Grace Orientation

Orientation to grace is knowing that God treats you in grace based on His character, not because of who and what you are. Orientation to grace is treating others in grace because you are operating on divine viewpoint. Blessing from God is based on His character. Grace is what God is free to do for any believer through Jesus Christ. We are blessed by God the Father because we are in union with God the Son and God the Son is acceptable to God the Father.

It is impossible for any believer to get away from God's grace. You can operate contrary to it, but you can never get away from it. Believers have eternal security in Jesus Christ. Believers also receive divine discipline when they remain out of fellowship. God is tapping His foot waiting to bless us and we turn off the blessing. Isaiah 30:18-19.

"Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you." (Isaiah 30:18-19, NASB)

Grace isn’t limited to us, but our understanding of appropriation and our orientation to grace is limited by our lack of doctrine. When you orient to grace, God’s grace provides for every situation (failure, success, suffering, etc.) in which you find yourself. The believer, oriented to grace, has a mental attitude of grace toward other believers. The believer oriented to grace thinks divine viewpoint. The believer oriented to the grace of God regards every day as a gift from God. Rom. 14:5-6.

"One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God." (Romans 14:5-6, NASB)

God has designed the Christian way of life to be lived one day at a time. If the believer is ever going to become productive, they must oriented to the grace of God. If the believer is going to be oriented to the grace of God, they must know Bible doctrine and learn what the plan of God is for their lives.

Grace Orientation of Caleb

Caleb lived in a major period in ancient history when many people were griping, murmuring, chewing on each other, and were carnal most of the time. But yet this never affected Caleb or Joshua. Why? In Psalm 69:30, “thanksgiving” is תּודה (tôdâh) in the Hebrew and means thanksgiving and grace which is the same meaning as χάρις (charis) in the Greek. In the Word of God, thanksgiving is grace orientation with regard to all that God has provided based on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

“I will praise the name of God with song And magnify Him with thanksgiving.” (Psalms 69:30, NASB)

Caleb’s Preparation

Until the age of 40, Caleb lived in obscurity. This was his period of intake and application of Bible doctrine. But in God’s proper timing, God magnified him. Caleb’s assignment was to spy out the Land. This was a 40-day assignment, one day for every year in the desert. The application to you is that you should have Bible doctrine in your soul and be aware of what is going on in the world around you. Num. 13:17-25.

“When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, "Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. "See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many.” (Numbers 13:17-18, NASB)

The report of ten spies said they could not take the Land from the “children of Anak.” Num. 13:28; Num. 13:32-33.

“"Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.” (Numbers 13:28, NASB)

“So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. "There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."” (Numbers 13:32-33, NASB)

The report of Joshua and Caleb was that they could take the Land. Num. 13:30; Num. 14:6-10.

“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it."” (Numbers 13:30, NASB)

Pronouncement of God

Caleb had a “different spirit” or רוּח (rûach) in the Hebrew. Rûach is the counterpart to πληρόω (plēroō) in the Greek. He had learned Bible doctrine and he had applied epignosis Bible doctrine to life’s challenges and had grown to be a mature believer. Caleb had a fullness in following the Lord. Num. 14:24.

“"But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.” (Numbers 14:24, NASB)

Caleb had followed the Word of God to fill a deficiency. Caleb’s deficiency was filled by a mature edification complex of the soul. Caleb had followed the Word of God to fill with a certain quality. He was obedient to Bible doctrine and looked at life with divine viewpoint.

Caleb had followed the Word of God to fully possess. He fully grasped that “the battle is the Lord’s,” the Amalekites and the Canaanites notwithstanding. Caleb had followed the Word of God to fully influence. He was completely influenced by Bible doctrine and could apply it. Caleb was rewarded on the basis of follow-through. The Land belongs to the Jews, but possession of it was based on obedience to the Lord.

Personal Review at Eighty-Five

Caleb’s period of reward was at age 85. He had used Bible doctrine that was resident in the right lobe of his soul. He had wholly followed the Lord. This was key. Joshua 14:5; Joshua 14:7.

“Thus the sons of Israel did just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they divided the land.” (Joshua 14:5, NASB)

“"I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart.” (Joshua 14:7, NASB)

At Kadesh-barnea 40 years earlier, Israel did not go into the Land of Promise because eight of the ten spies did not want to take the Land out of fear. They failed to follow God's command to take the Land. God's divine discipline on Israel was stated in Numbers 32:11.

“'None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully,” (Numbers 32:11, NASB)

In Joshua 14:8-9 and Joshua 14:14, “fully” is מלא (mâlê') and means to fill, to accomplish, to fulfill. Caleb had followed the Lord fully.

“"Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the LORD my God fully. "So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God fully.'” (Joshua 14:8-9, NASB)

“Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite until this day, because he followed the LORD God of Israel fully.” (Joshua 14:14, NASB)

Caleb was stronger spiritually than he was 45 years prior. He was not in reversionism, he was not in emotional revolt, and he had no scar tissue on his soul. Joshua 14:10-11.

“"Now behold, the LORD has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. "I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in.” (Joshua 14:10-11, NASB)

Caleb had wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. Joshua 14:12-14.

“"Now then, give me this hill country about which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the LORD will be with me, and I will drive them out as the LORD has spoken." So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite until this day, because he followed the LORD God of Israel fully.” (Joshua 14:12-14, NASB)

Compare what Israel did under Caleb’s leadership to what Israel had not done 45 years earlier. Joshua 15:14; Num. 13:32.

“Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the children of Anak.” (Joshua 15:14, NASB)

True thanksgiving is a grace oriented appreciation for the person of Christ and is best expressed by those who have followed the Lord fully, few though they may be!