This is a series of articles that were prepared for ‘THE LION’S ROAR’ newsletter; a publication of Cornerstone Christian Chapel.
I want to talk to you about Grace. God’s Grace. I capitalize it because it deserves capitalization. Are you wondering why I use John 5:24 to talk about grace? Read the verse again. Read and carefully consider each phrase as you come to it. Think about what is being said to you.
As a preacher and teacher of God’s Word, I have finally come to understand that the base cause of the seeming chronic unhappiness - the judgmentalism - the legalism - the guilt-wrestling - the spiritual floundering of most Christians, is ignorance of God’s Grace. That’s right. Even Christians who pay attention and learn their Bible study lessons; who can say the gospel, and maybe even define a doctrine or two. Even so-called ‘evangelical Christians’, who involve themselves in programs to reach the lost and unchurched; who talk about God’s love and, yes, even His Grace. Even Pastors and other church leaders... so often have never understood Grace. They can define it (undeserved provision), and they can talk intelligently about it, but it so seldom translates into the heart and life.
Why? First let me say that there’s no way I can truly do the topic justice in a series of short articles. There are books and volumes of books that still don’t really cover it. So I’ll just say that we still tend to act and react ungraciously, because we haven’t really understood the fullness of what Jesus was saying here. So let’s contrast His words with some of ours. First, go back and read the verse. Did you read it? Ok, let’s go...
“I believe Jesus died and rose again for me, and my salvation is not by works - but, I have a responsibility to try to live like a good Christian”
(Go back and read the verse)
“I have terrible sins in my past that have affected my whole life”
(Go back and read the verse)
“I still battle an addiction”
(Go back and read the verse)
“What if I have a sinful thought or commit a sinful act and then die before I repent and confess?”
(Go back and read the verse)
“Sometimes I feel like there’s more I should be doing to make up for wrongs that I’ve done”
(Go back and read the verse)
Do I have to go on? Whatever objections you can come up with, God’s Grace still covers it all. Jesus said, “has” eternal life. Jesus said, “does not come into judgment” And He put no conditions or restrictions on it. He said these things about all who believe.
Now I know that there are those out there who think I’m going way overboard. Anyone who preaches unconditional Grace can always expect accusations of ‘preaching license to sin’, and ‘letting people off the hook too easily’, etc. The persecution Paul suffered under the hands of the Judaizers was for this teaching.
Some of you reading this may even be thinking, “You have to balance Grace with the Christian’s responsibility to set an example.” Well friends and neighbors, the world has been watching the ‘example’ of Christians for centuries. That’s what gives us a bad rap.
Some of you may be saying, “You make it too easy. People will take it for granted and not be appreciative”
I say to you, I didn’t make it easy; Jesus did. I say to you that I PRAY that people will take it for granted and stop trying to earn it. I’d be pretty insulted if I handed you a gift and you followed me around for days later trying to pay me for it!
As for the appreciation part - That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. But listen guys; when you work for something, you appreciate the work you did to earn it. When you accept something as an unearned gift, you appreciate the gift AND the giver - and you want to behave as though you are appreciative.
I’ve gone a little long. There’s so much to say... Guess I’ll have to talk about it some more later. Let me close with this.
Some of you are thinking that most Christians don’t live Godly enough as it is, and I’m neglecting my duties as a preacher by telling them that God’s Grace covers ALL their sin and they need to stop trying to work to stay in His favor. You’re thinking of that girl who got an abortion, or that couple who were both once married to someone else, or that guy who goes out back of the church to smoke between Sunday School and morning worship. You’re thinking of the church member who drinks beer at the end of the workday and hasn’t yet learned ‘alternative’ words like manure...
I gotta close this... just let me say to you, Go back and read the verse!
PART II ACCEPTANCE BEYOND JUSTIFICATION
“Last month I began a multi-part study of Grace. There may be some who wonder why I chose John 5:24 to talk about Grace. I mean, why not the obvious ‘grace’ verses? Why not John 1:17, or Romans 3:24, or Galatians 2:21? This is why. First, it is Jesus who is talking. So no one can say, “Well, sometimes Paul went a little overboard...” This is JESUS talking. Secondly, I like the simplicity, yet the all-encompassing scope of His declaration here. It’s the simplicity that so many people stumble over. Something as great as salvation should be more complicated, shouldn’t it? But it’s the all-encompassing scope that I want to focus on this month. The significance of His phrasing when He says “has eternal life”; “does not come into judgment”; “has passed out of death into life”. I want to talk to all of you who have come to the cross of Christ, believed in His shed blood for the forgiveness of sins, and ever since then have lived your Christianity as though you need to toe some invisible God-drawn line in order to stay in favor with Him. Let me offer just one example for the sake of clarification.
