GRACE TRUMPS THE LAW
For many years the theological concept of grace seemed so impenetrable in its mystery that I couldn’t fathom it. Unfortunately, during that time, there was also a fierce battle concerning the topic. Grace teachers were coming out of the woodwork, including those who leaned far into a hyper-grace message. Old-school peeps reacted violently. It was a battle that I wanted to steer clear of. So I stayed in my lane, teaching soul healing and seeing massive fruit.
When the battle waned and the dust settled, I decided to study grace so I could find the balance between two messages that had extremes on both sides. It wasn’t easy. Grace is a deep subject, and it could take until Jesus comes to totally comprehend it. But during my time of study, the Holy Spirit showed me powerful insights. I soon realized how much we need grace and its magnificent power to transform our lives.
GRACE APPROPRIATES THE POWER OF THE CROSS
In this book I will not cover the vastness of this subject, but I will show how grace enables us to defeat the spirit of death so we can have our youth restored.
At Calvary, Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf and stripped away Satan’s power over death. Grace enables you to partake of these victories. Ephesians 2:8–9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (NKJV). You are saved by grace through faith.
When the Bible talks about salvation, receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior is part of it but not all of it. The word translated “salvation” is the Greek word sōzō, which means “to save, i.e. deliver or protect . . . heal, preserve . . . (make) whole.”1 This indicates that your salvation includes healing for your body, deliverance and protection from the enemy, preservation from death’s decay, and the ability to be made whole and healthy.
It is beyond our comprehension to know all that Jesus won through the shedding of His blood. But one thing is for sure: the only way you can appropriate it all is by grace through faith. Grace is the power that transmits, imparts, conveys, and diffuses these blessings into every part of your existence. Without it you could never partake of the death-destroying power of the cross.
WHEN GRACE ABOUNDS
It’s impossible to keep the whole law, so God’s grace supersedes it for you. The apostle Paul explained how:
Then Law came in, [only] to expand and increase the trespass [making it more apparent and exciting opposition]. But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God’s unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded. Romans 5:20 AMPC
Grace trumps the law. To trump something means to gain an advantage over it. When the sin of your lawbreaking increases and abounds, grace surpasses it and superabounds! When I read that verse, hope swells in my heart because I need grace. So do you. How many times a day do you unintentionally (or even deliberately) break God’s law? Have you fallen into alcohol abuse or adultery? Do you get irritated and short with your spouse? It’s all sin, and the enemy loves when you do it. He unmercifully uses every one of your offenses to accuse you so he can put death to work in your bodily organs. However, when your sin abounds, God’s free, unmerited, and undeserved grace supersedes it!
What does that mean on a practical level? Suppose you slip up and sin during the course of your day. You can bet in that moment that the devil is joyfully rubbing his hands together, eager to bring the spirit of death on you. But when you know you have access to God’s free, unearned grace, you can immediately shut Satan down! Just repent of your sin and say, “Where my sin increased and abounded, God’s grace has surpassed it, increased the more, and even superabounded!”
I remember a time when I screwed up and the devil wasted no time in attacking me because of it. Immediately I felt pain in my body from his assault, so I repented of my sin, then began reading the truth of grace over my life. Within fifteen minutes the pain totally lifted!
The devil hates grace because it triumphs over the law. Let’s look at more proof: “For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God’s favor and mercy]” (Rom. 6:14).
A slave is “a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.”2 The Bible says the law is holy, but because of the weakness of our flesh, we could not keep it. That is why Jesus came to keep it for us. The enemy uses the weakness of our flesh and the inability for us to keep the whole law as his legal right to assault us with the spirit of death. But Christ purchased your freedom; thus, you are no longer a slave but a subject of God’s free grace!
This truth is the death knell to Satan.
GRACE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
Second Corinthians 5:21 says that Christ (who knew no sin) became sin for you in order that you could be made the righteousness of God in Him. That’s important because righteous people aren’t considered by God as lawbreakers. Even though you still sin, Christ’s sacrifice has declared you righteous in God’s sight. Wow! That’s grace—the power that imputes His righteousness to you.
We are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith. . . . Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God’s favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. Romans 5:1–2 AMPC
Notice that you have not only been justified with God but also acquitted! When the enemy accuses you of breaking the law, you can come right back at him and say, “Yes, but I have repented and because of Christ and His grace, I am guiltless!”
This shuts down the enemy’s attempts to work death in your bodily organs. Paul explained how Jesus flipped the equation to your benefit:
For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God’s] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). Romans 5:17 AMPC
From the moment Adam broke the law, death ruled and controlled every human being. That is, until the second Adam came. The Bible calls Him “a life-giving Spirit”! (1 Cor. 15:45). Now, because of His grace, we can reign as kings in life. Thus we are no longer bound under the spirit of death!
