BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Hebrews 10:28-29 mentions this Name: Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on• the testimony of• two or three• witnesses.• Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot,• counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctifi ed a common thing,• and insulted the Spirit of grace? (New King James Version, emphasis added). Believers often refer to grace as a position. But, a position can't be insulted. Only a person can be insulted. After the earthly ministry of Jesus, after His death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of Grace, received the ascendency. He had—and continues to have— dominion in dealing with mankind. Full in the Greek is the word plérés meaning "covered over with grace." Then in John 14:17, Jesus called the Holy Spirit the "Spirit of truth." The Grace of God Covered Jesus Look at Jesus and His ministry on earth: "And the Word was made fl esh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). In this verse, once again the word grace appears alongside the word truth. We even see the Holy Spirit cover Jesus with grace and truth when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. Verses 32-33 say, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." Acts 10:38 also recorded this covering: "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power." The word power, or dunamis in Greek, means "supernatural, or miracle-working ability." Not only was God with Jesus, but the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Grace, had also come over Him. of the grace of God." In verse 32 of that same chapter, he mentioned it again: "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 sanctifi ed" (emphasis added). Paul refers to both, the word of faith and the grace of God. Both are important. While we've studied the word of faith, we haven't spent as much time on the grace of God. So, let's take a moment and look at God's grace, starting with answering the question: What is grace? The Many Names of the Godhead To better understand grace, we have to go back to the Trinity. Three people comprise the godhead: the Father, the Word (Jesus, the Son) and the Holy Ghost (1 John 5:7). Although all three are always together, they have taken turns in who has the ascendency, or the dominion, in dealing with mankind. During the fi rst 4,000 years of our existence, Jehovah the Father had ascendency. He came face to face with mankind. In His dealings with us, He referred to Himself by many Names: Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Nissi and others. Each Name refl ects an aspect of His nature. If we were to look at only one of His Names, we wouldn't have a clear picture of who He is. If we only learn that He is Jehovah Rapha, for instance, we may know Him as Healer, but we'll miss that He is also Jehovah Shalom, our Peace. Or we might miss that He is Jehovah Nissi, our Banner. We would be selling Him short of the fullness of who He is. It's the same with the Son. We know Him as Jesus, Lamb of God, Prince of Peace and other Names. Each one only communicates an aspect of who He is and what He did. While His time on earth was short and His ascendency was only 33 years, He changed everything. The same can be said about understanding the fullness of who the Holy Spirit is. We also know Him by many Names, such as Comforter and Spirit of Truth. There is one in particular, though, I want us to pay close attention to— Spirit of Grace. i Keith A. Butler is founder of Word of Faith International Christian Center in South eld, Mich.; and serves as senior pastor of Faith4Life churches in Round Rock and Dallas, Texas; and in Jackson, Miss. For more information, go to wordoffaith-icc.org. C H A N N E L C H A N N E L • Sun: 8:30 a.m. | 5 p.m. Thu: 9 a.m. | Sat: 3:30 p.m. | 10:30 p.m. ET Watch Keith Butler on 2 4 : B V O V TM

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