things like as we are, did He find it always easy to do right? Because He never trusted to Himself, but His trust was always in God alone. 

All His dependence was upon the grace of God. 

He always sought to serve God, only with the power of God. 

And therefore the Father dwelt in Him, and did the works of righteousness. 

Therefore it was always easy for Him to do right. But as He is, so are we in this world. He has left us an example, that we should follow His steps. "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure,"as well as in Him. 

Php_2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

All power in heaven and in earth is given unto Him, and He desires that you may be strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power. "In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," and He strengthens you with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith, that you may be "filled with all the fullness of God."

True, Christ partook of the divine nature and so do you if you are a child of promise and not of the flesh, for by the promises ye are partakers of the divine nature.

There was nothing given to Him in this world and He had nothing in this world that is not freely given to you or that you may not have.

All this is in order that you may walk in newness of life, that henceforth you may not serve sin, that you may be the servant of righteousness only, that you may be freed from sin, that sin may not have dominion over you, that you may glorify God on the earth, and that you may be like Jesus. And therefore "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. . . . Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." And I "beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain."

2Co 6:1  We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.'

Advent Review and Sabbath Herald September 1, 1896   A.T. Jones

Grace

 Does keeping yourself from sin give you power over sin? It would depend upon how you keep yourself from sin, wouldn't it? All our power lies in FAITH in God, in our ability to BELIEVE. Even our ability to believe lies in the comprehension of our existence as creatures of God. If we for one moment do not believe that we are created we have no ability to have faith in God and the power that comes with that faith.

We exist with the ability to reason. With this reason we make choices of belief. You can reason in many ways, but our Creator would have us reason in His truth. Our Creator will not force you to reason towards belief in Him because that would negate the love He is. We cannot reason that we don't exist, not in any form of logic whatsoever. You can argue you exist in different ways, but the fact you exist remains. With that fact you reason how you exist and from there you make your choices. When you make the choice to BELIEVE in the Creator, you've taken a first step towards FAITH in God.

From our FAITH in God we recognize that He took great pains to offer us the ability to keep from sinning. That ability lies at the very heart of faith. Believing that Christ alone can keep us from sinning, that it is the POWER of God that can keep us from sinning. We have NO power of our own. So the question at the beginning, does keeping yourself from sin give you power of sin? Yes, it does, if you keep yourself from sinning by your FAITH in Christ's power to do so in you. 

Should you recognize a temptation blatantly staring you in your face, give that temptation to Christ, give it to His power to overcome.  If you give into that temptation should you despair? No, you still need to TRUST that Christ is working towards your being able to overcome. Satan would have us give up in despair of EVER ceasing from our cherished, hated, habitual, evil sins- once we yield to despair we are dead in those sins. We must earnestly seek forgiveness and cry out to the only ONE who can keep us from sinning, trusting that HE WILL. We may not even recognize when the overcoming occurs, we aren't to take ANY credit for ceasing from our sins. We are to give ALL GLORY to GOD for any overcoming. We are to constantly realize Christ is the power, the glory, the honor forever! We are never to embrace sin, we are to ever abhor our weakness towards it in whatever form it takes. 

Grace comes from our LORD, Grace comes from our GOD. It is by grace we are saved through faith, and NOT of ourselves…

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast

All glory to God!

(Excerpt) Advent Review and Sabbath Herald  A.T. Jones

April 17, 1894

"Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Eph. 4:7. The measure of the gift of Christ is "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." This is true whether viewed as the measure of the gift which God made in giving Christ or as the measure of the gift which Christ Himself gave. For the gift that God gave is His only begotten Son, and in "him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Therefore, from this standpoint the measure of the gift of Christ being only the measure of the fulness of the Godhead bodily and this being only the measure of the grace that is given to every one of us, it follows that unto every one of us is given grace without measure, simply boundless grace.

Viewed from the measure of the gift in which Christ Himself gives to us, it is the same, because "he gave himself for us." He gave Himself for our sins, and in this He gave Himself to us. And as in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and as He gave Himself, then the measure of the gift of Christ on His own part is also only the measure of the fullness of the Godhead bodily. It therefore follows that from this standpoint also the measure of grace that is given to every one of us is only the measure of the fullness of the Godhead; that is, simply immeasurable.

Thus in whatever way it is viewed, the plain word of the Lord is that unto every one of us He has given grace to the measure of the fullness of the Godhead bodily; that is, boundless, immeasurable grace--all the grace He has.  This is good. But it is just the Lord; it is just like the Lord to do that, for He is good.

And this boundless grace is all given, given freely, to "every one of us." To us it is. To you and me, just as we are. And that is good. We need just that much grace to make us what the Lord wants us to be. And He is just so kind as to give it all to us freely that we may be indeed just what He wants us to be.

The Lord wants every one of us to be saved, and that with the very fullness of salvation. And therefore He has given to every one of us the very fullness of grace, because it is grace that brings the salvation. For it is written,  "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." Titus 2:11. 

Thus the Lord wants all to be saved and therefore He gave all of His grace, bringing salvation to all. The marginal reading of this text tells it that way, and it is just as true as the reading in the verse itself. Here it is: "The grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men, hath appeared." 

All the grace of God is given freely to every one, bringing salvation to all.  Whether all or any one will receive it, that is another question. What we are studying now is the truth and the fact that God has given it. Having given it all, He is clear, even though men may reject it.

The Lord wants us to be perfect, and so it is written: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Desiring that we shall be perfect, He has given us, every one , all the grace that He has,  bringing the fullness of His salvation, that every man may be presented perfect in Christ Jesus. The very purpose of this gift of His boundless grace is that we may be made like Jesus, Who is the image of God. Even so it is written: "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. . . . for the perfecting of the saints. . . . till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." 

Eph 4:7  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 

Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ

Do you want to be like Jesus? Then receive the grace that He has so fully and so freely given. Receive it in the measure in which He has given it, not in the measure in which you think you deserve it. Yield yourself to it, that it may work in you and for you the wondrous purpose for which it is given, and it will do it. It will make you like Jesus. It will accomplish the purpose and the wish of Him who has given it. "Yield yourselves unto God." "I beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain."

 Rom_6:13  ..yield yourselves unto God

2Co_6:1  … beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

Help Me Learn to Be Content In You, Christ.

 Php 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

1Co 4:11  Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; 

1Co 4:12  And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it.

1Co 4:13  Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

2Co 6:1  We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 

2Co 6:2  (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 

2Co 6:3  Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 

2Co 6:4  But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 

2Co 6:5  In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 

2Co 6:6  By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 

2Co 6:7  By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 

2Co 6:8  By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 

2Co 6:9  As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 

2Co 6:10  As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. 

2Co 8:9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 

2Co 11:23  Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 

2Co 11:24  Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 

2Co 11:25  Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 

2Co 11:26  In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 

2Co 11:27  In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 

2Co 11:28  Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 

2Co 11:29  Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? 

2Co 11:30  If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. 

2Co 11:31  The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. 

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 

Mat 6:31  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 

Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Heb 10:30  For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 

Heb 10:31  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 

Heb 10:32  But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; 

Heb 10:33  Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. 

Heb 10:34  For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. 

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 

Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 

Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 

Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 

Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. 

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 

Heb 13:6  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.