11/26/75; 12/14/77; Rev 2:17 4/4/82; 7/19/74
A. General Definition of Grace.
1. Grace is all that God is free to do for man on the basis of the Cross.
2. Because of the complexity of divine essence, God must be consistent. No characteristic can be jeopardized or compromised.
3. Therefore, propitiation is that work of Christ on the cross which frees God to bless man under the plan of grace.
4. Grace is God’s freedom and consistency to express His love through grace to mankind without compromise of His essence.
5. Under the principle of grace. God provides a series of blessings for man totally apart from man’s merit, ability, planning, thinking, or energy. 6. Under the policy of grace, God gives and man receives. God does all the work and providing, while man does all the receiving and benefitting.
7. In the concept of grace, everything depends on God’s essence.
8. Under the mechanics of grace, man has a relationship with God in two categories: before the Fall and after the Fall.
a. The first category is based on creation. God provided everything man would ever need in the Garden. The trees were for stimulation of the soul, good for food, and the tree of lives was given to appreciate God. Man had immediate capacity to appreciate God’s grace provision. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was a test.
(1) Good and evil are Satan’s policy. This tree was forbidden because good and evil result in spiritual death. Good and evil are two things that man did not need in his relationship with God.
(2) Evil is the thinking policy of Satan and good is the application of that policy to experience in history.
b. After the Fall, man’s relationship with God is based on regeneration. At the time of the Fall, man ate of the forbidden tree. The first sin was a sin of negative volition to the plan of God. Man immediately understood good and evil, was immediately under the rulership of Satan, and immediately performs human good: operation fig leaves.
9. Under God’s plan, grace is all that God can do for man from salvation until eternity.
10. Grace is the genius of God, and doctrine is the revelation and manifestation of that genius.
11. Categories of grace.
a. Saving grace, Eph 2:8-9. The work of the Trinity.
b. Logistical grace. This is all that the Trinity provides by way of power, security, and provision to keep the believer alive in the Devil’s world, so that the divine objective in the angelic conflict can be achieved by the believer. This includes both spiritual provisions such as the Bible, local church, pastor-teacher, and temporal provisions such as food, shelter, clothing, and money.
c. Supergrace is the tactical victory of the angelic conflict, or spiritual maturity.
d. Ultra-supergrace is the sphere of the angelic conflict between the unfairness of the devil’s world and the total fairness of God to mature believers, whom God places under maximum testing and pressure. The blessings of supergrace are intensified and protected by God even under the most intense pressure, persecution, and attack from Satan, 2 Tim 2:10, 3:8-12.
e. Dying grace is the greatest blessing for passing from time to eternity. This blessing is even greater than the greatest blessings of time.
f. Surpassing grace is the blessing, awards, and decorations for the mature believer for all eternity, Eph 2:7.
B. Definition of Supergrace.
1. Supergrace and ultra-supergrace are conditions of spiritual maturity.
2. The nomenclature comes from Jas 4:6, “greater grace.”
3. Both are related to God’s power, Eph 1:19.
4. Both are described as pursuing grace, Ps 23:5-6; Eph 1:6.
5. The blessings of each are beyond human imagination, Eph 3:20f.
6. In 1 Tim 1:14 both are described as “abundant grace.”
7. By definition, therefore, supergrace is the highest adult stage of the spiritual life in the royal family of God.
8. Supergrace is maximum glorification of Jesus Christ.
9. Supergrace is the status of spiritual maturity while ultra- supergrace is maximum growth and blessing attended by maximum suffering, which only intensifies the blessing.
10. Supergrace is where the normal function of the royal priesthood and the production of divine good begin.
C. Synonyms of Supergrace.
1. Theological: “greater grace,” Jas 4:6.
2. The Hebrew word CHAKMAH means wisdom, the nomenclature for maximum Bible doctrine in the soul.
3. Priestly: “the altar of the soul,” Heb 13:10.
4. Building: “the edification complex of the soul,” Eph 4:12,16.
5. Sanctification: “godliness,” 1 Tim 6:3-6; 2 Tim 3:12; 2 Pet 1:3.
6. Chemical: “salt,” Mt 5:13.
7. Crucifixion: “take up your cross...” Mt 10:38; Mk 8:34; Lk 9:23, 14:27.
8. Military: “put on the full armor of God,” Eph 6:11-18; “follow the colors to the high ground,” Heb 12:1-2; “establish a command post of the soul,” Col 2:5-8.
