|
Study 6: GRACE ARRANGEMENTS
The Law condemns us and points us to Allah's grace
In the last lesson we studied the law. According to Allah's
Scripture the law is good. It shows us how to live and act as
Allah desires. However, as sons of Adam we cannot obey the law.
All men are sinners. We therefore cannot gain salvation through
the law. Rather, through the law we all fall under the condemnation
of Allah because of our disobedience. Because we do not keep
the The Law perfectly the curse of the law falls on us. Thus,
the law helps us to see our sin. It points us to Allah's grace.
When we read Allah's law we understand that without Allah's grace
we face eternity in hell. The Law teaches us that salvation must
be by grace. As the Scripture says,
Consider : "He believed Allah, and it was credited
to him as righteousness." (Galatians 3:6),
and,
Clearly no one is justified before Allah by the law, because,
"The righteous will live by faith." (Galatians 3:11),
and,
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of Allah--not by works,
so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
We sinners have no other choice than to seek to the grace
of Allah the almighty, the merciful.
Allah provides special grace arrangements to save men from
the law's curse
As we studied in a lesson 3, Allah created man from the dust
of the ground. As his creation Allah loves man. He does not want
us to be destroyed. Thus, at different times for different groups
of people Allah provided special grace arrangements. When people
disobeyed Allah's law and faced his punishment, Allah provided
a means, through his grace, so that they could be saved. We will
look in this lesson at some of those grace arrangements as recorded
in the Scriptures.
Allah's grace to Adam and
We have already seen the first grace arrangement. When Adam
and sinned they immediately realized the evil of what they
had done. They felt great shame. They also realized that they
were naked. This was a tremendous shame for them. How terrible
for them, a young man and woman, with nothing to cover their
nakedness. Yet Allah, in his mercy, provided for them by killing
an innocent animal and clothing them with the animal's skin.
They had disobeyed Allah's law and were facing the consequences--terrible
shame. Yet, Allah the merciful saved them from their fate.
Allah's grace to Prophet and his family
Not long after Adam and the descendants of Adam and
forgot all about Allah and his mercy. They cared nothing for
Allah's law. Their only thought was to follow their own desires.
As it is written in the ,
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become,
and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil all the time. (Genesis 6:5)
Because of their disobedience Allah determined to destroy
mankind, by a flood. They had not kept his law and they deserved
death. Yet, because Allah loved man he provided a means of salvation.
He revealed his grace arrangement to Prophet (pbuh). He told
(pbuh) to build a huge ship and to bring all different kinds
of animals into the ship. Allah said he was going to send a flood.
Yet, only believed Allah. Only Prophet and his family
had faith in Allah's words. Everyone else made fun of for
building such a huge ship. Allah's grace arrangement was open
to whoever had faith in Allah, yet only and his family had
faith. Finally, one day Allah commanded and his family to
enter the ship. Allah himself shut the door. The floods came
and all people on earth except the eight people of 's family
died. They all received the just punishment for breaking Allah's
law. Yet, , because he had faith in Allah's grace arrangement
and accepted it, was saved through Allah's grace.
Allah's grace to Prophet and
We find another of Allah's grace arrangements given during
the time of Prophet (pbuh). 's nephew
was living with his family in the city of Sodom. The people of
Sodom were living in terrible wickedness. So bad, in fact, that
Allah once again determined to judge them then and there. He
determined he would send down fire from heaven and destroy the
city and everyone in it. However, once again Allah, in his mercy,
decided he would provide a special grace arrangement for those
who had faith. Allah told to leave the city immediately and
to warn others so that they also might escape. tried to warn
the people but, as in the case with , they only thought he
was crazy. They had no faith in Allah and did not believe what
Allah had told . Thus, only , his wife and two daughters
fled from the city. They only had faith in Allah and were willing
to accept his grace arrangement. Everyone else refused Allah's
grace arrangement. Everyone else died.
Allah's grace to Prophet (pbuh) and
We see Allah's grace arrangements again many years later during
Prophet 's time. (pbuh) had led the people of Israel
() out of slavery in Egypt. He was taking them to
a land Allah had promised them. We looked earlier at the law
Allah gave to guide the people. However, the people of Israel
began to forget Allah. They followed their own desires and disobeyed
Allah's holy law. Once again Allah determined to to give them
the just punishment for their disobedience. He sent a plague
of poisonous snakes among them to destroy them. However, in his
mercy he provided a special grace arrangement for them. He commanded
to hang a metal snake on a pole. He said anyone bitten by
a snake who looked at the metal snake would not die. Those who
had faith in Allah and believed in his grace arrangement looked
and were saved. Those who did not perished.
Allah's grace to the inhabitants of the city of Nineveh
The last of Allah's special grace arrangements we shall look
at in this lesson concerns the people of the city of Nineveh.
Nineveh was the main city of the Assyrian empire and one of the
most important cities of its time. However as in the time of
Prophet , the people completely forgot Allah and lived according
to their own lusts. As a result, Allah's anger was aroused and
he determined to destroy the city. However, in his mercy, Allah
determined to provide a grace arrangement that they might be
saved. Allah commanded the prophet (pbuh) to go to Nineveh
and order the people to repent. If the people had faith in Allah
and accepted his grace arrangement he would spare them, otherwise
they would all be destroyed. At first did not want to go
in warn them. He tried to escape on a ship. Allah, however, sent
a big fish to swallow alive. He was in the fish's belly
for three days and three nights when the fish finally vomited
him up on shore. then obeyed Allah, went to Nineveh, and
ordered them to repent. As it is written in the book of the prophet
,
The Ninevites believed Allah. They declared a fast, and all
of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. (
3:5)
On seeing the faith the people had and their repentance, Allah
spared the city. They were saved because they put their faith
in Allah and his mercy and grace.
We have seen in every case that people failed to keep Allah's
law. They sinned and so were deserving of Allah's judgment and
punishment. In fact, their sin was so great that Allah determined
to destroy them immediately. Yet, Allah the merciful in each
case provided a special grace arrangement for the sinners. Anyone
who had faith in Allah and accept his grace arrangement was spared.
Those who rejected it perished. This raises an important question.
As we know, we also have not kept Allah's law perfectly. As law
breakers one day Allah's judgment and punishment will rightly
fall on us. Our only hope of escaping our deserved punishment
and receiving salvation lies in Allah's grace. Yet, what sort
of grace arrangement as Allah made for us? We have seen various
arrangements he made for different people at different times.
What arrangement as Allah made for us so that we might receive
his grace? This is the most important question of our lives.
Our hope of salvation depends on the answer. Without his grace
we will perish. We will go on incoming lessons to see what Allah's
word says concerning Allah's grace arrangement for us today.
QUESTIONS:
1. According to Scripture, the friend of Allah was
saved by,
A.
Faith in Allah
B. Obedience to the law
2. The first recorded grace arrangement was for who?
3. How did Allah decide to destroy mankind in 's time?
4. How many accepted Allah's grace arrangement and were saved
in Prophet 's time?
5. When (pbuh) tried to urge others to accept Allah's grace
arrangement and have faith in Allah what did they do?
6. Was Prophet always totally obedient to Allah?
A. Yes
B. No
7. Why were the people of Nineveh spared?
8. In each example why did Allah decide to judge and punish the
men involved?
9. In each example what happened to those who rejected Allah's
grace arrangement?
10. How important do you feel finding Allah's grace arrangement
is for us today?
Your Username:
Your Email:
|