Jurisdiction of Grace

Call to Prayer

Title: Jurisdictions of Grace

By: Simon Maina Nuhu

Date: 27.01.2023

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” (Titus 2:11-12).

GRACE: God’s redemption/riches at Christ’s expense is multi-faceted, thus having several annexes that make it super difficult to coin into one meaning. Its mode of operation is multi-dimensional but with the sole objective of upholding the purpose of its inception. We know that Christ is the author and mediator of the new covenant therefore, any work(s) or performance of a miracle, rescue, or deliverance that is outside or has no eventual route/connection to Christ is not grace. It is fundamental we understand that although grace is versatile in fulfilling God’s will, all its operations are categorized into; saving and enabling grace.

Saving grace is the first, basic, and very significant phase of  Christ’s sacrifice, because by it all men come to the experience of salvation,( Ephesians 2:8-9) thereby fulfilling the requirement of Kingdom citizenship. For it to be effective, a sinner must acknowledge Christ by believing in their heart and confessing (Romans 10:8-10) with their mouth by faith. The saving grace is also a preliminary stage of receiving the blessings accessible in God through Christ where we were transformed from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13). It is however, crucial to know that the aim of the saving grace is limited to redemption (Salvation) and the minimum requirement is genuine repentance by faith.

Enabling grace which is also the working grace is the next phase that introduces all believers who obtained salvation to the full riches of God at Christ’s expense. Salvation is significant, nevertheless, that is not all, in fact, it is not the only reason Christ died for us, it rather brings us back to the right track. In order to accomplish the original will of God which is to be like God, to work and to serve Him, we need more than salvation (Philippians 4:13). Salvation is a new birth experience, like a baby, we need to grow, and attend maturity (adulthood). Even though we have all the exceeding potentials and promises in Christ, if we are still spiritual babies, we are no different to a slave (Galatians 4:1), except we grow. The enabling grace stretches us to access all heavenly tools, resources, and materials in accordance with the will of God for us to be like Him (Philippians 4:19). It grants us access to sanctification, Holy Ghost baptism, gifts of the Spirit, and above all, conforms us to the full image of Christ (perfection). The essence of this grace is for spiritual progression, maturity, revealing Christ, and absolute perfection (Hebrews 6:1).

Dearly beloved, it is paramount we crave the enabling grace so that we attend the fullness of His image by faith, we can not just be living under the jurisdiction of saving grace because it is limited only to the birth process. Now that we obtained the basic yet significant, let us strive to grow and reach the peak of the goal for which He died for us.

Prayer point:

Let’s thank God and ask Him to help us attain perfection in Christ.