Creflo Dollar - How Grace Teaches Humility - Part 1
The only condition placed upon man for the enjoyment of all the blessings of grace, only one condition that's placed upon you, to walk in all of the enjoyment of the blessings of grace. It's in Romans chapter 4:16, faith. Watch this. Romans 4:16. That's why it's crazy ridiculous for you to take your faith and say, my faith made this and my faith made that, and my faith made that, 'cause I don't see God nowhere. God ain't getting no credit for it, all of a sudden it's your faith that did it, but faith doesn't make. Faith doesn't make, grace makes; faith takes. Faith takes what grace makes. Faith didn't make healing, grace gave birth to healing, and faith takes the healing that came from grace. Grace gives birth to prosperity and faith takes what came from grace. Grace gives birth to deliverance and faith takes what came from grace. Grace gives birth to salvation and grace, and faith takes what grace makes.
You didn't make nothing, glory to God. You got folks going on right here, "My faith did that and my faith did that, and my faith," you're not reading the scripture, the scripture says, we live by the faith of the Son of God. Now I understand what they're trying to say, but you gotta start changing what you're saying. God's responsible for everything your faith can take. And that's been the problem, disappointment. Something crazy happened, the little kid died. Somebody said, "What happened"? Say "Your faith wasn't strong enough, that's why they died". Man, come on, stop that. Stop that. Grace takes or makes and faith comes and takes it. Faith appropriates or takes possession of what grace has made. Here it is, "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all".
Now go to the NLT of Romans 4:16, look at this. This is all you have to do, you have faith in what Jesus has done, you have faith in the, first of all, you have faith in Jesus. Well, I got more faith in my faith. Now you have faith in Jesus. You have faith in Jesus and you have faith in the finished works of Jesus. You have faith in Jesus and you have faith in the finish works of Jesus. This ain't no little game. You have faith in Jesus, you got faith in a person, you got faith in what Jesus has done for you. You ain't got nothing if what Jesus hadn't done it for you, you have faith in what Jesus has done. In him we move, in him we breathe, in him we have all of our being. We have faith in what Jesus has done.
So the promise is received by faith. You received the promise how? You received the promise how? It is given as a what? Wow! And we are all certain to receive it. We have been given the measure of faith not a measure of faith, 'cause if he were giving a measure of faith, that means there's another measure, and another measure, and another measure. We've been given the measure of faith, which means all of us have the same measure of faith that everybody else has. It is given as a free gift and we are all certain to receive it whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham's faith for Abraham is the father of all who believe.
So all, see Jesus is the promise, and all of the promises of Jesus that have been made available, the promise of healing and deliverance, all that came from Jesus who is grace. All that all the promises came from Jesus who is grace. All the promises came from Jesus who is grace, and so we now have faith in Jesus and what he's made available to us, and we can enjoy it. I have faith that I'm the righteousness of God. I have faith that I'm redeemed. I have faith that I have the wisdom of God. I have faith that I am healed. I have faith that I am delivered. I have faith in the authority that has been given to me. I have faith in everything that was promised to me as a result of Jesus Christ being here, my faith. And you know the Bible called Jesus faith. When faith has come, then the school master is no longer needed.
Okay, fine, go ahead and take scripture, and just twist it up and roll it around, and just play with it and make it say whatever you wanted to say, or let's get back to context and stay out of the con. All you have to do, the only thing you got to do to experience the enjoyment of the blessings of grace, is to have faith in what he's already done. Did everybody get that? Now, why is that so important? Because this law of faith, let me say it like this now and you'll understand why I said all that. This law of dependence upon God, there it is, this law of faith of simple dependence upon God in order to receive the blessings of grace. This law of faith or simple dependence upon God, that's what faith is ultimately come down to.
Now, the just shall live by depending on God. It's impossible to please God without depending on God. I don't know what kind of faith you're thinking you have if the faith is only outside of depending on God. I depend on God where my righteousness is concerned. I depend on God where my redemption is concerned. I depend on God where my healing is concerned. I depend on God. This law of faith is a simple dependence upon God and that's how we receive the blessings of grace. Now, so what this does, this law of faith, this depending on God, it cuts under man's susceptibility to think highly of himself, so it excludes boasting. When you're dependent on God, and when you're having faith to receive the blessings of God, it excludes boasting, it goes against pride. No pride, no arrogance, no boasting, because the just shall live by depending on God.
