18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.]
Our flesh can do nothing right and I honestly believe that most of us know this. Our flesh on its own is incapable of performing anything correctly. Without Christ our flesh simply fails. The Law is a set of rules that tells the flesh what to do on its own. The Ten Commandments are never displayed with a statement that Jesus has to do these things through us, even though our flesh is absolutely incapable of doing what they tell us to do. Our Father made the flesh to be that way. He did this so that He could send Jesus and then have mercy on all men regardless of what they have done.
Remember what our Father told us in Romans 11:32 that He would have mercy on all men alike! Through Jesus, our Father has mercy on all of us. He never favors one of us over another. If it was up to our flesh to accept this glorious Truth we would fail. But thank God that all men are now sold into being a slave of Jesus Christ. We were all slaves of sin, but now we are all Jesus’ possessions. He bought us and He now owns all of us, whether we accept this Truth or not. Jesus is responsible for each and every one of us and is is responsible for each and every one of us to have eternal life.
[Just as] You have granted Him power and authority over all flesh (all humankind), [now glorify Him] so that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. John 17:2
Jesus now has power over all flesh and our Father glorified Him so that He will give eternal life to all flesh. There are a lot of people who try and place The Law and other man made religious rules on us. Laws like where to worship, when to worship, and how to dress when we worship. They try to tell us what to eat and tons and tons of other man made obligations. Jesus did away with all of these laws, except love. Because of Jesus’ success, all laws are now dead for us. They have to be dead for us, so that sin can now be dead for us. It all has to be grace, which means that it all has to be our Father’s power working through us. We cannot boast and we cannot condemn because it is always our Father’s power being greater in us.
This freedom applies to all men. Think of a worldly judge. What if his son came up before him and had committed a crime, yet the judge let him off, only because that he was his son. Then right after that case, a man who had said nasty things about the judge came up before him. With this case the judge found the man guilty and sentenced him with the maximum sentence, only because he had spoken against the judge. We would be outraged and throw the judge out of office. Today this kind of thing happens all of the time with corrupt judges, politicians, dictators, and dishonest businessmen. When it makes the news we are all outraged and demand that the person is punished. Yet on Sunday we hear that this is the very thing that our Father does. We say that we are forgiven only because we are God’s children, when the Truth is that Jesus died so that the world could be saved. Jesus did away with all of the laws and He did it for everyone. Our Lord is no respecter of persons. When Jesus was here as a man, He favored those who believed Him and those who did not believe Him. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes!
Grace is always underserved. We do not have to accept grace, if we had to accept it then grace would be earned and not free. The glorious Truth is that all men have been set free from the Law and grace is for all men. Some of us have been empowered to know this Truth now. We are called the Bride of Christ, which means that we will serve with Jesus for all of eternity. Some of us don’t know this Truth now, but we will after the Resurrection. These people are the guests of the Bride, which means that they will be served by us. But all men will spend eternity with our Father, because Jesus was that successful.
[Just as] You have granted Him power and authority over all flesh (all humankind), [now glorify Him] so that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. John 17:2
Jesus has secured eternal life for all that He has been given and He has been given all. Our Father will have mercy on all men alike.
For God has consigned (penned up) all men to disobedience, only that He may have mercy on them all [alike]. Romans 11:32
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