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Grace Blog:
Foreword
I called this message, “Faith for Grace” because it takes faith AND grace to be a Christian. It takes faith to believe and receive the initial grace needed for you to be “saved” and go to heaven, but it also takes faith to believe for the ongoing grace that enriches, enhances and gives hope and meaning to the Christian’s life here on earth. It takes grace to be a Christian, because it is impossible to earn your way to heaven, OR receive the blessings of God on earth, based on your performance. It is a gift from God. You need to apply your faith FOR grace. First let’s start with a little definition of faith, and then a definition of grace. Faith is, “to be fully persuaded of a constant conviction of truth.” Faith is believing something is true that you may or may not have seen yet. I believe that the chairs you are sitting on will hold you up, but I also believe that that empty chair over there WILL also hold you up if you sit on it. I haven’t seen it yet, but I believe it anyway. Faith involves constancy. Faith that waivers is faith that is tainted with doubt and unbelief. Using the chair analogy again, I will not go home today and ponder over the thought of whether or not the chair really will hold you up. Today, tomorrow, a week or a year from now, I will still believe that chair will hold you up. My faith and belief that chair will do what it was designed to do is constant and unwavering. One of the most profound and straight forward things Jesus ever said regarding faith was two simple words, “believe only.” When people would come to Him, desperately in need of His help, His word to them was, “Fear not,” or “Do not be afraid, believe only.” He was saying not to let fear, doubt, worry or any other impurity weaken your faith. This is that principle of allowing your faith to squeeze out all unbelief. That is what happens when you, “Believe only.” To have, “Faith for Grace” means that we will constantly believe for God’s grace to be bestowed upon our life. What is grace? The simple definition I use a lot is, “unmerited favor.” Grace is, “gratifying and liberal favor.” To be gratifying means it makes you grateful and to liberal means it is abundant. It is the gifted form of kindness, preference, promotion and benefit poured out on your life in such an abundance that it touches the deepest parts of your being. Grace is considered to be above and beyond what you could even think up to ask. Grace is the good stuff. It is awesome. It is life changing and in reference to our initial faith in Christ, it is eternal life changing. We are saved by grace, through faith. That much, at least when we first get saved, we find easy to believe. We couldn’t make it happen. We couldn’t save ourselves from our sins. It was a free gift bestowed upon us by our heavenly father. Then as the Christian begins their new life in Christ, for a while they depend entirely upon God. They know that their salvation was something that they couldn’t muster up. Without the grace and unmerited favor of God, they would still be on their way to hell, so they lean on God and trust Him and rely on Him. But then, slowly but surely for many Christians, they begin to lose sight of the need for the unearned favor of God. They begin to think that they can do it themselves, on their own. But, let me ask you this: When was your salvation obtained? If it wasn’t you that made it happen, but Jesus, then when was it obtained? Over 2000 years ago on the cross. Jesus was able to say with His very last breath before He died, “It is Finished!” He could say that because it was entirely true. He had done what needed to be done. He lived the perfect law fulfilling life on our behalf. God’s plan was that whosoever would believe on Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. He had done miracles. He had taught the way of His father. He had defeated the devil and, as a man, overcame all temptations that he had to offer. He conquered sin and He conquered death by rising from the dead. He had won the total and complete victory for us. How many believe that? So, if we believe that, then we have to start receiving what He came to give us. See, the grace that saves us is also the grace that provides for us now. It is given to us with our initial faith in Jesus Christ. We received the whole package of grace because we needed that grace. Without it, we would not make it. That grace, is available for your every need, right now. I say this today because there are some of you that are in heaviness of heart because you have accepted defeat in certain areas of life. You have given up on seeing victory in some areas. You have succumbed to the enemies voice that says, “You will never be healthy. You will never be thin. You will never overcome that temptation to sin that you keep stumbling over.” Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16 says that we can and should continually and consistently access the grace of God by faith for every need. Hebrews 4:16 (KJV) “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” We have to believe for the grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. It is God blessing you without you having to earn it simply because He loves you. It is the goodness and greatness of God’s love for you manifesting in material ways. It is God meeting your need through grace. Your eternal life is secured, and now you have access to the abundant life in Christ. Jesus said, John 10:10 (KJV) “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” See, what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary, and by walking out of that grave was no small feat. It literally changed the world. To put it in a natural, visual example for you to understand, think for a minute about an event that would change the world as we know it. Like if nuclear bombs were detonated in every major city on the earth, all at the same time. The few survivors would find themselves living in an absolutely different world than it was before