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12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2 Tim 1:12)
8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: (2 Tim 1:7-10)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph 2:8-9)
There are many mysteries of God’s nature that cannot be explained or fully comprehended by your dutiful minister or the ‘exalted’ know-it-alls of Oxford. One of those mysteries resides in the Law of Grace. Many who claim the benefits of Grace actually are only willing to accept a limited measure thereof – a limitation fixed by doubt of heart and lacking in the soul’s faith. Today’s hymn opens, appropriately, with the wondrous grace of God granted in the sacrificial and atoning death of Christ for His elect.
This hymn was written in 1883 by Daniel Whittle to the music of James McGranahan. It teaches us of the cherished and indispensable benefit of Grace (one of the Five Sola’s of the Reformation Faith) in redeeming us from death and hell.
I know not why God’s Wondrous Grace
I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
Refrain
But I know Whom I have believèd,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.
I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.
Refrain
I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing us of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.
Refrain
I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.
Refrain
I know not when my Lord may come,
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or meet Him in the air.
I know not why God’s wondrous grace To me He hath made known, Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love Redeemed me for His own. None of us can know the depth of God’s wondrous grace in our salvation. We were yet asleep in the death of the transgressor when that Grace ignited the spark of Light and Life in our inner being. The eye of our spirit was open to the wonderful reality that Christ had died for us even before the foundation of the world – Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Our mortal souls were marred by sin at Eden, and we were good as dead, unaware of our desperate circumstance and unable to do a single thing to revive our dead souls. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:4-10)
But I know Whom I have believèd, And am persuaded that He is able To keep that which I’ve committed Unto Him against that day. A true profession of faith is not as simple as a profession of lip-service – but one of a heart informed of the dimensions of Christ as Redeemer, Savior, Lord, and Sovereign. Commitment in the faith is the key to a persevering security in Christ and knowing WHO He is. It is a full and unconditional surrender of the old self-will (read Free Will) of man to that of Christ – our All-in-All.
I know not how this saving faith To me He did impart, Nor how believing in His Word Wrought peace within my heart. There is a complacent faith that is only the partial measure of that which characterizes the soul that is willing to lay down it’s life for the faith. It may even be a knowing faith, but one which is not a committed one. No, we do not comprehend the nature of the deep wells of faith that mark the character of the believer because even that faith is imparted by the beck and call of the Holy Ghost through the agency of GRACE. You may be even so deluded as to believe that God loves you because you loved Him. No, just the reverse is true. You could never have loved Him without His love first drawing you to Himself. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 (KJV) 19 We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 (KJV) Why, again, do we love Him? Read again (1 John 4:19).
I know not how the Spirit moves, Convincing us of sin, Revealing Jesus through the Word, Creating faith in Him. Do you remember how the world was void and without form in the Beginning. It was dead to life and light until the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters: . . . . the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2) The Word of God is the Executive Power of Creation as realized in the Lord Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost is the Light that starkly reveals that Word to the fore-ordained of God. It creates faith when the soul is born out of the darkness of the one who is dead in trespasses and sin.
I know not what of good or ill May be reserved for me, Of weary ways or golden days, Before His face I see. It is true that we do not know the weather forecast of our fortunes in this life – whether sunny skies or stormy tempest. Those matters are in the Hand of God to mold and make us after His will and plan for us. But just as surely as the morning sunrise follows the long night of sorrow and darkness, so shall the most persecuted martyr of God see face-to-face the beautiful Personage of Christ at the Daybreak of Eternity.
I know not when my Lord may come, At night or noonday fair, Nor if I walk the vale with Him, Or meet Him in the air. No man knows the day or hour of the return of Christ despite the claims of those ten-penny novels written for filthy lucre, and read by fools, to the contrary. We close our eyes in the momentary sleep of death, only to open them in the twinkling of the eye to a glorious Dawn of Eternity with our Lord and His host of Heavenly Angels. Unlike the error-ridden claims of the dispensationalists, Christ is returning once and for all. At that time, we are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb; but every attendee must be graced with a proper wedding apparel – that White Robe of Righteousness given and imputed to the believer. Have you secured your wedding suit?
