By Arthur J Licursi

“If ye have heard of The Dispensation Of The Grace Of God which is given me to you-ward:” Ephesians 3:2 (KJV)

“But none of these things move me [Paul], neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel Of The Grace Of God.” Acts 20:24 (KJV)

The word ‘dispensation’ (Ephesians 3:2 above) is the translation of the Greek oikonomia, a word that has become well known in the Anglicized form as “economy.” Our financial economy works by the investment of money to buy what we need to live, ranging from food to cars and houses, and businesses invest their money into the materials and labor that produce goods that benefit their customers.

God’s eternal plan and purpose is based upon His ‘grace economy’ that benefits all believing mankind. His plan was first to remedy the consequential penalty of ‘death’ for the ‘sin’ of mankind. As you will see, God’s economy must include His righteous response to ‘sin’ that demands the death of the sinner.  “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:20 (KJV).

After the creation and fall of Adam to sin by the deception of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden it was obvious that man was then lost to ‘Sin.’ With each dispensational age; from ‘Innocence’ in the garden, to ‘Conscience’ as result of eating of “the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil” to man’s failure under “the Law,” it became more and more clear that independent man was and is hopelessly lost in Sin. We see evidence of man’s ‘sin’ every day, including our own sin.

The Bible tells us Sin is the universal problem of mankind. “ALL [men] have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It was in eternity past “before the world began” that God’s plan was to establish His ‘grace-based economy’ that would benefit all mankind. His plan was to remedy the problem and consequence of ‘sin’ for mankind.

As you will see, His ‘grace-based economy’ is His righteous answer to ‘sin’ that demands the death of the sinner. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:20 (KJV). And since the penalty for sin is ‘eternal death,’ none of us will be permitted to live eternally with “sin [nature] in the flesh” (cf. Rom. 8:3b). Thus, apart from God’s ‘grace economy’ intervention we all have the sentence of “everlasting destruction” (cf. 2Tim. 1:9) hanging over us.

But how could God extend His love, ‘grace’ and forgiveness to us without just ‘winking at sin’ and thereby compromising His justice.? Any thinking person knows that a righteous God could not ‘just wink at man’s sin’ – that would be ‘unjust.’ The sin-penalty requires the ‘death of the sinner.’ So, apart from God’s intervention, each sin-infected person would have to ‘die eternally’ for their sins.

This is where God’s ‘wise and purposeful plan’ comes in, being established in His mind BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN.”

“[God] 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,” 2 Timothy 1:9 (KJV)

You see, one day in eternity past, before man was even created, I deduce that it was God’s Love that appealed to God’s Wisdom to devise God’s Plan of GRACE that would provide … GOD’S FORGIVENESS of all man’s sins… yet still sin requires death.

Accordingly, today God forgives every soul of ALL their sins if they will place their faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior who DIED To Pay For Their Sin-Debt.

Thankfully, we live in the time of the dispensational economy of God’s ‘pure grace’ that FORGIVES US, individually, of ALL (100% of) our sins (past, present and future included) Without Us Paying Our Sin-Debt (as if that were possible, which it is not).

The fact is that none of us could have paid our Sin-Debt since We As ‘Chronic Sinners’ so long as we live in these corruptible carnal bodies Could Never Merit Forgiveness not even by our own death. Our death would only have been the just penalty of God’s justice... and we would be totally lifeless.

But God’s plan of FORGIVENESS did not violate God’s ‘justice’… because rather than ‘wink at our sins’… He sent His Son, Jesus, to Die For Us on the Cross … for as many of us as would Believe to Receive His substitutionary death on their behalf.

So, God planned that… His Son, Jesus Christ would Pay the Debt that He Did Not Owe… that We Might Freely Have His FORGIVENESS That We Could Not Merit of Earn.

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ Died For The Ungodly. ⁸ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ Died For Us.” Rom. 5:6, 8

“For he [Father God] hath made him [Jesus] To Be Sin For Us, [He] who Knew No Sin; [so] that we might be made the righteousness of God in him [Christ].” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD Hath Laid On Him [Jesus] The Iniquity [Sins] Of Us All.” Isaiah 53:6 (KJV)

“Saying, Blessed are they whose Iniquities Are Forgiven, and whose Sins Are Covered.” Rom. 4:7

What we see outlined in the verses above is ‘the Grace of God in the person of Christ.’ Paul succinctly summarized the God’s Grace Plan with these words;

“For BY GRACE Are Ye Saved Through FAITH; and that Not of Yourselves: It [Salvation] Is THE GIFT OF GOD: ⁹ Not of Works [not earned], lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

Now we can see why today’s “dispensation of the GRACE of God” (Eph. 3:2) that we preach is the very basis of God’s ‘grace economy.’ Since no man can give, dispense, earn, or buy God’s Forgiveness, God devised His plan of FORGIVENESS based on HIS LOVE and GRACE.

Thus, I have imagined that one day in eternity past; God’s Love appealed to God’s Wisdom to produce His GRACE plan that would provide the most precious thing a human can Receive… God’s FORGIVENESS. Such is ours if only we place our faith in Jesus Christ ALONE (not in the practice of any religious activity). For He died for us that we might have not only God’s FORGIVENESS but also have JESUS’ “EVERLASTING LIFE” as our new and Eternal Indwelling Life.

“For GOD So Loved The World, that He Gave His Only Begotten Son, that Whosoever BELIEVETH In Him [Jesus as Savior] should NOT perish [not be destroyed], but have [His Son’s] EVERLASTING LIFE.” John 3:16 (KJV)

The amazing thing about God’s ‘grace economy’ is that His Forgiveness is given “FREELY.” Yet, He did not compromise His justice or righteousness. Our Sins that had separated us from our creator God required the Sin-Payment of Death, which God in the person of Jesus Christ Paid ‘for us’ - shedding His precious blood, giving His Sacred Life, sacrificed at the Cross “for the sins of the world.”

Today God’s work goes on, now to reach and teach willing souls “the gospel (the good news) of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

It was due to His great love for us that not only did He pay for our Sin-Debt but also, He has ‘DISPENSED’ His love and grace into us with His Son’s “Spirit of life” given to anyone who would simply “believe” to “receive” Jesus Christ as their Savior and “everlasting life.”