The Two Aspects of the Most High’s Grace!! Part 1

Exodus 33

We are walking in today: The Two Aspects of the Most High’s Grace!! Part 1

Today The Most High is speaking to His people regarding their preparation to come into the presence of the King. Even as Esther underwent many months of preparation before she was brought into the presence of the king, so we today are being prepared for our King.


An important aspect of our preparation is that we must be established in The Most High's Grace. To understand Biblical grace, we must first unlearn some of what the theologians are saying. There is no "age of grace," or at least Noah was not aware of this notion. The Bible says Noah found grace in the eyes of The Most High! (See Genesis 6:8.) But let us begin with what most of us understand as 'Grace.'


The Scriptures reveal that there are not one, but two aspects of His Grace — one of which has gone largely unnoticed, but which is a vital part of our preparation. Let us Notice the following verse:

Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. (Zechariah 4:7)

As we see in the above passage in Zechariah, The Most High requires two aspects of His grace to be brought to bear in order to bring forth the headstone thereof. Without both aspects of The Most High's Grace, the His habitation can not be built! Thus The Most High is bringing His people to see and understand the two-fold nature of His grace, revealed much in the New Testament, and clearly seen in the above passage in Zechariah as 'Grace-Grace.'


We might say that just as there are two sides to the same coin, so there are two aspects of The Most High's Grace toward His people. This two-fold aspect of Grace can be seen in the encounter with the religious leaders of Yahushua's day, when the man with a palsy was brought to Him to be healed. Notice Yahushua's reply:

Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. (Luke 5:23-24)

Notice in the above passage, that Yahushua speaks of both aspects of The Most High's Grace. These are:

Two Aspects of The Most High's Grace


1) "Thy sins be forgiven thee" [The grace of Mercy and Forgiveness]; and


2) "Rise up and walk" [The grace given to Rise up, and Walk with Yahushua].

Notice that the words 'rise up' and 'arise' are both translated from the Greek word 'egeiro,' which is the same Greek word used to describe Yahushua's Resurrection! Here Yahushua is speaking prophetically of our resurrection life — of our "rising up and walking" in daily, resurrection life with Him. Thus we see in the above passage both aspects of The Most High's Grace — the grace of His mercy and forgiveness, and the grace He gives us to walk with Him, in His Way. Let us now look at these two aspects of grace, and see how they fit into The Most High's plan for the preparation of His People.

By Grace Alone

Many of us have learned that it is by grace that we are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8), and not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us (Titus 3:5). Indeed, works of righteousness are important, but they are the result, and not the cause, of The Most High's Grace.


Martin Luther, spearhead of the great Reformation, went through a series of wrong conclusions, seeking The Most High with great anguish of soul, before the Holy Spirit illumined his understanding concerning true Righteousness and the Grace of The Most High. It was only after he fervently and diligently sought The Most High over the matter, that He revealed to him the true nature of justification by faith, the cornerstone of the Reformation. Until the Believers today do likewise, fervently seeking The Most High, they will, as did Luther in his earlier years, continue to hold fast to a wrong conclusion [only half the truth] of The Most High's Grace.


Thus we must first understand that there is no justification apart from the shed Blood of the Lamb of The Most High, which takes away the sin of the world. Anything good that we would do can not add one whit to our justification. In fact, the Word of The Most High tells us that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6); that is, all our own good works of righteousness, that spring up from our own initiative, as a means of justification, are as filthy rags in the sight of The Most High!


We must thoroughly learn that our means of justification is not from ourselves — and that Yahushua alone is our righteousness. Without this basic understanding of Yahushua as our righteousness, we can not go on to fully grasp the meaning of the mysteries of which the Apostle Paul speaks.


There is one passage of Scripture in which Paul speaks of a mystery hidden from ages and from generations — including most of the evangelical Believers of this present generation. Paul tells us that this hidden mystery is "Messiah in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:26-27). It is this understanding of the mystery of "Messiah in you" that we must fully grasp, so that we might be presented to Messiah fully prepared. It is the understanding of "Messiah in you" that will enable us to have an understanding of both aspects of The Most High's true Grace.


It was this mystery of "Messiah in you" that the Apostle Paul preached, warning every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom (Colossians 1:27-29). Indeed it is Paul who tells us (Romans 5:9-10) that, after first having been justified by Yahushua's Blood – that is, having been reconciled by His death, and Born Again – much more to be considered is that we are to be saved by His life — the life of Messiah in you.


It is the revelation of the mystery of Messiah in you that unlocks a vault full of treasure more precious than rubies. However, it is in understanding the two-fold nature of The Most High's Grace that we will find a Scriptural understanding of Messiah in You. So we see that the two ideas of Grace-Grace and Messiah in You are intertwined.


There are many Scriptures that picture the two-fold nature of The Most High's Grace, but perhaps the one idea that is revealed more than any other is the parallel connection between grace and righteousness. We see this close connection in the description of The Most High's character, as well as in describing how Messiah is to reign within us:

Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. (Psalms 116:5)

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21)

We see from Scripture that grace and righteousness are closely connected. Thus we will begin by observing The Most High's Grace revealed and demonstrated in a two-fold nature of righteousness.

The Seed of Righteousness

The Lord has illustrated many Truths of the Kingdom of The Most High by use of word pictures, or parables, by which many complicated Truths may be seen and understood. Many of the parables Yahushua spoke reveal the two-fold nature of Grace, and of Righteousness. We recall that many of Yahushua's parables describe seeds, which sprout into plants. Some of these plants do not survive the various levels of growth, and others do; some then go on to mature, and some finally produce fruit. This is a profound Truth Yahushua reveals to us.


