The Work of Grace

Outward Obedience

Grace operates in our lives by a continuing, supernatural
operation of the Holy Spirit. Grace never works on the plane of our
natural abilities. When we start to think we’ve got it made, that we can
do it by ourselves, we are no longer operating in grace.

The distinction between the law and grace can also be
illustrated as two alternative ways of making a journey across
unfamiliar territory to an unknown destination. Law offers a map; grace
provides a personal Guide, the Holy Spirit. “For as many as are led by
the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).

Imagine a traveler, who sets out on a journey and says,
“Give me the map; I can make it on my own.”

“All right,” God replies. “Here’s the map—correct and
complete in every detail.”

Our traveler starts off with the map in his hand. Before
long, it gets dark and cold, and he finds himself on the brink of a
precipice. He has no idea whether he’s facing north, south, east or
west. He’s miserable and lonely.

Finally, he cries out, “God, I need you.”

In a moment the Holy Spirit is right there beside him, and
He says, “Take My hand; I’ll lead you.” And soon the traveler is back
on the highway.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and he begins
to think it wasn’t so bad after all; he could have made it on his own.
So he turns to the Holy Spirit and says, “I started out with a good map,
and I think if I just take a little time, I can find out where I am. If
I know where I am on the map, I’ll be able to make it.” So he pulls out
the map again and starts poring over it.

“I see you no longer need Me,” the Holy Spirit gently
says, but the traveler is too busy reading the map to hear Him. When he
is finally finished with the map, he looks up again, but the Holy Spirit
has withdrawn Himself. He is nowhere to be found.

That is the danger in the Christian walk. We acknowledge
our need of the Holy Spirit, but when we begin to make good progress, we
decide we can make it with the map. At that point, grace ceases to
operate in our life. We have to make a choice—either the map or the
Guide. One excludes the other. If it’s going to be the Guide, it has to
be the Guide all the time, all the way. In this new life we are 100
percent dependent upon the Holy Spirit.

Total Dependence

The first eight chapters of the book of Romans expose the
transition from dependence on the law to dependence on the Spirit.
Chapter eight depicts the liberty and joy of the Spirit-filled life. The
preceding seven chapters deal with various obstacles that we have to
overcome on our way into this life.

The law is the last and greatest obstacle to overcome in
order to experience the Spirit-filled life fully. Only when we have
renounced legalism once and for all as a means of achieving
righteousness can we enter into, and abide in, the Spirit-filled life of
Romans 8.

In this matter of dependence upon the Holy Spirit, Jesus
has left us the perfect pattern. He was totally dependent upon the Holy
Spirit, not only in His earthly walk, but also in His death. Paul wrote:
“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).

Christ was raised up by “the glory of the Father.” That is
the Holy Spirit. This is brought out in the J.B. Phillips’ translation
of Romans 1:4, where it states that Jesus was “marked out as the Son of
God by the power of that Spirit of holiness which raised him to life
again from the dead.” The “Spirit of holiness” is the Hebrew way of
saying the Holy Spirit.

The lesson is this: Jesus did not raise Himself from the
dead. He was totally dependent upon the Father to raise Him by the
Spirit. And just as Jesus depended upon the Holy Spirit for the
resurrection, so totally do we have to depend on the Holy Spirit for the
ability to walk in this new life.

The law as a means of righteousness strengthens the basic
motivation of sin—the desire to be independent of God. Grace does the
opposite. It lays the only enduring foundation of righteousness—total
dependence upon God. Grace operates in our lives only by the continuing,
supernatural presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We are to live in
total dependence upon Him every day, every hour, every moment.

Derek Prince (1915-2003) gained worldwide recognition
as one of the most gifted Bible teachers of the 20th century. His simple
yet thorough approach made his teaching equally relevant and helpful to
people from all racial and religious backgrounds. For six decades,
Derek Prince Ministries has fulfilled the mission of its slogan
“Reaching the unreached and teaching the untaught.”

Born in India to British parents, Prince was educated
as a scholar of Greek and Latin at Eton College and Cambridge University
in England. While serving with the British Army during World War II, he
experienced a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. Since then, he
devoted his life to studying and teaching the Bible.

In 1963, Prince immigrated to the United States with
his first wife, Lydia Christensen, who passed away in 1975. He
subsequently married Ruth Baker in 1978 and, until her death in 1998,
lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florid, and in Jerusalem.

Prince authored more than 40 books, including Blessings
and Curses, They Shall Expel Demons (Chosen) and Shaping
History Through Prayer and Fasting (Whitaker). He also recorded more
than 450 audio and 150 video teaching cassettes, many of which have been
translated and published in more than 60 languages.

On September 24, 2003, Prince died of heart failure at
his home in Jerusalem. He was 88 years old. The truths he pioneered in
his generation live on, perhaps as passionately as ever though his
messages and teachings and the work of thousands of spiritual sons and
daughters he inspired.

Derek Prince helped shape the charismatic movement in
the 20th century and taught the Bible for almost 60 years.  Best-selling author Stephen
Mansfield included new details from his life in the book Derek
Prince, A Biography: Father, Statesman, Teacher, and Leader (Charisma
House).