By Grace Through Faith
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. [Ephesians 2:8-9]
As it seems that the people of God truly desire the manifestations of God’s power and blessings in their lives, many simply have not understood the means to appropriate them. Therefore, in order to appropriate what God desires for you, you need a clear understanding how the kingdom operates. Of most importance is the knowledge and belief that God has already provided everything we need for life, and this was done by His grace, and not dependent upon our performance. The Bible says that God, according to his divine power, has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who has called us to glory and virtue. [2 Peter 1:3]
God always makes provision prior to making the call for man to respond. We can see this truth clearly through creation as God created everything man would need prior to creating Adam. Furthermore, we see it in the case of salvation in that Jesus has paid for the redemption of every person who has ever lived and who will ever live. And according to the Bible, this redemption was accomplished before the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4:3).
Although these truths should be enough to satisfy anyone, let’s take the account of the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 17 to explain God’s provision further. Elijah had just delivered the prophecy of 3 ½ years of drought: And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get from here, and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that you shall drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord. For he went by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank of the brook.
Here God had already made the provision to sustain Elijah ahead of time by commanding the ravens to feed him at the brook. Later, when the brook dried up, the Lord spoke to Elijah again: And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain you.
Once again, the provision to sustain Elijah was made by God beforehand.
One thing we cannot ignore concerning God’s provision is that all of it is done by grace, or rather, His provision is not dependent upon or according to your performance—good or bad. The Bible says By grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast. [Ephesians 2:8-9] Not only our salvation, but everything God has given us was given independent of our performance, unconditionally by God. Therefore, salvation, healing, prosperity, deliverance and all the blessings and promises of God are free gifts.
God did not command the ravens to feed Elijah because he believed God and went to the brook; rather, God had already commanded the ravens to feed Elijah at the brook and Elijah’s faith caused him to go to the place to receive the provision. Had Elijah not done according to the word of God and went to the brook, the ravens still would have delivered bread and meat to the brook as God had commanded, but Elijah would not have received the sustaining provision of God. And this is where many Christians have been deceived, thinking that the promises of God are dependent upon our holiness, obedience, and overall performance.
If that were the case, then none of us would have ever been saved. Instead, faith functions as a positive response to what God has already provided by grace. The same grace that saves us is the same grace that blesses us as well. You cannot distinguish one from the other. Either we are saved, blessed, healed, prospered, and delivered by God’s grace, or our salvation, blessing, healing, prosperity, and deliverance comes from works. It is not a combination of the two. The Bible says And if by grace, then it is no more works; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace; otherwise work is no more work. [Romans 11:6]
To further illustrate this truth, let’s examine the phrase “being made whole” as it is frequently associated with the extent of the atonement in Christ. If you use a concordance to study the Scriptures pertaining to what God has provided through Jesus (salvation or forgiveness of sins; healing, and deliverance) you will see that the Greek word sozo is defined “to save, deliver or protect, heal, preserve, do well, and to make whole.” The word sozo as it is translated into English is used to describe all of these things. Therefore, if salvation (sozo as is Ephesians 2:8) came by grace, then healing (sozo as in Mark 5:23) and deliverance (sozo as in Luke 8:36) came by grace as well.
This is such an important truth to understand—so important that I want to offer this profound verse of Scripture. I call heaven and earth to record this against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, that both you and your seed may live. [Deuteronomy 30: 19]
This verse illustrates that God’s provision (life and blessing) has been set before us, and the good news is that it is up to us to make the choice to receive this provision. By understanding that God has already ordained forgiveness, healing, deliverance, and success in your life, and that this provision is offered to us as a free gift, we can be much more confident in seeking these things because we know that God has already provided it as part of your inheritance in Christ. The freedom in knowing that we do not have to petition God for salvation, healing, or other blessings as if He could or would say “No” or “Wait” clearly brings to light the verse from Hebrews 4: 16, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace in time of need. And also this verse from 2 Corinthians 1: 20, For all the promises of God in him are yes and amen to the glory of God by us.
