SIMPLY UNDESERVED - ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER - SAMPLE

SIMPLY
UNDESERVED
How to Live by God’s Favor
1
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER

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LIVING BY FAVOR.
PAUL, the apostle, was a champion of
living by undeserved favor.
Not that it was easy for him.
He had to learn it.
And sometimes, the learning process was
painful.
Tough.
But Paul didn’t give up so easily.
He prayed.
3 times.
And the Lord said to Him,
“My undeserved favor (grace) is sufficient
for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
If living by undeserved favor comes
through a person’s own strength, then it is
no longer undeserved.
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GRACE.
SO, the Lord takes us on a training
program.
In that program, we learn how to live,
depending on His undeserved favor.
Here is the word for it.
Grace.
This word doesn’t need an adjective.
In fact, you can’t give it an adjective.
It is matchless.
You can qualify it.
Yes.
You can say where it comes from.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you.” (Romans 16:24)
That is how Paul mostly ended his letters.
And that is how he began them.
“Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Philippians 1:2)
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It is grace—His undeserved favor—from
start to finish.
Otherwise, it is not grace.
Paul’s heart was that we grow in it.
That we learn how to do that.
How to live by the grace of God.
It is a process.
But we can learn it.
As believers, we can still walk in the
flesh.
Sure.
But we can also learn to walk by grace.
Father is ready to teach us.
How we can conduct ourselves,
“not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace
of God ...” (2 Corinthians 1:12)
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Father will
teach us
how we can
conduct
ourselves in
this world
by His
undeserved
favor.
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CONTENTS
LIVING BY FAVOR. 3
GRACE. 5
1 GRACE IS UNDESERVED. 13
2 LAW IS THE CULPRIT. 15
3 ALL BY GRACE. 17
4 PRIDE. 19
5 LEARNING THE LESSON. 23
6 WORKS. 31
7 REALIGNMENT. 37
8 TAUGHT BY GOD. 41
9 GRACE AND FAITH. 49
10 GRACE KEEPS US. 53
11 GRACE TEACHES US. 55
12 FLESHLY WISDOM. 59
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13 YES, I CAN. 69
14 GRACE UNION. 73
OTHER BOOKS BY ALBERT ELISHA 76
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1 GRACE IS
UNDESERVED.
THIS IS a lesson that is not so easy to
learn.
It much depends on our background.
Where we are coming from.
For some people, it seems to be easier to
learn.
For some people, it seems to be harder.
The reason why this lesson can be hard to
learn is because in many people’s lives,
the law has taken root.
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2 LAW IS THE CULPRIT.
THE REASON why living by the law is
so destructive in a person’s life is because
it fosters self-effort.
Law says, “You can earn yourself the
right.”
But grace and law have nothing in
common.
Paul understood this.
His explanation is simple.
But powerful.
“And if by grace, then it is no longer
of works; otherwise grace is no longer
grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer
grace; otherwise work is no longer work.”
(Romans 11:6)
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3 ALL BY GRACE.
ALL.
No mixture.
Father wants to bring us to that place.
So that we can say, together with Paul:
“By the grace of God I am what I am ...”
(1 Corinthians 15:10).
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4 PRIDE.
WHAT then can alienate us from His
grace?
Pride.
Pride that we can be.
Pride that we can do.
Outside of the parameters of relationship.
To be self-sufficient, I don’t need
relationship.
I can do it on my own.
I can be my own boss.
I can be the master of my own fate.
Pride goes back all the way to that crafty,
but utterly foolish fellow in the garden.
He tried to sell his idea to Adam and Eve.
Unfortunately, he succeeded.
And got a foothold in Eve first.
“God knows that in the day you eat of it
your eyes will be opened, and you will
be like God, knowing good and evil.”
(Genesis 3:5)
Yummy!
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Be like God.
Outside of the parameters of relationship.
Being in the place where we think that we
can do it.
In our own strength.
This sets us up for the fall because
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to
the humble.” (James 4:6)
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5 LEARNING THE
LESSON.
LEARNING the lessons in the school of
the Holy Spirit isn’t always easy.
Because they are so different from what
we have been taught in the school of selfsufficiency.
Imagine Paul saying this:
“Therefore most gladly I will rather
boast in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for
Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I
am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
God hand-picked Paul to teach him.
But imagine Jesus coming to you at the
start of your walk with Him and say this
to you,
“I will show you how much you are going
to suffer for My name’s sake ...” (Acts
9:16)
Paul didn’t run away, though.
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Perhaps he did run.
For some time.
For 3 years, he went to the desert of
Arabia.
He says,
“I did not immediately confer with flesh
and blood ...” (Galatians 1:15)
So maybe he resisted God’s call on His
life.
But Father God had a way with Paul.
He always does.
