John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Oh mih Friends, it’s one of those February mornings with just a smattering of snow on the ground, but nowhere close to what Washington D.C. and the U.S. East Coast are experiencing. Please say a prayer for them, because many parts of the affected area are not accustomed to such snowy conditions. Up here though, it’s still cold and damp with a chill wind blowing through whatever you choose to put on. To me, February and March are the worse winter months because of the cold wind that seems to blow continuously, while the bright sunshine fools you into subconsciously thinking heat. But Friends, wherever we are, whatever the physical conditions of Mother Nature, cold, hot, snowy or otherwise, let us raise a prayer of thanks to Almighty God for enabling us to enjoy one more day on planet earth. And though it turns out to be a rough day, once we’re walking with the Lord in our hearts, minds and souls, we’re assured that He will give us the grace and the power to handle whatever comes along. On that note people, let’s look at our Bit. It’s simple but full of wisdom, truth and light. ‘For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus.’ So true mih breddren! The law, meaning the basic law of God; the rules and regulations His people should live by, were handed to Moses, written by God on two tablets of stone, which we refer to as the Ten Commandments. We all know them, or should. Whether we practice them is another story, though, as believers, we should to the best of our ability. And just supposing, now we only supposing eh, (smile) that you don’t know them, or are in doubt, just to refresh your memory, read them in Exodus Chapter 20. ‘And God spake all these words saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ (Ex.20:1-3) Yes Friends, that’s the first and most important law; the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob shall be the only deity you worship and bow down to. All the other laws, though important, are subservient to that one, because our God is very jealous and protective of His sovereignty. Now we’ve had those laws; thou shalt not kill steal, covet, commit adultery, worship idols etc, for ages, but obviously haven’t followed them as closely as we ought, for some of the supposedly most godly societies have proven to be the biggest warmongers, crooks, idolaters and adulterers over the years. Our God was terribly unhappy with the situation, but He’d already wiped us out once before, through the Flood, then raised us up again through Noah’s progeny and nothing changed. That sinful bent, naturally inherited from our forefathers, soon raised its ugly head again. Fed up with our animal sacrifices and insincerity, the Lord decided to fix the situation once and for all. He’d send His innocent, sinless Son, Jesus, to die for us, to pay our sin debt in full and wash away all our atrocities. No more sacrifices were needed, because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, and with Him came grace and truth. Now grace was also evident in the Old Testament, but not like when Jesus came. We read there: ‘But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.’ (Gen.6:8) Also when Moses went back up Mt.Sinai the second time, to replace the first stone tablets that had been broken, ‘The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.’ (Ex.34:6) Yes, grace was available before Jesus came, but mostly to those of great faith. However, with the coming of Jesus…Wow Friends! Jesus brought grace in real and true abundance! As John concurs: ‘And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.’ (John 1:16) The ‘fullness’ part refers to John 1:14, which says; ‘And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.’ And per the scholars ‘grace for grace’ means ‘grace heaped on grace.’ Thank you Jesus! Sorry Friends, I guess we should define what we mean by grace. It’s basically God’s favour bestowed upon us, undeserved of course, for our salvation. Without that grace, salvation is, and would be impossible. And if you don’t believe me, then listen to Bruh Paul’s exposition on the subject. ‘For by grace are ye (you have been) saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship (creation), created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.’ (Eph.2:8-10) Yes my Friends, it’s not by works, but through the grace of God that we are in Christ Jesus. Our spiritual rebirth through Jesus, enables us to do good works in His name. We’ve been morally upgraded for that express purpose, since as we all know, only good works flow from Jesus. The scholars believe that Bruh Paul’s thinking was that believers were given a spiritual life to do good works, so consequently there could be no good works before conversion that would merit salvation. In other words; good works follow, not precede salvation. Oh Friends, like we’ll have to continue this tomorrow yes, God willing, of course. I have more to say, but won’t make it too long, bearing in mind our short attention spans. (smile) But yuh know mih people, sometimes I just have to chuckle in wonder and awe at the way the Spirit guides me in finding and writing these Bits. If I ever had doubts before, now I know for a fact that there is a Spirit that exists within us, to aid and abet us. Without the Spirit’s truly wonderful help, I certainly couldn’t do what I’m doing. So please, I implore you, do not downgrade or disown that Spirit of our Saviour in your own lives, for it’s of immeasurable and incalculable importance to you as a true believer and follower of Jesus. Working with it, we can do all things, while without it, we’re rendered totally helpless. Much LOVE!…only as we have received God’s GRACE…can we receive SALVATION…
Oh mih Friends, it’s one of those February mornings with just a smattering of snow on the ground, but nowhere close to what Washington D.C. and the U.S. East Coast are experiencing. Please say a prayer for them, because many parts of the affected area are not accustomed to such snowy conditions. Up here though, it’s still cold and damp with a chill wind blowing through whatever you choose to put on. To me, February and March are the worse winter months because of the cold wind that seems to blow continuously, while the bright sunshine fools you into subconsciously thinking heat. But Friends, wherever we are, whatever the physical conditions of Mother Nature, cold, hot, snowy or otherwise, let us raise a prayer of thanks to Almighty God for enabling us to enjoy one more day on planet earth. And though it turns out to be a rough day, once we’re walking with the Lord in our hearts, minds and souls, we’re assured that He will give us the grace and the power to handle whatever comes along. On that note people, let’s look at our Bit. It’s simple but full of wisdom, truth and light. ‘For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus.’ So true mih breddren! The law, meaning the basic law of God; the rules and regulations His people should live by, were handed to Moses, written by God on two tablets of stone, which we refer to as the Ten Commandments. We all know them, or should. Whether we practice them is another story, though, as believers, we should to the best of our ability. And just supposing, now we only supposing eh, (smile) that you don’t know them, or are in doubt, just to refresh your memory, read them in Exodus Chapter 20. ‘And God spake all these words saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ (Ex.20:1-3) Yes Friends, that’s the first and most important law; the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob shall be the only deity you worship and bow down to. All the other laws, though important, are subservient to that one, because our God is very jealous and protective of His sovereignty. Now we’ve had those laws; thou shalt not kill steal, covet, commit adultery, worship idols etc, for ages, but obviously haven’t followed them as closely as we ought, for some of the supposedly most godly societies have proven to be the biggest warmongers, crooks, idolaters and adulterers over the years. Our God was terribly unhappy with the situation, but He’d already wiped us out once before, through the Flood, then raised us up again through Noah’s progeny and nothing changed. That sinful bent, naturally inherited from our forefathers, soon raised its ugly head again. Fed up with our animal sacrifices and insincerity, the Lord decided to fix the situation once and for all. He’d send His innocent, sinless Son, Jesus, to die for us, to pay our sin debt in full and wash away all our atrocities. No more sacrifices were needed, because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, and with Him came grace and truth. Now grace was also evident in the Old Testament, but not like when Jesus came. We read there: ‘But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.’ (Gen.6:8) Also when Moses went back up Mt.Sinai the second time, to replace the first stone tablets that had been broken, ‘The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.’ (Ex.34:6) Yes, grace was available before Jesus came, but mostly to those of great faith. However, with the coming of Jesus…Wow Friends! Jesus brought grace in real and true abundance! As John concurs: ‘And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.’ (John 1:16) The ‘fullness’ part refers to John 1:14, which says; ‘And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.’ And per the scholars ‘grace for grace’ means ‘grace heaped on grace.’ Thank you Jesus! Sorry Friends, I guess we should define what we mean by grace. It’s basically God’s favour bestowed upon us, undeserved of course, for our salvation. Without that grace, salvation is, and would be impossible. And if you don’t believe me, then listen to Bruh Paul’s exposition on the subject. ‘For by grace are ye (you have been) saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship (creation), created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.’ (Eph.2:8-10) Yes my Friends, it’s not by works, but through the grace of God that we are in Christ Jesus. Our spiritual rebirth through Jesus, enables us to do good works in His name. We’ve been morally upgraded for that express purpose, since as we all know, only good works flow from Jesus. The scholars believe that Bruh Paul’s thinking was that believers were given a spiritual life to do good works, so consequently there could be no good works before conversion that would merit salvation. In other words; good works follow, not precede salvation. Oh Friends, like we’ll have to continue this tomorrow yes, God willing, of course. I have more to say, but won’t make it too long, bearing in mind our short attention spans. (smile) But yuh know mih people, sometimes I just have to chuckle in wonder and awe at the way the Spirit guides me in finding and writing these Bits. If I ever had doubts before, now I know for a fact that there is a Spirit that exists within us, to aid and abet us. Without the Spirit’s truly wonderful help, I certainly couldn’t do what I’m doing. So please, I implore you, do not downgrade or disown that Spirit of our Saviour in your own lives, for it’s of immeasurable and incalculable importance to you as a true believer and follower of Jesus. Working with it, we can do all things, while without it, we’re rendered totally helpless. Much LOVE!…only as we have received God’s GRACE…can we receive SALVATION…
SCRIP-BITS 