Let us recognise that Yahushua — His Word, and His Righteousness — are pictured as seeds, which He plants in the soil of our heart. We are told that The Most High is the Gardener, and we are the garden (See 1Cor 3:9; John 15:1). Yahushua plants the seed — the soil does nothing but to receive the seed. In this action of The Most High's planting we may clearly see the first aspect of Grace with which we are familiar — the Grace of Forgiveness.


Having forgiven us, Yahushua, by His Grace, plants the seed of His Word, even the Seed of Himself — and thus His righteousness — in our heart. There is nothing the soil must do, except to receive the seed. Notice how Yahushua pictures this planting and sprouting of the Seed of His Righteousness:

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. (Isaiah 45:8)

In the above passage we see Righteousness revealed in two separate aspects. First, we see Righteousness 'poured down from the skies' (figurative of the heavens), and sown in the earth (in the heart of man); which corresponds to the truth of imputed righteousness, whose heavenly source is Yahushua Himself.


This pouring down from the skies pictures The Most High planting the seed of His Righteousness — Messiah-in-us — by His Grace. He has imputed His Righteousness to us, by Grace through Faith; and He has placed the Seed of Himself within our heart, that He might dwell within, and mature into a Tree of Righteousness within us.


The second thing we see in the above passage is Righteousness that springs up from the earth, even as a plant springs forth from the seed that has been planted in the earth, and eventually bears fruit. This springing up speaks of the life of Yahushua, as the Tree of Life within us, living by His Grace. Notice in the above passage that both the acts of pouring down, and of springing up, are claimed by The Most High to be His own work; and are thus both by His grace — "I the LORD have created it."


This same principle of sowing and reaping can be seen in a passage in Exodus, where Moses asks for more grace:

Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight (Exodus 33:13)

Notice in the above passage that the first mention speaks of grace sown [imputed] by The Most High; but the second mention is a reaping of grace — it is dependent upon being in The Most High's Way, and upon knowing Him. Moses is saying, "if I have found grace in your sight, do this, in order that I may find [more] grace in your sight." Moses knew that The Most High's grace, like His righteousness, and like all other aspects of The Most High's character, must be both sown and harvested in Moses' own life. And it is the same for us!


To gain further understanding that Scripture portrays grace, and righteousness, as seeds and plants, we will take note of the following passages, with regard to sowing and reaping. A key to understanding the following verses is that the word light in Scripture speaks of Righteousness:

And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. (Psalms 37:6)

Light ("Righteousness") is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. (Psalms 97:11)

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so The Most High will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:11)

The above passages reveal that the seed is sown for the fruit, and that it is The Most High who causes righteousness to spring forth and produce the harvest. Thus we see again, that both the sowing of the seed, and the springing forth of the plant, are by The Most High's Grace alone! For a new Testament picture notice the following verse:

And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. (John 1:16)

In the above passage we can clearly see the same principle of seed (grace) sown for, and because of the harvest (grace).


At this point we might ask, "What is The Most High's purpose, that He would plant the Seed of Righteousness within us?" As we will see, The Most High has a goal, or purpose in mind. We all understand in the natural sense, that if we plant seeds, it is because we have a purpose in mind. One purpose is that the plant, or tree, might grow and mature. A further goal is that there be a harvest of fruit from the tree. Thus we will examine the tree, and its fruit.

Trees of Righteousness

We must turn our attention to the mature plant — the tree. Now if the seed is called Righteousness, what is the fruit called? And what is the tree called? We know from practical experience that if we want to harvest corn, we must plant corn seeds. Likewise, if we want a harvest of peaches, we must plant peach seeds. The Lord has illustrated this principle to us, and tells us what fruit we can expect from His planting of the Seed of Righteousness:

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. (Php 1:11)

And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. (James 3:18)

Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness... (2 Co 9:10)

We see that from both natural and Scriptural principles, that the fruit is according to the seed. Thus we see that the Seed of Righteousness that is sown in our heart is to eventually produce the fruit of Righteousness. We will deal with the fruit in detail in the next section. Our focus now is the tree. Since we know that the Fruit of Righteousness comes from the Seed of Righteousness, what is the tree called? Yahushua tells us:

For every tree is known by his own fruit. (Luke 6:44a)

The fruit the tree will bear is the Fruit of Righteousness — for the tree is known [named] by its fruit. In our simple way of thinking, we have concluded that the Seed of Righteousness is planted by The Most High in order to produce a Tree of Righteousness. Let's look at the following passage:

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. (Isa 61:3)

Fiveamprayer, The Most High is talking about people that are called trees of Righteousness. He also tells us that these trees are those that He has planted, and established, unlike the tares that have been planted by an enemy (See Matthew 13:24-30). This tree can bee seen in another sense, in the following passage:

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life (Proverbs 11:30a)

Our understanding of Scripture up to now has been that Yahushua is the Tree of Life. However, in the above passage we see the clear revelation that Messiah-in-us is the Tree of Life living within us, and He is also the producer of the fruit — the result — of the seed that has been planted and cultivated within a man. We will see this Tree of Life in greater detail, as we further examine the fruit.



Shema Selah, O Israel what has the Most High planted in you that will bear fruit according to His purpose?!?