9. Central control system: “the inner rule or dictator of the soul,” Eph 6:10. Bible doctrine is the dictator in the soul of the mature believer.
D. Blessings of Supergrace.
1. Spiritual blessings.
a. Sharing the perfect happiness of God, occupation with Christ.
b. Capacity for life, love, happiness, blessing, and total appreciation for grace.
c. The ability to face undeserved suffering in life.
d. The ability to correctly interpret contemporary history, to evaluate current events in the light of the Word of God.
e. Freedom from slavery to circumstances in life and adaptability to changing circumstances. The mature believer is the greatest innovator in time of historical disaster.
f. Grace orientation, freedom orientation, authority orientation, common sense.
g. A total sense of security, whether in prosperity or disaster.
2. Temporal blessings.
a. Wealth, either received or acquired.
b. Professional prosperity: great influence, leadership dynamics, success, promotion, recognition in one’s sphere of life. When God promotes you, you are qualified for the job. The ability to assume responsibility and authority without emotional inspiration or pseudo motivation.
c. Social prosperity, great friends.
d. Sexual prosperity with one’s right man or right woman.
e. Technical prosperity or mental prosperity: the ability to think, and concentrate increase.
f. Cultural prosperity: maximum enjoyment of drama, art, literature, music, history.
g. Establishment prosperity: enjoyment of freedom, privacy, protection of life and property from criminals and reprisal.
h. Health.
3. Blessings by association.
a. Those around a mature believer are blessed by their association or relationship with that person. They are blessed either directly by God or indirectly from the supergrace believer as a result of the overflow of his supergrace blessings. The supergrace believer shares his blessings with others.
b. There are peripheral areas of blessing by association such as loved ones, in business life, in social life, and to those in a local church.
c. There are also geographical blessings to the supergrace believer’s city, state and nation.
4. Historical blessings, 2 Tim 1:5. The mature believer carries his generation. He stabilizes his generation and becomes a stabilizer for future historical generations. The ebb and flow of history does not disturb the tranquility or impact of the mature believer. The supergrace believer is on the right side of history; the reversionist is on the wrong side of history. The reversionist is caught up in the disasters of history and swept along with them. But the supergrace believer rides on the crest of the wave of blessing. He rises above historical disaster.
5. Dying blessings or dying grace. Every believer has a choice in time between being positive to Bible doctrine and receiving dying grace, or being negative to doctrine and dying the sin unto death. The curse of death with its pain and fear is removed. It is the greatest experience in life. It is the antithesis of the sin unto death. The perfect happiness of the supergrace believer in time is exceeded by his +H in dying grace. Therefore, the mature believer has the best of life, better in dying, and better than the best for all eternity. Ps 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.”
6. Undeserved suffering.
a. Only in time does God have the opportunity to give us pressure, disaster, and undeserved suffering to prove to Satan and the fallen angels that Bible doctrine can handle any situation.
b. God gives us the ability to handle suffering and turn suffering into blessing, Rom 8:28.
c. No rebound or soul searching is involved. A mature believer knows when he is under divine discipline or undeserved suffering. The former is unbearable suffering, the latter is bearable.
d. The supergrace believer’s ability to handle undeserved suffering glorifies God and becomes evidence against Satan in his appeal trial.
e. Undeserved suffering is also used by God to help you keep your eyes on God and your focus an eternity. Rev 2:10; 2 Cor 12:9-10.
f. Undeserved suffering teaches us the value of Bible doctrine, Ps 119:67-71.
g. Undeserved suffering is designed to manifest the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, 2 Cor 4:8-11.
h. Undeserved suffering is designed to put muscle on your faith and occupy the believer with eternal values, Rom 8:36, 5:3-5.
E. Supergrace is the objective of the believer after salvation, Eph 3:16-19.
F. Supergrace must have top priority in the believer’s scale of values, Phil 3:4-8. All human achievement and good must be considered as piles of dung. Human celebrityship is loss compared with reaching maturity.
G. God is waiting to provide supergrace and ultra-supergrace blessings, Isa 30:18, “Jehovah longs to be gracious to you, because He is a God of Justice.”
H. The Command to Advance to Supergrace, Heb 12:1-3. The importance of Bible doctrine in reaching supergrace and executing that command is found in Heb 11:1-3.