You feel guilty because you don’t pray enough. You go to a conference or a retreat and get all excited about developing a habit of fasting and praying and being more spiritual and ‘letting Christ shine through you’ ... then you go back home to the kids and/or the crummy job, - to just the normal tedium of life - back to only a Sunday sermon and a mid week Bible study to sustain you. The excitement fades just a little. Fasting lasts for a night, but the smell of bacon and eggs cometh in the morning, and once more, you’ve failed your God. There are as many variations on this scenario as there are Christians, but I think you get my drift.
Folks, this is not the kind of relationship that the God of the scriptures was going for when He gave His only Son.
When Jesus Christ died on that cross, He paid the penalty for your sins. Not just the ones you committed before you became a Christian - but every sin you will ever commit; and that blanket covers all your weaknesses; all your failures. That’s the part most of us struggle with, whether it’s a conscious thing or not. Imagine yourself on the very last day of your life, whenever that may be, losing your temper or entertaining a sinful thought or committing some sinful act. That sin has already been judged by God the Father in the person of His Son. It has already been paid for by the blood of Jesus. There is no judgment, no condemnation left over for you - not to any degree. You cannot surprise God; you cannot disappoint Him. You are His beloved child and He’s proud of you.
If you are a believer in Christ - if you have come and lifted your eyes to the cross for salvation - leave it. That’s right. His work there is done. He’s not hanging there any more. Get past it! Go on and stick your head into the empty tomb. See that He is no longer there. Make your way on down to the shores of Galilee and see this risen, glorified God/Man, stooping to cook fish for a team of doubting, fear-filled believers. Hear what He says to them and to us on the Mount as He prepares to fly home. Christian, you now have this same life in you, that raised Him from the dead. You are not who you were; you are as acceptable to God the Father as is His Son, Jesus Christ. Can you grasp that? He said of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” and as He sees you in Christ, He says the same of you. Your sins are atoned, Heaven is gained. He’ll never be angry with you again, because all of His wrath against all sin for all time was poured out on His Son at Calvary’s Cross. There is nothing left for you to do but to ask, “How, today, can I show this same, sacrificial, unconditional love, so that others will see Jesus?”
Go back and read the verse. These are words from the mouth of God-become-Man.
All of Biblical doctrine, All theological truth, must agree absolutely with these few phrases, for God does not contradict Himself. Bring your objections and your misgivings and your doubts and fears and your work ethic, and lay them down in surrender before John 5:24 - accept His acceptance, and begin finally to enjoy the life you’ve passed into.
PART III TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL
Please allow me a twist on a famous line from Dr. Martin Luther King. I have a dream for the church, that one day all God’s children will be seen through the lens of Grace, not judged for the color of their sin.
One day in 1980 a young couple sat before the desk of a preacher. They weren’t called in; they came in seeking counsel. Here was their situation. They were both brand new Christians. They had been living together unmarried for over four years. They had a three year old boy. The woman did not work. The man worked at a job that paid barely over minimum wage. The man was still technically married to a woman who had left him years previously, and he didn’t even know where she was. Getting a divorce or an annulment would take a minimum of 6 months, and now that they were Christians, they knew that living together unmarried might be wrong. He was already sleeping on the sofa, but they wanted to know if that was enough.
The preacher behind the desk, after consulting briefly in another room with a fellow preacher, told this couple that they must separate until they could get the marriage situation straightened out. He told them they must abstain from even the appearance of evil. Basically, he was telling them that on a household salary of just over minimum wage, they should keep two apartments, feed three people, and deal with all the other costs and inconveniences of living apart.
Want to know who that judgmental, legalistic, cold-hearted ‘defender of the faith’ was? It was me. Want to know where that couple is? I don’t know. They found it much easier to leave the church than to shoulder that heavy burden.
People will always react that way when ’spiritual’ people try to make them carry a yoke that is not Christ’s.
As a pastor I have to ask a question of you pastors and teachers out there. Just who do we think we are, anyway? Where does it say that our calling of God is to hold up the Ten Commandments as a standard for all to follow, and harp on it until they get it?
Where does it say that we are called to be the morals police for everyone else?
I have talked with other preachers about this doctrine of Grace, and as we chatted we were in hearty agreement on every point. Yet I have sat and listened to those same preachers teaching, and their primary focus was on the ‘need’ for Christians to clean up their act. Set a good example for the unchurched. Tithe regularly. Be active in the evangelistic programs of the church. And I have also seen those leaders, outside of the pulpit, deciding the worth or the spirituality of another believer based upon that believer’s adherence to the standards of cultural Christianity. ‘He wants to teach a class, but I happen to know that in the privacy of his own back yard he smokes a pipe.’ ‘He’s talking about going into ministry, but I have it on good authority that someone who works with his wife heard her swear once when she was angry.’
I could easily get carried away here. I have to keep reminding myself that my space is limited.
What if we taught people that as Christians they never have to ask God’s forgiveness again? What if we taught them that God’s forgiveness was purchased at Calvary’s cross, and flows perpetually from God’s throne in a river of Grace for the one who repents and confesses?
