What are the three dimensions of Grace?


                     1

Grace   


God's first dimension of grace is provided for all people and can be referred to as "common grace" or "prevenient grace."



                     2

Grace


God's second dimension of grace is experienced by those who accept God's justifying grace by faith and begin a personal relationship with God through Christ.



                     3

Grace


God's third dimension of grace is experienced by those who deepen that faith through full surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit and receive God's full sanctifying grace and begin living in Holy Maturity(Christian Perfection).


To live in this third dimension of grace is a gift from God that all believers should seek and desire.  Through living in this third dimension of grace God provides the full power to live a holy, righteous life which is exemplified through experiencing the fruit of the Holy Spirit in it's fullness.




What is God's Full Sanctifying Grace?

God's full sanctifying grace is first and foremost a gift promised from God.

Deuteronomy 30:6

The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants,

so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.



Ezekiel 36:25-27

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.



1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.





It is a worthy goal to seek and pray for.


John 17:15-19

Jesus praying for the disciples at the last supper:

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.  Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.  For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.



Ephesians 3:17-19

Paul prays for believers:

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.






Biblical terms for living in Full Sanctifying Grace

(Living in the 3rd dimension of Grace)


1. Perfect (Complete) Love

Mark 12:28-31

"Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 

"The most important one," answered Jesus, is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'  The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these."



Colossians 3:12-14

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.



1 John 2:5

if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.



1 John 4:11-12

since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.



1 John 4:16-19

God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement: In this world we are like Jesus.  There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  We love because he first loved us.





2. Sanctification, Holiness, Blamelessness


1 Thessalonians 5:23

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 



Philippians 1:9-11

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God.



1 Peter 1:13-16

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.  As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance,. but just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."



2 Peter 3:11-14

You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God....  So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him.



Hebrews 10:14

For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.



Romans 6:22

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.





3. Christian Perfection, Completeness, Maturity


Matthew 5:44-48

I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven....  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.



Matthew 19:16-21

... a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" ....

(Jesus) "If you want to enter life, keep the commandments."

"All these I have kept," the young man said.  "What do I still lack?"

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me."



Colossians 1:27-28

... God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery,

which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.  To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.



James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.



Hebrews 5:12 - 6:1

... though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God ....





4. Filled with the Holy Spirit


Ephesians 5:18

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the Spirit,...



Acts 6:3

Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.  We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.



Acts 8:14-17

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.  When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  They Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.



Acts 11:24

Of Barnabas:

He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.



Luke 4:1

Of Jesus:

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness...








Paul, an Example of Sanctification and Blamelessness


1 Thessalonians 2:10

You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.



Acts 24:16

Paul before Felix

I strive always to keep my conscience clear (blameless) before God and man.