44 1 2 Through the Bible with Les Feldick Sabbath, Tithing, Circumcision, was Nailed to the Cross!

II Thessalonians 2:16 "Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace," Now there again is a good indication that God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit—even though He's not specifically mentioned—that is the triune Godhead as Paul calls it. And it is part and parcel of everything pertaining to our spiritual life and our hope for eternity. He "hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope (not through works, but rather--) through grace." Again, I hope that no one will ever misunderstand the Grace of God, the unmerited favor. God didn't have to do anything for us, but He did because of His Grace. I always take it all the way back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were hiding among the trees of the garden and scared to death to meet with God. Do you know what God could have done? He could have zapped them and put them out of His memory. Why didn't He? His Grace! He pursued and found them and said, "Adam, where art thou?" Now that was Grace. It wasn't Grace as Paul lays it out. But, nevertheless, as an attribute of God, it was His Grace that didn't give up on fallen man. And all the way through human history—the Nation of Israel is the perfect example. My goodness! Didn't God have every reason in the world to give up on the Nation? Can you imagine Israel offering their little children to the fire god Moloch and casting them alive into that white-hot idol's arms? Israel! Not some pagan nation. Now God chastised them and got angry with them, but He didn't annihilate them. He didn't wipe them out of His memory. And He told David in II Samuel chapter 7 that if he sinned, His mercy shall never depart from him. Well, what's the other word for mercy? Grace!