What Believers can be Thankful for in the Dispensation of Grace!

Things to be Thankful for from Romans thru Philemon:

·       We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8,9)

·  We are justified by faith (Rom. 5:1)

·  We have peace with God (Rom. 5:1)

·  We have access by faith unto the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:2; Eph. 2:18)

·  We are made the righteousness of God in Him (in Christ) (2 Cor. 5:21)

·  We are justified by His blood (Rom. 5:9)

·  Christ died for us and as us (Rom. 5:8; 6:3,4)

·  He was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification (Rom. 4:25)

·  We are not under the law, we are under grace (Rom. 6:14)

·  We are made free from sin (Rom. 6:17,18)

·  There is now no condemnation to those in Christ (Rom. 8:1)

·  There is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ or the love of God (Rom. 8:35, 39)

·  Salvation has come to the Gentiles because of Israel’s fall (Rom. 11:11)

·  All believers are members of one Body, the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12,13)

·  We have the ability to study the Scriptures, rightly divided (2 Tim. 2:15; Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16,17)

·  We have the revelation of the mystery (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-9)

·  We do not have to be baptized with water. For we are already baptized by the Holy Spirit into one Body. All we have to do is believe the gospel and our commission today is to just preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words (1 Cor. 1:17; 1 Cor. 12:13)

·  Christ Jesus is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption! (1 Cor. 1:30)

·  The gospel of the grace of God speaks of the wisdom and power of God. God kept it hidden in Himself from the princes of this world until He revealed it to the Apostle Paul. (1 Cor. 2:7,8; 1 Cor. 18-24; Rom. 1:16,17)

·  God has called us to be stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1)

·  Christ has risen from the grave! (1 Cor. 15)

·  The gospel of the grace of God is laid out for us in plain English. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day! (1 Cor. 15:1-4) Believe this and you will be saved! Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! (Acts 16:31)

·  We will be raptured (caught up) to be with the Lord in Heaven when He returns for His church, which is His body (1 Cor. 15:51-58)

·  God has established every believer together in Christ and has sealed us, and has given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts (2 Cor. 1:21,22)

·  God always causes us to triumph in Christ! (2 Cor. 2:14)

·  We are made all-sufficient in Christ (2 Cor. 3:5)

·  We are complete in Him (Col. 2:10)

·  God has made a new creature, which is the Body of Christ (2 Cor. 5:17)

·  All believers in Christ are new creations individually as well as collectively (2 Cor. 5:17)

·  God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them (2 Cor. 5:19)

·  Believers are now Christ’s ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20)

·  Christ (who knew no sin) was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21)

·  We are the temple of the living God (2 Cor. 6:16)

·  God is able to make all grace abound towards us (2 Cor. 9:8)

·  Paul’s gospel was received by revelation from the Lord, and not from man. (Gal. 1:11,12)

·  The gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto Paul (Gal. 2:7)

·  We are not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith [faithfulness] of Christ. (Gal. 2:16)

·  I am crucified with Christ! (Gal. 2:20)

·  It is Christ that lives in me! (Gal. 2:20)

·  We are saved by faith. (Eph. 2:8,9) We are also sanctified by faith. (Gal. 3:2,3)

·  Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13)

·  We are all one in Christ Jesus! For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile (Gal. 3:27,28)

·  We are children of the freewoman (Gal. 4:31)

·  We have liberty in Christ (Gal. 5:1)

·  The preaching of the cross is the main thing. We should keep the main thing the main thing! (Gal. 6:14)

·  We are a new creature! (Gal. 6:15)

·  We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3)

·  We are chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4)

·  We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7)

·  We are sealed with the Holy Spirit! (Eph. 1:13)

·  Christ is the Head of the Body (Eph. 1:22,23)

·  Christ has made us alive in Himself (Eph. 2:1)

·  We are raised up together and made to sit together in Christ in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6)

·  We are God’s workmanship! (Eph. 2:10)

·  He broke down that middle wall of partition between the Jew and the Gentile, so now there is no difference between them (Eph. 2:14)

·  He abolished the law of commandments, and nailed them to the cross (Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14)

·  Through Christ we have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Eph. 2:18)

·  The Dispensation of the Grace of God has been revealed to Paul (Eph. 3:1-9)

·  There is one Body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all. (Eph. 4:4-6)

·  We are children of light (Eph. 5:8)

·  We have a Master in Heaven (Eph. 6:9)

·  The armor of God gives us all the protection we need to fight against Satan (Eph. 6:10-20)

