GOD
MAN
JESUS
GRACE
GOD chose to rescue MAN out of our sinful rebellion though the work of JESUS, and offers us the
GRACE of forgiveness and new life.
In the 3 previous blog entries I have shared in greater detail about GOD, MAN, and JESUS and the relationships between them and how they fit together in an understanding of the Gospel. You can read them here, here and here.
In this entry I want to look at GRACE. Grace is unmerited favor, or and undeserved act of kindness. Let's focus on the first bit, unmerited or undeserved. When we looked at MAN we saw that we had rebelled against God--we were guilty. With the noose around our neck, there was not a thing that we could do, we had nothing to barter with, nothing but our guilt. We are undeserving of His grace. Not only are we undeserving, we are ill-deserving. The only thing we deserve is God's judgement against sin and rebellion.
Yet in His grace (undeserved kindness toward us) He chose to rescue us through the sacrifice of Jesus and give us forgiveness and new life.
The Freedom of Forgiveness
Forgiveness means to no longer hold a person morally responsible. It is releasing a person from moral guilt. In His grace, God declares us "not guilty". What this means is all of the running, rebellion, sin and selfishness has been erased. Through Jesus, God gives us a clear past. Furthermore, the sacrifice of Jesus also atones (covers) present and future sins. Once the Grace of God through Jesus has been applied to your "account" there is not a thing you can do to disqualify yourself from being always forgiven. John 8:36 "So if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed."
Some may think that you can use up the forgiving power of Jesus. That somehow if you do too much sin, or too "big" of a sin you will be disqualified, or rejected. This is not so. For those in Christ, wherever there is sin, there is more and more grace to forgive. Nothing can disqualify you. Ephesians tells us that we are sealed (marked with a mark of ownership) and that seal is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (1:13-14). Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).
You might be thinking, "Well if I'm forgiven and nothing can change that, why should I strive to avoid sinning and obey God?" This is a perfectly good question, in fact, it is one that Paul asked himself. In Romans 6:1 he asked, "Should we go on sinning so grace may increase?"
it's not who we are anymore.
"No way!" Paul answers his own question. His reasons follow in the next verses. Simply put, it's not who we are anymore. This grace is not just forgiveness, but new life. Our old life of sin and rebellion died with Jesus. In the same way that Jesus resurrected, so did we, but to a new life in Him. Jesus has taken our sin and forgiven it AND he has imputed (given or assigned) to us His righteousness. Our identity is no longer rotten sinner, but Righteous Son.
Over and over in the opening chapters of Ephesians Paul uses the phrase "in Christ" or "in Him" to describe our new condition. This is our new identity. The old self has been done away with and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Now, there will be times that we still slip back into behaviors of our old self, not unlike a recently married woman signs her maiden name instead of her new married name. And when we do, there is grace to forgive. That's why it has been called Amazing Grace.
#5 coming soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment