Though we are sometimes frustrated
by the curves and obstacles which the Lord is pleased to put in
our way, yet He is never frustrated by any outcome, for He causes
all things to occur according to the good pleasure of His will,
and cannot be questioned or held to account by any of the creation
which is His own. How foolish men are who think
otherwise, as he says, remember the former things of old, for
I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like
me. declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times
the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure. Thus it is very easy to see why
men would be frustrated with God, because He is going to perform
that which is good in His eyes without any consultation or input
from men. His purpose is in no wise altered
by anything which men may do or say. Those who wish to worship
the One true and living God take great delight in the fact that
He is truly God and not some idol of man's imagination who
can be manipulated and made to be the servant of men rather
than vice versa. Yet those who go about to establish
their own righteousness deny His absolute authority to demand
one righteousness, which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
They will often pay lip service to seeking that righteousness,
which is His alone, yet they will continually contend that
His bestowal of this righteousness is conditional upon the basis
of something men do, say, obey, or profess to believe. Thus very
subtly they make their own righteousness to be of more import than his. Paul labored under no such delusion
as he writes to the Galatians saying, I do not frustrate the
grace of God. To frustrate the grace of God
would be to contend that a man stands or lives in the power
of his own faith and obedience. He declares the exact opposite
and says that the life which he now lives in the flesh is
the demonstration of God's abundant grace, which enables him to live
by the faith of the Son of God. Not his own faith, which would
surely fail, but rather that faith which is wrought by the
operation of God's grace, which has as its basis not human belief
and obedience, but rather the imputed righteousness of Christ.
The faith of God's elect is not subjective. that is defined by
itself or some activity, but rather it is objective or centered
in the object of faith, which is Christ himself. When the scriptures
say that Abraham was justified by faith, they are not describing
an activity on the part of Abraham which God took notice of, but
rather the very one in whom Abraham was compelled to trust. Abraham's
faith was Christ, for he confessed that he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. When men would
confuse the object of faith with the subject of faith, they do
indeed frustrate the grace of God, for they would substitute
the activity of the flesh for the gift of God, wherein the
Lord calls His own out of darkness and into the light, quite apart
from their activity. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and
not of us. Men do frustrate the grace of
God when they neglect to declare the election of a people in Christ
from before the foundation of the world. The declaration of
the gospel is centered in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It
is impossible to declare that truth if one does not define
who it is that Christ was crucified for. If His atonement was general
in nature, then all men would be saved, unless His redemptive
work is a failure, at least in part. Men frustrate the grace
of God when they neglect to declare the effectual call of the saints
of God. The Lord clearly declared this
truth when He said, He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth
them out. Men frustrate the grace of God
when they fail to preach that God will keep them from falling
away from Him because of His faithfulness to them and not
theirs to Him. But perhaps the most egregious
manner in which some do frustrate the grace of God is by considering
that the keeping of the law by themselves or others to be a
possibility and or that such obedience could earn them a place
in the Lord's favor and blessing. Have you tasted the grace of
God? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at 4the4 at windstream dot net.