the event. Instead of 8 billion people, your down to 8 million on the entire planet. No vegetation (except probably sagebrush!) No electronics, electricity, any transportation that used a battery would no longer exist. Out of the 8 million that survived the initial blast, nearly all of them would die of starvation within 2 years. That would be an event that would profoundly effect the world as we know it. Now, I know that we are 2000 plus years out from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but that event was even more transforming than the one I just described. The covenant of God with man was fulfilled and then replaced with a new and better covenant. We no longer live under the Old Covenant of performance based law, but under the New Covenant of grace. Life on earth changed the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And, it will never be the same again. Yet some Christians today seem to find it hard to believe. At least consistently. They are determined, like so many churches we read about in the scriptures, to go back under the old covenant and live according to the “earn it or else” mentality. Chapter One: “The Goodness of God” Now understand why we need faith for grace. Many of you are struggling with issues in your health, your mental health, your finances, and your relationships because you have lost hope for the situation to ever really change. You are stuck in a rut with no one to pull you out. You’ve tried to climb out and the sides are just too slippery. Even if you could get a firm grip on the top of the edge, it is like the bucket full of crabs that when one gets a hold of the top, the others reach up and grab onto him trying to pull themselves up on him and they all topple back into the bucket. Even if you begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel, your convinced that it is just a train coming your direction. Instead of thinking that things are starting to get better, you are convinced they are about to get drastically worse. And often enough, you get just the calamity you think you are going to, mainly because you don’t feel like you deserve any better than that anyway. Here’s where faith for hope and grace comes in. Here’s why it is so important. Because even guys like King David, known as a man after God’s own heart, said that he would have fainted (given up) unless he had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13 (KJV) “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” David says even he would not have made it without faith for God’s grace. The “goodness” of God is translated as, “the best of God.” God is not limited by anything but what you believe He can do. He can make the absolute best out of your situation if you will believe Him for it. He looks at you and desires good things for you. He is not wanting to give you second best. He wants only the best for you. If you had unlimited resources and your child needs a new coat, would you buy them a cheap, thin, piece of junk coat that will wear out in two weeks, or would you buy them the best? You’d buy them a nice, well-made coat that would last as long as they could fit in it! We have some relatives that are pretty wealthy and they send me a Christmas present every year. I kid you not, the clothes that they send me are the top of the line. They last for years and years compared to the stuff I can buy at Walmart! You have to believe for God’s unmerited favor on your life. Trust that His grace is still active in your life today. God did not just give you grace for eternal life, but grace for every area, every need, every day of your life. We can come boldly unto the throne of Grace. The middle wall of separation between us and God that was based on our effort has been torn down. When He died on the cross that veil was split in two. And when He rose from the dead He placed you in the gap, standing right in front of God with His undivided attention. You now have free access to the throne of grace for every situation. But you have to believe that and stop wavering. David would have fainted if he did not “believe.” Let go of unbelief and only believe for the grace and favor of God. What is your struggle? Sin keeps popping up in certain areas? In the Book of Romans it says that where sin abounds, God’s grace does much more abound. God’s grace supersedes. That means that the unmerited favor and blessing from God you need for victory is already yours for the having. For some of you it is like you are sitting under an apple tree, full of ripe and ready to eat apples, and you are wishing you had an apple to eat. God’s grace has made what you need available for you. Just reach out and receive it. Foretelling what it would be like to live under the new covenant we are now under, Isaiah prophesied this: Isaiah 54:10 (KJV) “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.” The plan of God was that He would send His Son to redeem us to Himself so that He could pour out His love and blessings upon you. Ephesians 2:4-7 (KJV) “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Jesus said that “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Don’t be like some people who are afraid of the goodness of God, thinking that it causes bad things to happen. “Oh, no. If God blesses me too much I will mess things up and it will cause me to stumble. I will lose sight of God and take Him for granted.” I know for a fact that when you are dependent on God and He blesses you, it does not make you forget Him, it makes you bow down to your knees in adoration and respect. It is extremely humbling when God meets a need that you had no way to meet. Teach yourself to be looking for the favor of God. If He has made you a promise then He will fulfil it. Don’t be afraid of the blessing. To the man whose son was sick, Jesus said, “All things are possible to Him that believes.” Don’t believe AND doubt. Only believe. You had faith for grace to be saved, so now maintain that faith for grace, for victory, wholeness and blessing and help in every area of your life.
