Dakota Community Church
September 16, 2012
Grace at Work - 5
Ephesians 4:1-16
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Before we get back into this I want to take a few minutes to quickly review correct division of law and gospel because we are navigating the “to do’s” of Christian unity and it is important not to fall back into legalistic self-salvation projects complete with self-righteousness and prideful or shameful comparisons even within the room here.
Galatians 4:21-26, 28-31
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.
24 These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” 31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
When we want law it is because we are unaware of what the law says. Plumber & Falls
Jesus + Observance = Salvation? - NO
“the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son”
If we do not get this right; we get everything else wrong.
The law is the “ordinary way” Glorious in holy perfection! The gospel is of a promise.
•Known from nature vs revealed by God
•Acceptable to the world vs offense (WWJD? vs WHJD?) WWJD loved by all, DR. Phil, Dr. Laura, Islam, Buddhism, New Age, Universalist, All ok with WWJD
•The Law condemns; the gospel liberates
•The law is a map, a compass; it shows us where we are off course but has no power to drive us back to the right way.
•The law is not doable; we cannot accomplish it with better strategies.
I am not supposed to be the Martha Stewart of your Spiritual Walk; today I’m going to teach you how to rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic.
“Here’s how you can count to ten and avoid temptation AND display the fruit of the Spirit”
We think we’ve got the right teaching we just aren’t living it, in fact we’ve got the wrong teaching and we are living it!
We’ve invented this “law light” and convinced ourselves that some people are doing it and the rest need to get their act together and get serious about serving Jesus.
Luke 7:31-34
“To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’
We don’t mourn because we think we are keeping the law, but we can’t dance because in our heart of hearts we only hope we’ve done enough.
One more thought:
Christianity begins with me sailing out of the harbor, wind blowing, sails billowing, I’m on my way to the good life in Christ, I am saved, I am full of peace and joy, life is good!
Soon the wind seems to die down. I am stagnant, others seem to be making progress so I get the oars in the water and start paddling. I see some progress and feel a little better, it’s not how it was at first but hey, the honeymoon’s over right? Time to get busy.
Paddling becomes exhausting it almost seems as if the wind is against me after a while.
I take a break, I can’t keep it up, I need wind in my sails but nothing works. I get distracted, indulge the flesh, try to find meaning elsewhere - none to be found.
Some preacher says “Any old dead fish can float down stream...” I get paddling again.
I need wind; I need to get back that lovin’ feelin’.
I go to Toronto, I go to Fort Worth, I buy the books, I buy the tapes, I join the clubs - no wind!
I build my faith to see more miracles, - no wind
I apply leadership principles and strive for discipline - no wind
I give more, I step out of the boat more, I confess more 3 times a day - no wind
I join weight down, I do alpha, I do Nooma, I walk across the room, I get wild at heart, I join the Irresistible Revolution and find it very resistible... and exhausting... and still no wind!
The law does not contain the power to put one puff of wind in my sails!
Enter the Gospel; enter Christ centred Christianity, welcome back to full sails!
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
Follow Dan on twitter: @DanCormie