Look at Romans chapter 3, verse 27 in the NLT. I depend on God, my faith. I'm depending on God. I'm depending on God for my healing, I'm depending on God for my deliverance, I'm depending on God for my righteousness, I'm depending on God for wisdom. You in a meeting and you don't know what to say and know what to do, and you're dependent on God to show you something. Wisdom is knowing what to do when you don't know what to do. And you're dependent on God to know what to do when you don't know what to do. So you ain't gonna never be in a situation where you don't know how to do something, because you're depending on God. God's gonna show me what to do, I might not be smart but I know how to depend on God. And when I get that wisdom from God, you gonna think I'm smart? But I just listen to what he said and I said what he said, and it blew your mind 'cause I'm not depending on me. If I depend on me, I'm going bump into limitations. Verse 27 says, "Can we boast then that we have done anything to be accepted by God"?
Now back up a little bit. How, what are you gonna, how you are gonna brag about being accepted by God? I tell you how, church has invented a way, believe it or not. I've been real good, that's why God accepted me. I pray nine hours a day, that's why God accepted me. I bring my tithes to the church every first Sunday, that's why God accepted me. I pray in the Holy Ghost every three, three seconds, I might be in a sentence, but get and you ain't got no friend 'cause nobody know what you're talking about. You've come up with ways to try to brag and boast. "Can we boast then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God"? He answered it for you, "No". Why? Because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. So I can't come telling you that, you know, "I obeyed all the Ten Commandments and that's why I was accepted by God". He said, "No, your acquittal is not based on obeying the law, it's based on your faith".
Your dependence upon God, your faith in Jesus Christ. Your depending on Jesus Christ, that's how you were acquitted of your sinful life. Because you did it based on what Jesus has done, and not based on what you do. Christianity has been raised with this idea, that you have earned everything you have as a Christian. You've earned nothing. Do you understand that? You've earned nothing. You think you earned the prosperity, you think you earned your healing, you think you earned your deliverance, you think you earned your salvation, and you give reasons for why you have what you have, and you've been deceived into thinking you earned it. You've earned nothing. Zip, zip, you earned nothing. Everything you have is because of Jesus, and had it not been for Jesus, you would not have what you have, and your faith in him. Is everybody still on this journey with me now?
All right, let's take it another notch. So Paul's attitude was seen in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 14, let's see this. Let's look at his attitude 'cause didn't know Paul was this, Paul was seriously a humble man. You see all of the revelation that came through Paul, now I know why. Humility put Paul in a position where he was exalted above even the disciples, the first disciples before him. Watch this, "As for me," Paul says, "may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified and the world's interest in me has also died". Y'all didn't get that, let me read again. Let me read again. "As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ". Because everything that came to him came from the grace that came from that cross and what Jesus did on that cross. He says, "Because of that cross, my interest in the world has been crucified".
What are your interests in the world? The thing that keeps pulling you from God, pulling you away from the thing that you opt to dedicate your life to and that is to the scriptures and to the power of God. He says, "Now that I've seen what Jesus did for me and not didn't do for me, my interest in this world has been crucified". Ask God to get you in that position where all of your interest in this world has been crucified. "And the world's interest in me," oh, oh, this may hurt some people's feeling, "Has also died". That means you might not be as popular with people as you used to be. Are you ready to go that route? Are you ready to go that route? You might not be as popular with people as you used to be, that you might not be important anymore like you used to be. Are you ready for that? Not a lot of people are. 'Cause a lot of people if they quit lying to themselves, say, "It is very important for me to be important".
You know what that's called, pride. But Paul says something came from that cross that took all that away. The glory of the cross lies in the fact that because of it, God is free to act in grace towards men. You see, God is a God of justice, which meant when you sinned, the wages of sin should be death. That's what it was. And God was limited in how he could love mankind because he was also a God of justice. So there were certain things before the cross that as far as grace and mercy that he could not do. He was limited in how he could do things, 'cause there had to be justice. You can't go kill somebody and still live, you can't go commit adultery and still live. Everything was by the wages of sin is death.
And I don't know last time you read Old Testament and the law, but a lot of people died. But what happened? On that cross, Jesus died and paid the sin offering for everybody's sin. He became the justice that satisfied God's justice, O God. He paid the ransom for all of our stuff. Every sin you've ever committed, you are committing or will commit has been settled. Justice has been served. Somebody said, "When"? It was when Jesus took your place, and he took my place, and then he took all of our sins on his body, he was beat up, mugged, whipped with a cat-of-nine-tails, nailed to a cross of Calvary, was pierced in his side, and if that wasn't enough, he died. He went to the hell we were supposed to go to, he'd never sin, but when he took all of our sins on his body, he looked like sin, so Satan thought he had a right to take him on into hell, because he looked like sin, but he who looked like sin never sinned.
