A note written by "Rabbi" Andrew Ho in his Facebook page.
Grace cannot be comprehended with our minds. It is meant to be comprehended with our hearts.
For many years, I have always understood grace as a theory and knowledge in my head. No doubt, I could have explained this gospel very accurately and well put together. I could even go to the extend of explaining how grace can produce holiness. Yet, if you were to ask me just a year back, I would in theory told you the same thing. But if I were to be very honest, I have never really experienced it myself. The problem was I never did believed "grace" through my heart, I was merely keeping them as a knowledge, doctrine, theology in my head. Therefore the fruit were not evident.
Christian likes to talk about faith, hope and love. In that order, the greatest of these is love. When they talk about this, a sub-standard preacher will generally tell people to "love!" That "love" is the most important thing, we must love others! Yet in imposing a requirement to love is just as good as focusing on works and the doing of things. We have forgotten that the only 'work' the bible requires us to do is believe. To believe is faith. When you start believing, only then hope ensued, and when hope that is in Jesus Christ is alive, only then love grows out of you.
Many people falls into the trap of understanding through the mind. There will be a lot of reasoning, a lot of intellectual discussion so called. Yet in all these things, it produces absolutely nothing. For as long as these knowledge are thought just as another piece of doctrine, it is of no power unto your life. I have a friend that came to understand the gospel of grace almost the same time as I do (9 years ago). As a matter of fact, he knows much more than me. He would have listened to more sermons and read the bible more, and understand them better too. Today, I don't even know if he still goes to a church.He perhaps had more understanding than I do, but one thing he lack. He had tried to reason out the gospel with his mind, but never let his heart receives it. He had probably a lot of head knowledge. Therefore, the gospel did very little in helping him change. If you sit through with him through a sermon, he would have so many criticisms on the preacher's message. So much so, you'd feel stress even hearing about them.
It is only in recent months, when I am faced with a worrisome situation, difficult people or temptations. I started to keep reminding myself of the grace of God, Jesus' sacrificed and love. I kept telling my heart such as and be reminded in every way. Every time I am faced with a situation which I would, in my previous self take things to the extreme. I later found out that I have a greater capacity to overcome them as I do so. Then I started to realize that in the process of such, I am actually becoming a quote and quote "holier" person than I was. I may have "overcame" sinning. I was surprise, I was very surprise. What I have been telling people it is possible, I am now experiencing it myself.
I have also the privilege to sit down with people who thinks they know a lot about the "gospel of grace". Sitting with them, they would love to think that I am a humble student, looking to learn from their infinite wisdom. Of course, many times I would just sit and listen while nodding my head going "yes, yes, I agree with you. I can understand where you're coming from". Me being as lowly as I can get, I don't get a lot of talk time when I am with adults. They would love to be on the talking side and I do just listening. If I can offer to you a tip about ministering to people, it is not about imparting knowledge to the head. You try to teach people something, they get it, they keep it in mind, they forget it in time. But when you are able to touch their hearts, that, they remember for a long time.
So I am not looking to tell people more about what I know in the doctrine. I am looking to share to people and impart it to their hearts. I do not seek to tick people off with more knowledge or doctrines about Jesus. I relate it to them in a way they can grasp with their heart and encourages faith, encourages them to believe. I find that much more powerful than another theological lesson. For Grace cannot be comprehended with our minds. It is meant to be comprehended with our hearts.
For some of you, perhaps you may not be able to understand what I am saying. It took myself a long time to come to realization of where I've gone wrong either. If Abraham had always been a picture of righteousness through faith, than Sarah was the picture of Grace. While king Abimelech and the pagans fell for the beauty of Sarah, grace. They never accepted Abraham, signifying righteousness through faith. Yet we have to understand that grace and righteousness through faith goes hand in hand. If you take just a side, Isaac will never be produced. This is what I coined as the "fascination of grace". Where people are impressed, intrigued by such a beautiful gospel. However they never really receive it into their hearts. They kept it in their head, like a masterpiece in a museum - for display only.
How is it possible for us to understand anything if we do not reason it with our head. This my friend is how God works that is far from human wisdom. We would have thought that only when we understand then we are able to believe. That is absolute garbage. If we had understand something so thoroughly, we would not need faith to believe in it. It doesn't take faith at all.
When you receive him and believe His grace through your heart. That is faith in action. Then you will find yourself receiving revelations that strikes as divine understanding. A much more superior form of knowledge, that is wisdom. The Holy Spirit will come and reveal to you more things than you had thought, and when right believing is involve, the right doing will follow suit. Only then the fruit will be evident. God bless.