Look at Jonah.
Paul then did learn the lessons in the
school of the Holy Spirit.
And what he says is remarkable.
His attitude is amazing.
This is what he says.
“I will rather boast in my infirmities, that
the power of God may rest upon me ...” (2
Corinthians 12:9)
To get Paul to that place, Father in His
matchless wisdom needed to remove stuff
from Paul.
He needed to remove Paul’s reputation.
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He needed to remove Paul’s pride in his
own heritage.
He needed to strip Paul.
Naked.
Until there was nothing left.
But there was something left.
The power of God rested on Paul.
This almost sounds scary.
Because who of us would want to go that
way?
It’s our natural tendency to take the way
of least resistance.
The way of recognition.
The way of what generally constitutes
‘success.’
Joseph was a successful man.
This is what the bible says.
But we need to understand something.
The bible’s definition of success is
different from the world’s definition.
Joseph was successful way before he was
prime minister of Egypt.
He was a successful man already in his
state as a slave.
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The bible says,
“The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a
successful man; and he was in the house
of his master the Egyptian.” (Genesis
39:2)
Father had His way with Joseph.
Just like Father has His way with every
one of us.
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6 WORKS.
WHAT ROLE then do works play in this
equation?
They play a huge role.
But the key to works is this.
We need to learn to do those works in
God’s strength.
By His Spirit.
So that it is His grace that empowers us.
Energizes us.
Enables us.
Otherwise, it would be presumption.
This is why Peter made sure that
Jesus would give him the empowering
command (grace) to step out on the
waters.
Peter said,
“Lord, if it is You, command me to come
to You on the water.” (Matthew 14:28)
Jesus then said, “Come.”
And this enabled Peter to do the
impossible.
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This is what we need to learn too.
To work within the realm of grace that is
extended to us.
To work in the ability that God supplies.
Peter puts it that way:
“If anyone speaks, let him speak as the
oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let
him do it as with the ability which God
supplies, that in all things God may be
glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom
belong the glory and the dominion forever
and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11)
That God may be glorified.
For His matchless grace.
This is also what Paul affirms in Romans
12.
Whatever we do, we need to learn to do it
with the ability that God supplies.
Through His grace.
That’s why Paul says,
“Having then gifts differing according
to the grace that is given to us, let us
use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy
in proportion to our faith; or ministry,
let us use it in our ministering; he who
teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in
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exhortation; he who gives, with liberality;
he who leads, with diligence; he who
shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (verse
6-8)
Paul knew about this interplay between
grace and works very well.
He had learned the lesson well.
That is why he says,
“His grace toward me was not in vain;
but I labored more abundantly than they
all, yet not I, but the grace of God which
was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10)
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7 REALIGNMENT.
PAUL HAD learned this lesson.
To rely on His grace.
But even Paul needed re-alignment, at
times.
Father needed to remind him at times to
go back to the roots.
To undeserved favor.
To His grace.
That’s the lesson Paul had to re-learn.
On some occasions, he talks about it.
Like in 2 Corinthians, Paul says,
“For we do not want you to be ignorant,
brethren, of our trouble which came to us
in Asia: that we were burdened beyond
measure, above strength, so that we
despaired even of life. Yes, we had the
sentence of death in ourselves, that we
should not trust in ourselves but in God
who raises the dead, who delivered us
from so great a death, and does deliver
us; in whom we trust that He will still
deliver us ...” (2 Corinthians 8-10)
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This is the lesson.
To trust in God.
Not in ourselves.
To rely on His strength.
On His grace.
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8 TAUGHT BY GOD.
I AM amazed by Paul’s attitude.
He is such an encouragement.
He would have felt often times that his
listeners were not in the spiritual shape
they perhaps should have been.
He realized that they were not yet able to
really grasp what he had to teach them.
But Paul’s attitude is amazing.
In Philippians 3, Paul says,
“Therefore let us, as many as are mature,
have this mind; and if in anything you
think otherwise, God will reveal even this
to you.” (verse 15)
Paul did what Peter tells us we should do
with all our burdens.
Peter says, cast
“all your care upon Him, for He cares for
you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
I love this passage.
He cares for us.
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So Paul didn’t allow himself to be
burdened down by the apparent inability
of his listeners to get his message.
So Paul basically says,
“If you are mature, you will get what I am
saying.”
“But if you don’t understand now, you
will understand later.”
“God will show you.”
Paul says something similar to the
Corinthians.
He also had the same issue.
The Corinthians were not yet able to
receive what Paul had to give to them.
“And I, brethren, could not speak
unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto
carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” (1
Corinthians 3:1)
And then he continues,
“I fed you with milk and not with solid
food; for until now you were not able to
receive it, and even now you are still not
able; for you are still carnal ...” (verses
2-3)
Paul is amazing.
He is so direct.
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He tells them straight to the face, “you are
still carnal.”
To the Galatians, Paul says, “Idiots!”
Read Galatians 3:1.
Amazing.
To the Philippians, he writes,
“I considered all this dung (poo)!”
(Philippians 3:8)
And to the Galatians he says,
“I could wish that those who trouble
you would even cut themselves off!”
(Galatians 5:12)
Emasculate themselves.
Cut it off.
Paul certainly had a way to be direct and
to correct.
He had a gift of correction.
The gift of exhortation.
Why am I saying this?
Because you need grace for this.
This is what Paul says in Romans 12.
“Having then gifts differing according
to the grace that is given to us, let us use
them ...” (verse 6)
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“... he who exhorts in exhortation ...”
(verse 8)
This is a much-needed gift today.
Exhortation.
And then, when we do it with the grace
behind it like Paul, it will have an effect.
So we shouldn’t be just copy cats and
menpleasers.
That we do like other people do.
But we need to first tap into the grace to
be able to do something.
It is by His grace we can be whatever he
makes us to be.
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9 GRACE AND FAITH.
GRACE and faith go together.
Paul had this remarkable insight into the
law. He says,
“The law is not of faith.” (Galatians
3:12)
This means that the law cannot impart
faith.
Law thinking is not faith thinking.
That’s the problem with the law.
We don’t receive anything from God on
the basis of the law.
We only receive on the basis of faith.
In Ephesians, Paul says,
“For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest
anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
We can’t drum up faith.
Even faith is a gift of God.
In some bible versions, we read about
‘faith in God.’
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But more correctly, it is ‘the faith of God.’
That is why James says,
“My brethren, do not hold the faith of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with
partiality.” (James 2:1)
It is His faith.
For example in Mark 11, Jesus says,
“Have the faith of God” (verse 22).
Many bible versions will say,
“Have faith in God.”
There is a big difference between the two.
The faith of God is God’s faith that is
given to us.
That is the faith that works.
That is the faith salvation is made of.
We are “saved by grace through faith.”
Whose faith?
His faith.
It’s “not of [y]ourselves; it is the gift of
God, not of works, lest anyone should
boast.”
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10 GRACE KEEPS US.
WHAT Peter writes is so encouraging.
He says, we
“are kept by the power of God through
faith for salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time.” (1 Peter 1:5)
God’s power keeps us.
We don’t keep ourselves.
We are kept.
This is comforting to know.
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11 GRACE TEACHES US.
GOD, our God, is amazing.
He doesn’t coerce us.
He woes us.
He persuades us.
He pleads with us.
But He doesn’t force us against our will.
Grace teaches us.
Paul knew this.
He writes to his spiritual son Titus,
“For the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in the present age,
looking for the blessed hope and glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior
Jesus Christ ...” (Titus 2:11-13)
Whenever you feel forced, you need to
know that a force other than God is behind
this.
Not God.
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It is not God’s character to force.
He desires that we unconditionally
surrender to Him.
But not because we feel forced.
Only because we are overcome by His
goodness.
By His grace.
By His glory.
By His love.
So grace teaches us to say no to things
that bring us under the dominion of Satan.
Grace teaches us to resist Satan and His
ways.
Grace teaches us to say no to
“ungodliness and worldly lusts.” (Titus
2:12)
When we give in to those things that do
not originate from God, we allow Satan to
have a foothold in our lives.
We allow him to have dominion over us.
So God’s grace teaches us to resist Satan.
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12 FLESHLY WISDOM.
THERE is a wisdom that is not of God.
Fleshly wisdom.
James talks about this kind of wisdom,
“This wisdom does not descend from
above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
For where envy and self-seeking exist,
confusion and every evil thing are there.”
(James 3:15-16)
So fleshly wisdom is earthly.
Sensual.
Demonic
This kind of wisdom says,
“You can do all things.”
“In your own strength.”
“Rely on yourself!”
“You can do it!”
But James would say, “Hang on there!”
“You need to include God in your
decision making.”
“Otherwise, you will be on your own.”
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It’s not that God will ever leave us.
He won’t.
But if we walk in fleshly wisdom, He will
stand back (as it were) and see how well