I. The Importance of Retaining the Objective of Supergrace and Moving on to Ultra-Supergrace, Phil 3:12-14.
J. The Issue of God’s Love Related to Supergrace, Rom 8:28; Eph 3:19; 1 Jn 4:19.
1. God loves every believer with maximum love regardless of the believer’s spiritual status.
2. This love from God is based on propitiation and imputation. 3. 1 Jn 4:19 teaches that the believer can love God with maximum love in time. However, no believer loves God until he first of all knows God.
4. No believer knows God until he has maximum Bible doctrine in the soul and attains spiritual self-esteem.
5. The supergrace or mature believer has maximum love for God because he has maximum metabolized doctrine in his soul which produces spiritual self-esteem, which is characterized by personal love for God. Rom 8:28; Eph 3:19.
6. God expresses His love to the believer in time under different categories:
a. To the supergrace believer His love is expressed by blessing and reward.
b. To the reversionist it is expressed by divine discipline and the sin unto death.
K. The Historical Illustrations of Supergrace and Ultra-supergrace.
1. Abraham had sexual prosperity resulting in a new race, Gen 17; Rom 4.
2. Joseph had great power and authority. He delivered his people.
3. David had promotion, prosperity, leadership, wealth, military success.
4. Isaiah had fantastic Bible teaching.
5. Daniel had great promotion and leadership outside of the land of Israel.
6. Moses had intense blessing in national leadership wrapped up in the mantle of great pressure and persecution from Satan and demons, believers and unbelievers, and even his family. 7. Jeremiah had intense blessing in old age while the nation was going out under the fifth cycle of discipline. He was a stabilizer for future generations.
8. Paul had maximum pressure from Satan as the greatest Bible teacher of all time, Acts 9:15. The demons put Paul on a par with Christ.
L. The Promotion Principle of Supergrace, Ps 84. If God doesn’t promote you, you aren’t promoted. If God doesn’t provide it, it isn’t worth having.
M. The intensity of blessing in ultra-supergrace is taught in 2 Tim 3 and Lam 3:21-25. In ultra-supergrace, you have constant opposition, pressure, and persecution.
N. The Role of Happiness in the Supergrace Life.
1. The key to supergrace is sharing the perfect happiness (+H) of God.
2. The supergrace life is characterized by the total +H spectrum, which ranges from tranquility to ecstatics (not the emotional ecstatics of the tongues crowd).
3. The same Bible doctrine that provides supergrace blessings, also provides +H from God.
4. The +H of God is attained by the believer when he reaches gate 8 of the divine dynasphere, the top floor of the edification complex of the soul, Phil 4:4; 1 Thes 5:16. 5. Fulfillment of +H through the accumulation of Bible doctrine in the soul is the entrance into the supergrace life, 1 Jn 4:4.
O. Supergrace is Part of the Road to Glory.
1. There is a relationship between the supergrace blessings for time and the eternal rewards and blessings at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
2. Dying grace is the link between the two. It bridges the gap.
3. From saving grace, we go to logistical grace, then to supergrace, through dying grace, to surpassing grace.
4. All types of grace are related. You are in God’s grace plan and cannot get out.
P. Attitude toward Bible doctrine in time determines all grace blessings in time and eternity.
1. In eternity past God designed supergrace blessings for time and surpassing grace blessings for eternity.
2. The believer cannot lose his salvation or eternal life in heaven, but he can lose his supergrace blessings for time and surpassing grace blessings.
3. He can lose supergrace blessings through negative volition to Bible doctrine and subsequent reversionism. Loss of supergrace blessings means loss of surpassing grace blessings. 4. Therefore, attitude toward Bible doctrine on a daily basis is the determining factor in the angelic conflict. And for the royal family Bible doctrine is the means of glorifying God. 5. Negative volition means loss of blessing in time and eternity. Thus the importance of seizing and holding the high ground of supergrace.
6. The attainment of supergrace reaches the objective and immediately establishes a new objective. In Phil 3:12-14, you not only attain supergrace, but press on to hold it through periods of undeserved suffering.
7. Saving grace, attained by faith in Christ, advances us into the royal family forever. Logistical grace keeps us alive in phase two of the plan of God (time) for the attainment of blessing or discipline. Supergrace is the provision of maximum blessing for the mature believer. Dying grace is the bridge between supergrace blessings for time and surpassing grace blessings for eternity. Surpassing grace is the rewards and decorations of the mature believer at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
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© 1989, by R. B. Thieme, Jr. All rights reserved.
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