Archive for January 2012
Anyone who puts their faith in Christ is once and for all declared righteous by God. Romans 4:5 “However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
The implications of that are enormous! Our behaviour doesn’t effect our righteousness before God (good or bad). We can never be condemned as a result of sin. Good works are irrelevant to our standing before God.
But, to those who have been made righteous, God also gives this command: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15). His plan for us is to grow in personal character and hatred of sin to the point where we are completely like him (1 John 3:1-2). This will certainly happen for every believer (Romans 8:30), although perfection will only fully come at Christ’s return, or the believer’s death.
God is calling us as his children into conformity to Christ. Ultimately we are all conformed to something (parents, political view, peer pressure). The only way we can be truly free is to conform to Christ and his character.
2 Cor 3:18 says the transformation is God’s work- that is it is is grace at work in us. But, unlike justification, we have a part to play with our works. See Col 3:5-10
Dan highlighted 5 keys to growing in holiness:
1) Expect Change. Remind yourself that you have been called to reflect God’s perfect character. Sadly we’re very used to explaining away our unchanging sinful behaviour by claming “that’s just they way I am”. God’s called you to change!
2)Pray to Change. Matt 5 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled”. It’s a prayer God loves to answer.
3) Embrace God’s discipline. Heb 12:10 God disciplines us as a loving father does a child. He does that so we may share in his holiness. As God is sovereign, his discipline logically includes anything he allows to happen to us. He can use all things to shape us for our good and make us more like him.
4) Bias to Action. James 5:13-14 When trouble or sickness comes, the believer needs to take hold of it and take appropriate action- not just get despondent or bitter.
5)Take a long view. James 1:2-4. Consider all hardship and difficulty as progress towards the long term goal of your complete maturity and perfection as a believer.
Questions
1) The gift of righteousness. Remember the circle. Did that illustration speak to you? Is permanent righteousness as a gift something you find hard or easy to accept?
2) In Ephesians 6 we’re commanded to take up the Breastplate of Righteousness- what does that mean and how can that help us to live as a Christian?
3) Be holy. What do you think it will look like for us to one day be completely righteous in behaviour as well as in name? Will we all just become clones?!
4) What things make us hungry for growth in personal holiness? How do any of the 5 points Dan mentioned help in pursuing spiritual growth?
5) How would you like to see your character grow in the next 12 months? Pray for one another
Grace was so important to the first Christians that they changed the way they greeted one another: from the traditional Jewish “Peace” to “Grace to you, and peace” (17 New Testament letters out of 22). There are two paradoxical dangers of being a church that talks about grace all the time: we become too familiar with it, and/or we don’t quite know what we mean when we say it. Definition by Martyn Lloyd-Jones: grace is “favour shown to people who don’t deserve favour at all.”
Grace is foundational to our lives: not merely as a starting point but the DNA in every cell of a Christian’s spiritual life.
Grace in the Gospel – it’s everything. God initiates and achieves salvation for rebellious sinners. Jesus tells stories in which the undeserving our blessed, He acts this out with mercy and miracles, His perfect life is on our behalf, as is His sacrificial death. Having defeated sin and death He invites us to share those victories, and continues to represent us now in Heaven.
Grace for today means knowing, intellectually and experientially, that you have a loving heavenly Father (Ephesians 1:4-5, Galatians 4:4-5, Romans 8:15). The foundation of the relationship is love, not rule-keeping. This was the Pharisees’ mistake: their hands were full of stuff they’d done in an attempt to please God, Jesus came looking for empty, open hands of faith that invite God to take hold of them. Good parents also discipline their children; that is not antithetical to grace.
Jesus used the picture of a grapevine to teach us the spiritual principle of our ongoing dependence on God. In the same way that we are dependent on God to rescue us, we continue to need Him to live and grow. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. We need to abide in God: loving Him, living His way, listening to Him.
Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace: “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”
2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
For response:
If you had to describe grace to someone, how would you do it? Seeing as few people are likely to actually ask you for a definition of grace without prompting, how can we get it into our conversations?
Luke used the illustrations of a Father and child relationship, and a grapevine – how were these helpful? Are they unhelpful in any ways? What practical steps do you need to take to make the most of God’s grace for you today, and avoid the temptations of disbelieving grace?
Take some moments to review your life in the light of God’s grace: from the ‘common grace’ of His daily goodness to massive moments. Spend time thanking Him.