we can do.
Without Him.
That is why James says,
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or
tomorrow we will go to such and such a
city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and
make a profit’; whereas you do not know
what will happen tomorrow. For what is
your life? It is even a vapor that appears
for a little time and then vanishes away.
Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord
wills, we shall live and do this or that.’
But now you boast in your arrogance. All
such boasting is evil.” (James 4:13-16)
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Paul says,
“I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Paul didn’t mean that he would do
something, and then whatever it was, God
would strengthen him to do it.
God would strengthen Paul in the things
He led Paul to do.
This verse has an interesting context.
Paul was talking about the circumstances
of life.
This is the whole passage in which
the verse, “I can do all things through
Christ,” appears.
“But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly
that now at last your care for me has
flourished again; though you surely did
care, but you lacked opportunity. Not
that I speak in regard to need, for I have
learned in whatever state I am, to be
content: I know how to be abased, and I
know how to abound. Everywhere and in
all things I have learned both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and to
suffer need. I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me.”
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“Nevertheless you have done well
that you shared in my distress. Now
you Philippians know also that in
the beginning of the gospel, when I
departed from Macedonia, no church
shared with me concerning giving and
receiving but you only. For even in
Thessalonica you sent aid once and
again for my necessities. Not that I seek
the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds
to your account. Indeed I have all and
abound. I am full, having received from
Epaphroditus the things sent from you,
a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable
sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my
God shall supply all your need according
to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Now to our God and Father be glory
forever and ever. Amen.” (Philippians
4:10-29)
So Paul says he has both.
The ability to enjoy God’s blessings.
And the ability to endure hardships.
God’s grace was sufficient for Paul.
Graham Cooke puts it well.
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He says,
“There are no good days or bad days.
There are only grace days. On some
days, God gives the grace to enjoy; and
on other days, God gives the grace to
endure.”
This is what Paul meant.
God’s grace is sufficient for us.
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13 YES, I CAN.
YES, I CAN.
By His grace.
Yet, in God’s Kingdom, there is order.
God-ordained structures of authority.
To function well—in the way God has
ordained it to be—we need to be careful
not to miss this point.
We can circumvent it.
Or ignore it.
God-ordained authority.
That’s why when Paul appeared to Jesus,
He told him,
“Arise and go into the city, and you will
be told what you must do.” (Acts 6:6)
God did not send Paul off on an ego trip.
Disconnected from everybody else.
God connected Paul with the church that
was at Damascus.
His church.
The ‘ekklesia.’
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The called out.
This is important for us as well.
We may have a particular revelation.
We may have experienced intense
encounters.
Yet, we need to learn to recognize and
flow with God’s authority.
God-ordained Kingdom structures.
And find our place being connected.
So, yes, we can do all things He has called
us to do.
But part of the whole puzzle will be
to find the Kingdom structures—His
church—that He wants us to be connected
with.
And then flow in alignment.
In vertical alignment (alignment with
Father God).
And in horizontal alignment (alignment
with one another).
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14 GRACE UNION.
TO BE strong in the Lord is to be strong
in union with Him, in His strength.
We have no strength apart from Him.
This would be will power strength.
Peter talks about this when he talks about
people who are “presumptuous” and
“self-willed.”
He says, these people
“walk according to the flesh in the lust of
uncleanness and despise authority. They
are presumptuous, self-willed.” (2 Peter
2:10)
Jude also talks about people like this.
People who are sensual.
Sense-driven.
Those who do not have the Spirit.
He says,
“These are grumblers, complainers,
walking according to their own lusts; and
they mouth great swelling words, flattering
people to gain advantage.” (Jude 16)
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“These are sensual persons, who cause
divisions, not having the Spirit.” (Jude
19)
But this is not what Paul admonishes us to
be in Philippians when he says,
“be strong in the Lord and in the power of
His might.” (Ephesians 6:10)
Paul refers to the strength that comes from
our union with Him.
It is His strength.
Not our strength that is derived from will
power.
It is His strength that flows to us as a
result of our yielding ourselves to Him.
The same goes for everything else.
And whatever is from Him is always
sufficient.
For the task at hand.
As the Lord said to Paul,
“My grace is sufficient for you.”
His grace.
His amazing grace.
Teach us, Lord, to live by your grace.
75

BOOKS BY ALBERT
ELISHA
76

FIND REAL HELP
- easy to
understand
- with
pictures
A Step-By-
Step Guide
For Those
Who Want to
Get to Know
Jesus
FOR NEW
BELIEVERS
ESPECIALLY
FROM A
BUDDHIST
BACKGROUND
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
O N L
Y J E
S U S
“This book is subtle. It looks simple on the surface, but is profound
and brilliant in its analysis of the bible.” Hendrik Alexander
“A must-get, a must-read, a must-give-away!” Debbie Kris C-E
For New Believers Especially From a Buddhist Background
A SIMPLE & CLEAR STEP-BY-
STEP EXPLANATION OF WHO
JESUS IS, WHY WE NEED HIM,
AND WHAT WE SHOULD DO WHEN
WE WANT TO COME TO HIM
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
"He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit
and fire."
GET
BAPTIZED
LIT
Will You Allow Jesus
Christ to Set Your
Soul on Fire?
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
Like in the Book of Acts
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A BURIAL
OF SELF
A FLAME FOR
EVERY HEAD
"If you have a head, God has a flame for you."
- Reinhard Bonnke
Why Baptism Is So
Powerful
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
Receive the Holy Spirit
Today—as in the Book
of Acts
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
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HOLY SPIRIT
ACCOUNTANT
AND THEY ALL
BEGAN TO SPEAK
IN OTHER TONGUES
18 Exiting
Personal
Testimonies of
How Believers
Received the
Holy Spirit
Like in Acts
ALBERT ALBERT ELISHA ELISHA OBERDORFER OBERDORFER
"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Speaking in Tongues Is an
Accompanying Sign, It Is
Supernatural, and It Is for
All— Yes, You Too!
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
78

DO ALL
SPEAK IN
TONGUES?
"I thank my God, I speak in tongues more than you all."
- Paul, the apostle
SPEAKING
IN TONGUES
“He who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself.”
Yes and No
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
The Gateway to the
Supernatural
The Gateway to the Supernatural
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79

WHAT REALLY
IS THE GOSPEL?
GETTING
SALVATION
RIGHT
The Gospel You Need to Preach
to See Real Conversions
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
IT’S ADAM’S
YOUR
FAULT
The Gospel You Need to
Preach So That People
Will Want to Listen to You
and Not Run Away
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
What Do You Say and Do
When You Bring People
to the Lord?
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
The Goodness of God
Leads to Repentance
JOYFUL
CHANGE
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
80

YOU HAVE
HIS
RIGHTEOUSNESS
BEWARE
OF DOGS!
A Revelation That Will
Flood Your Life With God’s
Peace and Joy
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
Paul’s Astonishing
Revelation in Philippians 3
That Will Protect Your Soul
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
THE LAW
KIL S
Why You Should Stay
Away From Law, and Fully
Embrace God’s Grace
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
81

YOU HAVE
HIS
RIGHTEOUSNESS
BEWARE
OF DOGS!
A Revelation That Will
Flood Your Life With God’s
Peace and Joy
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
Paul’s Astonishing
Revelation in Philippians 3
That Will Protect Your Soul
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
THE LAW
KIL S
Why You Should Stay
Away From Law, and Fully
Embrace God’s Grace
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
82

SAY IT!
Speak the Word
to yourself—it is
powerful
Speak the Word
to Yourself ALBERT ELISHA — OBERDORFER It
Is Powerful
SAY IT
ALBERT ELISHA OBERDORFER
83

Simply Undeserved: How to Live by God’s Favor.
Copyright 2021 © Albert L. Oberdorfer
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PICTURE CREDITS
Unless otherwise stated all images are courtesy of
Pexels.com. and Pixabay.com. The image on the back
cover is from the author. Any inadvertent omissions can
be rectified in future editions.
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