The devil didn't know that wasn't his sin, it was all of our sin. And he took all of our sins, went to hell on our behalf for three days and three nights, the judge hit the gavel and said, justice has been served. Then, he raised Jesus up on the third day, and he says, "Now, you might not be perfect, but I am. So if you'll allow me to, I'm gonna move in you and I'm gonna continue my ministry through you. And it's not gonna be by your faith, but it's not gonna be by the faith of the Son of God, and I'm gonna move in you, and I'm gonna work in you, and I'm gonna work through you, and while I'm working in you, I'm gonna perfect you. I'm gonna change your desires, I'm gonna take away your old want to's and I'm gonna give you new want to's. And by the way, I have several gifts that you don't have to earn, all you gotta do is believe in me, and I'll save you, and I'll heal you, and I'll make you righteous, and I'll deliver you and I'll set you free".
And Paul, and Paul was blown away. Paul was blown away. He says, "I'm the one that persecuted the church. I had people killed, I killed 'em. I thought it was the right thing to do, I did it based under the law. And you gonna love me so much, that on my way to persecute the church, you interrupt my path and you said, 'Saul, Saul, why persecuteth me?'" Then Saul said, "I ain't did nothing to you". He said, "But when you do it unto the least of these my brethren," you see, Jesus represents the least of them. "You did it unto me".
And now watch this carefully now. The cross and the grace that flowed from the cross produced in Paul a deep humility which caused him to say, look at 1 Corinthians 15:9 and 10 in the NLT. 1 Corinthians 15:9 and 10. Now you can imagine now, you can imagine what Paul must have been going through. I'm sure, I mean Paul is the guy that the church today would've sent straight to hell. Paul is the guy that the church today would've said, "Ain't no way that God can use him. Ain't no way God can use him, he's the guy that persecuted the church". Be careful how you prophesy about somebody. Be careful because just 'cause the last time you saw him ten years ago, they were a hellion, hallelujah, you hadn't seen how God's been working in them the last ten years.
Be careful when you look at somebody, say "God can't use them, God can't flow through them". Honey, he used you, he's flowing through you. If he can change you, he can change somebody else. God is not looking for somebody that qualifies, he's always looking for somebody that doesn't qualify. He used Moses who murdered somebody, huh? He used David who murdered somebody and he used the Apostle Paul who murdered somebody. Three murderers, three murderers. Today, the news would shout, these are terrible men. The world likes to judge you based on your bad day, but don't you let one bad days stop the rest of your life.
If God can use three murderers, honey, he can use you. You are not out of the choosing. God like to choose folks that have to depend on him. He don't wanna choose nobody that think they already got it. Y'all know how it is when you have somebody that think they know more than you know, then you can't work with them 'cause they won't humble themselves to find out which way you're going. And they get up there and they think, they think it's their business. "Wait, wait, hold on a minute, hold on a minute. I don't work for you, you work for me. We're going this way"? "Yeah, but the Lord told you. Now he wasn't talking to you, he wasn't talking to you, he ain't said nothing to you since you've been here, he's sending all the instructions through me".
And that's why a lot of folks can't get nowhere, 'cause you're going with arrogance, and pride, and your way, instead of coming and submitting yourself and saying, "I'm about to be the best servant you ever had, I will bring something to this table that helps you to get where you need to go. Where I wanna go, it's not fitted for this job here, I'm here to help get you to where you wanna go. So tell me where we're going"? Well, too many of y'all too high strong. Ain't nobody hiring you, you show up the first day, I tell you what to do and you say, "No, but here how I see it".
Go on out door baby, go, go, go, go, go, I ain't working with you. You know, I have a right to work with who I like, you gotta be likable when you show up. You can't come in with pride and arrogance, 'cause you got a one hit, one hit wonder, and you gonna come in like you're the decade musician song saying, ain't nobody even know, you know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm trying to say. Look at what Paul said, look at this humility, check this humility out. Now I know why he got this far. Now I know why that revelation kept coming. Now he said, "For I," now notice Paul is saying, "Look at what happened to me. I am not supposed to, why would you choose me"?