What is Grace Living?

by Adrienne Jason

Grace Living is allowing Christ Jesus to live His life in and through you as a believer. This of course requires that you are saved first. To be saved, understand that you are a sinner who cannot save yourself. Then, simply believe how that Christ Jesus died for your sins, was buried and rose again for your justification. 

Once you have been saved, it's important to begin to read and study God's word rightly divided. Having God's word dwelling in your spirit (built up in your inner man), and believing it and obeying it, is how Christ will live in and through you. It's NOT by anything we do through our own efforts. 

2Co 5:7 KJB - "(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)"

Gal 2:20 KJB - "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

It's very important to be established in sound grace doctrine first, so that you have a very clear understanding of 1) being saved by grace through faith alone 2) your eternal security in Christ 3) how to walk in the Spirit instead of after the flesh. This can be understood by reading and even re-reading as well as studying verse by verse through the book of Romans chapters 1-8. Once you have a clear understanding of this, you can progress through the rest of the book of Romans and then the rest of the Pauline epistles which are written specifically to the church the Body of Christ today. Afterwards, you can also study out the rest of the Bible which is "for our learning".

Romans 1:11 KJB "For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;"

Rom 15:4 KJB - "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

1Co 14:37 KJB - "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord."

With sound grace doctrine in your inner man, you will experience more peace of mind and other fruits of the Spirit and you will more often make better grace-based decisions in your life and serve God and others with love and charity. 

1Th 2:13 KJB - "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."

Once you have a good understanding of the foundational doctrines in Romans, it's important to understand more about MidActs Pauline Rightly Divided Dispensationalism. It is not a denomination, but more of a way to read and study the Bible. This is so that you do not put yourself or others back under the law and so that you can have a clearer understanding about what God is doing today through Christ's heavenly ministry. It's important to know 1) that Paul is the Apostle to the church the Body of Christ, sent by the Lord Jesus Christ 2) the books of Romans through Philemon is written specifically to us today 3) God is forming the church the Body of Christ to reconcile the Heavenly places back unto Himself 4) the coming immenint rapture of the church the Body of Christ which takes place before the 7 year tribulation on the earth 5) the believers judgment for rewards and our Heavenly positions and other important doctrines.

After you understand this more, you will also over time, have a better understanding of the rest of scripture, (outside of Paul's Epistles) regarding 1) Christ's earthly ministry with Israel 2) the various dispensations throughout the ages, 3) the coming tribulation on the earth after the church the Body of Christ is raptured out 4) the millennial reign of Christ on the earth 5) the great white throne judgment of the unbelievers and other doctrines.

What Grace Living is NOT:

• Perfect Living- even believers will sometimes sin. We don't live perfect lives and we don't expect others to be perfect. Instead, we are forgiving and gracious, as well as humble and thankful. As we continue to mature spiritually, this allows Christ to live in and through us more. We can only mature spiritually by reading, studying and believing God's word rightly divided. We also understand that we live in a fallen, sin cursed world and that even believers still have carnal, fleshly bodies - therefore we will sometimes struggle with sin and with physical, mental or emotional health issues too. We learn to give others and even ourselves grace, instead of trying to "be perfect". We learn that God loves us completely and that we are "the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus" (see Romans 3:21-31; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

• Carnal Living- we are not about "name it or claim it". We don't preach or try to live by a prosperity gospel. We understand that we have all spiritual blessings in Christ, not earthly blessings. The more that we understand sound grace doctrine rightly divided, the less we are swept up in false doctrines. Even if we do sway, we can always search the scriptures and return to God's word rightly divided. Instead of trusting in man's wisdom and man's tradition, we believe in the final authority of God's word. As we mature spiritually, we start to loose more and more interest in carnal things- we aren't so concerned or overly focused on things like politics, hollywood, diet/beauty/fitness and wellness culture, gossip, etc because we have our focus more on heavenly, eternal things. We do not completely ignore or neglect earthly issues and we take care of our families, our own health and try to be good stewards of the earth, but we do so with Christ and His word living in and through us and not by our own efforts as humanists and religionists do. We strive to live peaceably with all people when it is possible. Rom 12:18 KJV - "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."

• Legalism- We are not legalists. Legalism is believing that there is something that you must DO to be saved, stay saved or to receive God's blessings. As Grace Believers, we understand that we are saved by grace through faith alone, that once we are saved we are also eternally secure in Christ and that we have also received ALL spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. We know that God our Father loves us and we share this love of God with others. We understand our identity in Christ and that we are not to put ourselves or others under legalistic rules and regulations. Even if we do at times put ourselves or others under legalism, we can "course correct" by returning to God's word rightly divided and the grace message. 

Gal 5:1 KJB "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

The grace life is also about 1) sharing the Gospel of the grace of God with unbelievers that they might be saved 2) helping to see fellow believers become established and edified in sound grace doctrine 3) being kind, encouraging, helpful and charitable towards others. This can also include taking care of our families, serving in a local grace church if you have one, etc.

We worship God in the Spirit and in truth. This means that as believers we have God's Spirit living in our spirit, and we love and worship Him by reading, studying and believing His word rightly divided. This all brings glory to God! This is grace living. 

Article Copyright Adrienne Jason 2024. Feel free to share this article with others.