·  We are thankful for the fellowship with other believers in the gospel (Phil. 1:5,6)

·  We have an earnest expectation and hope as believers (Phil. 1:20; Titus 2:13)

·  To live is Christ, to die is gain! (Phil. 1:21)

·  Christ became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross! (Phil. 2:8)

·  Our conversation or citizenship is in Heaven (Phil. 3:20)

·  Our hope is laid up for us in Heaven (Col. 1:5)

·  We are strengthened with all might according to His glorious power (Col. 1:11)

·  Everything was created by Christ and for him (Col. 1:16)

·  The mystery which was hid from ages and generations is now made manifest to his saints (Col. 1:26)

·  The fulness of the Godhead is manifested in Jesus Christ (Col. 2:9)

·  We are complete in Him (Col. 2:10)

·  We are circumcised with the circumcision made without [human] hands, buried with Him in baptism, and risen with him all through the faith of the operation of God (Col. 2:11,12)

·  We are risen with Christ! (Col. 3:1)

·  The peace of God will rule in your heart, if you let it (Col. 3:15; Phil. 4:6,7)

·  Our gospel came not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost (1 Thess. 1:5)

·   We will be raptured (caught up) to be with the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:13-18)

·   We are delivered from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 5:9)

·   God hath from the beginning chosen us to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth (2 Thess. 2:13)

·   The Lord is faithful! (2 Thess. 3:3)

·  The gospel for today was committed to Paul’s trust (1 Tim. 1:11)

·   Christ came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15)

·   Christ is the mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5)

·   God has given us the spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7)

·   God has called us with a holy calling (2 Tim. 1:9)

·   That we can study the word of God, rightly divided (2 Tim. 2:15)

·  All of Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16,17)

·   We have hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2)

·   The Rapture is our blessed hope (Titus 2:13)

·   We are thankful for the love and faith that we all have towards the Lord Jesus and towards each other (Phm. 1:5)

I pray that we keep all these blessed truths in mind and continue to be thankful for them that we might also be able to fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12) just like Paul was able to with, of course, the help and power from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Be thankful for everything that Christ has done for you. Most importantly that He died for you and your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day! (1 Cor. 15:1-4)

Liberty in Christ

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

There were those who wanted to bring the Galatians back under the law of Moses (Gal. 2:4). Paul had previously shared the gospel that was preached of him (Gal. 1:11,12) to the people of Galatia, and yet it wasn’t far after that when the religious leaders of Israel and other false brethren came to spy out the liberty that they had in Christ and to bring them into bondage.

Even today there are so many people that try to follow the law, because they think it can save them. They think they can get into Heaven by doing their own good works. While under the Dispensation of the Law, faith and works were required, which included ordinances like water baptism and circumcision. But now, under the Dispensation of Grace, only faith is required to be saved. Faith in what? Faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross. The only thing to do is to believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins by shedding His own blood on the cross, was buried, and rose again the third day (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Galatians 2:16 explains that we are “not justified (made righteous) by the works of the law.” Instead, it says we are justified “by the faith [or faithfulness] of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law.”

What was the purpose of the Law? Well, Romans chapter three explains that the law was given to tell us that we have all “sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23),” and “by the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20).” In Galatians chapter three, we also learn that the “law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ (Gal. 3:24).”

Galatians 3:23-25 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

The “faith” in these verses are talking about the faith that was revealed unto the Apostle Paul. That same “mutual faith (Rom. 1:12)” that he shared with the Romans was what he revealed/taught the Galatians too. Before that faith came, we were all under the law and therefore, “all under sin (Gal. 3:22).” It was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ and afterwards that faith came, because of what Christ did for us on the cross. We are now no longer “under the law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14).”

We are now justified (made righteous) by faith, and faith alone! Not by the works of the law. For it says in Colossians 2:14 that the law and all the ordinances were nailed to the cross. You don’t need to be physically circumcised or baptized with water. For you are automatically baptized by the Holy Spirit into one Body (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:5), when you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. You are also spiritually circumcised (Col. 2:11).

Therefore, you should stand fast in the liberty that you now have in Christ. Don’t let anyone rob you of the position that you have in Christ Jesus. Many local churches will try to tell you that you have to be water baptized to show your faith. Don’t listen to them. If you have been baptized into Christ (which is the operation of the Holy Spirit, not a pastor), then you have also put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). For you are justified by faith, and not by the works of the law! Water baptism and circumcision were ordinances under the law (they were works of the law). But now, the whole law has been nailed to cross.

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.