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MOMENTS OF MEDITATION

  

November 4, 2013   Year IV Issue 45              


"The Power of
Transforming Grace"

Newest Book Release:
"The Economy of Heaven"

 

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     We are instructed in the word of God to take heed how we build our Christian lives.  Paul even said that by the grace of God given him, as a wise master builder, that he laid the foundation and that others were to build upon it (1 Cor. 3:1o).  In other words, everything he built in his message to the churches was founded upon the grace of God and that is exactly how we are to build our lives. We must depend solely upon the grace of God for everything. But grace alone is no license to do things anyway we choose.  There are conditions required for grace to work, and without us taking heed to those conditions we can get things all out of kilter.  How very necessary it is that we really know the purpose of grace and how it works.

 

GRACE  

TAKING HEED HOW WE BUILD THEREUPON  

"According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon."

                                                       1 Corinthians 3:10

 

       One of the greatest revelations we can be given in God's Word is to understand the role that grace is to have in our Christian life.  Nothing holds the power of transformation like grace.  Everything we are and everything we hope to be rests on this truth.

       Unfortunately, we are seeing some things infiltrating into the church where the grace of God is being misapplied, resulting in the misuse and abuse of it.  Some of the very things we are dealing with today are things Paul had to deal with in his day.  In Romans chapter five he makes this powerful statement: "Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20).   What a wonderful truth!  Thank God that the grace of God is bigger than sin.  Thank God that no matter how pervading sin may appear to be, the grace of God is much more pervading!  In other words, sin will never be able to outdo what grace can do.

       That's a great promise, but Paul didn't stop there. He went on into the next chapter and said: "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 therein? (Rom. 6:1-2).  Just because grace is so much greater than sin that does not give us a license to sin for the sole purpose of seeing God's grace work its wonders.No, grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, that we are to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11-12). 

       What is behind the grace of God is a deep, overwhelming passion and love that God has for each and every person.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we enter into that grace.  It isn't just to save us from our sins, but it is to change us so that we are disconnected from the power that generated sin-which is our old sinful nature.  Grace has redeeming power.  It can take a miserable, wretched sinner and change him or her into a saint.  No amount of self-improvement or rehabilitation can make that happen, only grace.

       But to take the love of God and stretch it to the point that we somehow think God doesn't see sin in us (when we do sin) or that we can no longer be affected by it because we now have his grace working in us, is taking things a bit too far.  Thank God there is forgiveness, and there is no amount of sin or depth of sin that is bigger than God's grace that can forgive us and cleanse us. However, we cannot be so naïve to think that sin left to itself is not going to have an impact on our Christian life! We have to take heed how we build upon the foundation of our faith.  That means we apply grace, not as some back door exit to sin, but that we use grace to overcome it and live above it! 

       I really have to say, it amazes me to hear and to read after well-known ministers of our day that teach inclusionism or some sort of hyper-grace message.  How they can twist the scriptures and teach such things is absolutely beyond me.  I realize that if I had a mind to, I could take scriptures out of context and teach both extremes and make them convincible.  But what would I do with such verses in the scriptures that deal with the purpose of evangelism, the need for repentance, and the call to warn us to watch out for sin, to admonish us to continue in the faith, to live holy, to obey God and to keep the faith!  If the idea that once we experience the grace of God we then become so protected by God's love that it is impossible to fall away or be affected by our drawing back, or that somehow this grace is so irresistible that it overpowers our will, then what purpose does all the warnings, all the exhortations, all the admonishments serve?

       To believe that the first epistle of John was not written to believers-that it was written to the Gnostics, and therefore, to confess our sins does not apply to the Christian, or to somehow read into God's forgiveness that he has already dealt with our sins-past, present, and future, and therefore, to confess our sin is unnecessary, is simply false teaching.  I believe in God's grace and I am very conscious of building my entire life on the power it has to change me and transform me, but I also know there are conditions to grace that I cannot overlook or neglect, that constantly remind me that I must take heed how I build thereupon.

  

PRAYER

Father, today, help me understand your grace.  Let me see the true purpose that you have given in helping me reach my purpose and destiny.  And help me to watch out for deception and things that might try to lead me astray.  I choose today to apply your grace to my life that I may serve you acceptably with reverence and godly fear.  In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

CONFESSION 

I accept the free offer of God's favor.  I welcome the fact that I am accepted in the beloved.  I also acknowledge that I am what I am by the grace of God and that everything I do and say is to be a work of his grace in my life.  I also make the decision today, to lean on God's grace where it can keep me watchful, sober, and walking in a lifestyle that is becoming to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

DEFINING MOMENTS...

One of the dangers of the hyper-grace message is that it takes the thought that we are no longer under the law but under grace, and teaches that the entire Old Testament applied only to Israel and that it has no relevance to the New Testament believer. What this message fails to understand is that the law was divided into three sacred areas: moral law, ceremonial law, and judicial law.  Christ came and fulfilled all the law, but that did not mean he did away with law to the point that we are lawless.   

 

The New Testament law of love was given to establish the Old Testament moral laws (Rom. 13:10). Faith in the Blood of Jesus came to fulfill all the Old Testament ceremonial laws (Heb. 9:7-12). And the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, who is our counselor and guide came to help fulfill all the judicial laws (1 Cor. 2:15-16). Romans chapter three tells us we are not to do away with the law, but that through faith we establish it (Rom. 3:21-31)! The love of God, the blood of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit are all part of God's grace enabling us to live life the way God intended for us to live.

  
In His Grace,

      

Pastor David
Faith Harvest Church

 

 Moments of Meditation is a weekly Enewsletter that is sent out as an outreach ministry of Faith Harvest Church, Savannah, Georgia USA to our partners and friends around the world.  For more information about this ministry, please visit our website at:

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