But For The Grace of God Part 2
Scripture: Romans 3:21-24; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 4:16
Last week I introduced the notion that there was some confusion pertaining to how the Church understands and speaks about the grace of God. I believe, unintentionally, in our expressions of being grateful, we sometimes display a belief that God is bias in that He sometimes gives more grace to some than He does to others. I am basing this limited assessment on how we say things like, “I was spared by the grace of God….” when someone else experiences the same situation with a different outcome. There is a song that I have heard where the writer talks about booking an airplane for a business trip and the plane was given to another person and he was upset. The plane crashed killing all aboard and he wrote a song talking about how it was God’s grace that he wasn’t able to rent that plane and be on that flight. The message received is that those who died on the flight did not receive God’s grace and this is why I am focusing on grace in this manner. Last week I focused on grace as it relates to justification, salvation and sin. This morning, in part two of this series “But For The Grace of God” I will be focusing on how grace impacts righteousness and more importantly, our faith. Let’s begin with righteousness.
Grace and Righteousness: Righteousness is defined scripturally as, “holy and upright living in accordance with God’s standard.” It comes from the root word that means “straightness.” It refers to a state that conforms to a morally upright and authoritative standard. While righteousness is a moral concept, God’s character, who He is, is the definition and source of all righteousness. Therefore, the righteousness of man is defined in the terms of God’s righteousness because without God, righteousness would not exist. We cannot be righteous in the sight of God on our own merits and therefore we must have God’s righteousness imputed, or transferred, to us. The cross of Jesus is a public demonstration of God’s righteousness. God transfers, if you will, the righteousness of Christ to those who trust in Him. This is demonstrated in Roman 4:5 where Paul wrote, “But to him that works not, but believes on Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” We do not become righteous because of our inherent goodness; God sees us as righteous because of our identification by faith with His Son. Each person who has accepted Jesus as his or her Lord and Savior – God has made righteous. We don’t have to earn it. When we are born again, it is who we become! New Light, this was an issue for the Jews who practiced Judaism and adamantly refused to believe in Christ!
The proclamation and whole idea that people are justified by grace aroused the religious wrath of Judaism. To actually declare that God justified sinners seemed to make God a party to unrighteousness because the sinful, unrighteousness people did nothing to deserve or merit God’s grace. What the religious leaders failed to understand was that they were also sinners. But because they had the Law, they believed that “only” someone who was not a Jew was a sinner. The Jewish leaders rejected the teachings of Jesus and the fact that the He would fulfill all the requirements of the law. In Romans 3:21-24, Paul writes, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” The religious leaders believed that righteousness under the Law was no different than righteousness under grace. But Paul says that everything in the law and prophets pointed to a time when the true righteousness of God would be seen and manifested in only one way – when a person receives, by grace, salvation through the redeeming work of Jesus, the one and only Messiah.
The Jews refused to accept the fact that people could be justified and made righteous without the Law. And this belief still holds true today. Even though the prophets of old all testified of the great redemption in Christ that would justify men apart from the Law and the prophets, they could not accept this as being fulfilled in Christ. Now here is something to consider: a person must know and confess that they are a sinner before they can be saved. If a person does not know or are willing to accept that their sinful nature separates them from God, then they have no reason or motivation to accept Christ and be saved. The Jews believed that they were not sinners because of the Law and some would not budge from this belief. The same can be said about some Christians today. There are many who do not believe that their lifestyle, while sinful, really matters because there is nothing after this life. It makes me think about what Paul said to the believers in Corinth, who had been taught there is no resurrection of the dead and that Christ had not been raised. “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins. Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:16-19) Then there are those who are on the other end of the spectrum who believe grace makes them righteous so they can live however they choose. Both ends of these spectrums are terribly wrong. We are made righteous through the grace of God but after that happens we are supposed to start living that righteous life! I want to close this part of the message with what Paul said regarding this. Let’s look at the first two verses of Romans 6. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer in it?” What Paul is saying New Light is that we have a choice when it comes to whether or not we sin. Now, let’s look now at how grace impacts our faith.
Grace and Faith: The relationship between our faith and God’s grace has been the subject of many theological debates. The issue is whether grace is given to mankind because of his faith or whether mankind’s faith is the effect of God’s grace. In his writings, Paul gave no sign that he felt any tension between faith and grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Let me share with you a way of thinking about the relationship between grace and faith. When Nikki and I purchased our first home, we had to go to the local utility company and tell them that we needed the electricity account changed to our name since we just purchased the house. The power lines were already in place, but we had to have the electric account switched to our name if we wanted to have electricity for our home. You see, the electricity was already there but it needed to be activated for our home in our name. Now, I want you to hear what I’m saying – the electricity would not have been there for our home when we moved in if we hadn’t asked for it and got the account switched in our name. The same thing is true of God’s grace. God’s grace is always flowing and it has been flowing since the beginning of time. It has always been available. But until a person approaches God’s grace with faith, until he or she asks for it, the person doesn’t have access to it. You see, our “relationship/account” must be switched from sin to righteous through the grace of God to enable us to access our faith. We see examples of this in the lives of people like Abraham when he talked with God on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. And we can’t forget about how Moses told God that if He destroyed the children of Israel, who continued murmuring against Him, that He would have to destroy him too. God, in His mercy and grace, and His love for Moses, changed His mind. But for us today, God’s grace gives us access to life giving power when we approach God with our faith.