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This life we live is not always easy. At times it can be downright hard to keep our head above the water. It’s like we are in a boat and we get so many other things in the boat with us that the edge of the boat is just above the water. So then when a storm comes and the waves start splashing against the boat, it doesn’t take much to start filling the boat and it begins to sink.
Often it seems like when we get one thing under control, then something else spins out of control. Things at work can be going along fairly smooth, and then somebody in a cushy office somewhere decides to make some improvements and now everything is upside down. Our relationships with people may be going good and then somebody moves away or a new person comes to town and our boat starts rocking. Water starts pouring over the edge. Things with our family and friends is going along fine and then one little comment is made that presses on a sore spot, and now there’s hurt feelings or rejection or bitterness that builds up. You find yourself feeling kind of crummy after spending time with them, having to hold back who you really are because of a fear of rejection or criticism. The ongoing maintenance of our interpersonal relationships is a huge part of our lives. And, it really can take up a majority of our time, our emotions and our effort. When you are a Christian, then you have your relationship with God that you know deep down inside should be your highest priority, yet He seems to get the back burner of the stove most of time. Your friendship with Him is there, but He’s just simmering in the background while you spend most of your time stirring the pots that are about to scorch to the bottom of the pan or boil over if you don’t address them. Balancing life and your relationships can be hard, especially when you try to keep your relationship with God and your relationship with others separate. You constantly have to change who you are depending on who you are spending time with. Being a Christian and developing your walk with God at that point can become a burden. You “have to” go to church, and you “have to” read your Bible. You have to shine up and put on your fake smile for your churchy acquaintances, yet on the inside you know it is just an act. On the inside you are a mess. On the inside you know where you are sitting financially. On the inside you know what keeps your mind stirred up at night so you can’t sleep. On the inside, you are hurting or worried or have some doubts, but for the moment you will try to convince the people around you that everything is ok. Life can be hard. But, I have some good news for you today. Jesus said, Matthew 11:28 (KJV) “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus says, “Come to me. Be with me and where I am at, and I will give you rest.” The writer of Hebrews describes the place of rest we enter into as the place in life when we are not relying on our own works and efforts and solutions, but trusting in our Almighty God. Hebrews 4:9-11 (KJV) “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” There is rest and peace for the righteous children of God. For the righteous children of God, there is an anointing of favor from God that encompasses round about you. You have stop thinking that bad things are coming at you all the time and start believing the truth, that God is pouring favor and blessing upon you. Psalm 5:12 (KJV) “For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.” With this shield of favor around you, everything that comes your way has to pass through that shield to get to you. It is the way that God truly does make all things work together for good to them that love God. Your part is simply to trust in Him, delight yourself in Him, commit your ways unto Him and rest in Him knowing and believing that your faith in the completed works of Jesus Christ is all He is requiring of you. Psalm 37:3-5 (KJV) “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Trust in God and do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do and He will make sure you are taken care of. Delight yourself in Him. That word “delight” means to “be soft and pliable.” It implies letting Him shape you into who He wants you to be. When you yield yourself to God then your desires line up with His and He is more than willing to accommodate you and give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37 says, Psalm 37:7 (KJV) “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him…” To rest in Him does not mean you will sit and do nothing. It means that whatever you do, do it in faith believing that He is bringing His plan to fruition. We want peace and calm waters in our life so we have to believe and trust in God’s ability to bring things to pass in our life. Psalm 37:11 (KJV) “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” To be “meek” in this sense is “to bring yourself low.” It means to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt you in due time. It means that as you give up control over your situation, that He can move mightily on your behalf. Trusting and depending on Him is where your greatest peace will be found. Psalm 37:39 (KJV) “But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.” “Salvation” in this verse means “freedom.” The freedom of the righteous comes from the Lord. You can’t get things in order enough to bring about the kind of freedom and peace the Lord offers and gives to His righteous. Psalm 31:19 (KJV) “Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!” His goodness, His favor, His blessing, His freedom and His peace is set aside for you. Just talk to Him. Ask Him to reveal His goodness to you. Humble yourself and ask Him to have His way in your life. God is listening to you and your prayers. He loves you and cares for you and wants to bless you. He hears you and sends the answer right away. Have faith in knowing who you are as a righteous child of God and knowing who God is listening to. Psalm 34:15-17 (KJV) “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.” Proverbs 15:29 (KJV) “The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.” 