Jump Start # 3511

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

Oh, grace! That little five letter word stirs up so much emotion, concern and confusion. Some have a difficult time reading our verse today the way the Holy Spirit delivered it. Grace through faith is the way the passage reads. We are saved by grace through faith. Do you believe that?

Instantly, some have to respond, “Not faith alone.” And, any good student of the Bible understands that. Is it necessary to add that? Then some want to say, “that includes baptism, obedience to Christ and faithfulness.” And, any good student of the Bible will see that clearly. Is it necessary to add that to the verse? Even a careful walk through Ephesians will show what God expects and where our faith ought to take us.

Maybe, we feel compelled to say these things because the religious community has butchered grace and faith and redefined them so they are not longer what God intended. To help people see through the fog of such things, we might over explain things. There is a balance. We must look at all that the Bible teaches, not just one singular verse. That one verse may not give us the complete picture. Yet, on the other hand, we ought to be able to read a passage as God gave it to us. There is a balance.

The subject of Grace among us is often hard to understand.

First, this generation is not the only ones to discover the concept of God’s grace. The way some have said things, you’d get the idea that preachers from the past never mentioned grace. Some have gone so far as to actually say that. But, a simple dig in history shows how wrong that is. I know of my generation, grace has been preached often. I know generations past, even to the restoration movement, grace was a major theme in sermons and articles. I grew up hearing many great preachers talking about God’s grace. This isn’t a topic some have failed to teach on. It’s hard to talk about the prodigal son and not open the door to grace. The woman caught in adultery, the parable of the man who owed thousands of talents all stand upon the platform of God’s grace. It is unfair, inaccurate and even cruel to accuse earlier generations of ignoring the topic of grace. They did not.

Second, God’s grace isn’t a pass to say none of the other things we do matter. What if we started all over, and only had the Gospels, and all we had was Jesus, wouldn’t that make things easier and better. Such a foolish thing was presented in a sermon. We don’t have just the Gospels. The God of Heaven saw fit to give us all the N.T. The whole counsel of God is what we need. While we may not like things such as discipline, or patterns, or authority or doctrine, these things are part of Jesus. You cannot separate Jesus from His message and His message includes the totality of the N.T. You can’t have Jesus without His word. And, His word is more than just what was spoken in the Gospels. Check out what the apostle said in 1 Cor 14:37?

If anything, grace teaches us to live righteously and godly, as we find in Titus. Righteously means living RIGHT. It is God who determines what is right. Ignoring what God has said, doesn’t make one right. Understanding that you have been given a second chance that you do not deserve, leads one to walking closer to the Lord and trying ever harder to please the Lord. Grace isn’t an open door to do whatever I feel like. When radicals say “all this church stuff doesn’t matter,” what are they basing this upon? Is that something God has said? The first Christians were devoted to the apostle’s doctrine. Yet, some today think, doctrine is a dirty word. Doctrine doesn’t matter. Just give me Jesus, is what they say. Yet, the Jesus they want is one that they have made up and is not the Jesus of the Bible. Six times in John’s first letter he mentions the need to keep the commandments. Grace and obedience are not enemies. They fit together nicely in the platform of faith.

Third, the truth is that I need grace. You need grace. We can’t get it right. We sin. We drop the ball. We have our little issues. I am not perfect. You are not perfect. We are not perfect in our behavior and we are not perfect in our thinking. We study so we can know God’s will. We work hard at teaching the best that we can, but in the end, there are topics that I may not be correct on. I want to be, but I am not. As I learn, I change. My goal is to please the Lord. I want all to know the Lord.

And, the area that this causes most trouble with is how we see each other. To ourselves, we readily admit that we are not perfect and we need God’s grace. But to others, we can be so quick to write them off, accuse them of error and be ready to cast them adrift on their own.

We seem to thrive in being the prosecutor and jury and even the judge to so many others. We are quick to say, “they are wrong.” We pull that out faster than a six-gun in the ole’ West. The N.T. warns of trouble makers. Paul named by name those that were being a pain to him and not walking according to the pattern. But it seems to me, that the greater emphasis ought to be looking at one’s own self and allowing God to determine who is in and who is out. Fellowship exists on a congregational level where there is accountability and responsibility and action that can be taken, as well as benefits drawn from. Brotherhood is something we are to love.

I am thankful for God’s amazing grace. I’d have no chance without it. And as I see others struggling along, I want to help them. I want to share with them what I believe is true. And, if they want me to participate in things that I am uncomfortable with, I will kindly decline. My faith won’t let me do that.

Grace, it’s a topic that is hard to fully understand, especially when we don’t deserve any of it.

Roger

Jump Start # 1985

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

Recently I had a discussion with an older Christian. I baptized her more than twenty years ago. She’s scared. She doesn’t say that, but you can tell. It’s not death that she is afraid of. She is afraid of dying with sins. She is worried, literally, because of sins in her life. We talked. I tried to assure her. I tried to comfort her. I don’t know if I was very helpful. I felt that she is putting herself through the ringer. Augustine expressed similar feelings. The reformer Luther also had similar thoughts. I expect that many of us do.

