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12.19.2009
GRACE: free to receive. (salvation and broken chains) [by brianlucas]
Grace was once defined to me as: "when God gives us that which we do not deserve."
It is by the grace of God that we are saved. Our salvation has been given to us freely. We do nothing to earn it, and nothing we do in thanks can ever repay it. This is the gospel; the Good News. "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen." (Gal.1.3-5) This greeting from Paul to the Galatians sums it up perfectly. Jesus gave himself up for our sins. It was the will of our God and Father. To Him be the glory. There is nothing in there for us to take credit for. All I have to offer in that is that those were my sins. I contributed to the reason Jesus was nailed to a cross. The forgiveness was a free gift. I had nothing to do with that part, and get no credit.
But I do get to reap the benefits. I am forgiven. I am free. I am free to cast off my life. I am free to walk away from sin. I am free to live in the glory of God, because He sent his son to die for me. And He has set me free.
There are those who would question the "free-ness" of the gift. "There must be something we have to do," you might say. Read on in Galatians 1: "6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!" Not only is salvation a free gift, but to claim otherwise is to deny Christ. There is no other way. There is no other gospel. Christ died for you. Nothing else.
And, so what? Well, look at how this plays out in life. I like the way Thrice puts it:
Come All You Weary | The Alchemy Index vol. iv | Thrice
"Come all you weary, with your heavy loads. Lay down your burdens; find rest for your souls. My YOKE is easy and my burden is kind; I'll take yours upon me, and you can take mine. Come all you weary, who move through the earth; who've been spurned at fine restaurants, and kicked out of church. I've got a couple of loaves, so sit down at my feet; lend me your ears and we'll break bread and eat. Come all you weary. Come, gather round near me; find rest for your SOULS. Come all you weary; you crippled, you lame. I'll help you along; you can throw down your canes. We've got a long way to go, but we'll travel as FRIENDS. The light's growing bright; further up, further in."
Matthew 11:28-30 [NIV]
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
The song is obviously based in the words of Jesus as Matthew records them. "Come all you weary." Jesus says this as he is speaking to a huge crowd. He says: "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (mat.11.27-28)
Jesus came to take our burdens. He came to SET US FREE from the sin that holds down our souls. Jesus wasn't here to praise the efforts of the religious elite; but rather to heal the sick and wounded, and to raise the dead. Not only in the physical, but in the spiritual sense as well. Jesus preached grace and freedom; healing and salvation. "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near [here]." (mat.4.17) Turn your eyes to heaven. There is nothing we can do, but come to Christ. He takes our burden. We don't earn it off. We don't pay it down. We come to him and he trades us. He takes the sin and weight of the world upon himself, and gives us his yoke. What is this yoke? A right relationship with God the Almighty Father. His yoke is FREEDOM.
Paul, again in Galatians, elaborates on the yoke of Christ: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Gal.5.1-2).
We are set free, to be free, and it was done for free!
As Jesus said to Nicodemus (who came to find out what Jesus was really all about), "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (john.3.14-17) Jesus came to save the world. And how is that salvation administered? Through the belief in the savior. Just like Moses lifting the snake, the healing comes with the simple faith to look to Christ for salvation.
Check it out:
"They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived." (num.21.4-9) The people's actions earned them death. But the Lord's deliverance required only the sight of salvation. All they had to do was see the bronze snake and it would save them. There is nothing they could do for themselves but believe.
It is the same with Christ. He came to save the world. Not by telling us how to live right and earn it; but by showing us God's salvation once again, and all we have to do is believe. THERE IS FREEDOM from all sin, all burdens, all sickness, and all death. For when we believe in Jesus as our Lord, our Savior, we have eternal life with God. And all the sickness, pain, suffering, and death the world has to offer cannot overcome that.
So how does that play out? How does being set free actually change me? How does it happen?
Through the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would be our counselor/guide/helper. It looks like this: "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. The are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." (Gal.5.16-18) Live in the Spirit. Let the Spirit of God fill you and lead you to a new and different life. Our human nature, the thing that makes us sin, will make us sin. But if we allow the Spirit of God to lead us and change us, not only are you free from the law and its penalties of death, but you are free to live in the Spirit.
But what does that look like?
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." A life in the Spirit is full of these nine things. If you see this "fruit" begin to grow and develop in your life, then you are on your way. A life that is free in the Spirit is free to love and be like Christ.
WE ARE FREE IN CHRIST.
