In an earlier issue of this publication, I sighted that man can only have value in the spiritual based on covenant and that it is by walking according to the covenant God has established unto us that we walk in faith. I also hinted that the terms of the covenant God has made with us is the grace of God that is extended towards us; that we can only walk in faith within the limits of the grace of God that is given, projected or extended towards us. I would like to suggest to us ways by which we could grow in grace.

There are three (3) basic levels at which grace operates’ as outlined in the bible, the levels are;

1)      The level of children or general grace.

2)    The level of young men or ministry grace.

3)      The level of fathers or mentorship grace.

The level of children or general grace is a broad based blanket of grace meant for the protection and care of believers especially while they are still inexperienced in the things of the gospel or the spirit. It is simply an all out expression of the love of God towards His children. Its purpose is to build us in an experiential knowledge of God and to protect us from the devil and his program of destroying everything that is attached to the kingdom of God. Because it is non-specific to the individual, the seat of the general grace is the church. It is what we referred to as the co-operate anointing. If you are a member of a church or group where the favour and love of God is pored out, you will experience the power of the grace of children. The covenants that control the co-operate anointing are in the teachings of Christ. If we obey the teachings of Christ, even if not in a Church, we will experience a measure of the grace of children.

The grace of children is weak in a sense that if the love and favour of God is not being pored out in an assembly (usually because of some concealed co-operate sin that often take the form of a seemingly harmless cultural practice) everybody who depend on the grace of children for sustenance is affected. This is when general spiritual dryness occurs and is usually the reason why most weak Christians fall into sin and even out of the fold. In the spirit ream, such spiritual casualties have been wounded and the Church or group is said to be sick.

The level of young men or ministry grace is a specific level of grace. It begins to come to effect the moment we begin to have personal encounters with God or special revelations of the word of God. It often grows out of the general grace but it comes for a specific target; it is always ladened with purpose (one of the strongest indications of the ministry grace is a spiritual burden also referred to s the spirit of travail). The young man grace comes specifically to fulfil Gods purpose; it is what we refer to as “the anointing upon”, and once the purpose of God has been fulfilled (if it is ever fulfilled) it leaves. The anointing upon are grace built upon grace; this means one grace usually paves the way for the other. This is a level of grace where rapid growth is really possible and it is where most of the power of God becomes available to the Christian.

The covenants that control ministry grace are revealed to the individual that is given the grace; they are not for public consumption. The covenant or the terms of the covenant are revealed to us through the personal encounters or by the special insights into the word of God. These are what the bible refers to when it says “and the word of the Lord came to me”.

The purpose of the anointing upon could be;

1)       To help us gain a better understanding of God.

2)     To train and equip us for future challenges.

3)       To use us to help and bless others.

4)     To involve us in the fulfilment of God’s plans and purpose.

The ministry grace thrives upon a template of general grace though it can exist without it; though it can operate without it, most of the time it does not and when it does, it only does so weakly. This is why Jesus could do no miracle in his home town.

The ministry grace has one great advantage especially if you are rich in it; it immunes you from the general wrath of God. What this means is, when the love and favour of God is withheld from an assembly, though the power of God runs low in our lives, it does not go out. We can still resist sin and temptation better than those who only have general grace; the eyes of the conscience of those in the general grace goes blind in times of wrath, but those with ministry are still attached to God on a specific level. This is what the bible meant where it said in Ezekiel 14:13 & 14;

“ ‘Son of man, when the land sins against me by trespassing grievously, the will I stretch out my hand upon it and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it and cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men; Noah, Daniel, Job were in it, they could only deliver their own souls by their righteousness’, says the Lord”.

The weak spot of the ministry grace is in its purpose, if we rebel against God’s purpose by disobeying God’s instructions or by taking the glory and honour of God to ourselves, we loose our ministry, while, if we continue to do God’s will faithfully, we would continue to grow in ministry grace.

The level or grace of the fathers, as said above is for mentorship. This is a highly personal level of grace. It caries with it a private blanket of general grace. In shot, a father is called to the duties of safeguarding, maintaining and consolidating the grace of children. The grace of children can exist without a spiritual father in attendance but it will be purposeless and static and very subjective to demonic attack.

The cardinal gifts of the fatherly grace are:

1)            Humility – A though, balanced knowledge of the truth from God’s perspective and the limitations He has put on the expressions of liberty.

2)          Discernment – An acute insight to events in the ream of the spirit and the nature of God in contrast to the “flesh” (or the spirit of sin).

3)            Intersession – The ability to understand God’s position, mans position and to bring them together through the word of God’s authority.

   Spiritual fathers have an almost apostolic level of authority, the difference being that they don’t establish new spiritual structures in the church.

They serve only to help the saints grow in the knowledge of God and as guides to the body of Christ against demonic devices. They are all students of the wisdom of God and have deep understanding of God and His ways. They also have vast reserves of authority in that they can speak for God with high degree of accuracy. They are also usually very rich in ministry grace and they usually father in the ministry grace that God has given them. They are true spiritual covers and have come almost to personify Christ. 2 Cor. 5: 20;

“We as ambassadors for Christ”