How can I go to Heaven when there is sin in my life? Perfection, although never openly admitted, is what lies behind most of this. We have preached so hard against sin and the need to be like Christ, that we can leave the impression that 100% and only 100% will get any of us into Heaven. Our sins have crippled us and ruined that chance. And for my older friend, it leaves her scared and even unable to sleep at night.

We sin. That’s not a news flash. We know that. John wrote in his first letter that if we deny that fact, we are a liar and the truth is not in us. We sin. How can I stand before a pure and righteous God, in whom there is no darkness, when I have sin in my life? What if I have forgotten to name every sin? What if I did things and I did not even know that they were wrong? What about those secret sins that David talks about in Psalms?

There are times when anger gets the best of us. There are days when we are not where we should be. There are times when we know what we ought to do, but we simply do not feel like it. How can there be any hope when we at our best are not very good? How could Paul be so certain that there was a crown of righteousness awaiting him, and not just for him, but for all those who loved His appearing? How can they know? How can they be so sure?

I wonder if we view coming before God much like Dorothy and her Wizard of Oz friends did the first time they appeared before the Great and Mighty Oz. They were shaking and scared and Oz was loud, demanding and full of fire. They ran when they got the chance. Is that going to be us before God?

The answer I shared with my friend the other day is the same answer and hope for all of us, and that is grace. Without Grace, we best be scared. Without grace, we are sunk. Without grace, there is no hope. We simply cannot be perfect. John’s letter stresses three aspects that are the key here.

First, is to walk in truth. Obey God. Love truth. Know truth. And follow it. We try, you say, but we still mess up. Walk in the light is what John said.

Second, is to practice righteousness. Practice. That word is found often in John’s letter. There is a difference between my wife sitting down and practicing the piano and me walking by the piano and hitting one key. Practice involves intention, purpose. No one accidently practices football. They plan for it. They strive for it. Don’t practice sin. Practice righteousness. Try to be righteous. Make that your goal. Desire that.

Thirdly, love one another. John stresses that often. Love is demonstrated by actions. Love is care and concern. Love is putting others before self.

But with all three of these, we will not be perfect. Our faith and God’s grace is what makes it all possible. We are saved by grace. We are not saved because we are perfect. We are not saved because we scored 100% on the test. We are saved by a loving God who knows us and knows our hearts. He knows how serious we are. He knows how hard we are trying. We knows how much we love Him. Grace is a gift. It’s not earned. It’s not deserved. It’s not expected. It’s not something that God has to do. It’s His choice. Faith and grace—that’s the key.

Now, misunderstanding this leads to abuse and error. If I’m saved by grace, one might think, then it doesn’t matter what I do. Yes, it does matter. Grace is connected to faith. Faith is connected to action. Practice righteousness. Love brethren. Walk in truth. Others wrongly think that only grace is necessary. We don’t have to do a thing. God does it all. It’s like sitting down on a roller coaster. We just enjoy the ride. If that were the case, then everyone ought to be saved. They are not. More are lost than will be saved, is what Jesus said. Grace is connected, once again, to our faith. We are saved by grace through faith.

Now how does any of this give us hope for a people that are slipping and sliding along life’s journey? You will not be perfect. You sin and will sin. That ought to bother you, because it bothers God. However, keep walking with the Lord. Keep believing. Keep practicing. God’s grace is what will save you. Our hope is not in swimming to the rescue boat. Our hope is in being pulled by the life preserver. But if we let go of the preserver, we’ll sink.

Scared, unsure and doubting Christians is not where God wants us to be. We love Him. We love Him for who He is and what He has done. We owe our salvation to Him. His grace compels us to be closer to Him. His grace makes us want to strive harder. His grace makes us realize what a wonderful God we have.

God wants a relationship with you. God wants you in Heaven. On your own, you won’t make it. Ignoring His way, and you won’t make it. Leaving it all up to Him, and you won’t make it. We are saved by grace through faith. His grace, my faith. Without His grace, I’m sunk. Without my faith, I won’t turn to Him.

Our assurance of Heaven is not because we are so good, but rather, because He is so good. Don’t be scared. Love. Believe. Trust. Follow.

We sing, “God will take care of you,” and that He will.

Roger

Jump Start # 1290

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

  I like this verse. It’s simple. It’s plain. It explains how we are saved. Salvation is not of ourselves. Salvation is a gift of God. There is a difference between a purchase and a gift. At weddings, we give the newly married couples a gift. There isn’t an invoice on the item we give. If there was, then it moves from the gift category to the purchased category. The couple would owe us something. There is no owing when it comes to gifts given.

