God pours out His grace through redemption, saving sinners by the blood of Christ and keeping them by that same grace.
According to the Bible and Les Feldick's teaching, God's grace is His love and mercy poured out on sinners who deserve the opposite. Redemption through Christ's blood is the means by which this grace is given, and the same grace continues to keep believers after they are saved.
Ephesians 1:7-8 — This passage directly connects redemption through Christ's blood to 'the riches of His grace,' showing the means by which God pours out grace.
Romans 6:14 — This verse contrasts law and grace, explaining that grace is the sphere in which believers live after salvation.
The Apostle Paul writes that believers have redemption through Christ's blood, which is the forgiveness of sins, and he specifically connects this to 'the riches of His grace' (Ephesians 1:7). He goes on to say that God has abounded toward believers in all wisdom and prudence (Ephesians 1:8). Paul also tells believers, 'For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace' (Romans 6:14). Thus the Bible presents grace not as something earned, but as redemption flowing through Christ's blood and as the sphere of the believer's daily life.
Les Feldick teaches that God pours out His grace by saving people who can do nothing to merit it. He calls the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus 'probably the most perfect picture of the grace of God in all of Scripture.' Saul of Tarsus was a religious zealot, persecuting believers and even voting to have them put to death, yet God saved him right then, not after he had straightened out his life. Les stresses that grace is that attribute of God which reaches down to the person who realizes he is a fallen, condemned creature and saves him on the basis of believing the gospel plus nothing. Saul's response was simply, 'Lord, what would you have me to do?'
Saul of Tarsus was a religious zealot who hated the name Jesus of Nazareth, persecuted believers, and voted to have them put to death. Les says most people, if they had been in God's position, would have destroyed him. Instead, God saved him at the very moment he was 'breathing slaughter and threatenings.' Saul did not deserve it, did not work for it, and did not do anything for it. He simply asked, 'Lord, what would you have me to do?' This, Les says, is exactly where every person must find himself: a total undone creature with nothing to offer except a cry for mercy and grace.
Paul writes in Ephesians that believers have redemption through Christ's blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God's grace. Les emphasizes that people cannot merit this redemption. The human race would love to be told, 'If you will just do such and such, I will save you,' but God has already done everything required. Therefore believers must humbly say, 'There is nothing I can do.' This is grace: God pouring out redemption through His blood.
Romans 6:14 says sin shall not have dominion over believers because they are not under law but under grace. Les observes that most people understand grace as unmerited favor, but few comprehend it fully. Grace, he says, is the attribute of God that takes a person who realizes he is nothing more than a fallen creature, under sin and condemnation, and saves him when he believes the gospel plus nothing. The law exposes the old Adam nature and shows a person his need, but grace is what delivers him.
Les says he does not imply that grace was unknown until the Apostle Paul. Grace, he says, was already evident in the Garden. When Israel went after the golden calf, God's mercy and grace kept Him from destroying them. When they rejected and crucified the Messiah, God again had every right to wipe Israel off the map, but His grace restrained Him. Even today, Les says, the human race deserves destruction, but God forestalls it by His grace.
Les teaches that the same grace that saves us is also what keeps us. He says, 'I didn't deserve salvation, you didn't deserve salvation, that was God's grace.' But many cannot comprehend that the same grace keeps us day by day. None of us deserve to be saved even for six hours of the day, yet God continues to keep us. As Les puts it, 'His grace, His grace, His grace.'
Saul of Tarsus as the Perfect Picture of Grace
Les uses Saul's Damascus Road conversion to show God pours grace on a rebel in the very act of opposing Him, saving him rather than destroying him.
God Saves Without Merit
Saul did not deserve, work for, or do anything for salvation; grace comes when a person recognizes he is undone and can only call on God's mercy.
Redemption Through His Blood According to His Grace
Believers have redemption through Christ's blood and forgiveness of sins by the riches of God's grace; God has already done everything required.
Grace Was Evident Throughout History
Les clarifies grace is not new with Paul; it was visible in the Garden, after the golden calf, after Israel rejected the Messiah, and in God's patience with humanity today.
Saul as the Epitome of Grace
God saved Saul, who deserved judgment, and He saves every believer the same way because we were all rebels, lost, and condemned already.
Grace Is More Than Unmerited Favor
Grace saves the person who realizes he is a fallen, condemned creature with nothing to do, on the basis of believing the gospel plus nothing.
Christ's Voluntary Sacrifice Pours Out Salvation
God in Christ voluntarily took on human flesh and permitted Himself to be nailed to a Roman cross so He could pour out salvation to the whole human race.
Grace Keeps Us as Well as Saves Us
Les emphasizes the same grace that saves us is what continues to keep us, since none of us deserve to be saved even for six hours of the day.
Ephesians 1:7: In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Shows that redemption through blood is the means by which God's grace is poured out toward believers.
Ephesians 1:8: Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Shows that God's grace does not just save but abounds toward believers in abundant measure.
Romans 6:14: For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Declares that grace, not law, is the sphere of the believer's life, so sin no longer rules.
No. Les uses Saul of Tarsus to show that God saved him while he was still threatening and persecuting believers, without Saul deserving or working for it. Grace reaches down to those who realize they are undone and can do nothing for themselves.
God in His love and mercy pours out on sons of Adam the opportunity for eternal life if they will believe. This salvation was made possible through Christ's voluntary death on the cross, where God was ready to pour out salvation to the whole human race.
No. Les emphasizes that the same grace of God that saves us is what keeps us. Even though none of us deserve to be saved for six hours of the day, God continues to keep us by His grace.
Watch the Teaching: Romans 3: Why No One Can Be Saved by the Law