The admonition to Timothy by the Apostle Paul in II Timothy 2:1 is “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Grace is God’s enablement to do what would be futile without the infusion of grace into the soul. The grace of God is imparted to all those who are in Christ Jesus. The Apostle John records the words of Jesus in John 15:5, “I am the vine you are the branches, He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.” It is the power of grace that enables us to subdue sin, resist temptation, and to walk faithfully in the will of God.
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality: that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God.” I Thessalonians 4:3-5. This is the aim of all those who have the grace of God; to pursue righteousness which catapults a believer into greater measures of grace. The Puritan Welsh preacher Christopher Love writes, “Believers ought not to rest satisfied with the small measure of grace they have received. Though a little grace may bring you to heaven, you are not to recline there; but if you have gotten a little grace, labor for more.” It is not an option for the believer to neglect the pursuance of grace. As the children of God, we are to take heed to Paul’s admonishment to Timothy, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” The purpose for this instruction is to obtain the stature of “faithful men who will be able to teach others.” II Timothy 2:2.
Grace that is strong will be a testimony to the power of grace. Consider the young men written of in I John 2:14. John writes “I have written to you young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.” They are young men who are “strong in the Lord and the power of His might.” Ephesians 6:10. They are obedient to the word of God. Grace flows with power into those who are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are students of the word of God. They listen to godly instruction concerning how to overcome the wicked one. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11. Grace has taught them that this warfare against the soul has a spiritual dimension that all the wisdom of the world is blinded to. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12. But those who are strong in the grace of God, are not without knowledge and use the weapons of warfare to resist the devil’s devices.
Furthermore, they have equipped themselves to be soldiers of God by having become strong in the grace of God. They are able to handle the pressures, disappointments, and temptations that daily assault them. They persevere through the hardships they face. They must not falter and they will not, being strong in the grace of God in Christ Jesus. They have heeded the exhortation to, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” The soldier is no longer tempted by the former life he once lived. He has been enlisted into the army of God by the Captain of his salvation; a great privilege. His one and only desire is to please Him. “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier.” II Timothy 2:4.
The grace of God is the kingdom that the man of faith walks in. He has access to this grace by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand—.” Any who want to be victorious in Christ must press forward to “be strong in the grace that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Where are you today? Do you have weak grace or strong grace? One of my mentors made a revealing statement about one’s success in the Christian’s walk. “If we are failing it is our doing, if we are succeeding it is God’s doing.” If we are pursuing righteousness, Christ will strengthen us in His powerful grace. If we are disobedient to God, we are heading to failure because of quenching the grace of God. Get back under the means of grace if the latter is so.
Where the grace blows,