The
Professor's Theological Home Page
"...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved..." (Acts 16:31)
By
definition, the super-grace status of the believer is the highest stage of
spiritual adulthood which Paul describes in First Timothy 1:14 as “abundant”
grace. Super-grace is the result of maximizing
God’s grace and is the “fullness of God” that Paul writes about in Ephesians
3:19.
“And the grace of our
Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” (KJV
1 Tim. 1:14)
“And to know the love of
Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be
filled with all the fullness of God.” (KJV Eph. 3:19)
The
super-grace status is the category of God’s grace that applies to the winner
believer only. Super-grace is the
highest adult stage of the spiritual life within God’s Royal Family and is the
objective for every Christian after salvation.
In this stage we are completely occupied with Jesus Christ, and, not
only does He becomes our best friend, but we share His perfect happiness. We are no longer slaves to our circumstances
in our lives. Extraordinarily, we can
begin to handle undeserved suffering and maintain a total sense of security as
well as maintain the same mental attitude whether in prosperity or in disaster. In other words, we have confidence that the
Lord has all circumstances under control.
As
in any true relationship, it will require time and effort on our part to allow
the relationship to flourish. It is at
this stage in our spiritual life when we truly have capacity for life, love,
true happiness and blessings, since we fully understand all the different
categories of God’s grace.
The
super-grace status is the objective of every believer after salvation and
should have top priority in our scale of values (Eph. 3:16-19).
“16) That He would grant
you, according to The riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His
Spirit in the inner man; 17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;
that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18) May be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth,
and length, and depth, and height; 19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God.” (KJV Eph. 3:16-19)
Being
filled with all the fullness of God is synonymous with spiritual maturity, but
there are obstacles that will keep us from this objective, which is what Hebrews
12:1 brings out.
“Wherefore seeing we also
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before
us,” (KJV Heb. 12:1)
We
are to get rid of anything that will keep us from reaching our super-grace
status of maturity. The words “lay
aside” have a reference to taking off like clothes and putting away as
in a prison. Our verse in view is
teaching that we are to renounce permanently anything that will keep us from
our objective. Therefore, it is
imperative to know what these obstacles are, so that we may put them away under
lock and key.
The
word “weight” in Hebrews 12:1 is translated from the Greek noun onkon meaning, “a
weight, a burden, a hindrance, something that gets in
one’s way.” By definition, onkon has a reference to anything
that hinders our spiritual progress.
The
word “race” in Hebrews 12:1 is a reference to either a “struggle, a fight, or a
race.” Both athletes and soldiers are
required to maintain a physical conditioning that cannot have any hindrance to
their respective performance. Carrying
extra body weight or unnecessary clothing would be a hindrance to an athlete in
the realm of athletic competition. The
same analogy would apply to the soldier in the battlefield. In the spiritual realm these hindrances that onkon has a
reference to, would not fall under the category of sin. This is why the author of Hebrews makes the
distinction with the words “weight” and “sin.”
The
“weight” that is spoken about in our verse is anything that would cause us not
to concentrate on our super-grace objective.
As we have seen, our objective is not only to reach super-grace status,
but also to maintain that status of maturity.
By definition, the opposite of concentration is distraction. Therefore, to “lay aside every weight,” would
be a mandate for every Church Age believer to take off and lock away any
distractions. The distractions to
Christians today can be quite numerous and often very subtle.
Distractions
could include such things as entertainment or a social life. There is nothing wrong with either of these
activities, but they can be emphasized to the point of taking priority over
learning God’s Word, then they can become a hindrance to our spiritual
momentum.
Not
having an organized life can also become a hindrance or a distraction to
reaching our super-grace life. Not being
organized will lead us to a mismanagement of our time and become a distraction
to our objective in our spiritual life.
An organized life always begins with an organized mind. An organized Christian thinker will set time
each day for learning God’s Word as well as time on the job and for
family. Of course, we will also need
time to properly nourish and rest our physical bodies as well as allow time for
entertainment. A balance in all these
areas of our life will allow us to manage our time and effort effectively in
order to reach and maintain our super-grace status. Emphasis on the details of this life placed
over our relationship with the Lord will become a hindrance and cause us to
miss out on the fantastic blessings that come with reaching super-grace. Not only will we miss out on fantastic
blessings in this life, but also in eternity future.
Knowing God‘s thoughts and understanding how He
operates should be the number one priority in the Christian life. The Apostle Paul understood the importance of
maintaining a balance in his priorities and that balance fostered confidence in
his future in eternity (2 Tim. 4: 7-8).
“7) I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith: 8) Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day:
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” (KJV 2
Tim. 4:7-8)
In
this passage, Paul was about to be beheaded when he wrote these words to
Timothy, yet he rejoiced because he had maximized God’s grace in his life and
shortly in his death. As a result, Paul
had also maximized his rewards in eternity future. Paul knew that he would also receive
surpassing-grace, which is simply a reference to the blessings, awards, and
decorations for the mature believer—those reaching and maintaining their
super-grace status of maturity in time.
Certainly,
we will be faced with legitimate distractions while running our race, things
which include disaster. None of us are
resistant; however, it is a matter of maintaining right priorities by living in
the light of eternity and realizing this life is short, whereas eternity is
forever.