Peace, Grace & Faith
There are three aspects of the gospel that separate the Grace Fellowship teaching from most: Peace, Grace & Faith. All three intertwine together to make a wonderful message that is the core of Grace Fellowship. A solid understanding of all three brings revelation about why this message is called "good news"!
The Gospel of Peace: This is not just the absence of conflict or unrest. This is the current state of the relationship between God and man. In the Garden of Eden man sinned and the relationship between God and man had been severed. Man became spiritually dead with no way in and of himself to be made right with God. However, before the foundations of the earth, God had a plan of sending His Son Jesus to bridge the gap between God and man. Have you ever wondered why the angels declared at Jesus' birth "...on earth peace to men..."? To those who recognized it, Jesus' birth was the sign that God's plan of redemption had been set into motion. We needed a Savior to satisfy God's wrath from our sin. Jesus came as a man to live the life we were incapable of living. Through his perfect life, death, burial and resurrection, Jesus completely took our place. God's wrath has been satisfied. No longer is God mad at us. God is not judging us for our sins. All the judgment of God was placed on Jesus. We are now declared innocent and the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus because of the finished work of the cross. That's why guilt and condemnation are not meant to be a part of our thinking. When we understand how complete Jesus' work was and how we are now found in Jesus, it resolves us of the need to perform to appease and please an angry God. He's not angry anymore; He's not even in a bad mood. He's just waiting for us to let this knowledge of peace rule in our hearts as we freely accept all He's done for us.
The Gospel of Grace: Grace goes beyond the commonly accepted definition of God's unmerited favor. Grace is God's ability in us to do that which we could not do ourselves. It is a supernatural power that raised Christ from the grave, and it transforms us daily into the image of Christ. We experience God's salvation for us by grace. It's His finished work. His ability. It's all Him. We can't do anything in our own strength. The payment on the cross purchased so much for us: eternal life with God, physical and emotional healing, peace, joy, wholeness, and the list goes on. All of this is by the grace of God. It's His provision for us and in us. When we receive that free gift of salvation, our spirits are made perfect and everything we need for life and godliness resides inside of us. We are perfect in our spirit, and it's the journey of this lifetime to see what's on the inside of us manifest by His grace.
The Message of Faith: Faith is our response in all of this. Inside of each born again believer is the actual faith of God. When you realize this, the following promise becomes exciting - "All things are possible with God to those who believe." Faith goes beyond wishful thinking, and puts action to Biblical hope (the confident expectation of God's goodness in your life). Faith manifests the provision of God through the context of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and God the Father. When you know God intimately, you know what to expect from Him. When you know what He's already placed on the inside of you, your frustrating position of trying to get God to move changes to a liberating knowledge that God has already successfully moved on your behalf. Faith doesn't move God, it moves you. It moves you to a place of trust knowing you can approach God for every need and then rest in the finished work of Jesus.