AMAZING GRACE

      "THEREFORE IT IS OF FAITH THAT IT MIGHT BE ACCORDING TO GRACE, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the Law (Covenant), but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all," Rom 4:16.

      "Through whom also we have access by FAITH into this GRACE in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God," Rom 5:2.

      "For by GRACE you have been saved through FAITH, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God," Ep 2:8. See Also: Acts 4:32-33; 18:27; 20:24 (Rom 1:16-17); Rom 1:5,7; 4:3-5; 12:3,6; 14:23; I Tim 1:14.

      We cannot emphasize too much that faith and grace ALWAYS go together: GRACE must accompany FAITH. There is no such thing as Bible faith without God's grace. Whatever is "by faith," is ALWAYS "by grace," for whatever is NOT of faith is SIN, Ro 14:23. All the many great accomplishments of Hebrews 11 were BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH. They were "by faith," therefore "by grace" -- by grace through faith works, Acts 4:33 (23-37); 13:43; 14:26; 15:40; 18:27; 20:32; Rom 1:5; 4:16; 5:2; 6:14-17; 11:5-22; 12:3-6; 15:15; I Cor 1:1-8; 3:10-15; 10:30 (14-33); 15:10; II Cor 1:12; 6:1-10; 8:1-7,19; 9:8-14; 12:7-10; Gal 2:9; 2:21; 5:4 (1-5); Eph 1:6-7-; 2:8-10; 3:2,7-10; 4:7-16; Phil 2:12-13; Col 3:16; 4:6; II Thess 1:12; 2:16; II Tim 2:1; 2:11-14; Heb 4:16; 11:6; 12:15-17,28; 13:9; Jam 4:6; I Pet 4:10; 5:5; II Pet 1:2; 3:18.

      "Buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through THE FAITH OF THE WORKING OF GOD, who raised Him from the dead," Col 2:;12.

      This passage explicitly states that baptism is God's own WORKING OF THE FAITH, and since it is a working of the faith in us, it is a work of grace by faith. This is true because faith, the faith, and God's grace always go together, as husband and wife, parents and children, front and back, top and bottom, inside and outside, up and down, left and right go together. They are an inseparable pair. We cannot have one without the other.
      Baptism is a part of the New Covenant. It's a part of the Great Commission. It's a part of the gospel of Christ. It's a part of "the faith" once for all delivered to the saints. All of these are the same. They are all the works of God. And they are all designed to be by faith which requires they be by grace -- by grace through faith.
       No part of the New Covenant, the Great Commission, the gospel of Christ, or "the faith" can be performed without faith, for whatever is not faith in sin (Rom 14:;23), and without faith it is impossible to please God, Heb 11:6.
      Every "WORK" in the New Covenant, in the Great Commission, in the gospel, and in "the faith" is designed to be "a WORK of FAITH with POWER," II Thess 1:11; I Thess 1:3.
      Scriptural baptism is "a work of faith" (a work of God, a work of the Holy Spirit) because the Scriptures say so, Rom 1:5; 16:26; Col 2:12; Phil 2:12-13; I Co 15:10; He 4:16; 12:28.
      It is by grace that "the word of faith" (Rom 10:8) is offered to sinful man. It is by grace that the Holy Spirit generates repentance and faith in the hearts of sinful men. The Holy Spirit continues to generate faith in the hearts of those same people as long as they are "of faith" and "full of faith," i.e., as long as they continue to walk by faith as it is generated in their hearts, Acts 6:5,8; 11:24; Gal 3:6-9; Heb 11.
      It is by grace that the Holy Spirit generates faith in the heart of the saved person to obey, Rom 1:5; 16:26; Col 2:12. It is by grace that the Holy Spirit generates "FAITH with POWER" to OBEY in the hearts of saved people, II Th 1:11.
      "Faith with power" is the working of the Holy Spirit in us as He uses our minds and our bodies "to be willing and to be doing" God's good pleasure in and through us, Ph 2:12-13.
      Again, the New Covenant is a GRACE covenant, Ro 6:14; 5:2; I Pet 4:10; Eph 3:2. And the covenants with all their promises belong first to the Father, to Christ, to the Holy Spirit, and then to the covenant people, Ga 3:14-19,27-29; He 8:8-13; 9:15-17; 10:16-30.
      The proof is overwhelming throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament that only the faithful saved constitute the covenant people, Gen 12:1-3; 15; 17; 18:17-19; 22:1-18; 26:2-5; 28; Ex 19:3-6; Lev 20:22-26; Deut 7:6-11; 14:2; 26:16-19; Mt 3:16-18; I Pet 2:5-9; Tim 2:11-14; Rom 11:11-22; II Cor 6:14-18; Gal 2:6-9,14,27-29; Heb 3; 6:4-6,11-20; 10:16-39; 11: 12:1-17,25-29; et al.
      Beginning with Abraham and especially since the beginning of the Law Covenant, the faithful have been restricted to the seed of Abraham, i.e., to Israel and the church, Ex 19:3-6; Lev 11; 20:22-26; Deut 7:6-11; 14:2; 26:16-19; I Pet 5-9; Tim 2:14; II Cor 6:14-18; Eph 2:11-22; see also the scriptures in the above paragraph. Those in the church are the engrafted seed of Abraham, Rom 11:11-22; and all the above scriptures.
      John's baptism is metaphorically the entrance or door into the body of Christ, therefore into Christ, because the church is also metaphorically called the body of Christ. The Scriptures, therefore, assign this intimacy to the church and Christ as though they were one entity, i.e., one person, Rom 6:3-6; I Cor 12:12 (12-27); Gal 3:27; Col 2:11-17,19; Acts 9:4-5; 22:7-8; 26:14-15.