In the previous episode, we examined the keywords in Ephesians 2:8-9. The words were grace, saved, faith, gift, works, and boast. Today we will examine Grace and Faith as they relate to each other and how they relate to God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
The Word Grace in Greek is “Charis” from which we get “Charisma” which means spiritual gift. The word grace is used throughout the New Testament and speaks to the character and nature of God. God is a gift-giving God! James 1:17 says the following, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights…”.
Trinity
In order to see the fullness of the word Grace in the new testament we really need to take a moment and try to understand the doctrine of the Trinity. As New Testament Christians, we believe in the mystery of the Trinity; Three persons in one God. Not three gods!
The doctrine of the Trinity is often misunderstood by some groups of people to mean that Christians believe in three separate gods, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
I read recently that groups of religious Jews in Israel oppose the building of Christian churches in Israel because they believe that Christians believe in three Gods. This is in direct opposition to Judaism which believes in One God, Jehovah or Yahweh. Of course, those who believe that New Testament Christians believe in three separate gods are mistaken.
Nontrinitarians
There are also some Christian groups that do not believe in the Trinity. They are called nontrinitarians. The largest nontrinitarian Christian denominations are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints otherwise known as Mormons, Oneness Pentecostals, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The Trinity is a spiritual concept of truth.
It is impossible to understand the Trinity in physical terms. The physical world we live in is four-dimensional and the law of physics apply. Our world has length, width, depth these three can be defined as space and the fourth dimension is time. Whether we are talking about massive mountains or sub-atomic particles everything can be physically measured. You probably learned in school that, “two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time”. That is true because we live in a four-dimensional world!
God, on the other hand, is spiritual and therefore is not constrained by the laws of physics. God exists in more than four dimensions. This fact is hard to understand because we have no experience that would help us to comprehend it. In the physical world, we live in 1+1+1=3, but in the spirit realm 1+1+1=1!
Analogies
The best we can do is try to use analogies to describe the Trinity.
- Water H2O can exist as ice, water or steam; three in one.
- A man can be a son to his mother, a husband to his wife and a father to his child, but he is still only one person.
- How about the three-leaf clover example, three leaves but one plant.
These examples don’t do justice to the reality of the Trinity because the Trinity is called a Mystery of Faith. Let’s look at the two words mystery and faith.
- The word mystery in a biblical sense means something hidden until the right time to be revealed by God.
- Now, faith is defined as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen”, that is Hebrews 11:1. The mystery of the Trinity is revealed by Faith!
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association makes the following statement about the Trinity.
“The Bible shows very clearly that there is only one God, and yet that there are three personal distinctions in His complex nature, traditionally referred to as “three Persons in the Godhead”—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Each is distinct from the others but never acts independently. They are one in nature and purpose. This mystery is called the doctrine of the Trinity, though that term is not used in the Bible. The teaching, however, is present in seed form in the Old Testament and is revealed explicitly in the New Testament. Note passages such as.
- Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
- John 10:29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
- 2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Our finite minds cannot understand or explain this mystery of God, which is nevertheless a fact. We must accept the truths found in the Word of God by faith even though we ourselves cannot comprehend them fully; By Faith We Understand:
- Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
- Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
- Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him
- 1 Corinthians 2:5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
- 1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- 1 Corinthians 13:12, For now, we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
It is really not surprising that the infinite God should be complex in His nature beyond the ability of finite humans to comprehend! This doctrine is absolutely essential to New Testament Christianity. Theologians have pointed out that if it were not true, the Bible would be unreliable, Christ would not be divine, and His death on the cross would not atone for our sins, being merely the death of a martyr”.
To sum up…
As Christians we believe in one God in three persons, God the Father, God the Son(Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is a difficult spiritual concept, if not impossible concept to fully understand, therefore we accept it by faith!
What we see in the scriptures is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share the same nature and characteristics. Each person of the Godhead is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are gift-givers or givers of grace.
- Father God gave us the Son Jesus. John 3:16
- The Son, Jesus, gave the Holy Spirit to all believers and ministry gifts to the church. Acts 1:8, Ephesians 4:11
- Holy Spirit gave Spiritual Gifts to believers, 1 Corinthians 12
The Gift of Grace by the Father.
You may recall the account in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve which is found in Genesis two and three. Before they sinned, they lived in a state of innocence in relationship with God, they “walked” with Him in the Garden of Eden. When they were deceived by Satan and disobeyed God by eating of the fruit of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil”, this became the defining moment for sin. Sin is simply not believing God, in essence disobeying what He has said.
At that moment of disobedience, Sin entered the world and mankind would now be separated estranged from Father God. Yet, because of the love of the Father for His creation He cursed Satan and made a promise to mankind; Genesis 3:14-15, “The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity (hostility) Between you and the woman, and between your seed (offspring) and her Seed (Offspring- Messiah); He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” This singular verse in the beginning (Genesis) holds the hope of all mankind.
In verse 15, Father God is speaking to the serpent (Satan) and addresses his offspring as seed (note the lower-case “s” in the word seed). His head will be bruised, crushed or destroyed. Satan’s end is coming!
Whereas the capitalized Seed represents the Messiah, Christ or Jesus. He will be the seed (offspring) of a woman (human or incarnate) and His heel will be bruised or crushed which represents Jesus’ heel bruised on the cross of Calvary.
God the Father promised a gift (Grace) and that gift was in the person of Jesus Christ who would come to restore the relationship between the Father and His creation or mankind. Jesus would do this by forgiving our sins.
In Jeremiah 31:31-34, Father God makes a promise of a New Covenant of Grace which will replace the Old Covenant of Law in which He says, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more”.
In the New Testament, Father God fulfilled the promise of the greatest gift of grace to all of mankind in that He sent Jesus the Son to die for us so that we might receive forgiveness of our iniquity and remember our sins no more. In John 3:16 He states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Have you received this great gift of Jesus Christ from the Father? There is no better time than right now!
Today we looked at the Gift of Father God – He gave us the Son Jesus. John 3:16
Next time we will look at the:
- Gift of the Son, Jesus – As He gave the Holy Spirit to all believers and ministry gifts to the church. Acts 1:8, Ephesians 4:11
- Gift of the Holy Spirit – He gave Spiritual Gifts to the church. 1 Corinthians 12
Until then— Have a blessed week. See you the next time…