BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

If you don’t understand the grace I’m talking about, then you’re about to discover a powerful truth. It’s time for you to get free—free from the old covenant thinking that will keep you tied to the old way of doing things. It’s time to live the life grace provides. And to do that, you’ve got to know exactly what grace is. Grace Is New Covenant Two of the covenants in the Bible are the covenant God gave by Moses (the Law) and the covenant that came by Jesus (John 1:17). The dispensation, or the rules by which God operated, changed from the old to the new covenant. How God operated in the old covenant when dealing with Adam, Cain and Abel, and Moses, and how operates today is based on specific, yet different, agreements. If we don’t understand the difference in dispensations between the old and new covenants, we could find ourselves mixing a little of the old with a little of the new—a little law with a little grace. Instead, we need to see the love and mercy of God through the eyes of the new covenant. Understanding that will allow us to embrace the life afforded us through the New Testament. Grace Is Jesus "And the Word was made flesh, 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 bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:14-17). The Law, which God established under the old covenant, was given by Moses, but grace and truth—two words that are synonymous in the Word of God—came by Jesus. Understand that grace is more than a subject. Grace is a person, and His Name is Jesus. Jesus showed up full of grace and truth, because that’s who He is. He is grace and truth. Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” *********************************** Watch Creflo teach on grace at the 2014 Southwest Believers' Convention kcm.org/ondemand ************************************* Jesus was born under the Law so that He could perfectly fulfill the Law and deliver God’s people from it. He was born so they could understand and receive His Father’s love and, as a result, be able to fulfill anything that needed to be fulfilled. Jesus didn’t come to give us more law; He came to redeem you and me from the Law. "The Amplified Bible" says it this way, “To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us [and be recognized as God’s sons]” (verse 5). The sons of God—you and I—are led by the Spirit of God. We don’t need to be led by what was written on stones because the Spirit of God moves on the inside of us and leads us. Grace Is Righteous When you get under the grace of God, you don’t sin more, you sin less. Titus 2:11-14 says, “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; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” The grace of God empowers us to live godly and righteously. When we’re under the grace of God, the love of God is so strong that it constrains us. We don’t want to do what we used to do because we’re so focused on Jesus and what He has done for us. Things that we are unclear about now, will be opened up to us as we depend on the Holy Spirit to show us His truth. He will lead us step by step through the answers to our questions and take us into deeper waters. 10 : BVOV

• Cover