The Necessity and Sufficiency of Grace

By Ralph R. Roberts

To the one whose heart has been freshly stirred

The power of the word of God concerning His grace has arrested your attention, and you sense conviction. Abundant grace is available to support your impending journey on the path of newness of life. If you dare to take this journey, you will discover who you are and why you were created. Not one of us is an accident. The God that created you is aware of you and your potential and wants to shape you and to reveal your full created intent. This can only happen when you are submissive and accepting of His grace. You will learn the true process of accepting His grace and how to live accordingly in His grace. You will be brought to an understanding of the insufficiency of man and the sufficiency of God, who equips you for success. You will discover God's reward system of eternal life in His presence over the background noise of humanistic beliefs of reward systems based on social standing or political and economic prowess. As you grow in His presence, you will learn how He has furnished you to magnify the kingdom that you now serve. Happy will be your journeying in the grace of God.

To the one seasoned in grace

Herein lie words of confirmation of the power of accepted grace. The reader is encouraged to check and balance the status of his own journey against that of God's word. Stephen the Martyr is exemplified as the epitome of accepted grace. The reader is made aware of unforeseen pitfalls that might be slowing his or her own progress in accepted grace. Living in grace and reciprocating grace to all are encouraged.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639038527

Ralph R. Roberts

Ralph R. Roberts is a seasoned real estate professional and foreclosure expert who buys, rehabs, and resells homes.

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Table of Contents

Preface

The Word of God

1.1 The Fall of Mankind

1.2 The Word of Grace

1.3 The Acceptance of Grace Process

1.4 The Power of Accepted Grace

1.5 The Abundance and Urgency of Grace

1.6 The Word of God’s Grace Becomes Flesh

The Dispensation of Grace

2.1 The Grace of God Is Freely Given

2.2 Grace versus World Systems

Necessity and Sufficiency

3.1 Necessity Premises

3.2 Sufficiency Premises

3.3 Necessary but Not Sufficient Premises

3.4 Not Necessary but Sufficient Premises

3.5 Neither Necessary nor Sufficient Premises

3.6 Necessary and Sufficient Premises

Self-Sufficiency

4.1 Self-Sufficiency and Creationism

4.2 The Self-Sufficiency of the Creator

The Necessity of God’s Grace

5.1 The Law of Syllogism

5.2 The Necessity of Sin Leading to Death

5.3 The Necessity of Death Requiring Grace

5.4 Grace Necessarily Requires an Atoning Blood Sacrifice

5.5 The Atonement for Sin Necessitates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

5.6 The Necessity of Grace Leading to Reconciliation

The Sufficiency of God’s Grace

6.1 The Insufficiency of the Sinful Man

6.2 God, the Sufficient Provider

6.3 The Mandatory Outcome of Accepted Grace

The Necessity and Sufficiency of God’s Grace

Living in Grace

8.1 From Grace to Faith to Righteousness

8.2 From Grace to Hope to Eternity

8.3 Living by the Word of God

8.4 Man Aught Always to Pray

8.5 Increase in the Knowledge of God

8.6 Walk in Truth

8.7 Walk in the Spirit

The Gifts of Grace

9.1 The Reciprocation of Grace

9.2 Grace to Prophecy

9.3 Grace to Minister

9.4 Grace to Teach

9.5 Grace to Exhort

9.6 Grace to Give

9.7 Grace to Rule

9.8 Grace to Show Mercy

Fruit: Evidence of Grace Received

10.1 Joy and Peace

10.2 Patience, Temperance, and Long-Suffering in Love

10.3 Goodness and Truth

10.4 Meekness and Gentleness

Stephen, the Epitome of Grace Received

11.1 Daily Ministration: The Gift of Grace

11.2 Teaching through the Spirit: The Gift of Grace

11.3 Mercy: The Gift of Grace

Guarding Your Grace

12.1 Mitigating the Seed of Mistrust

12.2 Discounting the Seed of Discouragement

12.3 Doffing the Seed of Doubt

12.4 Prohibiting the Seed of Pride

Postface

cover.jpg

The

Necessity

and

Sufficiency of

Grace

RALPH R. ROBERTS, PHD

ISBN 978-1-63903-851-0 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63903-852-7 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Ralph R. Roberts, PhD

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Scripture references are taken strictly from the King James Version of the Bible.

Printed in the United States of America

To my wife Marcia and our children, Kerry-Ann, Rohan, Joel, and Noel. May they always trust in God to provide daily for their needs, both physically and spiritually.

Preface

This book is a resource for both the one whose heart has been stirred by the word of God’s grace as well as for the seasoned believer already established in His grace.

