Truly Amazing Grace

From Joseph Prince, “Destined to Reign”:

“Under law, the burden is on you to perform. Under grace, the burden is on what Christ has performed on the cross. That is why Jesus said, ‘Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, for My yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ Jesus was not speaking to people who were tired and weary from their secular jobs. He was talking to people who were weary and heavy laden by the requirements of the law of Moses. The yoke of the law is hard and heavy. Jesus came to reveal grace, and the yoke of grace is easy and light because it involves none of you and all of Christ. He has borne the burden of sin on your behalf. Under grace, your part is to believe only on Jesus Christ, and when you believe, you are blessed and made righteous! Isn’t this amazing grace!”

“Even though the law is holy, just, and good, it has no power to make you holy, just, and good. You see, the law was designed to expose your weaknesses, your sins, and your inability to be holy, just, and good. It is like a mirror that exposes your flaws–your blemishes and pimples. But you cannot take the mirror and begin to rub your face with it to clean off your blemishes and pimples, because that is not the mirror’s purpose! You need to understand that no amount of keeping the law can make you holy. Only the blood of Jesus can do that.”

“God blesses you not because you are good, but because He is good. Grace is based on His faithfulness and goodness toward you. It is not contingent on your performance, but it is based on His undeserved favor. If it were contingent on how good you are, then it would no longer be based on grace and would instead be based on the system of the law. It would be deserved favor. This is the difference between the old covenant of law and the new covenant of grace. “

“Grace is not a topic–grace is the gospel. It is the good news! The word ‘gospel’ simply means ‘good news’. Grace is not theology. It is not a subject matter. It is not a doctrine. It is a Person, and His name is Jesus. That’s the reason the Lord wants you to receive the abundance of grace, for to have the abundance of grace is to have the abundance of Jesus! ‘For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.’ (John 1:17) Grace came as a Person and His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the personification of grace. Jesus is grace!”

“People are afraid that when you tell a believer that he is completely forgiven by grace and no longer has to earn his right standing before the Lord via the law of Moses, it would cause him to go out and live a life of sin and debauchery. However, the Bible is very clear that the ’strength of sin is the law’. (I Cor. 15:56) It is not grace that gives people the strength to sin. It is the law! The more you are under the law, the more sin is strengthened! Conversely, the more you are under grace, the more sin will be depleted of its strength. ‘For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.’ (Romans 6:14) This means that the more grace you receive, the more power you have to overcome sin. “

“You are either righteous or you are not. There is no such thing as first having ‘positional righteousness’ and then having to maintain that through ‘practical righteousness’. You are the righteousness of God in Christ, period!”

“Only the radical preaching of grace brings hope to believers. Only the finished work of Jesus can bring us wholeness, completeness, and shalom-peace. Some people say that the Christian life is very hard. My friend, it is not hard, it is impossible! The only One who can live it is Jesus Himself, and He wants to do it in us today. That is why it is not up to our own efforts to fulfill the law of Moses. It was fulfilled on our behalf and the price for our sins has been paid on the cross. Our part today is to believe in our Savior and receive from Him the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. The Christian life is a life of rest in Christ Jesus and His finished work. It is time to rest from your own efforts and to enjoy Jesus!” 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000