What if we taught people that they have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ? What if we taught them that by the Grace that He has ‘lavished’ upon them, they are perfectly acceptable to Him and always will be no matter what?
What if we focused on these things instead of waving a standard in their face? Do you think maybe, as the Spirit teaches them the reality of who they are in Christ, that they might be inspired to live a life pleasing to God and in His service without being begged, brow-beaten and cajoled? Do you think it might become their delight to do so? Do you think they might finally begin to step out and walk in the victory that was won for them on Golgotha?
I wish I knew where that couple ended up. I’d like to apologize to them and tell them about God’s Grace. But hey - He probably already sent someone else to do that. Because He’s gracious.
PART IV INTIMACY WITH GOD
Bob George, in his book “Classic Christianity”, wrote, “Until you understand the finality of the cross, you will never experience the reality of the resurrection”.
I recently sat talking to a very good friend. By her own declaration she is perfectly content in her marriage; she wouldn’t change a thing. But she said that in her previous marriage the thing that lacked was intimacy. That was what bothered her the most. She and her husband lived in the same house, shared space, moved about in their own little worlds - but there was no intimacy. As she talked she didn’t use this word, but what came to my mind was ‘lonely’. She was lonely, though not alone.
Well, I don’t think that scenario sounds foreign to a lot of people. Some of you might think I was talking about you except that we didn’t have this conversation.
What she said about her previous marriage was not her main point - but only used to arrive at her point. But it struck me in a very significant way.
You see, over these past several months I’ve used this newsletter to try to tell you about God’s marvelous grace, and maybe expose some of the reasons why we miss it. So when she said what she did about that cold relationship it struck a chord in me and made me ask her a question.
I said, “What would it have taken to cure that problem for you? I mean, what could have changed to bring that intimacy that you so wanted and missed?”
As she formulated her answer several things passed through my mind. I thought she might say “He could have talked to me more often” or “He could have shown more of an interest in physical intimacy”. But when she finally answered, she inadvertently gave me my topic for this fourth and final installment on Grace.
She said, “He could have shown me that he cared about what was important to me”.
I believe that very, very many Christians go through their life as believers, born again, truly belonging to God through faith in Christ’s shed blood and resurrection, but in a relationship devoid of any intimacy. Why? Because they’ve never come to realize that God cares about what’s important to them.
They seek and gain knowledge about God, and they have no doubt - at least very little doubt - that they really are ’saved’ and heaven-bound. But they move about in their spiritual ’house’, sharing space with God, but never making eye contact, never touching, never discussing the important things. No intimacy.
Is that God’s fault? Of course not. And in most cases it’s not their fault either. They’ve been led to, and introduced to a god who grudgingly accepts them because they’ve met the conditions of a contract, but who then watches them on a daily basis to see if they’re having fun so he can put an end to it. Once in a while, when they’re really desperate and ask him, he’ll grant a request. But while they regularly attend church and lift their voices (and sometimes their hands) in praise and talk about his goodness and hug their brothers and sisters during greeting time, they are subconsciously frightened to death of him. No intimacy.
Have you noticed that in the above paragraph (aside from the first question) I’ve not capitalized the words ’god’ or ’his’ or ’him’? It’s because we’re not worshiping the God of the bible when we worship this god.
Everything that God has done in the history of man, has had as it’s goal, intimate relationship with His creation. Everything He has done in reference to man has said, “I care very much about what is important to you!”
In fact, God is the only being in the universe who could have done anything about what was MOST important to us!
He finalized the sin dilemma at Calvary’s Cross...then he took care of the death problem by coming forth bodily from the tomb.
He who had the God-life in Him, and laid it down to pay for sin then took it up again never more to die, has now given you that same life. Did you understand that? That same life. That same life.
You are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, and to you has been imparted the SAME life that Jesus has.
God, who cannot condone sin in His presence, lives in you and never leaves. So what does that say about how He sees you in Christ? You see sin and failure in your life. He sees a holy vessel, made pure and acceptable by His Son’s atoning work, and that is how He will see you eternally.
The only thing that’s holding back intimacy in your relationship with God, is your refusal to accept His absolute acceptance.
If He would die to provide the most important thing in your life - your salvation, then how much more, now that He lives and gives you life, will He continue to care for and provide for that which is important to you?
He loves you, believer. He cares. He wants intimacy. He wants you to just turn and look Him in the eyes - acknowledge His presence and let Him chase your fear away.
Go back and read the verse. Understand the finality of the cross and move on to experience the reality of the resurrection. You are alive forevermore, and you go forth in the power and in the Life of the King (Galatians 2:20). Forget what you see in the mirror. Ignore what that evil voice whispers in your ear concerning your past, or even your present weaknesses. See yourself as God sees you - a new creation, and rejoice! Begin to see other believers in the same light, and love! Understand that you have been adopted into God’s eternal family and are now, literally, an heir and joint-heir with Christ, and go tell someone!