To the one whose heart has been freshly stirred

The power of the word of God concerning His grace has arrested your attention, and you sense conviction. Abundant grace is available to support your impending journey on the path of newness of life. If you dare to take this journey, you will discover who you are and why you were created. Not one of us is an accident. The God that created you is aware of you and your potential and wants to shape you and to reveal your full created intent. This can only happen when you are submissive and accepting of His grace. You will learn the true process of accepting His grace and how to live accordingly in His grace. You will be brought to an understanding of the insufficiency of man and the sufficiency of God, who equips you for success. You will discover God’s reward system of eternal life in His presence over the background noise of humanistic beliefs of reward systems based on social standing or political and economic prowess. As you grow in His presence, you will learn how He has furnished you to magnify the kingdom that you now serve. Happy will be your journeying in the grace of God.

The analytically minded will appreciate the use deductive logic to scrutinize the word of God. If God is one of perfection and precision, then His plan for man’s salvation as documented by His word must be precise and to the point. The question of the necessity and sufficiency of the grace of God to provide salvation is examined at length. You get to grade the precision of the word of God concerning His grace.

To the one seasoned in grace

Herein lie words of confirmation of the power of accepted grace. The reader is encouraged to check and balance the status of his own journey against that of God’s word. Stephen the Martyr is exemplified as the epitome of accepted grace. The reader is made aware of unforeseen pitfalls that might be slowing his or her own progress in accepted grace. Living in grace and reciprocating grace to all are encouraged.

1

The Word of God

God represents all that is good (Psalm 34:8, Psalm 107:1, James 1:17). This includes his good perception. The spoken word of God, the action following His perception, therefore reflects His goodness. The word of God uttered the physical world into existence. The Milky Way He perceived to litter space where once there was void. He spoke, and it was so. Unique solar systems were verbalized into being. Stars He hung in space, all moving in harmonic unison. Each one He counted and called into existence by its name (Psalm 147:4). All creation mirrors the beauty and splendor of the Creator Himself.

All His commandments are 100 percent efficient in return. His words, according to His vision, cannot be returned to Him void of accomplishments (Isaiah 55:11). Of the earth (Genesis 1:10), the flora (Genesis 1:12), fauna (Genesis 1:21, 25) that He spoke into existence, He saw that it was good. Man, however, was to be created in a different manner. Man was to be fashioned from the dust of the earth by the very hands of God. Of His sum creation, He declared, Behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31).

1.1 The Fall of Mankind

The account of Adam and Eve as the foreparents of mankind is a story well established and accepted within the Christian community. God, the Creator of all, created Adam from the dust of the earth. Eve He created from the rib of Adam. They were different from all other creatures. God had breathed into man His breath, thus transplanting his likeness (Genesis 1:26). Man was a living soul.

God provided mankind with a free will. His intent was not for robotic beings but for beings that would willingly adhere to His precepts. To mankind, He assigned the stewardship of the Garden of Eden. There was regular communion with His creation who understood the origin of all their blessings.

The one do not that was stipulated by God was the restriction of man from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. The demise of mankind was set in motion by the beguiling power of Lucifer. The proverbial fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was consumed, and man was now subject to the penalty for the crime committed. He was now subject to the law of sin and death. The spiritual bond with the Creator was immediately severed, and man realized his nakedness. His physical existence was now finite, as death was to return him to the ground as dust from whence he was obtained.

The mind of man was now under the influence of Lucifer, the tempter. His individualized mindset now perceived and acted upon evil versus good. He was now a law unto himself. Now a deceptive creature, he was able to perceive and verbalize untruths as the one that beguiled Eve. The heart of man was now truly changed.

Further downfall was upon mankind. Awaiting him was the day of reckoning when his deeds would reap him a just reward. God, the Creator of all and the judge of all, must be appeased for every act of sin. Not only was man’s physical death imminent, but there had to be a reckoning for the eternal state of his soul.

1.2 The Word of Grace

Every good gift is from God above (James 1:17). He is the source of all grace (1 Peter 5:10). To mankind, a lost and wicked generation, He offers the gift of redemption for sins committed. To receive this specific word of grace from God surpasses all other bestowments of favor. Sin cannot go unpunished, and so God, in His wisdom, knowing that man could not redeem himself, would offer His own beloved son, Jesus the Christ, in the sacrificial form of a sinless man. The cost for sin is the shedding of innocent blood, and the sacrifice of Jesus would be the source of appeasement to God (Hebrews 9:22). The acceptance of this grace through the intermediary pathway of Jesus Christ leads to holiness and an inheritance of eternal life. Most pointedly, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ negated the law of sin and death, replacing it with the law of the spirit of life.

And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. (Acts 20:32)

But the