THE GRACE OF GOD Pt.2

Yesterday we learnt what grace is. Today, let us understand the timing of grace, when it began and when it will end. This understanding will make you cherish what you have now, because this season will not last forever.

The Dispensation of Grace did not begin when Jesus was born in a manger. It began when He died, was buried, rose again, and ascended. It was fully inaugurated on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came not just UPON men for a moment, but to dwell INSIDE men permanently.

We are currently living in the 6th dispensation in God's administration — *The Dispensation of Grace.* It is also called the Church Age. It is the longest and most privileged dispensation so far.

At the Cross, the Law of Moses ended as a system for righteousness:

> _"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."_ — *Romans 10:4*

That dispensation is gone and will never return for the Church. Its rituals, ceremonies, washings, Sabbaths and animal sacrifices are not our pathway to salvation. The Law was given to the Jews to show them God's holiness, not to you and me as Gentiles to earn salvation.

> _"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."_ — *Romans 3:19*

Think of the Law like a hospital scan, and Grace like the surgery.

A man is sick. He goes to the hospital and they do a full scan: X-ray, MRI, blood test. The scan is perfect and accurate. It shows him everything wrong with him. It shows him the tumor, the infection, the broken bones. But the scan, no matter how clear, cannot cure him. It can only reveal. In fact, the more scans he does, the more depressed he becomes, because he sees the problem but has no solution.

Then a surgeon comes in and says, "We have found the problem, now let me take it out. I will do what the scan cannot do."

The Law of Moses was the scan. Grace is the surgery.

> _"For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."_ — *Romans 3:20 (NLT)*

The law was never given to save anyone. There are 613 commandments in the Law, and the standard is absolute perfection. Break one, you are guilty of all.

> _"For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws."_ — *James 2:10 (NLT)*

> _"But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, 'Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.'"_ — *Galatians 3:10*

No one ever kept it perfectly. Not Moses, not Elijah, not David. That is why the Law brought guilt, not freedom.

> _"So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, 'It is through faith that a righteous person has life.'"_ — *Galatians 3:11*

So, what did God do? He sent Grace to do what Law could not do. If the Law revealed our sinfulness, Grace does not just reveal it — it empowers us to live above it. Hallelujah!

> _"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world."_ — *Titus 2:11-12*[12]

The Law said "You shall not..." but gave you no power to obey. Grace says "You are a new creation," and then puts the power of the Holy Spirit inside you to live it.

WHEN WILL THIS DISPENSATION END?

This is the most urgent part. This dispensation of free, open grace will not last forever.

*It will end at the Rapture of the Church* — when Christ comes to take His saints away.

> _"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout... and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air..."_ — *1 Thessalonians 4:16-17*

After that, God will resume His dealings with Israel during the Tribulation, and then usher in the final dispensation — the Millennial Kingdom. The door of grace as we know it today will be shut.

> _"For... blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in."_ — *Romans 11:25*

What does this mean for you? It means now is the time. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the time to preach grace, live grace, and bring others into grace because a day is coming when the trumpet will sound and the offer we take for granted today will no longer be available.

Don't waste grace. Are you living like someone who is still under a scan, always condemned, or like someone who has been operated upon and healed by grace?