Destined to Reign (4 page)

Chapter 3: Controversies Surrounding The Gospel Of Grace

Have you ever wondered why the moment you say the word “grace”, (let’s not even talk about the abundance of grace yet), people’s defenses go up?

You will hear people saying, “Oh… be careful of that grace preacher. I hear that he’s coming to town,” or “You have to be careful now, too much grace is not good for you. It must be balanced with the law.” Have you wondered where all these fears and apprehensions come from?

Think of all the Indiana Jones movies that you have watched. Before the hero Indy can lay hold of any priceless relic, he must overcome the obstacles and traps surrounding the prized artifact. Fiery darts whiz by on his left. Poison arrows fly toward him from the right. Hidden pits filled with jagged spears lie in front of him and giant boulders hurtle down from above. So many obstacles have been erected simply because there is a treasure at the end.

The moment you learn to receive grace, you will start to reign in life!

For the same reason, the devil has erected so many obstacles and fences around the gospel of grace. He is well aware that the moment you learn to receive grace, you will start to reign in life! The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy
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. He wants to see you broke and broken. He does not want to see you reigning in life. So he has been working hard to prevent believers from receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.

Controversies — The Devil’s Strategy

The devil’s strategy is to surround the truths of God with controversies. To prevent God’s people from benefiting from the fullness of God’s promises, he erects controversies as fences around these truths.
You can always tell how powerful a truth is by the number of controversies the devil surrounds it with!
The Word of God reminds us not to be ignorant of the devil’s devices. When Jesus died on the cross, the serpent’s head was crushed. God gave the devil a PHD —
p
ermanent
h
ead
d
amage! So you will find that the devil’s strategies are always lacking in creativity — what he has done in the past, he is still doing now.

For example, when God was restoring the truth of healing to the body of Christ, the devil put up a signpost that said, “Heresy!” For many years, the church looked at this signpost and backed off, saying, “Oh, that’s heresy. That’s dangerous and controversial. Let’s forget about talking about healing in the church.”

Instead of studying the Word of God to see what God Himself says about healing, the church backed off ! It didn’t matter that when Jesus walked on the earth, more than two-thirds of His ministry involved healing the sick. He went about healing the sick and all who touched Him were healed. The Bible records that “the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and
healed them all
”
2
.

I wish that somebody in Hollywood would produce the scene that took place in Luke 6:19. (Mel Gibson, are you reading this?) All who were sick, lame and blind came to Jesus, and bam! The healing virtue of Jesus was powerfully released as all who touched Him were healed! That’s a powerful image to have in your mind whenever you are believing God for healing!

The world doesn’t have the truth. They package fiction and present it as truth. They present creatures from outer space and make you believe that aliens are real! On the flip side, we believers have the truth, but we present and package the truth as if it was fiction. Come on! Believers, we have the truth. Let’s proclaim the truth of the gospel of Jesus with boldness! Only the truth of Jesus’ grace and power has the anointing to liberate and set people free. I believe with all my heart that God is raising up a new generation of directors, producers and scriptwriters worldwide who will present the truth of the gospel of Jesus in all its purity and power.

Now, when God was restoring the truth of prosperity to the church, signposts were again put up, calling it heresy. For many years, the church backed away from the teaching of prosperity because it was controversial. Again, it didn’t matter that the Bible declared that Jesus Christ became poor on the cross, that we through His poverty might be prosperous.
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The church backed off, saying, “Let’s forget about it. It’s too controversial.”

I don’t understand why some believers would fight for the right to be sick and poor.

Would you as a parent want your children to be diseased and living in abject poverty?

Why do you take your children to the doctor when they are unwell?

Why do you give them the best education you can afford?

Isn’t it because you want your children to be blessed, healthy and to have a prosperous future? Do you think that your heavenly Father would want anything less for you? Do you seriously think that your heavenly Father will bless you with a meager hand when the streets of heaven are made of pure gold? Listen carefully: The streets of heaven are not plated with gold. They are made of solid gold! Think about this for a moment. If you on earth know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more your Father in heaven
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!

Recognize that the devil has been using controversy as a device down through church history to prevent believers from having access to the most powerful truths of God. He built fences of controversy around healing, prosperity and grace to keep believers from reigning over sickness, poverty and sin. The more controversies you find around a truth of God, the more powerful that truth must be.

Pay close attention to what I am saying. Not all controversies are based on the truth of God’s Word. We have to test everything against what the Bible says. Nevertheless, controversy is a tool that the devil uses to prevent God’s people from accessing His truths. He is a crafty liar and deceitful thief, so we have to base what we believe on the Word of God and test everything against the Scriptures. Don’t back down from grace just because you have heard that it is controversial. Study the Word of God yourself and see what it has to say about grace!

Deserved Versus Undeserved Favor

“Oh, so you are one of those ‘prosperity gospel’ preachers!”

My friend, there is no such thing as a “prosperity gospel”. There is only one gospel in the Bible and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, when you believe the gospel of Jesus, which is based entirely on His grace, it will result in health and prosperity. In fact, the gospel of Jesus Christ leads to blessings, success, healing, restoration, protection, financial breakthroughs, security, peace, wholeness and MUCH MORE!

God blesses you not because you are good, but because He is good.

God blesses you not because you are good, but because He is good. Grace is based on His faithfulness and goodness toward you. It is not contingent on your performance, but is based on His
undeserved
favor. If it were contingent on how good you are, then it would no longer be based on grace, and would instead be based on the system of the law. It would be
deserved
favor. This is the difference between the old covenant of law and the new covenant of grace:

Law is deserved favor
— When you obey the commandments perfectly, you will be blessed.

Grace is undeserved favor
— Jesus obeyed God perfectly, and you will be blessed by believing in Him.

My friend, which covenant are you under today? The old covenant of law or the new covenant of grace? Deserved favor or undeserved favor? If being blessed by God today is dependent on your doing, your ability to keep the law and your ability to make yourself righteous, then there would be no difference between being under the old covenant of law and being under the new covenant of grace. The good news would not be that good after all, since there is no real difference between the old and the new. Come on, my friend, God found fault with the old covenant
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, and for a good reason!

Fences Around The Abundance Of Grace

A good friend of mine who’s a fellow minister once suggested to the dean of a reputable Bible school that “grace” be incorporated into the school’s curriculum. The dean replied, “You have to be careful when it comes to grace.” This apprehension toward grace is prevalent in many Christian circles. The moment they hear “grace”, they go on high alert!

I told my minister friend that I actually do not agree that grace should be a topic in a Bible school’s curriculum. Grace is not a topic — grace
is
the gospel. It is the good news! The word “gospel” simply means “good news”. Grace is not a theology. It is not a subject matter. It is not a doctrine. It is a person, and His name is Jesus. That’s the reason the Lord wants you to receive the abundance of grace, for
to have the abundance of grace is to have the abundance of Jesus
!

“How can you say that grace is a person and that person is Jesus Himself?”

Excellent question! Let’s look at what the Word of God says about this:

John 1:17, KJV

17
For
the law was given
by Moses, but
grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ.

Notice that the law was
given
, but grace and truth
came
by
Jesus Christ
. The law was given, implying a sense of distance, but grace came! Grace came as a person and His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the personification of grace. Jesus
is
grace! It is important that you begin to realize that truth is on the side of grace, and not on the side of the law. The Word of God declares that if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. Well, my friend, grace is
the
(definite article) truth that will set you free, not the law of Moses. The law is on the side of Moses, but grace and truth are on the same side as our Savior. Yet, there are people today holding on to the law of Moses and preaching it as if it is the “truth” that liberates. My friend, the grace of God is the only truth that liberates. Truth is on the side of grace!

If the devil can keep you under the law, he can keep you defeated.

You never hear, “Oh, be careful of the Ten Commandments,” or “Be careful of that law preacher. I hear that he is coming to town.” Why is there no controversy about the Ten Commandments? This is because the devil wants you to be subject to the law. He doesn’t want you to know that Jesus has liberated you from the law. If he can keep you under the law, he can keep you defeated.

Interestingly, people are afraid that when you tell a believer that he is completely forgiven by grace, and no longer has to earn his right standing before the Lord via the law of Moses, it would cause him to go out and live a life of sin and debauchery. However, the Bible is very clear that the “strength of sin is the law”
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. It is not grace that gives people the strength to sin. It is the law! The more you are under the law, the more sin is strengthened! Conversely, the more you are under grace, the more sin will be depleted of its strength.

In fact, the Bible declares that “sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace”. Now, don’t just gloss over this powerful revelation. Read the verse again. It is from Romans 6:14 — “For
sin shall not have dominion over you
, for you are
not under law
but
under grace
.” This means that the more grace you receive, the more power you have to overcome sin. In other words, sin shall not have dominion over you when you receive the abundance of grace!

Unfortunately, there are well-meaning people today who are preaching a completely different message. They preach that sin shall not have dominion over you when you are under the law. So when they see sin, they preach more of the law! That, my friend, is like adding wood to fire because the strength of sin is the law. Sin is strengthened when more law is preached! But the power to have dominion over sin is imparted when more grace is preached! So who is the one who switched the roles? Will the real gospel please stand up? The devil has pulled the wool over the eyes of God’s sheep! It is time to preach the truth. It is time to remove the wool from our eyes and break down the fences surrounding the gospel of grace!

Fences Around The Gift Of Righteousness

The devil has also succeeded in erecting fences around the gift of righteousness. Today, conventional theology teaches you that not only is there such a thing as “positional righteousness”, there is also something known as “practical righteousness”. They are saying that even though you were made righteous by grace, you now have to do right and keep the law to continue being righteous. They call this having “practical righteousness”.

My friend, this is something that Apostle Paul never taught! There is only one righteousness in Christ Jesus. Let’s see what Paul says about those who are ignorant of this righteousness. He said, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness [that’s what some people term ‘positional righteousness’], and seeking to establish their own righteousness [now that would be what they call ‘practical righteousness’], have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”
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So it is clear that Paul is against any teaching that says that you have to earn and merit your own righteousness. You are either righteous or you are not. There is no such thing as first having “positional righteousness” and then having to maintain that through “practical righteousness”. You are the righteousness of God in Christ, period!

Notice that the strategy here is to deceive the believer into believing that righteousness is something that you need to achieve by keeping the law perfectly. It all sounds very good to the flesh, but if that is so, then the promise of the
gift
of righteousness is completely thrown out of the window. The devil is very crafty. He has no problem with righteousness, but he wants to deceive you into pursuing your own righteousness through the law. He wants you to depend on your own self-righteousness, so he throws out the little word “gift” from the phrase “gift of righteousness”. Then, he gives you a false impression that you are responsible for earning your own righteousness through your own works and self-efforts, instead of depending on the finished work of Jesus.