Grace for Grace
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Winds of Grace: Walking in Victory Over Sin and Sickness
Ken Petty’s 2018 series called Winds of Grace covered 10 keys to walking in victory, and I recommend studying it.
I’d always thought of grace as “undeserved or unmerited favor,” but it’s much more than that; grace is something that we can live. We can live in grace. We have it, but we can also live and walk in it.
In that seminar, Ken showed that the Greek word often translated “grace,” charis, comes from a root verb that means to rejoice or to be full of joy. Grace is rooted in joy.
In Greek literature, charis was a special manifestation of the divine presence, activity, power, or glory.
Grace is the power that enables us to overcome sin and to live victoriously. —Ken Petty
And we can live victoriously with joy.
I also highly recommend Grace: The Power to Change.
Grace is God’s ability working in man, making him able to do what he cannot do in his own ability. —Jim Richards
I’m going to be reading from my Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation, which is also available as an Android App.
John 1:14 APNT:
And the word became flesh and lived among us and we saw his glory, the glory as of the unique one who was from the Father, who is full of grace and truthfulness.
“Grace and truth” can be put together as “true grace” or “faithful grace.” The word translated as truthfulness or truth, means faithfulness. It’s the same word used in Ephesians 6:14 “having your loins girt about with truth” (KJV).
Ephesians 6:14a APNT:
Therefore, stand and gird up your waist with truthfulness….
You’re girding your lions with God’s faithfulness to His Word.
There was lots of grace in the Old Testament but it culminated in Jesus Christ.
John 1:16 APNT:
And from his fullness we all have received and grace on account of grace,
You could translated it “grace for grace” or “grace because of grace.” We can live in grace and have it manifested in our lives because the fullness of grace came to pass in Jesus Christ.
We are still in John Chapter 1 and Jesus Christ hasn’t accomplished anything yet, but it’s the prologue to what his entire life is going to be about.
John 1:16 NET:
For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another.
grace for grace = grace in place of grace; new grace, continuous, and unintermitted. Ever fresh grace according to the need. —E.W. Bullinger The Companion Bible
God always has whatever grace we need for the moment.
John 1:17 APNT:
because the law was given by way of Moses, but truth and grace was by way of Jesus Christ.
It’s not about us anymore; it’s His ability working in us.
Ephesians 2:8 APNT:
For by his grace we were redeemed by faith and this was not from yourselves, but is the gift of God,
Ephesians 2:10 APNT:
For we [are] his own creation, who are created in Jesus Christ for good works, those [works] which God prepared previouslythat we should walk in
Ephesians 2:10 ISV:
For we are God’s masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.
The Aramaic Word for Grace
Taybutha from the root tav, which means “to be good.” In the Eastern way of thinking, grace is God’s goodness!
Exodus 34:6 ESV:
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
In the Peshitta Old Testament, this phrase “steadfast love and faithfulness” is the same phrase used in John 1:14. God is abounding in grace and truth, grace and faithfulness.
To help your understanding grow, when you read the word “grace” in the Bible, you can mentally substitute “God’s goodness.”
The “b” in the Aramaic word, taybutha, stands for the family. God’s heart is always to pour out His goodness to the family.
Romans 5:17 APNT:
For if because of the error of one, death reigned, much more those who receive the abundance of grace [God’s goodness] and of the gift and of uprightness will reign in life by way of one, Jesus Christ.
We now have an expanded definition of grace, beyond just unmerited favor. It’s God’s goodness poured out to us so that we can reign in life.
Romans 5:1–2 APNT:
1 Therefore, because we are justified by faith, we have peace toward God by our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 by whom we were brought by faith to this grace [God’s goodness] in which we stand and boast in the hope of the glory of God
2 Corinthians 9:8 APNT:
Now all grace [God’s goodness] comes by the hands of God who causes [it] to increase in you, so that always, in everything, you will havewhat is sufficient for you and will increase in every good work.
2 Peter 3:18 APNT:
But grow in grace [God’s goodness] and in the knowledge of our Lord and our redeemer, Jesus Christ, and of God the Father, to whom [be] glory, both now and always, even for the days of eternity. Amen.
James 4:6 ESV:
But he gives more grace [God’s goodness]. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace [God’s goodness] to the humble.”
2 Timothy 2:1 APNT:
You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace [God’s goodness] which is in Jesus Christ.
Grace is like a reservoir. Grace is a reservoir of God’s blessings and benefits that are freely available to man. —Ken Petty
I think of the Hoover Dam (built in 1931–1936) and Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. The amount of electricity (power) generated by the Hoover Dam is immense.
Like the workers decide how much water will flow through the turbines in the Hoover Dam, we determine, by our faith, how much of God’s grace will flow into and through our lives. The reservoir is huge, and we can let it flow, or we can hold it back.
Another key to walking in grace is that it’s the same as how we got born again.
Romans 10:9 APNT:
And if you confess with your mouth our Lord Jesus and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will have life.
Romans 10:11 APNT:
For the scripture said: All who believe in him will not be ashamed.
Hebrews 4:16 NLT:
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace [God’s goodness] to help us when we need it most.
The first three of the ten keys Ken Petty covered in Winds of Grace:
- God gives grace to the humble—those who willingly submit to God.
- We receive God’s grace by boldly going with faith to Him in prayer.
- In every situation and circumstance of our lives, God will provide the grace we need at the time we need it to be victorious.
Gene Meldrum — Seek Your Face:
2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 APNT:
16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and gave us everlasting comfort and good hope by his grace [God’s goodness],
17 comfort your hearts and establish [you] in every word and in every good work.
See Also
Winds of Grace, Rev. Ken Petty, Emmaus Road Bible Fellowship
Winds of Grace audio teachings are available via this order form
Scripture References
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked (ISV) taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.0. Copyright © 1996–2011 by the ISV Foundation. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC. All rights reserved internationally.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from The NET Bible® Copyright © 1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.netbible.com. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, USA. All rights reserved.
Bookstore Suggestions:
