GOD'S GRACE

by Tony Alamo

John 1:17 states, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by JESUS CHRIST.” This means that the law was given by Moses, but grace (the ability to keep the law) and truth were given by JESUS CHRIST. How do we have grace, the ability to keep the law? The ability to keep the law is given when CHRIST with the FATHER by the SPIRIT enters our bodies, and we are placed within HIS Body, which is the Church, by the SPIRIT. He is not talking about just any church, but “the Church,” which again, is the Body of CHRIST.

Christian power is found only in the Church. We are to hold “the HEAD [which is CHRIST], from which all the Body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of GOD” (Colossians 2:19). We Christians are held together by the WORD, the HOLY SPIRIT, which is depicted here in Colossians 2:19 as joints and bands knitting us together. This power is increased as the Body of CHRIST is increased daily. In Acts 16:5, it says, “And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.”

For Christians, the most powerful thing in the entire universe is the Church, the Body of CHRIST, in which each member is held together by the GRACE of GOD, which is the power of GOD. The SPIRIT living in each member ministers by the WORD to each member through each joint and each band. GOD’S goodness, GOD’S power, and GOD’S grace has placed us who are saved in HIS Body to give us the power, the grace, to not only keep the moral law, but to do much more by the SPIRIT than the moral law requires. Anyone saying that it is impossible to keep the moral law has certainly not become a member of the Church. They do not experience the power, the grace of GOD, and therefore have no idea of what grace is or what grace means. Most people believe the false teachings that grace is GOD’s undeserved favor to us, which is not true. Grace is the Church joined together by joints and bands, the HOLY SPIRIT.

Peter stated, “THOU art the CHRIST, the SON of the living GOD” (Matthew 16:16). Because Peter acknowledged that JESUS was the CHRIST, the SON of the living GOD, Jesus said unto him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but MY FATHER which is in Heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock [this fact that I am the CHRIST, the SON of the living GOD] I will build MY Church [increase MY Church with anyone who truly believes and becomes joined with a joint or a band in MY Church, which is MY Body]; and [even] the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it,” because the Church by the HOLY SPIRIT is so powerful that all Hell cannot prevail against it (Matthew 16:17-18).

JESUS said in John 16:32-33, “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave ME alone: and yet I am not alone, because the FATHER is with ME. These things I have spoken unto you, that in ME ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world [conquered the world].” The Church of GOD is in CHRIST, and GOD is in CHRIST, and HE is in us, and we are in HIM.1 We are not alone because CHRIST is with us, the FATHER is with us, the HOLY SPIRIT is with us, and the entire Church is with us. This is not just a church, but “THE CHURCH!”

When Isaac asked Abraham where the lamb for a burnt offering was, Abraham told his son that GOD would provide HIMSELF a lamb for a burnt offering (Genesis 22:7-8). So CHRIST, who is the fullness of GOD, provided HIMSELF, the Lamb of GOD, for those of us who will believe and prove it by becoming a member of HIS Body, joined by a joint or a band, which ministers by the SPIRIT to each member that is in the world, but not of the world.2

Colossians 2:11 states, “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of CHRIST.” Spiritual circumcision is when the HOLY SPIRIT cuts into your heart and you become born again of the SPIRIT (John 3:3-8). At this point, the SPIRIT lives in your heart and you become a part of the Church, the Body of CHRIST. This is the way that GOD prepares HIMSELF a Body (Hebrews 10:5). This is why we are called “the Body of CHRIST,” “the Church,” “the Temple of GOD,”3 wherein GOD in CHRIST lives by the SPIRIT.

This Body is made up of former sinners, but we are no longer sinners.4 We would much rather live and die for GOD than continue living a life of sin in the world. “Buried with HIM in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with HIM through the faith of the operation of GOD, who hath raised HIM from the dead.” In Aramaic it says, “And you were buried with Him in baptism, and by Him you were raised with Him, for you believed in the power of God who raised Him from the dead.” “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath HE quickened together with HIM, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to HIS cross” (Colossians 2:12-14).

Again, the law was given by Moses, but the ability to keep the law and truth came by JESUS CHRIST. This is what grace is. All of those who are outside of the Church are outside of CHRIST—not outside of a church, but outside of THE Church. There is only one Church, one GOD, one LORD. Ephesians 4:4-6 states, “There is one Body, and one SPIRIT, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One LORD, one faith, one baptism, One GOD and FATHER of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all [who are the Body of CHRIST, the Church of GOD].”

Ephesians 4:8-11 states, “Wherefore he saith, When HE ascended up on high, HE led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.5 (Now that HE ascended, what is it but that HE also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? HE that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that HE might fill all things.) And HE has assigned some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and some as teachers” (King James/Aramaic versions).