Let’s look at an example of this from the life of the Apostle Paul in Second Corinthians chapter twelve. I’m sure many of you are familiar with Paul’s thorn in the flesh because so many who teach on this passage focus on it. But, New Light, that is not the real message of this passage. God’s grace and the power of His grace is the message! And more specifically, what the power of God’s grace can do in our lives. We are going to read the first ten verses.
“It is not expedient for me doubtless to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows); such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows). How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” (Vss. 1-4) When Paul says he’s not sure if he was in his body or out of his body, he’s describing the reality of what happened to him. He’s letting us know that what he experienced was as real to him as if a person was standing in front of him talking about it. When Paul talks about the unspeakable words man is not allowed to speak, think about it this way – Jesus was sharing things with him that were for his ears only. As Paul recounts this experience, a couple of things stand out. His statements prove that he believed in the consciousness of souls after leaving the body. In other words, based on his experience, he KNEW we continue to exist after our spirits leave our mortal bodies. Also, Paul was not doubtful that he had actually been caught up to the third heaven. He was very certain about this fact. If you’re wondering about the “third” heaven, scripturally there are three defined “heavens”; the first is where our clouds are (our atmosphere); the second is outer space where we can see the stars and other planets; and the third is where God’s throne is. Paul visited the heaven where we will go when we die – he was able to get a preview of it. Let’s continue.
“Of such a one will I boast: yet of myself I will not boast, but in my weaknesses. For though I would desire to boast, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he sees me to be, or that he hears of me.” (Vss. 5-6) Paul is distancing himself from the men who belittled him in Chapter 11. He called them false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. He also talks about them in the same breath he calls Satan an angel of light. In other words, they didn’t care about the people. They only wanted their adoration and money. Again, he repeats that he will not glory in himself and his attainment, but in his infirmities and other experiences suffered for Christ. Now we’re getting to the thorn in the flesh and God’s wonderful grace.
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.” (Vs. 7) Now let’s pause here before we continue reading. How many of you have heard that the thorn came from God? How many of you have heard that God used the thorn to keep Paul from getting too full of himself because of the revelations he had received? A couple of things I want to point out. I have heard many explanations about “Paul’s thorn in the flesh” and theories about what it could be. One pastor even told me that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was a problem with women. This is how widespread the confusion is about the portion of Scripture. This one verse has been used to justify sin (having a problem with women) to justifying why we should be okay suffering with a sickness. This morning I want to share with you – again from the Bible – what the Bible said his thorn in the flesh was. Paul said “the messenger of Satan…” The word messenger in the Greek is an angel. Messenger/angel is never translated as disease or physical infirmity and never means any such thing. An angel of Satan, one of the spirit beings which fell with him followed Paul and buffeted him when he was tempted to become exalted – when others would exalt him. Some people believed that God gave Paul his thorn in the flesh so that Paul would not be exalted. But Paul said it was “the messenger of Satan” so we know that this was one of Satan’s angels that was doing this. So in order to God to be behind this, He would have had to go to Satan and “borrow” one of his angels. Can you imagine that conversation? “Hey Satan, Paul might get a little too big for his britches so I want to borrow one of your angels to harass him while he does His work for Me to ensure that it doesn’t happen. We both know what happened the last time someone got too big for their britches. Anyway, I will need them for the rest of Paul’s life so who do you have that you can lend Me?” Does this even seem possible? God could not have been behind Paul’s thorn in the flesh.
So, if God was not responsible, then Satan is the one who sent one of his top lieutenants to torment Paul so that Paul nor those following Paul would exalt him. Now, how did his messenger work? We get a hint in Chapter 11 in verses 23-27. Let’s read them. “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes beyond measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes less one. Three times was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, three times I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” (2 Corinthians 11:23-27) Paul lists all of the things that were happening to him because of Christ and in all of his suffering disease was not mentioned in the whole list. And to add to this, wherever he went there were people who openly opposed his teaching and his credentials. Paul’s thorn in the flesh must be understood in the same sense as Numbers 33:55 which says, “But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those whom you let remain of them shall be barbs in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall trouble you in the land wherein you dwell.” (Numbers 33:55) If you recall from the Old Testament the nations that the Children of Israel failed to drive out as directed by God became a source of constant trouble for them. Paul’s thorn in the flesh when, taken in context of accompanying scriptures, can be classified into five distinct categories: lack of physical and mental strength; insults and disaster; lack of necessities; persecutions; and distress. The beatings, travel perils, lack of basic necessities and the unrelenting opposition to his ministry that he received from other teachers in the Church were all being driven by the angel dispatched by Satan to keep him down. But let’s see how God’s grace worked in this situation.
“For this thing I besought the Lord three times, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10) Did you see it? Paul prayed to God three times to remove his thorn. Did God do it? No, He didn’t. Now you may be thinking, so God didn’t answer Paul’s prayer? Oh, God answered Paul’s prayer but He gave Paul an answer he wasn’t expecting. Does that sound familiar? We pray to God for something we’re dealing with and we already have in our minds how God should handle it. But God did not let Paul “box Him in” when it came to how He would answer his prayer. What was God’s response? God said “My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
God told Paul that His grace was sufficient. Now some people read this and come away thinking, “So God wanted Paul to suffer.” Someone else will read this and say, “Humph, I guess God was teaching Paul a lesson so I guess that is what He is doing with me in my situation.” And some will read this and say, “God assured Paul that despite everything he was facing, God’s grace would get him through it – all he needed to do was depend on Him.” I want you to see something. After God gave that answer to Paul, Paul never again asked God to remove the problems he was facing – the angel of Satan. As a matter of fact, Paul said that he would “…take pleasure in weaknesses, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” Paul learned to glorify God in his infirmities so that the power of Christ could rest upon him. From the moment God gave him his answer, Paul’s mindset shifted to “When I get an attack by the angel of Satan, then I will look for the grace promised by God. I will get it and am strong in the power of God. The power of Christ rests upon like a tent or tabernacle, affording me shelter and rest.”
Now let me help you understand what Paul is saying. Turn to Philippians 4, verses 10-13. “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me has flourished again; in which you were also concerned, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:10-13) Remember in Second Corinthians Paul says that in his weakness that’s where the power of Christ dwells. The power of God’s grace New Light is really quite simple: when we’re faced with situations, we simply need to take a breath and say “God, I know that you have given me the grace I need to get through so I’m not going to fall back on my weakness, which is to worry about it.”
Now, with all of this in mind, let’s close with a verse, that in my mind, is one of the most powerful in scripture. Turn with me to Hebrews 4:16. It says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) This verse opens with the statement “Let us therefore come boldly…” That word translated as bold from Greek means “freedom of speech” and depicts a person who speaks their mind with great confidence. This is important because when this was written freedom of speech was restricted, and people who violated the rules were punished. In this one verse, the Holy Spirit wants us to know that, as God’s sons and daughters, whenever we approach our Father’s throne of GRACE, and I love that – throne of GRACE – in prayer, we never have to fear that we are being too bold, forthright, honest or outspoken. He wants us to talk freely with Him, holding nothing back. Why? Because we are coming to “the throne of GRACE…..” New Light, just as God’s mercy and grace never turns anyone away anyone who seeks salvation, once we have that salvation, our Father welcomes us – always – to sit on His lap on the throne of GRACE. What a comfort New Light! God’s GRACE!
New Light, have you ever thought that some of the things that have happened to you were being done so to keep you achieving the goal that God has for you? Have you ever thought about the weaknesses that you have witnessed in your life as something for you to overcome through the grace of God or do you think you are supposed to just accept them as God’s way of “proving” you? God’s grace is here to not only help us endure our trials, but to overcome them. Do not think that you are supposed to continue suffering because Paul had a specific angel assigned to him to keep him from being exalted! Remember, when Satan was exalted he rebelled against God because he believed all of the positive press he was receiving. Paul was not above being exalted by people or himself considering everything he had witnessed, experienced, and especially after visiting heaven. New Light, God’s grace is sufficient for us – but we have to have faith in it for it to do what God desires for it to do in our lives. You are made righteous in the eyes of God through grace. You accept God’s grace in the work of Jesus Christ by faith. You cannot separate the righteousness bestowed upon us and our faith from God’s grace. We serve an awesome God!
I want to leave you with this thought. We’ve seen this morning how it is through God’s grace that we are made righteous when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This means we have no past that God is holding against us. The Bible says in Psalm 103, verse 12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12) Now think about that. Our past is a tool that Satan uses against us time and time again. And he doesn’t bring up the good stuff. Oh no! He’s only throws in our faces what we did wrong. When he does that, we can go to our Father’s throne room of GRACE knowing that Satan is a liar and that our Father doesn’t remember our past. New Light, that’s God’s grace! Next week we’re going to look at God’s grace and holiness. And we’re going to see that, in order for us to have access to God’s grace, and we need to understand that access to God’s grace is not automatic, how we live must reflect a life that is lived by God’s rules and not our own. I believe the message will be an encouragement for you.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
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