God has made the provision, and faith, as I will discuss later, unlocks the door to this provision.
On Earth As It Is In Heaven
Your kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [Matthew 6:10]
Now that we know that God has not only provided everything we need for life, and that He has made the provision according to His grace and not according to our performance, the last thing we must understand before considering the means by which we access this provision, is that all of God’s promises and blessings have been accomplished in the spirit realm. The Bible says that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. [Ephesians 1: 3] Therefore, our provision can be found in heavenly places, which refers to the invisible spirit realm, of which the kingdom of Heaven is part.
Jesus promised, And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. [Matthew 16:19] The words of the Lord Jesus teach us that we have been given authority and access to the kingdom of Heaven, and by this authority (on earth) we can make binding things that are true in Heaven. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, He was telling us that God desires for us to use the authority given to us in Christ to make heavenly truths into earthly realities. Hence the Lord’s words, Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [Matthew 6: 10]
The key to understanding this important principle is found in Hebrews 11: 3: Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. This verse teaches us that the creative force behind all things that appear in the natural is the word of God, which is spirit (John 6:63). In other words, in order for something to become a physical reality, it must have first been a spiritual reality. The example of creation spells this out clearly. Not until God spoke (His word) did the Spirit move upon the face of the earth to create the physical.
Consequently, God has given us His written word to be used as the embodiment of what we cannot see with our physical eyes. Being spirit, the word of God was given to us by inspiration of God, and spoken to men who wrote these words bringing what began as spirit into physical reality. The same is true with Jesus as He is the word made flesh [John 1:14] and also the embodiment of God the Father—the express image of his person [Hebrews 1: 3] as the Lord said in John 14:9, He who has seen me has seen the Father.
The Bible therefore functions as a picture or image of what God has promised to us. In another way, the word of God is like a check drawn on the largest bank in the universe. The check also functions as a picture as it names the payee, describes the amount, and indicates upon which bank it is drawn. However, the check by itself cannot profit you unless you take it to the bank and cash or deposit it—and this is where faith comes in. The Bible says, But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. [Hebrews 4: 2]
Faith—The Key the Unlocks the Door to Grace
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. —Romans 5: 2
Now that we know that God’s blessings are located in the spirit realm, we must learn how to gain access to the promises of God and make a spiritual truth become a physical reality. Jesus said, The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. [John 6:63] Since God’s word is spirit, and the Bible says that God has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness and they are accessed through the knowledge of God, [2 Peter 1:3] we can rightly conclude that all of God’s provision is accessed by faith through the knowledge of God’s word. Therefore, the Bible teaches us, So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. [Romans 10:17]
Although the Scripture clearly teaches that faith and knowledge of God through His word are at the heart of receiving from God, many people have elevated one over the other. In fact, the two are so closely intertwined that you cannot have one without the other. Because faith comes by hearing the word of God, we cannot elevate the word of God above faith because without faith, the word of God will not be profitable. This can be illustrated in a person who takes only a scholarly and intellectual approach to the Bible. He knows the Bible in his head, but if he does not believe what it teaches, this person will neither receive true revelation nor benefit from it.
Conversely, if we elevate faith above the word of God, we nullify faith because faith comes by the word of God. This can be illustrated in a person who believes that a garden will produce vegetables, but he does nothing but water and fertilize the ground without planting any seeds. You can sincerely believe that the ground will produce, but without a seed planted, the ground will not produce anything, regardless of how much you water and fertilize it.
Most Christians are like the sincere gardener—they believe in God, but all they do is devote themselves only to prayer, which functions as water and fertilizer; and because they have not planted seeds of the word in their heart, they do not bear fruit. In the natural, we would label this kind of a person a fool because everyone knows that you have to plant a seed. The same is true with faith and the word of God.
Part I--By Grace Through Faith
