How many times have you heard statements like these?
“If you obey, then God will bless you.”
“If you give enough, then God will prosper you.”
“If you pray hard enough, then God will answer.”
“If you remain faithful, then God will accept you.”
For many believers, Christianity becomes a never-ending cycle of “If I do my part… then God will do His.”
But is that the message Christ is giving the Body of Christ today?
Or are we taking instructions from another program and applying them where they do not belong?
This is why Paul tells us:
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God… rightly dividing the word of truth.”
(2 Timothy 2:15)
Right division doesn’t diminish God’s Word.
It lets every passage stand exactly where God placed it.
There is a difference between God’s dealings with Israel under the Law and His dealings with the Body of Christ under Grace.
There is a difference between Prophecy and the Mystery.
There is a difference between an earthly kingdom program and a heavenly calling.
Throughout Israel’s history, God’s covenant relationship often included clear conditions.
“If you obey…”
“If you keep my commandments…”
“If you walk in my statutes…”
Then God promised earthly blessings in their land.
That was Israel’s covenant program.
Those promises were real.
They were holy.
They were true.
But they belonged to Israel.
Then something extraordinary happened.
The risen, glorified Christ revealed to Paul “the dispensation of the grace of God.” (Ephesians 3:2)
A message “kept secret since the world began.” (Romans 16:25)
Paul, “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13), proclaims a completely different basis for our standing before God.
Not “If you… then God will…”
But “According to His grace.”
Listen to Paul’s words:
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”
(Ephesians 1:7)
Notice what is missing.
No conditions.
No probation.
No bargaining.
No performance.
Our forgiveness is according to the riches of His grace.
Again Paul writes:
“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
(2 Timothy 1:9)
Did you see it?
Not according to our works…
But according to His purpose and grace.
That changes everything.
• Israel’s covenant blessings were connected with obedience under the Law.
• Our spiritual blessings are according to God’s grace in Christ.
• Israel anticipated an earthly kingdom.
• The Body of Christ has a heavenly calling.
• Israel’s program was revealed by prophecy.
• Our program was revealed through the Mystery committed to Paul.
This does not mean grace encourages careless living.
Quite the opposite.
Grace produces what the Law could never accomplish.
We do not serve God to earn His acceptance.
We serve because we have already been accepted in Christ.
We do not obey in order to become His children.
We obey because we already are His children.
We do not labor hoping Christ will finish the work.
We labor because Christ already has.
The gospel Paul preached is gloriously simple:
“Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
(1 Corinthians 15:3–4)
Our salvation does not rest upon what we promise God.
It rests upon what Christ accomplished at Calvary.
His death was sufficient.
His blood was sufficient.
His resurrection was sufficient.
Grace is not God lowering His standards.
Grace is God meeting every one of His righteous demands through the finished work of His Son.
When we mix Law and Grace, we exchange assurance for anxiety.
We begin asking,
“Have I done enough?”
“Have I obeyed enough?”
“Have I qualified for God’s blessing?”
But grace points us away from ourselves…
And fixes our eyes on Christ.
Your security is not according to your consistency.
Your standing is not according to your performance.
Your acceptance is not according to your works.
It is according to grace.
So stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free.
Rejoice in your identity in Christ.
Walk worthy of your heavenly calling.
And never forget:
God’s blessings toward the Body of Christ are not built upon “If you… then God will.” They are built upon the finished work of Christ and bestowed according to the riches of His grace.
All Scripture quotations are from the King James Bible
