Living in grace does not permit us to cause others to suffer for our deliberate infractions. The idea that God favored the Jews over the other races is a Hebrew impregnated presumption. And so is the belief that God punished Pharaoh and Abimelech for Abraham’s mistakes. God cannot show any favoritism! Nor can God tolerate any lying!

The true "nature of grace" is building relationships, which fosters acceptance of each other and also the acceptance of the people in the world. The world may not accept your faith, but it certainly will accept your services because you are trustworthy. Grace is earned, even in the world.

The question is, "Who is ruining the earth and the people on earth?" The Bible insists that God made a good world! And the Bible insists that God made man good! Man was to manage the world and everything on it (Genesis 1:31). Then, who let Satan, the serpent, into the good world? Again, the Bible insists that it was Eve and Adam! It was Eve and Adam's friendship with the snake lost them Paradise. Not only did Eve and Adam lose Paradise, they also lost their relationship with God, the Creator (Genesis 3). God chose Noah, Abraham, and Israel to save man and the world. However, the offsprings of these men, fell into the clutches of Satan. And it was Satan who kept, and who continues to keep sowing bad seed, which is enjoyable to the human appetite of the flesh. At long last, God sent His Son Jesus to save Israel and the world. But, the Jewish leaders of the chosen people, felt threatened! And therefore, the Jewish leaders had Jesus God’s Son removed. Inadvertently, these Jewish high priests sacrificed the “Lamb of God” for their sins. It is a remarkable story! Let us follow the trail of Jesus the Lamb, God sent John the Baptist to announce His Presence:

Jesus, before He went to the cross, to the grave, and before He rose from the dead, He promised the disciples to send the Holy Spirit to refresh their minds, to remind them of what He had taught them, and to direct their future mission. The disciples were slow in reaching out to the world with the Gospel. They even were not able to collect Jesus’ Life and Jesus' Message into writing. Meanwhile, Jesus enlisted Saul of Tarsus, who was trained in the Scriptures. Saul was raised in a Gentile, as well as in a Jewish culture, to become the first Gospel preacher to the World. Saul became Paul! And Luke, his Gentile friend, became his physician and his scribe. The Holy Spirit used Luke’s mind and skills to record Paul’s life and work. Paul met the "Risen Christ" on the road to Damascus and he had a different perception of the invisible Lord. For instance, Jesus’ body died, but Jesus' Spirit revealed Himself to the spirits who were in prison for their faith during the time of Noah. Paul, joined by Peter, also believed that Jesus, in the Spirit, preached to the dead:

Elijah lived during a time when Ahab and Jezebel had flooded Israel with Baal prophets, and they were making inroads in Judah. The prophet went into hiding and complained to God and said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” God told Elijah, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” Then the Lord said, “Yet I will have seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (I Kings 19:10,18). It was not Elijah, but it was Micaiah who first stood up to Ahab and to Jehoshaphat.

Elijah lived during a time when Ahab and Jezebel had flooded Israel with Baal prophets, and they were making inroads in Judah. The prophet went into hiding and complained to God and said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” God told Elijah, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” Then the Lord said, “Yet I will have seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (I Kings 19:10,18). It was not Elijah, but it was Micaiah who first stood up to Ahab and to Jehoshaphat.

Living in grace is not only lip service, but living in grace is doing what God has commanded. Man is justified by doing what is right in the eyes of God, and not only in the eyes of man. The journey of grace is hard and narrow, and it is up stream. It is living in a kingdom, which is foreign to the world. It is like living in a “ghetto” fenced in for protection by God’s Laws. Grace, itself, is such a Law. Jesus compared living in grace to the workings of a vineyard.

The monumental task of the disciples and their followers was to leave a source behind that would keep the believers, in the future, in touch with Christ and in touch with God. On that day of Pentecost, there were one hundred and twenty people who had encounters and opinions of Jesus the Christ (Acts 1:15). Now, the Holy Spirit was to guide them through the maze. The disciples had to form a body of literature that could be passed on to the common people from the lips of teachers, who had little learning. We are talking of a work --- that would simplify and summarize the Law of Moses and the Prophets. The Hebrew Law required that at least two or three witnesses had to agree and collaborate to ratify the truth (Deuteronomy 19:15). The Christians, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, ended up with four Gospels, the Book of Acts, the overwhelming Apostle Paul’s letters and Epistles, the Epistle of James, brother to Jesus, the Letters of Peter, the Gospel of John, of John Zebedee (also Revelation), and of the writer to the Hebrews. All agree on who Jesus was and what Jesus had come to do for humanity. In addition, there were five hundred men (without women and children), who were ready to testify that Jesus was alive. These works contain the Words of Jesus, to whom the Father gave His Words to keep the believers in touch with Christ and and in touch with God. John Zebedee appears to have had help in compiling his Gospel, especially with the “Word” and “Logos” concept. Jesus Christ was God’s Word Himself and so were His Words, the Word of God. The Person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the content of the of the Gospels and the "Promise" and the "Covenant" of the Old Testament that contains the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. For my reference on the New Testament, I prefer the Revised Standard Version (RSV).