1 Peter 3:12 (KJV) “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” God just wants you to trust in Him and turn your life over to Him. He will sustain you. In the Hebrew that word “sustain” means “to gather for measuring and holding together in one place.” Psalm 55:22 (KJV) “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” When you cast your care upon the Lord you are promised that He will hold you together. You will not fall apart. Your boat will not sink. You will be sustained. Listen to this promise of God to you: Psalm 92:12-13 (KJV) “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.” God blesses the righteous. He gives them peace and holds them together. If you have been born again today, you are the righteous. These promises and this inheritance is yours. You are in a special place with God, not because of your good works or lack thereof, but because God made you righteous and then He determined that these things are for the righteous. Think about the scriptures and how they refer to Abraham as our father. Abraham is known as the “father of faith” simply because he was made righteous or “right with God” because he believed and trusted God. Speaking about the faith of Abraham the Bible says, Genesis 15:6 (KJV) “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” He simply believed in and trusted in God and His plan. Like you have 5 presents and you count them out to who they go to. These two go to Jeff, and these two go to Nancy and this last one is “counted” to Emyle. Righteousness was counted to Abraham, just because He believed in God’s plan. You also are justified and made righteous and right with God by faith. Galatians 3:6-9 (KJV) “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” Galatians 3:26 (KJV) “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” You are not trying to work out your righteousness. Your righteousness already came upon you, or was counted to you when you believed on the completed works of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 10:4 (KJV) “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” You are made righteous by your faith in Christ, not in your works and labors and keeping of your made up list of do’s and don’ts. Romans 3:20-23 (KJV) “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Nobody was able to uphold the law perfectly except Jesus Christ. All of mankind fell into one single category and that was “the lost.” That means that there is only one way to heaven, one way to salvation, one way to be righteous before God and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who strive and struggle to earn their way to heaven or live their life trying to pay off a debt they owe to God will not make it. Romans 4:1-5 (KJV) “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Because of your faith in Christ, you are no longer in debt to God. Your sin debt has been paid with your faith. I heard it said by a preacher one time that “faith is the currency of the kingdom of God.” Faith is how you paid your debt, so if you are still trying to pay off that debt with your works, then you have not paid it with your faith. Romans 5:17 (KJV) “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)” Your righteousness is a free gift from God. Romans 5:19 (KJV) “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Romans 10:9-10 (KJV) “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” You have been brought together with God and made righteous by a plan and act of God through Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 (KJV) “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” The rest, calm waters and peace comes when you realize that it is not you that calms the storms. It is not you that prevents the waves from crashing over the side of your boat. It comes when you humble yourself and admit your dependence on God. Jesus makes the storms calm. Jesus speaks to the winds and the waves and they become smooth as glass. Matthew 8:23-26 (KJV) “And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. 24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.” Notice that the disciples of Christ made sure they were where Jesus was. His disciples simply followed Him into the ship. When the storms came up they knew who to go to. They turned to Jesus. They cried out to Jesus and He heard their cry. They cast their care upon Him because they knew that He cared for them. Jesus reminded them to not be afraid, but to maintain their faith in the power of God. When your boat is full and the storms and stresses of life come, cast your care upon the Lord. Trust in Him. His ears are open to you as the righteous. He will give you the desires of your heart. You are His precious, righteous child. "The Gift of Righteousness"
The Apostle Paul felt it was important to continually remind people to be careful not to fall back into the works and performance mentality where they were trying to earn their peace with God by their works. The tendency is for a person to be exposed to enough of the law, whether it be seeing the 10 Commandments posted on a courtroom wall or a TV show they see where the righteous demands of our Holy God are expressed or possibly even from seeing the life of a true believer living a Godly life and they come to the point in their life where they know they need a savior. That moment when a person comes to the end of themselves, they know they have failed and fallen short of God's absolute expectations and realize that they cannot obtain the holiness and righteousness of God through any amount of their own efforts, then they give their life to Jesus and trust in His completed works for their salvation. It is so unfortunate that our society so strongly promotes guilt, shame and a performance based maintenance of our salvation that many, if not most, tend to lose sight of that fact that they could not save themselves and they begin to work to repay a debt to God that they recall acquiring in their old life. The Apostle Paul refers to id as "Falling from Grace." Galatians 5:1-4 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." To be "fallen from Grace" is