The God Of All Grace

Mr. M said:

To grow in Christ, we must grow in grace:
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

More grace, by the power of the Holy Spirit
James 4:
5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain,
The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

All grace, for all sufficiency in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you,
that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have
an abundance for every good work.

Doxology

1 Peter 5:
10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory
by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish,
strengthen, and settle you.
11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

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In Psalms 119:29, he wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey His law, and in Matthew 7:23, Jesus said that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them, so God’s law is His instructions for how to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Mr. M said:

He has given us His Spirit for that very purpose.
1 John 4:13 Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit.
David understood this right well.
Psalm 51:
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
Anyone who thinks that they can keep God's Law
without abiding in His Spirit is deceiving themselves.

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I did not suggest that we should obey God’s law without abiding in the Spirit.

Mr. M said:

No, you just always fail to mention Him, as if you keep the Law by your own volition.
Paul made this distinction very clear, did he not?

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I frequently mention the Spirit, such as in Ezekiel 36:26-27, the Spirit has the role of leading us to obey God's law, in 1 John 16:8, the Spirit has the role of convicting us of sin, which is the transgression of God's law, and in Romans 8:4-7, those who walk in the Spirit are contrasted with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to His law.

Something that we do of our own violation does not involve relying on anyone else, so relying on what God has instructed is relying on God, not relying on ourselves. In other words, God has made His will known through what He instructed, so by relying on what He has instructed we are submitting to His will, not doing our own.

Mr. M said:

To know the Spirit, is to know the Lord.

2 Co 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

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The fruits of the Spirit are aspects of God's nature that God's law was given as a gift to teach us how to express, and it is through expressing aspects of God's nature that we come to know Him. God's way is the way in which He expresses His nature, such as righteousness and justice (Genesis 18:19), Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to walk in His way that he night know Him and Israel too (Exodus 33:13), and God made His way known through His law (2 Kings 2:1-3). In Psalms 119:142, God's law is truth, in Psalms 119:45, God's law is a law of liberty, and in John 8:31-36, it is sin in transgression of God's law that puts us in bondage while it is the truth that sets us free.