Many have trouble reading this verse as God wrote it. They feel inclined to put qualifiers and an asterisk or footnote on it and then spend pages and pages explaining that we are not saved by Grace alone or only and that we must be baptized to be saved. It seems to me that God, who is smarter than we are, and a much better writer than anyone of us will ever be, would have done that. He didn’t. Maybe God knew that this verse is to be taken with the rest of what He said. Maybe He knew that a careful study of the Bible would show that not everyone is saved. Maybe He knew that when people got to Hebrews 11 and the many “by faith” passages, they would conclude that faith is action and faith moves a person closer to God. Maybe God just knew better than we do.

Grace is hard to understand. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. We are accustomed to the paycheck lifestyle of our society. You go to work, you earn and you benefit. Many are extremely bothered by the number of folks today who do nothing but get government help. Even that isn’t grace, because they have been qualified and approved and it’s not considered a “gift.” We don’t do gifts unless there is a reason. Birthdays, weddings, holidays—and we expect gifts. Christmas isn’t really “gifts” because there is so much pressure to purchase presents for someone else. To have a Christmas without “gifts” would be shocking in most families. Even more difficult is to see gifts given to someone who is not deserving. We may think of giving a mentor a gift for his time. Recently, I’ve been teaching an early morning Bible study with a group of men. At the end of the study they gave me a gift card in appreciation. That was a complete surprise and extremely kind. However, to give a gift to someone who hasn’t done something nice for us, just doesn’t make sense. In fact, we talk ourselves out of that. We do not want to honor bad behavior. We do not want to enable them in wrong. Romans 5:8 states, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God didn’t wait until we cleaned up our act to send Jesus. God didn’t hold Jesus back until we promised to never do wrong again. At the worst time, the Best came. While we were sinners.

When the prodigal came home, he didn’t stop and take a bath first, get a job, earn the money that he wasted and then showed up to his father. Not at all. He came dirty, smelly, broke and hopeless. He was a mess. He was out of options. He was wanting to be back home. He had nothing to show his father that would please him. He had wasted a lifetime of money. He had ruined the family name. He had been irresponsible. He had broken dozens of commands. He did what his father never would have. All he had left, was himself and that was pitiful. He came. He came knowing that he was still loved. He came willing to feed his obnoxious brother, sleep in the barn and forever be a servant. That was good enough for him. His story is our story. That’s how we are. God doesn’t save us because we are so cute and adorable. We are not like the furry little puppies in a pet store. God walks by and He just has to take us home. No, that’s not us. We are the prodigal. Dirty. Smelly. Pig junk under our finger nails. Hair a mess with things in it. Clothes stained and torn. Barefoot. Hungry. Tired. Wrinkled eyes. And that’s just the outside. The inside is worse. Sorry. Guilty. Ashamed. Broken. Miserable. Unhappy. Unholy. Hurting. Disappointed. Embarrassed. Confused. Mad at self. But wanting to be near our Father.

God extends His grace because He chose to love us, even messy as we are. The prodigal did absolutely nothing to earn the family ring back. Common sense would say no to that. I could understand putting sandals on those dirty and worn feet. That’s a nice thing to do. It alone carried volumes of meaning. Servants walked barefoot. Sons wore shoes. This was more than being nice, it was symbolic. However, the ring, not just jewelry, was “The ring.” The signet ring. This was used to make official documents. With this ring, deals could be made. Things could be purchased. It was like giving him dad’s credit card. He hasn’t even reached the house yet, and the father is calling for the ring. He hasn’t proven himself yet. Is he trustworthy? Has he learned any lessons? Will he stay home? The father gave him a gift. It was based upon grace and driven by love. Most of us wouldn’t do that. We’d tend to think it wasn’t wise. Give it some time and we’ll see. We’ll talk about it in a few weeks. Not this father. No waiting. No later. Bring the ring and bring it now.

Grace. We are saved by grace. We are saved by grace through faith. Faith is the coming home. Faith is the broken and contrite heart. Faith is willing to be placed in whatever position or status that the father decides. Faith is hoping. Grace is giving.

We are saved by grace. That ought to make us complain less and be more thankful. We are saved by grace, that ought to make us try to be more like the father, and less like the sons. We are saved by grace, that ought to make us love more and judge less. We are saved by grace, that ought to open our arms to God more and worry less about perfection. We are to obey, no question. But obedience is not what saves us, it’s the grace.

Think for a moment about a girl who gets engaged. For months she plans the wedding of a lifetime. Brides magazines everywhere. The right invitations. The right place. The right food. The right dress. The right cake. Why all that? So her boyfriend will love her? He already does. He’s asked her to marry him. She does that because he loves her. So translate that to us. Why do we go to worship? So God loves us? He already does. We do that because He loves us. It pleases Him. We want to do what He wants. That’s were obedience falls in. We are not saved because of perfect attendance, we kept all the commands, but by the grace of God. We do all we can because He loves us so much. This ought to change our thinking. It ought to help us get things straight in our minds and heart.

We are saved by grace through faith. Simply amazing!

Roger