An Engineer’s Equation of Grace

 

 

As a trained engineer, the mind tends  to think in terms of formulas and equations and mathematical balance.

 

Stephen Hawkins himself a physicist also tries very hard to explain everything by hypothesis and theories, but I believe he failed miserable in trying to find an equation for God.

We  may be able to discover theories about humankind but to try to put God in a theory is equivalent to putting the “whole ocean in a Coke bottle”.

 

However, an amusing thought today leads to the question “how about putting an equation for Grace”.

 

Grace is when we believe in God, He imputes His Righteousness to us, so that we began to do Righteous Works.

 

The Right Formula is:

FAITH => RIGHTEOUSNESS + WORKS

This is Grace.

This is Relationship.

This is God-consciousness.

This is the Gospel.

This  is the New Covenant.

It starts with Faith in God, Believe in Him, Trust in Him, and when we do that, we become the Righteousness of God.

Faith produces the Righteousness of God.

This Righteousness of God inside of us, leads us and guide us and empower us to do Righteous Works (thus God gets the glory and man’s  ego is deflated).

 

The Wrong Formula that is taught in many churches is:

FAITH + WORKS => RIGHTEOUSNESS

This is not Grace.

This is Law – mentality.

This is Religion and not Relationship, because Religion teaches your belief is not enough, and you need to perform works so that God will give you righteousness.

This is NOT the Gospel.

This is  the Old Covenant.

As a result of this teaching the burden of Condemnation and Guilt has ridden the Christian and sucked the abundant life out of him.

 

Another Wrong Formula that swings “grace-huggers” is:

FAITH => RIGHTEOUSNESS – WORKS

This is also not Grace.

This is lawlessness. This is not the Gospel.

This is Rebellion not a Revolution.

Some who hear the message of Grace in part (either purposely or non-purposely) thinks that since they are the righteousness of God, they can do all the sinning they want, and they don’t need to walk rightly. They think that Righteous Works are unnecessary.

This is wrong, and such have given true Grace believers a bad reputation.

 

 

From an Engineer’s viewpoint, how do we overcome the Wrong Formulae?

The answer is go back to the Right Formulae

FAITH => RIGHTEOUSNESS + WORKS

and emphasize on Faith in the Grace of God, Faith in His Finished Works, and build Faith into the Believer.

When Faith is continuously strengthened in the Believer, the Works will follow automatically.

 

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The above is substantiated by the best Engineer of the Bible, the Holy Spirit:

 

Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

 

Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

 

Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

 

Rom 4:5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

 

Rom 4:13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

 

Rom 9:30  What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.

 

Gal 3:8  And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

 

Rom 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

 

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

 

Gal 3:11  But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

 

Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

 

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

 

Jas 2:17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

 

Jas 2:18  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

 

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Steven Wong

(a non-engineer in comparison)

 

Technorati Tags: grace,formula,engineer

Some of Watchman Nee's writings on Grace in his book: Sit, Walk, Stand.

Image via WikipediaI am rereading some of Watchman Nee's writings: I am totally amazed! He is a Radical Grace Writer.

The following are just some of his words in his book "Sit, Walk, Stand". I bought a copy of this book on 19th June 1980, and i still have not stopped re-reading it.

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Do you think that if you cease trying to please God your good behavior will cease? It is when we seek to do it ourselves that we place ourselves back again under the Law. But the works of the Law, even our best efforts are "dead works", hateful to God because ineffectual.


How can I receive the power of the Spirit for service? Must I labour for it? Must I plead with God for it? Must I afflict my soul by fastings and self-denials to merit it? NEVER! That is not the teaching of Scripture. Paul tells us that it was "according to the riches of His Grace" and that this was "freely bestowed on ...us in the Beloved".


God brings His Son's Finished Work and presents it to us, and then He says to us, "Please sit" (Mandarin: ch'eng tso).


And here is the Gospel: that God has completed the work of redemption, and that we need do nothing whatever to merit it, but can enter by faith directly into the values of His Finished Work.