the word "ekpipto" in the Greek and it means to "drop away, especially to be driven out or off of one's course." In other words, that drive that compels people to perform for God to pay back a debt they owe to Him is actually doing just the opposite. It is driving them off the course of grace that God has intended for them. After all, if you are going to try to obtain or maintain your holiness and righteousness with God by keeping the demands of the law, you better be pretty good at it, because to miss the mark in one single point of it means that you are just as guilty before God as if you had missed it on every one. James said, James 2:10 "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." Now I like to balance out a radical message about the true grace of God with a reminder that being free from performance based Christianity by no means allows for or promotes sin or ungodly living as being acceptable. We still serve the same Holy, perfect and pure God that has always been, we just understand our inability to continue in holy living and righteousness apart from Him. Some of you however, are still living the same way you did when you were in a fallen state. You live just like you did before you supposedly gave your life to Christ. It may even be hard to tell if you are Christian or not just by watching your life cause you are still drinking like a fish, cussing like a sailor, lying like a rug, cheating like a card shark and stealing like a guy on second base! That same term used for "fallen" in this scrip we just read is only used in that sense one other place in the Bible and it is when Jesus is addressing the Church of Ephesus and He commends them for being able to recognize and not put up with evil and false teaching and hypocritical Christians that were among them, yet he says they had fallen because they had left their first love. Revelation 2:4-5 "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." He exhorts them to remember true grace and recall the love and passion they once had toward Him and turn back unto Him. In your walk there should be a continual repentance, or adjusting of your course to make sure your life is lining up with the ways and will of God. Seek to avoid trying to establish your own ways of trying to please God that were never God's intentions. Romans 10:1-4 "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." You can see how Paul is saying that his prayer is that these people, many of whom consider themselves to be the chosen people of God, will be saved. He is praying that they will be delivered from the lie of works based faith, which is reality there is no such thing. You either believe and are saved by grace through faith, or you do not believe and are not saved. Paul points out the two types of righteousness: Your own righteousness, or the righteousness of God. Which one do you think is going to be acceptable to God? God is not interested in your labor as a form of payment to pay off a sin debt. That was under the old covenant, the old Testament where they brought offerings to God as a sort of payment for their wrong doings. It is very deeply engrained into our society that if and when you do wrong, you have to pay for it. If you get a speeding ticket, you have to pay a fine right? Well, God's plan is to put it into your heart to do right from the beginning so that you will not speed and therefore never get the ticket to need to be paid off! The natural world still works that way, but in God's kingdom the debt for sin, has already been paid. There will be a natural consequence for sin, but God's ways are now written on our heart so they can be obeyed from the inside out, from the beginning, so those sins never even occur. Finally, we get to the central passage for this entire message. Rm 4:1-7 The summary of that passage is this: "Grace is no longer Grace if you are working for it." When you are earning your righteousness, you are fallen from Grace and are now expressing doubt in the plan and will of God. The scriptures are talking about how God imputed or imparted righteousness on Abraham simply because he believed God by faith. Grace is clearly described as a gift in the Bible. Righteousness is clearly described as a gift in the Bible, and so it therefore must be seen as a gift and not something that we labor to obtain or that is owed to us because of our labors or works. Romans 4:4-5 "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Romans 4:4-5 (Amplified Bible) "Now to a laborer, his wages are not counted as a favor or a gift, but as an obligation (something owed to him). 5 But to one who, not working [by the Law], trusts (believes fully) in Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (the standing acceptable to God)." Romans 4:4-6 (Good News Bible) "A person who works is paid wages, but they are not regarded as a gift; they are something that has been earned. 5 But those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believe in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself." God is the one who paid the wages, to us, not because of our labor, but because of the labors of Jesus Christ. That is the gospel. That is the good news that Jesus Christ came to share with us. Believe that by faith and see how it changes your life. You are receiving something you didn’t earn. Jesus earned it for you. It's like you needed open heart surgery and you could not operate on yourself and were going to die, but then Jesus steps in and does the surgery and then tells them to pay you and give you his wages. You should be forever grateful and in the deepest sense of the work you are "much obliged" or feel a sense of lifelong obligation to Him for it. You now lay down your life and say, whatever you need, whatever you want, I will be there for you. Living the New Life
