I heard, “Advance! For I Have Removed The Resistance!”

Yes, Discovering Christ in Ephesians.

We saw in our last discussion, that we are seated together with Christ in the heavenly, in the place of extreme authority where all things are subject under our feet.

But all this Salvation is done by God — that in the ages to come, He might show how much gracious He actually has given His chosen ones.

Then we hear the apostle continue;

“For by Grace are ye saved through Faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God,” Ephesians 2:8.

The above verse carries tremendous weight and it’s riches are just inexhaustible.

Observe this statement carefully, “For by Grace are ye saved through Faith….”

It does not say ‘by Faith are ye saved…’ — but, ‘by Grace are ye saved’. There is a depth to this.

Faith in many circles of the Christendom today has been shifted to a thing of work. It is as though it is was by our human Faith that God has saved us.

Many think this way…. ‘If not that I choose to believe in God, if not that I offered my Faith, God would not have saved me, hence I contributed my faith. I am saved by Gace but it was through my Faith.’

You see, observe this next part of the verse “and that not of yourselves….” meaning, nothing came from you.

When it comes to the things of salvation, man contributed nothing. We did no work, if we offered a single thing grace is neutralized.

We brought nothing of ourselves. We are absolutely sufficient of nothing. Even the faith we used to access the grace of God was a gift of God’s grace. It is not of ourselves but “it is the gift of God…”

You see, Faith is what we use to access The Grace of God, but Faith itself is a gift from God. And if it is a gift, then it is the product of God’s Grace.

Oh that you may see this;

“And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace,” Acts 18:27.

Observe the last statement “had believed through grace….”.

Very well explained in the above verse. Here, it is clearly stated that we believe or we put faith in what God has done through the grace of God. Wherefore, faith is a gift of God’s grace.

Grace comes upon a man and gives him the faith to access its riches.

This is why faith is a fruit of the spirit;

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,” Galatians 5:22.

If Faith is the fruit of The Spirit of God, then no man has faith resident in himself before Salvation.

Receiving of Faith itself — is Salvation!

This is why we hear;

“And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith,” 2 Thessalonians 3:2.

Observe that statement, “for all men have not faith….”.

Because it is the fruit of the Spirit, every believer has received this Gift of Faith by God’s Grace and Righteousness;

“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,” 2 Peter 1:1.

So truly we are saved by grace through faith, but all this is not from ourselves but it is the gift of God.

This is why the next verse proclaims;

“Not of works, lest any man should boast,” Ephesians 2:9.

If we had offered even our human faith, then we would have had a ground to boast but not before God.

We would have entertained the thought ‘If not for my faith he wouldn’t have been able to save me.’ But now there is nothing to boast. God takes all the glory.

A lot of us find it difficult believing this, but it is the same way we fought against The Gospel of Grace itself for years until people started praying to God to see if it was true.

This exceeding, this sovereign Grace of God may not be understood by many, but through prayer and the removing of our defenses, God will reveal himself to us better.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them,” Ephesians 2:10.

Observe this statement; “which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them….”.

Remember we have established in our previous discussions that we were predestined to Salvation and whatsoever we have done and will ever do for The LORD is what has been ordained. We are only walking in the works ordained for us from the foundation of the world.

Does this mean we are just robots? No, never, there are different aspects to God’s Will — there is the Immutable and there is the Permissible Will of God.

We will not be going into this here, I’ve got a book coming out soon which deals with the subject of The Sovereignty of God.

What a loving God. We must daily glorify God for he has truly pitied us, having given to us this free Gift of Salvation. This is a mystery.

Confession:

Father, I thank you for your sovereign grace, it is by your absolute and sovereign grace that I am saved.

I brought nothing but today I have it all in you.

I declare I am your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto to good works.

Whatsoever I lay my hand on works for this is my ordained destiny in Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah!

In an encounter with The LORD. “My Child, I rebuke Satan on your behalf, for I The LORD have chosen you for My Own Glory.

The resistance you have long faced as you have walked in my purpose is now removed . Get up and advance! for I have removed the resistance.

I have cast your sins and your inadequacies out of My Sight for you are a brand plucked out of the fire.

I have commanded the clouds to rain down my goodness upon you, for the door of heaven is opened unto you.

Do not be weary, but advance for I have re-mantled you with my garment of righteousness, power and authority.”

“And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of The LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And The LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even The LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment,” Zechariah 3:1-4.

“Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven,” Psalm 78:23-24.

 

Blessings in Christ,
~ Pastor Jahfas Victor Ahua
Living Hill Christian Church.

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Pastor Jahfas Victor Ahua is the founder and lead pastor of Living Hill Christian Church headquartered in Nigeria, which has a vision to restore the earth with the gospel of God’s grace. Called to be a pastor, he functions in the Healing/ Prophetic/ Teaching/ Music and Writing Ministries. He releases Prophetic Words to encourage the body of Christ on the Church’s blog.

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