Grace seems like such a beautiful word. It brings a very pleasurable picture to the mind of some wonderful utopia that man longs for.
Grace brings all this about..but grace is the means to the end, not the end in itself.
What do I mean?
Titus 2:11-15
11. 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:
We see the scriptural truth that Grace becomes our teacher not our appeaser. Many have no idea of the severity of Grace as teacher.
We see the growing as we are taught to overcome, not to continue in the sinful flesh.
Special emphasis in verse 12 is given to the words “in this present world.”
So many view grace as the entrance to heaven, but grace is the vehicle of overcoming in this present world.
What was finished at the cross was salvation not conversion. This is why Jesus said to Peter
◄ Luke 22:32 ►
King James Bible
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Peter’s salvation was to be accomplished at the cross, but his conversion would be an ongoing process.
If we follow Peter’s life we will see several instances of blunders taking place in his ministry effort.
In several cases Peter was prone to return to ritualistic law to appease the religious Israelites of his day.
In one case Peter would be publicly rebuked by the Apostle Paul for his compromising with law and religion.
So, Grace is the vehicle of overcoming and conversion. Depending on our level of fleshly resistance Grace can be a gentle teacher or one that might induce much pain.
The pruning process is seldom painless…hence the groaning in grace.
If we examine this process in our lives we will see that it happened in us and through us, we didn’t bring it about.
We have experienced divine intervention that has removed people and situations from our lives that were spiritually oppositional to our growth and conversion.
Many times these spiritual surgeries were heartbreaking and painful, thus the groaning associated with the growing.
Mainly times the pruning has taken place and that pruning process can be quite painful even though it has an eternal purpose, it hurts in the present.
If we self examine our lives we will see the reality of the most immense pains we have experienced were when we tried to resist the pruning process.
We had emotional investments with people or situations that were hindering the growth that the Father desires…so the pain of pruning was made more painful by our resistance.
Grace can become a seemingly cruel teacher when the teaching is resisted.