Let me start by asking you some pretty basic questions. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that He lived a perfect, sinless life? Was He crucified on the cross, put to death bearing the punishment for all of your sin? Did He raise from the dead, conquering sin and death forever? Now for the big question. Having believed all those things, do you place your faith and trust in Him, and accept Him as your Lord, your Master and your Savior? I want to solidify these things right up front, because if you answered yes to all these questions, then He has replaced your stony, hardened heart with a new one, giving you a new life in Him. Ezekiel 36:24-27 "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Essentially, just like Jesus told us about in John Chapter 3, you have been born again and now have been spiritually made new. Jesus said in order to see and experience the Kingdom of God, you must be spiritually born again. John 3:1-2 "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. " Just to believe on in Jesus because of His miracles is not enough however. Countless denominations and religions teach that He was a good man, that He was a prophet and promote the idea that we should believe in Him because He did miracles. But they leave out the answer that Jesus gave Nicodemus… John 3:1-7 "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." Most of you are thinking, "Yeah, please tell me something I don’t know. I've already accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I've already been born again." But, as the title of today's message implies, I want to not just see you be saved and on your way to heaven, but to live in the blessing of the new life that He has given you. For starters, you have to quit thinking of yourself as who you used to be and start seeing yourself as who you are now in Christ. You are a new creation in Christ. Spiritually, you got to start over. Your slate was wiped clean by your faith in the blood of Jesus Christ shed for you. All things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Your flesh however was not born again. Remember that Jesus said, "That which is flesh is flesh and that which is Spirit is spirit." You may have wondered at times, "Why if I am a totally new creation do I still lose my temper or lust or say and do things I know are wrong?" You were born of the spirit by faith. Your spirit got born again, but your soul, your mind will and emotions, did not experience the instant transformation. The scripture did not say that you have a new mind, or that you will not remember the life and experiences that you once had. We are instructed as believers in Christ to renew our minds with the word of God. Jesus said, Luke 4:4 "That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." You do not live by the natural, "what you can see with your eyes" realm anymore. We now live according to the word of God and what it says rules your life. The Bible tells us that the faith that we need to believe in the completed works of Christ comes through hearing and hearing the word of God. Romans 12:2 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Your spirit is already as pure and holy as it can get. Your mind however can still think evil thoughts. You can sill lust or hate or be prideful. You have to renew your thinking so that it lines up with God's word and His way of thinking. If you have a lusting problem or struggle with wanting to look at pornography, you have to line your way of thinking about women up with the way God sees them. They are not an object, but a beautiful and wonderful and precious creation He has made. If you have a problem with greed or love of money, then you have to altar your thinking from the way of the old, unregenerate man's ways, to God's. Money can be useful, but it is not what life is about. As a child of God, we bring our body under subjection, renew our mind and live from our spirit. Romans 8:5-9 "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." You are a new creation in Christ. You are now a spiritual being capable of living out the ways of God, not being dominated and governed by your flesh any longer. Colossians 1:20-23 "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;" What Jesus has done through his life, death and resurrection that we place our faith in, has given us free and open access in the spirit to the love, power and righteousness of God. You can live out the life that God intended for you. You do not have to live with a failure mentality, that you will never be good enough. God has done what He needed to do to make you good enough and given you access to live it out. Ephesians 2:10-14 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;" You at one time were incapable of pleasing God. You were not capable by your own willpower or the strength of your flesh to live righteously. But now, you are spiritually a new man. But it takes faith in the unseen to see it come to pass in the natural. You have to believe more in the plan of God, than just what you can see with your own eyes. We are instructed in more than one place in the scripture to put on and live from the new man. Ephesians 4:17-24 "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." When we first trusted in Christ, something changed in us that now makes us capable of living out the ways of God. Your understanding is no longer darkened. You are no longer ignorant or blind to godliness and holiness. The truth of who you are now, is in Jesus. You were recreated by faith in Him to be Holy, righteous and without blame. Again as Paul wrote to the Colossians, he reminds them too of this change that has taken place and says, ""Don’t live like the old man, but live like the new one you are now." Colossians 3:1-15 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. 8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." I love the way he ends this passage here as he says, "Don’t live like you used to be, but live like you are now and 'be ye thankful' that you don’t have to be that way anymore!" Praise God that He has given you a new heart. Praise God that He changed you on the inside. Thank God that you are not who you used to be! I heard it again this week. A good Christian man, who after 60 years of going to church still blurts out, "Well we're all just sinners. And like the Apostle Paul, I'm the chief of sinners, but, at least I do this and that and these other things right. God's still working on me."
Whenever I hear a statement like that, it makes my heart hurt. Maybe that's the pastor in me, but it grieves me to hear someone strive so heard to obtain something that has already been given to them. It is quite obvious that person does not yet fully understand the grace of God that came to us in the form of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that we once were alienated from the promises of God, but that we are now reconciled to God through His blood. Colossians 1:21-22 "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight" That word "alienated" in the original Greek meant to be a "non-participant." He is saying that at one time we rightfully thought of ourselves as a non-participant, not able to receive the blessings of God. But not anymore. God did what He needed to do to make us right and ready to receive. We've been talking on Wednesdays about how Paul addressed so many of the people in the churches he wrote to as "saints of God." Last week I even preached a sermon that was titled, "The Saints of God" to help people see the blessings God has called us to, by making us Saints of His. Considering yourself to be in the "sinner" category when God has called you and made you a Saint will lead you to live a defeated life, never seeing yourself as worthy to receive the goodness of God. Believe me, being in the "sinner" category is not where you want to be. God told Abraham, Genesis 13:13 "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly." If you remember the story, Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy Sodom if there were even a handful of righteous people still there. But did God destroy Sodom once those who had found mercy in God's eyes were come out of it. Like God has said under the New Covenant, "Come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord…" The destruction of Sodom is a picture God was painting for us that He WILL spare the righteous, but destroy the wicked sinner. So to have a sinner mentality is to continually expect God to judge and destroy you. Psalms 104:35 "Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord." God's plan was not that you live feeling guilty, condemned and unworthy, but that you lift up your head as a child of God, made righteous by the sacrifice of His Son and allow your life to give glory unto God. To continue hanging your head in shame is to lump yourself back into the category of the wicked and unrighteous. No lost person is going to look at your life and say, "Yeah I really want to be like that person, who even though they gave their life to Christ is still just as guilty before God as I am!" No. Jesus bore our shame and punishment on the cross and with His very last breath before He died He said, "It is finished." You've been set free! Even Jesus, when He was addressing the people implied that when you follow Him in faith you are righteous, but once you're in the kingdom as a child of God you are no longer in the sinner category. Luke 6:32-35 "For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." Jesus is pointing out that there is a difference between you and a sinner. We are to pray in faith right? Mark 11:24 "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." To think of yourself is a sinner will cloud your mind with doubt that God even hears you when you pray. John 9:31 "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth." How can you pray in faith when you still think of yourself as an unworthy sinner? James 5:14-15 "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." People that see themselves as unrighteous often like to quote the Apostle Paul when said he was the "chief of all sinners." But, the problem is, that if you read the very next verse, you see that God showed mercy on him and changed him from a sinner, to a saint to set the example for us. 1 Timothy 1:15-16 "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." The Apostle Paul obtained mercy. He grabbed hold of, received and accepted the mercy of God. He was simply saying that he WAS as bad a dude as you could find, but even HE was made righteous by simple faith in Christ. He was making the point that if there was anyone out there who thinks they have been too evil to be saved, they have not. He considered what he had done…killing Christians for their faith in Christ, to be the ultimate in wickedness, yet wants the whole world to know that God even saved HIM! My point with all this is to try and help you to stop striving to obtain something that you already have, so you can live out your righteousness while on earth, and stop thinking that you're only going to be right with God when you squeak your way into heaven. One of the main reasons people can't break free from the bondage of guilt and shame is that they are mixing the keeping of the law, and being saved by grave together. I am going to make a pretty bold statement and show you that the Bible says that grace and the law cannot coexist. You're either saved by grace, or you're not. Everybody remembers Abraham right? He is known in the scriptures as the "Father of… Faith." He is called that because he believed on God and walked in righteousness BEFORE there were even laws to keep. He didn't have the 10 commandments posted up on His wall and check them off every day to make sure he was still in right standing with God. He lived with a continual reverence of God, knowing that God was with him. Genesis 15:5-6 "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." He walked with God and talked with God and lived out His faith in a relationship with God the same as we are now to do. Romans 4:3-5 "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Abraham was not perfect on the outside, but his heart was right with God. He was loved, blessed and highly favored by God. And the same as we want God to do with our lives, God used Abraham's life story to teach lessons to others about faith in Him. God had told him that he would be the father of many nations, that his seed would be as many as the sand along the sea shore and as numerous as the stars in the heavens above. God uses the story of 2 of Abraham's 8 sons to show us how faith and law keeping, or legalism cannot coexist. You remember that Abraham and Sarah were getting up there in age and still had no children. None. So Sarah comes up with an Eve-like idea that God must be going to bless them with children by Abraham having relations with her Egyptian handmaid, named Hagar. That is the first clue that we get that Hagar is going to represent the bondage of the law, because we now know that God's people were later enslaved to the Egyptians for 430 years. God had told Abraham that this was going to happen a few verses earlier. If you think about it, for a man of faith to engage with bondage is not going to be a good scenario. God's people have been doing this to this day. God has made you free from the bondage of the law, yet people seem to be drawn into carnally thinking that keeping some of the laws will somehow keep them in a better place with God. Romans 10:1-4 "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." People strive to be "pleasing to God" by doing certain things and not doing other things, but the scripture tells us that without FAITH it is impossible to please God. Romans 4:13-14 "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect" Galatians 3:13-14 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." The promises of God are yours by Faith today. You will not be blessed more by trying to do outward things to please God. He is moved by Faith. Today was just the introduction to "Freedom or Bondage?" We are just getting to where Abraham and Hagar and Sarah and their sons Ishmael and Isaac will be used by God to make the point that Grace and Law cannot coexist. When we mix the two, then we discount Grace and our Faith is weakened. "Real Christianity"
In a world full of fake nails, false teeth and enhanced shapely body parts it's no wonder we struggle at times to understand what Christianity is all about. Do we even know what a "real" Christian looks like anymore? Are they the one wearing the three-piece suit and tie with their nose up in the air? Or, the one with long hair, a beard and sandals on his dirty feet? Do all those who look like a combination of the two hold the essence of a life in Christ? I have made it my life's quest to know Christ and make Him known. In my wholehearted mission I determined to seek out some examples of bona fide believers to understand how a Christ-like child of God might accomplish telling the world about our Savior. I thought maybe the haggard looking fellow at the entrance to the local box store holding a sign that read, "Anything helps. God Bless You," might have some good advice as to what authentic Christianity might look like. He told me that he was traveling across the country with nothing but his Bible and the message that there is freedom in Christ. For a brief moment, I thought he might be on to something. But when I asked him if he could help me with a barn building project I was working on by supplying a second set of hands, (in exchange for the hotel room payment he had asked me for) he declined saying he preferred to "spend his days sleeping and occasionally meditating." I continued the conversation though by asking how effective his missionary journey had been. He said he was conveying the image of what it meant to be free through the way he lived his life. When I asked him if he meant "free from sin" or "free from the responsibilities of the average male adult," he turned a slight shade of red and said I was misinterpreting his message. "Oh," I said, "You must be presenting the message Christ referred to when he stated, 'it is more blessed to give than to receive' and by presenting it in reverse you are trying to convince people the world really does have things backward." Our conversation pretty much ended right there with the exception of him asking if I was going to pay for his room or not. I put him up in one of the nicest suites in town and concluded he might not be my poster child for the Christian faith after all. A couple weeks later though I thought I had found my model Christian. Dressed in a full length brown skirt with a matching beanie on his head, this guy emanated religion. I had seen him walking the street earlier in the day and hoped to track him down to ask him a few questions. He looked like he was talking even though he was walking alone, so I imagined him praying incessantly for the lost, our city, the homeless, and everything else under the Son (pun intended.) Surely he was the manifestation of what the image of God should look like. My friend on a similar truth seeking quest got to him before I did and called me to say, "Don't bother. He's fruity, not fruitful!" The "talking to himself" was found out to not be prayer after all, but rather foul words being mumbled under his breath directed at the people driving by and not stopping to give him money. He had apparently told my friend that he was a holy man, but that because she was riding in a truck with a man she was not married to (she is a trucker engaged to another trucker) she was a foul sinner on her way to hell and he could not accept the gift she was trying to give him. (He was holding a poster at the same box store entrance as the aforementioned, asking for food.) Exasperated she proclaimed that she was a Christian trying to help him, only to be denied the opportunity to lend a hand because he was more of a Christian that she was! Alas. No avail. The quest for the truth continues. Surely there is someone out there who is preaching the gospel of Christ through the sermon of their life. Certainly someone will model the Christ-like life we are to be living. Someone please rise up! For if no one else will step up and do it, it might just have to be me… |
AuthorGary Gilbert has been serving in the ministry of Christ since 1995 and is the author of "The Narrow Road- What it takes (and doesn't take) to go to Heaven" and "The Covenant of Grace.". He is currently a loving husband, father of 2 wonderful sons and a full time Pastor. Archives
December 2018
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