God’s grace is greater than sin and death: By James Lantz

      God has extended his grace to us. Natural human reasoning and some experiences of life have taught us that we are going to have to pay for our mistakes and sins. It is true that justice demands payment for sin. Heb. 2:2 … every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward.  Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Rom.11: 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt  be cut off.  God is a just God and every sin requires payment (wages, punishment) so in his mercy he required Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins. A close examination of God’s word reveals God’s willingness and his ability to grant grace to anyone and everyone who seeks him. The truth is that God has already granted grace to everyone who accepts his Son, Jesus. Eph. 1: 3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:  This blessing became ours by right of our covenant with God through Jesus substitutionary sacrificial offering of himself. In fact God’s grace is already extended to every person and is not dependant upon what they have done or not done. I appreciate it so much that God loved me when I was unlovely, he reached out to me when I was his enemy. Rom. 5: 8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When Christ died for us, his shed blood was given for the remission of our sins. It was tremendous love that moved Christ to set aside his divine abilities and take on flesh like you and me (except without sin). You would be hard pressed to find someone who would give their life for a righteous man let alone someone who would give their life for a sinner. The first purpose of Christ dying on the cross and shedding his blood was for the remission of our sins. God did not leave us with just our sins forgiven or we would have just sinned again and become God’s enemy again. Jesus gave his life for us through the beating he suffered in his flesh, in death and his suffering in the heart of the earth for three days and nights. God’s greatest work was accomplished through the resurrection of Christ because when he was raised it made the way for us to be raised from the dead (see Eph. 1:19 – 23).  Rom. 5: 9 & 10  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. The Holy Spirit is going to great length here through these scriptures to have us understand that God’s grace is so much greater than the works of sin and death. Rom. 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift (eternal life). For if through the offence of one (Adam) many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. Adam’s disobedience brought death to all man kind. God said, if you eat of this fruit you shall surely die. God was not kidding, the very moment Adam ate of that fruit that was not his, he died spiritually (the life of God departed from his spirit and eventually his body died) and he was eternally separated from God and headed to the devil’s hell. I want you to see the power of sin and death and the fact that it affected every human being. It was only a few generations later that sin became so bad among the people on the earth that God judged sin with a great flood and shortened man’s life to 120 years. The words much more in the preceding three scriptures are telling us God has a lot more grace that he wants us to experience. The grace you experienced by receiving his righteousness is only the beginning of good things to come. You will be spared the judgement of the wicked. What Jesus accomplished through his death and resurrection is only the beginning of all that he continues to do for you through his life. Jesus is the High Priest of our confession! God’s redemptive work through Jesus Christ is much more powerful than what Satan did through sin and death. The devil has been deceiving and blaming  

God for all the bad things he does for years, ensnaring people with heavy yokes and bondages. In a moments time a sinner can  become righteous, the sick can be healed, an impoverished man can be made rich through the power and grace of God. Rom. 8: 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. It must be frustrating for the devil, who lied to a person for years, telling them there are no consequences for disobeying God, and then to see God release them from bondage in a moment of time. You know how the devil is, he tempts you to sin and when you do, he whispers God doesn’t love you anymore. Or God’s not going to heal you or prosper you because of your past. In a moments time we can believe the truth and walk free from sin, sickness, or poverty. I am not saying that all the symptoms of sickness and poverty are always gone immediately. I am saying when we believe the truth and confess our freedom from sickness or poverty our healing or deliverance begins immediately in the realm of the spirit. It won’t be long before the evidence will come forth. Faith calls those things that be not as though they were and they become. Those people that want to feel saved before they confess Jesus as their Lord will never get saved. You are not saved until you believe that Jesus is the Lord of your life and say that he is. Rom. 10: 9 & 10  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Notice what is not said in these two verses in Romans ten. It does not say some of you who believe who have not committed any major sins shall be saved. There is no sin that is to big for God to forgive and to cleanse you from. The only sin that will keep a person from receiving God’s grace is the sin that you will not turn away from. There is a qualifying factor in verses six through eight, but it is based on receiving from God by believing what he said in his word and not on what we have or have not done. God’s grace for you is greater than anything that the evil one has brought your way. That includes anything that you have suffered even if you brought it on yourself. If the Doctor said you only have three weeks to live, God’s grace is bigger. If you have suffered rejection, God’s grace is bigger. If you are suffering lack, God’s grace is bigger. God does not want his children going with their needs unmet. God’s kingdom is not subject to shortages as in this Babylonian system of this world. If we are suffering lack we need to adjust our believing to what God has said. 3 John 2   Amp.  Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and that your body may keep well, even as I know your soul keeps well and prospers. Mt. 6:10 … Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Think about it, why would Jesus tell his disciples to pray that it become on earth like it is in heaven if he didn’t want us to experience abundance on the earth. According to Gal. 3:13 Christ bore the curse of poverty for us when he hung on the cross. Being redeemed from the curse of the law (spiritual death, sickness, and poverty) means that we don’t have to suffer those things because we are delivered from them. We are not only delivered from the curse of poverty but we were given the blessing of Abraham through Jesus Christ. Every family in the earth is to be blessed through the blessing of Abraham. Our  motivation to accumulate wealth must be to establish God’s kingdom, not laying up treasures upon the earth for ourselves.  Deut. 8:18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. Living life is a lot of fun when we don’t have a care in the world, trusting God to bless all the work of our hands. In order to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness we must be convinced that God will take care of us! In order for God to do for us what he has said, we must do what he told us to do. Love the Lord your God with all of

your heart, soul, mind and strength. Believe God, don’t worry, act like what you prayed for is already yours by faith. Eph. 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. The only limitation to God’s grace in our lives is according to how much we allow God’s Holy Spirit power to work in us!

Colossians 2: 6 & 7   Amp.  As you have therefore received the Christ, even Jesus the Lord, so walk- regulate your lives and conduct yourselves – in union with and conformity to him. Have the roots of your being firmly and deeply planted in him – fixed and founded in Him – being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving.