Tuesday, March 19, 2013

GRACE BY WHICH WE STAND


NOTE:  It would be hypocritical to post this lesson with confrontation in mind, when the lesson itself is about grace.  For anyone who may stumble upon this blog through a search engine, our men are on a quest to live out the Kingdom of God on earth today.  Part of that quest is to have a solid understanding of how to enter into, and live in the Kingdom of God.  We’ve concluded that Grace is the outward manifestation of the Kingdom life, just as sin is the outward manifestation of a carnal life.  If you continue to read this blog, it is sure to offend those who’ve grown up with, or been indoctrinated by the prevailing definitions of Grace.

(SORRY CHARLIE, THIS IS A LONG BLOG)

LESSON:  Grace is much more than love, kindness, privilege, compassion, mercy, or any other ‘one word or two word’ definition that we’ve come to embrace over the years.  I hope by now, you’ve come to understand the complexity of grace.  We could spend the rest of our lives studying this one word, and still not fathom all that it is, nor all that it does, because IT is the work of the HOLY SPIRIT, dare I say Grace is the Holy Spirit. Even as much as I’ve prepared for this study, I haven’t even scratched the surface, although I have bashed my head on it a few times.
The problem with any study into grace, is our tendency to confuse grace with salvation.  We interchange the two as if they were Lego blocks, even though the evidence to the contrary is in the scriptures.  They aren’t one in the same, and never will be.  I believe one of the easiest ways to prove a point is to inject our accepted definitions into a scripture.  Let me do one of our Pastor’s favorite passages: 2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT  Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”  . . . Let’s substitute ‘salvation’ for grace.  “My salvation is all you need. . .” Uhhhhh, nope, that don’t work for me.  Now, let’s inject Pastor’s definition of Grace; “My power to succeed is all you need.  My power works best in weakness.”   Yep, that’s better!  Now let’s inject the Holy Spirit in there; “My Holy Spirit is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”  NOW that’s what I’m talking about!  
Let’s do another verse, Ephesians 2:8  “For you are saved by salvation through faith. . .”   Not much better.  Yet, when we talk about Grace, we make it a loose definition for being saved.  NOW, let’s do it as written, “For you are SAVED by GRACE through FAITH, and that not of yourselves, it (salvation) is a gift of God.”  (emphasis mine) Faith is a gift of God, Grace is the gift of God, Salvation is a gift of God.  Duh!  God created everything, so it would stand to reason that grace, faith, and salvation would be of God.  Without wanting to step into the obvious minefields that surround any discussion of grace, let’s make our position perfectly clear; YOU MUST BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST IN ORDER TO BE SAVED!!!!!!  If you don’t believe me, then believe Jesus. (I am talking to Christians here.)
There are three things Jesus said you must do in order to be saved.  YOU must repent, (He would not tell you to do it unless it was something you had to do.) you must believe, (God is not going to believe for you, else he wouldn’t be going about looking for someone to show himself strong in) and you must be baptized (Christ already did that once, he doesn’t need to do that for you.)  Yes,  I’m being facetious.  The problem with Ephesians 2:8 isn’t with the words, but with how we translate those words. Those who want to make a mantra of the last part of Ephesians 2:8  try to make grace into some kind of mystical force that can’t be resisted.  ‘You will serve me. . . .(eerie synthesizer music plays in the background)…..You are helpless before me. . . . .(a wave of the almighty’s arm,) . . ..You will love me. . .   Okay, I’m getting out there.
The other side of the grace argument is just as flawed, because it makes grace into marshmallow filling that sweetens a poor excuse for cake.  “God’s grace has covered all my sins, I’ve accepted Jesus as my savior, I choose to follow Jesus. I can act any way I want to, because I’m covered by grace.”  WRONG WORDS DUDES!   Let’s take a look at the one example that busts both ideas.  Turn to Luke 18:18-30
A rich young ruler came to Jesus, the savior of all mankind, with a sincere desire to do something to inherit eternal life. (Doesn’t everybody?) Jesus didn’t confront the young man, nor did he make him bow before him. The young man could easily see for himself, that Jesus knew the way to eternal life, that’s why he came, and bowed before Him of his own free will.  If the idea of total depravity were true, the rich young ruler wouldn’t even have guessed that Jesus could lead him to eternal life.  Jesus knew the young man was serious, and moved to tears by the young ruler’s stated obedience to the law of Moses.  Jesus asks the young man the one thing he asks all of us to do, “sell all that you have. . .and follow me.” 
DECISION TIME! 
The hope of eternal life stood before the young ruler, and he rejected it.  The Holy Spirit was busting on this boy’s chops hard! Jesus is weeping, the disciples are hoping, heaven holds its breath. . .Still, he was able to turn his back on the one thing he came to Jesus for.  This story clearly puts the decision to believe in Jesus in our own ballpark.  I reject the notion that human beings are ‘totally depraved,’ and grace is the only way we can find Him.  I believe God is always searching for us, no matter where we may be hiding.  He’s been calling out to us since the dawn of creation.  The Gospel is the call, and love is the reason for the call. Grace is what we get when we answer the call. I’ll repeat my assertion, the biggest problem we face when we are discussing grace, is confusing the GOSPEL with grace.  They aren’t the same.  If we take Jesus at His word, GOD LOVES EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!  The gospel is that truth, but the Gospel can be resisted, and hell will be filled with people who resisted the gospel.  Salvation is not Grace, and Grace is not the offer of salvation.  I hate it when we lump everything in one basket and throw it up into the air like a tossed salad.  “Here, eat this, we’ll throw a little ‘carnal’ dressing on it to make it more palatable.”  Before long, the salad doesn’t matter, it’s the dressing we taste.  God doesn’t have love potions to make us love Him. Yes, everything comes from God, but it is still our choice to believe, repent, and love Him. God didn’t program us to follow Him.  Actually, he’s looking for those who willingly follow him.  We’re going to be coming back to Ephesians 2:8-9 a lot more over the course of our study, so we’ll leave it alone for right now.  Let’s look at another passage that clearly demonstrates Grace’s function in our salvation, and ultimately what its role in the Kingdom is.  Last week I told you we’d be looking at Romans chapter 5, so let’s turn there now. 

Romans chapter 5,

5:1  Our faith in the atoning, cleansing, work of Jesus Christ is what justifies us.  (the therefore, is chapter four) We stand clean before God, through the work that Jesus did. 
5:2   It is faith in JESUS that gives us access to the GRACE (Spirit) of God in which we stand (Justified/righteous/blameless/ empowered/ and HOLY) rejoicing (boasting) in (Jesus) the hope of the Glory of God.  Duh!!!!! Jesus is the Glory of God.  We boast in HIM because he Did it.  He bought our ransom, paid the price, redeemed us.  WE BOAST IN HIM, because we believe in the work he did.  FAITH ACTIVATES GRACE!  (Remember: you are saved by grace through faith.)  YOU MUST BELIEVE!  Faith (trust) opens the gates  of heaven. NOW Grace is available to you. 
5:3  (Now that we believe, and grace is available to us,) We can do more than boast about Jesus’ work on the cross, we can also boast when we go through tribulations and trials.  WHY?  Because we KNOW that tribulations work to make us patient. [Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, (Galatians 5:22) which proves that GRACE is already at work IN us.] 
5:4  We know that enduring tribulation also develops strong character, and once we’ve developed a strong character,  we’ll abound in confidence.  (Remember these things are happening AFTER we believe into Jesus)
5:5  Our confidence (hope) in Jesus won’t disappoint us.  (We won’t be ashamed when we pass from this life to the next, because when we stand before God, we’ll have believed in the truth, and Grace will have completed its work in us.) Not only can we have confidence on the Day of Judgment, but also we can have that confidence NOW, because we have God’s love spread all over our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit.  (This love is how people SEE the grace of God.  Grace is tangible, and visible to all.  (How do you think people know you are ‘gracious.’  It is how we know we are HIS.)

NOTE: Up to this point, Paul has been describing the work of Jesus Christ, which not only sets us in right standing with God for the future, but it also gives us strength to endure tribulation, and hardships.  Now he will show us the scope of salvation in its intricacy.  All this stuff is past tense stuff, before you became a NEW man.

5:6  There was a time when we were powerless, weak, and carnal. (Sinman)  THEN (BAM!) Christ died for us!  (We didn’t ask Him to do it, and we could have cared less that He did it.  It wasn’t our idea.)  He didn’t die for the righteous, holy, blameless, or more deserving, HE died for us when we were helpless, decrepit, evil, despicable, nasty, and stinky.  He loved us when we were his enemies.  (This is HIS love at work, not His grace.  If grace were love, He would have said: For God was so gracious, he gave his . . .)  God loves all of us, but His love for us isn’t the issue.  Our loving Him isn’t the issue.  No matter how much He loves us, and regardless of whether we love Him, sin still stands between us,and God. 
5:7  The carnal mindset is offered up here; A carnal man would be tempted to give their lives for someone who is good or righteous, but who would give their life for a child molester, murderer, thief, liar, rapist, adulterer, prostitute, or addict?  WHO WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS? 

JESUS!  Wow!  Paul loves to mess with people’s minds. 

5:8  Yes, while we were totally messed up beyond all hope of ever being right with God, Jesus gave his life for us.  He stood in our place (I want you to get a mental picture of this, because it is the key to understanding grace.)  HE HUNG UPON THE CURSE (THE CROSS) AND TOOK UPON HIMSELF THE MOST VILE SIN ANY MANY OR WOMAN HAS EVER COMMITTED.   He did this while we were his enemies, while we were still sinners, while we were helpless, while we didn’t even know what He was doing.  THIS IS THE LOVE HE HAS FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD!  (This is still not grace.  Love alone, doesn’t make salvation happen for us, we have to believe Jesus is the Son of God, that He died, and rose again.)
5:9  As if being justified (made right, forgiven, just if I’d never sinned) by His death wasn’t enough, He has given us a back door to escape God’s coming wrath.  Yes, God’s wrath is coming.  The earth will be purged by fire, and we will escape it through the work Jesus did on the cross.
5:10 FAVORITE VERSE ALERT:  I  love it when Paul does stuff like this;  for if when you were enemies to God, He chose to reconcile you to himself through the death of His Son, imagine the salvation he has in store for us through the resurrection (LIFE) of His Son.  In other words, if you think Christ dying on the cross for your sins was awesome beyond words, wait till you figure out what his resurrection means!   HIS resurrection makes life available to us.  We were reconciled, cleansed, made whole, by the work of the cross.  I won’t diminish its power or deny its strength.  BUT!!!!   His resurrection is LIFE!  Hello, we’re talking about Grace here. 
5:11  His resurrection life (Grace) allows us to boast in God, through our relationship with Jesus, His Son.  It is a familial joy, a joined exuberance, a “my Dad’s bigger than your Dad” boasting.  Not that we’ve done anything, but that we know who our Daddy is.  This keeps on proving the old adage that it’s not what you know, but WHO you know that counts.  If I get to do nothing but be a gatekeeper in God’s stadium, that’s enough for me. (I think there’s a scripture that is similar to what I just said)
5:12   Now we’re going to step back into the discussion of sin again:  By one man (Adam,)  sin entered the world,  and by that sin death, which has passed upon all men from that time till now, because all men have sinned.  (I want you to think about the immensity of the influence and power of sin.  All men have sinned) 
5:13  Paul makes it clear, that sin has been in the world since Adam, but we weren’t held accountable until the Law was given to Moses. The law is God letting us have just a glimpse of how bad we are messed up, and just how HOLY He is. Sin’s power to kill is absolute, how do we know that?  Paul says the proof lies in the fact that men continue to die. 
5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, (one sin is death, white lie, big lie, steal bubble gum, say; I hate you etc. .  .) even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. (remember, God doesn’t kill us, separation from Him kills us. When we sin, we choose to die. Sin and death are hand in hand, but Paul is setting us up, Adam is a type of. . . )
5:15  But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.  In other words, if you think Sin was the tough boy in the park, wait till you link up with grace. 
5:16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin (Adam). For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.  Paul is trying to show us the unimaginable power of Grace.  It absolutely destroys, and overwhelms the power of sin.  The next verse makes it perfectly clear.  
5:17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.  The power of sin is destroyed, and we are new creations, without the curse of sin and death ruling over us. 
ADMONITION WARNING:  The tendency for most Christians is to wrap themselves in what they think is grace, and battle with sin at a personal level.  Doing this robs grace of its purpose for our lives.  When the battlefield is in our own backyard, we are rendered ineffective for the Kingdom.  When we were carnal, we didn’t fight with righteousness.  If we did something good, we didn’t feel bad about it.  The carnal nature is only focused on itself.  On the other hand, grace’s greatest power is when we put the Grace of God on display. Sin has to cower before the light of God’s grace.  When we are consumed with the Holy Fire of God’s love, sin is a non-issue.  If we are obsessed with our own salvation, I guarantee you, we won’t be able to help anyone find theirs.  WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN A WEALTH OF GRACE TO OFFER TO OTHERS.
5:18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  {if you haven’t picked up on it by now, I don’t think you ever will.  Christ has done it!  Whereas sin entered the world through the action of one man, Grace (the opposite of Sin,) has entered the world through the action of one man.}  (BAM! BAM! BAM!)  Death’s outta there! 
5:19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.   (Instead of sinning, we are gracing.  Grace allows us to do God’s good works, we gotta tell the world, gotta share da love..)

THIS IS WHERE WE ENDED OUR STUDY SUNDAY:  Go ahead and read on, because we’re going to finish this on Sunday. 

5:20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, (because Grace is the opposite of Sin, and sin is powerless before Grace, Grace wipes out sin)
5:21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
There you have it!  Grace (The Spirit of Christ) is at work, and alive in us to overcome the power of sin.  Death is swallowed up in life.  WE are great big grace machines, spreading the good news, releasing the good stuff, and chasing death down every dark alley it tries to hide in.  We are LOVE’S sidekicks.  “Here, let me give you some healing, Man.”  “Oh, that, that’s nothing, I got GRACE for that.”   “Trouble?  I got da cure for trouble.” 
I’m not being smug, prideful, or anything like that.  I’M CONFIDENT IN THE POWER OF CHRIST!  When Peter, and John healed the man on the way to the temple, they weren’t being prideful when they said; “Silver and Gold have I none, but such as I have. . . .”  Grace, is what we got. (I know, poor English.)  It’s the difference between carrying around a little puff gun, and carrying around a disintegrator ray gun.  When death tries to set up shop, we whip out the ray gun of grace and blow him away.  KNOCKED OVER!   Then we watch with joy as another loved soul runs off with their ‘fuzzy.’   For those who were predicting the death of the Church, and the end of Christianity, you better grab a hold of something solid, because the Kingdom of God is erupting all over the world.  Love, mercy, healing, and deliverance are what this great awakening is all about. A tidal wave of Grace is about to sweep over the world.  The fire of LOVE is going to consume everything in its path.  THE NEXT GREAT REVIVAL IS HERE!!!!!

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