May you find peace and relief in the loving arms of Christ, as he imparts the saving love of Almighty God through the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. All you must do is believe, and let the Holy Spirit of God take care of the rest. Amen. ¶ 01:58
It is by the grace of God that we are saved. Our salvation has been given to us freely. We do nothing to earn it, and nothing we do in thanks can ever repay it. This is the gospel; the Good News. "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen." (Gal.1.3-5) This greeting from Paul to the Galatians sums it up perfectly. Jesus gave himself up for our sins. It was the will of our God and Father. To Him be the glory. There is nothing in there for us to take credit for. All I have to offer in that is that those were my sins. I contributed to the reason Jesus was nailed to a cross. The forgiveness was a free gift. I had nothing to do with that part, and get no credit.
But I do get to reap the benefits. I am forgiven. I am free. I am free to cast off my life. I am free to walk away from sin. I am free to live in the glory of God, because He sent his son to die for me. And He has set me free.
There are those who would question the "free-ness" of the gift. "There must be something we have to do," you might say. Read on in Galatians 1: "6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!" Not only is salvation a free gift, but to claim otherwise is to deny Christ. There is no other way. There is no other gospel. Christ died for you. Nothing else.
And, so what? Well, look at how this plays out in life. I like the way Thrice puts it:
Come All You Weary | The Alchemy Index vol. iv | Thrice
"Come all you weary, with your heavy loads. Lay down your burdens; find rest for your souls. My YOKE is easy and my burden is kind; I'll take yours upon me, and you can take mine. Come all you weary, who move through the earth; who've been spurned at fine restaurants, and kicked out of church. I've got a couple of loaves, so sit down at my feet; lend me your ears and we'll break bread and eat. Come all you weary. Come, gather round near me; find rest for your SOULS. Come all you weary; you crippled, you lame. I'll help you along; you can throw down your canes. We've got a long way to go, but we'll travel as FRIENDS. The light's growing bright; further up, further in."
Matthew 11:28-30 [NIV]
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
The song is obviously based in the words of Jesus as Matthew records them. "Come all you weary." Jesus says this as he is speaking to a huge crowd. He says: "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (mat.11.27-28)
Jesus came to take our burdens. He came to SET US FREE from the sin that holds down our souls. Jesus wasn't here to praise the efforts of the religious elite; but rather to heal the sick and wounded, and to raise the dead. Not only in the physical, but in the spiritual sense as well. Jesus preached grace and freedom; healing and salvation. "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near [here]." (mat.4.17) Turn your eyes to heaven. There is nothing we can do, but come to Christ. He takes our burden. We don't earn it off. We don't pay it down. We come to him and he trades us. He takes the sin and weight of the world upon himself, and gives us his yoke. What is this yoke? A right relationship with God the Almighty Father. His yoke is FREEDOM.
Paul, again in Galatians, elaborates on the yoke of Christ: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Gal.5.1-2).
We are set free, to be free, and it was done for free!
As Jesus said to Nicodemus (who came to find out what Jesus was really all about), "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (john.3.14-17) Jesus came to save the world. And how is that salvation administered? Through the belief in the savior. Just like Moses lifting the snake, the healing comes with the simple faith to look to Christ for salvation.
Check it out:
"They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived." (num.21.4-9) The people's actions earned them death. But the Lord's deliverance required only the sight of salvation. All they had to do was see the bronze snake and it would save them. There is nothing they could do for themselves but believe.
It is the same with Christ. He came to save the world. Not by telling us how to live right and earn it; but by showing us God's salvation once again, and all we have to do is believe. THERE IS FREEDOM from all sin, all burdens, all sickness, and all death. For when we believe in Jesus as our Lord, our Savior, we have eternal life with God. And all the sickness, pain, suffering, and death the world has to offer cannot overcome that.
So how does that play out? How does being set free actually change me? How does it happen?
Through the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would be our counselor/guide/helper. It looks like this: "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. The are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." (Gal.5.16-18) Live in the Spirit. Let the Spirit of God fill you and lead you to a new and different life. Our human nature, the thing that makes us sin, will make us sin. But if we allow the Spirit of God to lead us and change us, not only are you free from the law and its penalties of death, but you are free to live in the Spirit.
But what does that look like?
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." A life in the Spirit is full of these nine things. If you see this "fruit" begin to grow and develop in your life, then you are on your way. A life that is free in the Spirit is free to love and be like Christ.
WE ARE FREE IN CHRIST.
May you find peace and relief in the loving arms of Christ, as he imparts the saving love of Almighty God through the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. All you must do is believe, and let the Holy Spirit of God take care of the rest. Amen. ¶ 01:58