If we sin, we fall away from grace, the SPIRIT. Even the Apostle Paul stated that if he fell away from grace, he would no longer be able to enter Heaven, but would spend eternity in Hell and the Lake of Fire. He said, “For though I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel!” In Aramaic it says, “For though I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for I am under obligation; yea, woe to me if I preach not the Gospel!” “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection [I make my body do what GOD says for it to do]: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:16, 27). The Spanish version says, “But I beat my body, and bring it into servitude, lest after preaching to others, I myself come to be eliminated.”

Paul wrote approximately two thirds of the New Testament. He says if he fell away from grace, he too would be lost. If you are in the Body of CHRIST, you are active because the grace of GOD, the SPIRIT of GOD living and working in you, is active, which is the grace of GOD giving us the ability to do HIS work through HIM.6 The grace and power of GOD seals us into Heaven by HIM living and working through us. But if we fall away from the SPIRIT, we are no longer sealed, and our names are blotted out of the Book of Life.7

“Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with ME in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before MY FATHER, and before HIS angels” (Revelation 3:4-5). Here JESUS is saying that those who don’t overcome, those who fall away from grace, the SPIRIT, shall be blotted out of the Book of Life. Only those who continue to the end shall be saved.8

One third of the angels in Heaven fell away from grace, and therefore shall spend eternity in Hell and the Lake of Fire.9 The elders of Israel that were delivered from Egypt by GOD the SPIRIT through Moses also fell away from grace, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. Those who fell away from doing the will of GOD could not enter the Promised Land.10

“And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth ME that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:7-8). In other words, GOD gave Noah the HOLY SPIRIT of power, grace, to be able to endure the mocking and scoffing of the wicked people of the world while he was building the ark and preaching the warnings of GOD—preaching the end of the world as it was, which happened 120 years later. This gave the people of the world an opportunity to receive the grace of GOD by receiving HIS message, HIS SPIRIT. However, they rejected the Gospel, so GOD brought the flood upon the earth. They all died, with the exception of Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives.11 No one can say that GOD has not shown mercy to the people on earth who prefer to follow Satan rather than GOD.12

The people of Israel were in bondage to the rulers of Egypt for 430 years. This gave the Egyptians 430 years to repent of their idolatry, but they rejected the WORD of GOD and all the disasters that GOD caused. GOD ruined Egypt with ten plagues.13 The Egyptians preferred to say that the plagues were caused by Mother Nature, not GOD. (There is no Mother Nature; GOD brags about doing it.) So GOD destroyed the firstborn of every family and the firstborn of the cattle. HE then destroyed the entire Egyptian army and their horses in the Red Sea.14

The hearts of the inhabitants of Jericho melted in them when they heard these things—that GOD destroyed Egypt, its firstborn, and its entire army and horses and chariots in the Red Sea. So Rahab the harlot in Jericho made a pact with Israel’s two spies—her and her family’s lives were spared. She believed GOD and did something about it, so her family was spared at the time GOD destroyed Jericho.15

Rahab had heard the 430 year testimony of GOD’S people in Egypt, and knew how GOD had delivered Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians. This was the grace of GOD to the whole world, to see the power of GOD work as it does. Rahab had also heard of the forty years that the nation of Israel spent in the wilderness, how GOD had given them food and water, and how they had destroyed two major kings. She had heard how GOD recently opened the Jordan River so they could cross on dry ground into the Promised Land.16 Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, had received the witness of all that, the grace of all that, which gave her the grace or power to reject the people of Jericho and receive the GOD of Israel and the people of the LORD. She received the grace of GOD, the power of GOD, so GOD delivered her and her family from death and an eternity in Hell because she trusted GOD and HIS people. It was through Israel that GOD brought forth the MESSIAH, and Rahab is in the lineage of the MESSIAH, the LORD JESUS CHRIST, because she repented from her being a harlot and served the LORD instead (Matthew 1:1, 5).

After four hundred thirty years, then forty years, and now two thousand years later, after CHRIST’S death, resurrection, and ascension into Heaven, you would think the world had seen enough of God’s grace as well as HIS patience and mercy.

It is the end of time, so people have no reason to blame GOD for not having enough patience with them as they are sent into the burning Lake of Fire for eternity, where they will be screaming, crying, and saying, “GOD, have mercy on me!” GOD has already shown mercy to the entire world for over two thousand four hundred seventy years. GOD has had mercy on all of us, so repent of your sins and believe the Gospel, the truth. Give your heart to the LORD and continue on in HIS grace, HIS power, lest you become a castaway. Receive CHRIST now by saying this prayer:

Prayer

My LORD and my GOD, have mercy upon my soul, a sinner. 1 I believe that JESUS CHRIST is the SON of the living GOD. 2 I believe that HE died on the cross and shed HIS precious blood for the forgiveness of all my former sins. 3 I believe that GOD raised JESUS from the dead by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT 4 and that HE sits on the right hand of GOD at this moment, hearing my confession of sin and this prayer. 5 I open up the door of my heart, and I invite YOU into my heart, LORD JESUS. 6 Wash all of my filthy sins away in the precious blood that YOU shed in my place on the cross at Calvary. 7 YOU will not turn me away, LORD JESUS; YOU will forgive my sins and save my soul. I know because YOUR WORD, the Bible, says so. 8 YOUR WORD says that YOU will turn no one away, and that includes me. 9 Therefore, I know that YOU have heard me, and I know that YOU have answered me, and I know that I am saved. 10 And I thank YOU, LORD JESUS, for saving my soul, and I will show my thankfulness by doing as YOU command and sin no more.11

Now that you are saved, make sure you are baptized, fully submerged in water, in the name of the FATHER, in the name of the SON, and in the name of the HOLY SPIRIT (Matthew 28:18-20). Serve GOD with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). Study the Scriptures, and do what they say until the day you die (2 Timothy 2:15, 3:14-17).


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God's Grace footnotes:

1. John 10:30, 12:45, 14:8-11, 15-23, 15:26, 17:5-26, Rom. 12:4-5, 1 Cor. 6:15, 19, 10:16-17, 12:12-14, Eph. 1:22-23, 4:4-6, Col. 2:9-10, Heb. 3:6, 1 John 5:6-7 return

2. John 15:19, 17:14-16, Heb. 11:13-16, 1 Pet. 2:11 return

3. 1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19, 2 Cor. 6:16 return

4. Rom. chap. 6, Eph. 2:19, Heb. 10:26-31 return

5. Psa. 68:18 return

6. Matt. 5:13-16, John 9:4-5, 14:8-21, 15:1-13, Rom. 12:10-13, 1 Cor. 15:10, 57-58, Eph. 2:10, 18-22, 3:7-21, Phlp. 2:13, 4:13, Titus 2:11-15, Heb. 6:10-12, 9:14, James 1:22-27, 2:14-26, 3:13, 1 Pet. 2:5, 12 return

7. Ex. 32:33, 1 Chron. 28:9, 2 Chron. 15:1-2, 24:20, Psa. 73:27, Isa. 1:18-20, Jer. 17:13, Ezek. 33:12-13, Matt. 5:13, Luke 11:23-26, John 15:6, 2 Tim. 2:12, Heb. 6:4-8, 10:22-31, 2 Pet. 2:20-21, 1 John 3:6-10, Rev. 2:4-5, 3:5 return

8. Matt. 10:22, 24:13, Mark 13:13, Acts 14:22, Rom. 11:22, Col. 1:22-23, 1 Tim. 4:16, 1 John 2:24-25 return

9. 2 Pet. 2:4, Jude 6, Rev. 12:3-4, 7-10, 12 return

10. Num. chap. 13, 14:1-39, Deut. 1:20-39, Heb. 3:8-19, 4:1-2 return

11. Gen. chaps. 6-7, Job 22:15-17, Matt. 24:37-39, 1 Pet. 3:20, 2 Pet. 2:4-9 return

12. Gen. 8:21, 18:26-32, Num. 14:18-20, Deut. 5:29, 1 Chron. 16:34, 2 Chron. 36:15-17, Neh. 9:13-36, Psa. 25:8, 86:5, 136, Prov. 1:20-33, Jer. 7:13-16, 23-28, 25:3-7, Matt. 23:37-39 return

13. Ex. chaps. 7-12, Psa. 105:23-38 return

14. Ex. 11:4-7, 12:29-30, chap. 14, 15:1-21, Psa. 135:8-9 return

15. Josh. chap. 2, 5:1, chap. 6 return

16. Ex. 16:11-16, chap. 17, Num. 11:4-9, 18-23, 31-34, 20:1-13, 21:21-35, Deut. 2:16-37, 3:1-17, 8:2-4, 11-20, 29:5-7, Josh. chaps. 3-4 return


Prayer footnotes:

1. Psa. 51:5, Rom. 3:10-12, 23 return

2. Matt. 26:63-64, 27:54, Luke 1:30-33, John 9:35-37, Rom. 1:3-4 return

3. Acts 4:12, 20:28, Rom. 3:25, I John 1:7, Rev. 5:9 return

4. Psa. 16:9-10, Matt. 28:5-7, Mark 16:9, 12, 14, John 2:19, 21, 10:17-18, 11:25, Acts 2:24, 3:15, Rom. 8:11, I Cor. 15:3-7 return

5. Luke 22:69, Acts 2:25-36, Heb. 10:12-13 return

6. I Cor. 3:16, Rev. 3:20 return

7. Eph. 2:13-22, Heb. 9:22, 13:12, 20-21, I John 1:7, Rev. 1:5, 7:14 return

8. Matt. 26:28, Acts 2:21, 4:12, Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:14 return

9. Matt. 21:22, John 6:35, 37-40, Rom. 10:13 return

10. Heb. 11:6 return

11. John 5:14, 8:11, Rom. 6:4, I Cor. 15:10, Rev. 7:14, 22:14 return