The Christian life from start to finish is based upon this principle of utter dependence upon the Lord Jesus. There is no limit to the Grace God is willing to bestow upon us. He will give us everything, but we can receive none of it except as we rest in Him.


I received everything not by walking but by sitting down, not by doing but by resting in the Lord.


Christ Experience has now become my spiritual history, and God can speak of me as already having everything "with Him".


But how can I be sure that I am "in Christ"?
I can be sure because the Bible affirms that it is so, and that it was God who put me there.


Our deliverance from sin is based, not on what we can do, nor even on what God is going to do for us, but on what He has already done for us in Christ. When that fact dawns upon us and  we rest back upon it, then we have found the secret of a holy life.


"But what can I do?"
God is waiting till you cease to do. When you cease doing, then God will begin.



 

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Watchman Nee (倪柝聲  pinyin: Ní Tuòshēng;, 1903–1972) was a Chinese Christian author and church leader during the early 20th Century. He spent the last 20 years of his life in prison and was severely persecuted by the Communists in China.

The Grace of God enables you to Exchange your Life for Jesus Life - Hudson Taylor

Image via Wikipedia

 

The Exchanged Life Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret

Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China and the founder of the China Inland Mission (now OMF).

Early in his career Taylor struggled with a lack of spiritual power, but that changed once he discovered the principle of the Exchanged Life.

Taylor learned to draw upon the wealth of Christ for every need, and this became for him a great source of inward joy and power.

His biographers describe the effect of the exchanged life upon him:

Whenever he spoke in meetings after that, a new power seemed to flow from him, and in the practical things of life a new peace possessed him. Troubles did not worry him as before. He cast everything on God in a new way, and gave more time to prayer.

In this excerpt Hudson Taylor describes how he came to discover the exchanged life.

.....

Taylor's struggle

I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for meditation--but all without avail.

Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me. 

.....

Then came the questions, is there no rescue? 

Must it be thus to the end--constant conflict, and too often defeat?

Instead of growing stronger, I seemed to be getting weaker and to have less power against sin;

.....

Christ's abiding presence

When my agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed to me the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before.

"But how to get faith strengthened?

Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One." 

As I read, I saw it all!

"If we believe not, he abideth faithful."

I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh, how joy flowed)!

That He had said, "I will never leave thee." (Hebrews 13:5) 

 

"Ah, there is rest!" I thought.

"I have striven in vain to rest in Him.

I'll strive no more.

For has not He promised to abide with me--never to leave me, never to fail me?" 

And, He never will.

.....

The key to the exchanged life

It is a wonderful thing to be really one with a risen and exalted Savior, to be a member of Christ!
Think what it involves.
Can Christ be rich and I poor?
Can your right hand be rich and your left poor?
Or your head be well fed while your body starves?
…No more can your prayers or mine be discredited if offered in the name of Jesus

 .....

Resources sufficient for any task

The sweetest part is the rest which full identification with Christ brings.

I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this;

for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine.

It makes no matter where He places me, or how.

That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest position He must give me His Grace, and in the most difficult His Grace is sufficient. 

[Excerpted from 'The Exchanged Life' chapter in Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret]

Grace says: Salvation is a Free Gift

When you receive Jesus as your Savior, He gives you the Gift of Salvation.

Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved (Original Greek: sozo) through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the Gift of God,

Eph 2:9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.


The Definition from Strong’s Dictionary for “save” is:

Greek:sozo: to save, that is, deliver or protect: - heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.

That means when you receive Jesus, He brings a full package of Salvation to you:

Your Salvation is a Free Gift.

Your Healing is a Free Gift.

And so is your Preservation, your Wellness, and your Wholeness.

This is consistent, and constantly, repeatedly and written again and again in the New Testament that Jesus has given us = abundant life, eternal life, healing, deliverance, wholeness.

There are tons of scriptures from the New Testament on these.

These are Free!

Only Believe and Receive.

Freely you have received, Freely Give.

The problem with Christians who find it difficult to accept these as Free Gifts, is because they take an Old Testament Scripture (that says you need to please God then only He will give you abundant life, healing and good  health), and try to live their lives like the people before the Sacrificial Work of Jesus at the Cross.

The people of Pre-Christ couldn’t earn their Salvation, what makes you think that you can.

In the OT, the people are blessed only when they obey ALL the commandments (and there are more than 600 of them!).

Even if they fail in one minute part of them, they are guilty of them all and subjected to God’s judgment.

In the NT, you are already blessed and saved, because Jesus took the punishment and the judgment for your sin. (Note: this does not mean that we can live in sin).

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:

Jesus came and made all the difference.

Jesus  obeyed God.

Jesus became our Sin so we became Righteous.

Jesus satisfied all of God’s Justice.

Jesus fulfilled and complied with all of God’s laws and  requirements.

In fact, Jesus lived a sinless life.

Jesus pleased God (Matthew 3:17).

Another reason who Christians are bound by an Old Testament mentality is in their interpretation of the Old Testament.

They fail to understand these two main points:

1. The Old Testament points to Jesus and everything concerning Jesus. Jesus is our best expounder of the Old Testament, and He showed His disciples that the OT must be interpreted only Concerning Jesus.

Luk 24:27  And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he (Jesus) expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
 
2. The Old Testament (Old Covenant) is only a shadow of the New Covenant. Many Old Testament truths are very good, and we can see the reality of God there – yet they are only a shadow, a symbol, a type, a sketch of the New Covenant that Jesus brought. (Heb 8:5; 10:1)

When we preach Jesus, we are never wrong.

When we preach on types and shadows without referring and interpreting it towards Jesus, we will go off tangent.

That’s  why in some churches in Kuala Lumpur that I visited, the people are emphasizing keeping the Feasts, Hebrew roots and Levitical Laws. Off tangent!

Jesus came and brought in a New Covenant with God, and we are the recipient and beneficiary of this New Covenant.

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(part of Sunday message)
Steven Wong

Technorati Tags: grace,salvation,free gift

A Grace Centred Church

Ephesians 2: 8-9 says,

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.


What is Grace? It is the unmerited favor of God. You do not deserve it, but God did it (by providing salvation) regardless of whether you believe it or not. It is not based on our performance, but it is based on the finished work of Jesus Christ at the Cross. It is based on relationship - He being our Abba Father, and we his children (john 1:12).

"We are saved" - means we are saved from our sins, healed of our sicknesses, delivered from the power of Satan, freed from the bondage of poverty. And all these are by the Grace of God, and His Grace alone.

Jesus work + my works = Nothing

Jesus work + none of my works = Everything

All the above Salvation - "is a Gift of God"

All the above Salvation - "is not of our own Works" (so that we cannot boast / glory in anything)

Every Praise and Glory belongs to God and Him alone because Jesus accomplished everything, and we did nothing to earn the Salvation.

You are saved because of the Work of Jesus at the Cross.
You are healed because of the same Work.
You are delivered and prospered because of the same Work.

For years, we were told that you need to fast enough, worship enough, pray enough - so that these blessings can be yours. We were so Wrong!!

Fasting, Worship and Prayer is Very, very important - but we have done them for the Wrong reasons.

We are in transition to transform Charisma Assembly from a "Legalistic Centred church" into a "Grace Centred church".

You are blessed (Eph 1:3),
Steven Wong


ps: There is a church in KL that had made the transformation and if you are in KL, you can go to Renewal Lutheran Church.

But if you are in Segamat, Johor, you are welcome to a Grace Centred Church.


Some scriptures to think about:

Salvation is by grace alone and nothing else, if not Jesus work on the Cross is not enough for salvation.


Act 15:10 Now therefore why do you tempt God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, a yoke which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

Act 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, according to which manner they also believed.


Eph 2:5 (even when we were dead in sins) has made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved)

Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,

2Ti 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the eternal times.

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men

The Walk of Grace

This Animation of the Walk by giesondotcom, tells us about the Amazing Grace of God.

Click Here to View:

The Walk of Grace