Salvation Full of Grace and Truth

2005-02-07 22:21

Grace means the love of God; God so loved the world that he freely gave Christ Jesus. Truth means the love of Christ; the love of God is again exposed when Christ is formed in us. "Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven." (Psalms 85:11).

It is written about his one and only Son--the firstborn Son, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14). And again, "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:16-17).

Anyone who has grace but not truth is not the child of God. Grace is the love that we have freely received, and truth is the love that we give freely again through the love that we have freely received. Salvation is not finished when we receive it. It is finished when we work out the salvation we have received. Therefore, the Truth says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34).

The Lord, who gave himself for our salvation by the will of God, said, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love." (John 15:9). And the Bible testifies, "We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

The servant who had received the five talents had grace, and also truth which was fulfilled by the grace. And so he entered into the joy of his lord. However, the servant who had received the one talent had only grace, but not truth. And so he was thrown into the darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

There must be life in true grace. We have freely received grace, but that's not all. If we have freely received, we have to freely give. It is written, "...Freely you have received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8).

The Bible is real food which we have to chew on. The Bible said, "Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?" (Matthew 18:33).

Grace is imperishable seed, and truth is fruit to holiness. It is written, "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23). And again, "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life." (Romans 6:22).

Therefore, "having been set free from seen" does not mean everlasting life, but the result of "having become slaves of God and having fruit to holiness" is everlasting life.

In the end, fruit, not seed, will enter the barn. It is written, "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit." (Matthew 21:43). And also, "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:12). The head without grain is the chaff.

However, many people know only grace, but not truth. The Bible is about the two stone tablets--grace and truth. They have an eye for one tablet, but not the other.

If a servant only praises the lord's grace, he knows only his own joy, not the lord's joy. The Bible is not just about the praise of grace.

Grace tastes sweet in my mouth, but truth turns my stomach sour. Grace means Jesus' dying alone, but truth means my dying with Jesus. The eternal gospel tastes as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I have eaten it, my stomach turns sour. It is written, "I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, 'You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.'" (Revelation 10:10-11).

Therefore, salvation does not mean only grace, but also truth. It is written, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32). I thank the Lord who makes me prophesy again.

The Last Brother, Kim Yun-gu.