Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
There is a missing puzzle piece with some folks’ understanding of the gospel message. It has to do with grace. All believers have a revelation of grace, that is, they have a revelation of salvation grace, otherwise they would not be saved. However, grace is manifold, meaning there are many different dimensions of grace (1 Peter 4:10). Paul used the word grace more than one hundred times in his letters in differing applications.
All of us entered the kingdom of God by grace through faith, but it seems only a small percentage of us actually live our lives by grace and that is the missing puzzle piece. We are wonderfully saved by the work of Christ, but once we are saved we revert back to self-effort in living our lives as believers. That is error as it is trying to live the New Testament life with an Old Testament heart and we are doomed to failure when we do this.
Paul told us that God would do above and beyond what we could ask or think according to the power that works within us (Eph. 3:20). That power is grace. It is the power to be and do all that God designed us to be and do.
Grace puts Christ at the center of everything. All things come from Him, through Him and flow back to Him (Rom 11:36). The grace life is not a life of trying to get God to do anything. It is a life of God the Father revealing Himself to us and showing us what He is doing so we can join Him. He loves us and desires for us to be with Him in what He is doing (John 5:19-20).
We can make almost anything concerning the Father, Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Bible legalistic. The nature of man is to take what is a grace such as prayer, reading the Word, healing or revival and strive to make it happen. When we do we remove Christ from the center and put ourselves there and hinder grace in our lives (Gal. 2:21).
What role does grace play concerning denying sin and godly living? Everything, there is no consistent denying of sin and godly living apart from grace. Don’t be fooled by a spirit of lawlessness disguised as grace and an anything goes lifestyle. That is not New Testament Christianity on any level.
The New Testament’s instruction on sin and godly living is not rules to follow, but rather like a panoramic picture to help us see what grace looks like practically lived out. But grace doesn’t simply show us what it looks like, grace actually teaches and empowers us to deny sin and live a godly life if we will let it (Titus 2:11-12).
What about preparation and diligence? Aren’t they important? Yes they are! I spend a lot of time in the Scriptures and prayer preparing to minister, but when I am ministering I do not trust in my preparation or diligence. I trust in the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29) to use what He has worked into me. You can apply that to anything such as parenting, business, education, etc. The fact is none of us can even be diligent or prepared apart from His grace.
How do we come into the reality of a grace-empowered life? I believe the Lord brings us to the end of the storehouses of our own resources, the self-life (Matt. 16:24-25). He gives grace to the humble. When we come to the end of our own strength, wisdom, knowledge, passion, etc., and surrender to Him then something happens. His grace like a river will begin to flow in our lives.
Many Blessings, BW