The Holy One calls to me this morning. It's been a while since I transcribed our early morning conference. The numbness and shock of my widowhood is blending into my new reality and the Lord has been gracious to me.
The thoughts about "Grace" are heavy on my heart these days. Grace is something I know I have, yet cannot explain. The love and favor of God toward man is the best definition of "Grace". The age in which we live and breathe is called the "Age of Grace".
This period of time in the history of man's days upon the earth was ushered in through the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant between God and man came in the form of the "law". The New Covenant was signed in the Blood of Jesus and came in the form of the crucifixion and judgment of sin on the Cross of Calvary and it is called "Grace". God's favor extended has given all men the opportunity for forgiveness and atonement, a price paid for sin, but not by the offender himself.
Lately there has been more and more talk about "Grace" and as Christians we are exhorted to extend it. But what is this "Amazing Grace" we sing about and yet can be more dangerous than the laws we break?
The "Grace" we claim to live under was not cheap. It called for the sacrifice of the Crown Jewel of Heaven, God's one and only Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy One speaks to my heart, "There is the responsibility side of Grace that belongs to those who have received it."
My human mind swirls with what that means. We are being blasted with the requirement to extend it to others in the same measure we have received it from the God of all Creation. Knowing that all my sins have been forgiven by the Grace of our God suggests that Grace and forgiveness are inter-changeable.
But then the Holy One takes me to Hebrews 10: 26, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the Truth, no sacrifice for sin is left, but only fearful expectation of punishment." Then in Heb 10:29, "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot and treated as an unholy thing the Blood of the Covenant that sanctified him and who has insulted the Spirit of Grace?"
By these Scriptures, I see the point that Holiness is making to me today. Grace can be offended. Grace is deeply personal, and while forgiveness is to be offered liberally to others, my personal response to Grace must be to stop the sin within. Through the power of the Holy Spirit I can and must live a life that models surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord.
Grace is favor from God. We cannot earn it, but we can live in humble and sacred appreciation for it. Grace cannot be fully appreciated unless we grasp the flip side of Grace and look deep into the dread of Holiness and the wrath our sin deserves.
Religious pride, self-righteous arrogance, and legalistic judgment skirts the entire issue of Grace. If we continue to look at the sin of others even in Godly forgiveness, but refuse to come to the place of accountability and repentance for personal betrayal of Holiness, we miss the most important component of Grace: the ability to stop sinning.
The whole of the subject of God's amazing Grace is beyond our ability to fathom here. The knowledge of God's Grace is progressive.
Today was an important lesson in the school of God's Grace. It is sufficient to keep me from sinning, unless of course, I "deliberately keep on sinning:, treating as unholy the Blood of the Covenant that sanctified me" and insulting the (Holy) Spirit of Grace by my decision to keep on in my sin.
Accountability must come before Grace can be appreciated. Unless and until we humbly acknowledge the depth and weight of our own depravity in the eyes of a Holy God, Grace becomes cheap forgiveness. A superficial, "I'm sorry" for that which required the brutal crucifixion of the Holy One.
The next time we are exhorted to offer Grace, may we first look deep within and understand what it really means to have received it.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
The thoughts about "Grace" are heavy on my heart these days. Grace is something I know I have, yet cannot explain. The love and favor of God toward man is the best definition of "Grace". The age in which we live and breathe is called the "Age of Grace".
This period of time in the history of man's days upon the earth was ushered in through the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant between God and man came in the form of the "law". The New Covenant was signed in the Blood of Jesus and came in the form of the crucifixion and judgment of sin on the Cross of Calvary and it is called "Grace". God's favor extended has given all men the opportunity for forgiveness and atonement, a price paid for sin, but not by the offender himself.
Lately there has been more and more talk about "Grace" and as Christians we are exhorted to extend it. But what is this "Amazing Grace" we sing about and yet can be more dangerous than the laws we break?
The "Grace" we claim to live under was not cheap. It called for the sacrifice of the Crown Jewel of Heaven, God's one and only Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy One speaks to my heart, "There is the responsibility side of Grace that belongs to those who have received it."
My human mind swirls with what that means. We are being blasted with the requirement to extend it to others in the same measure we have received it from the God of all Creation. Knowing that all my sins have been forgiven by the Grace of our God suggests that Grace and forgiveness are inter-changeable.
But then the Holy One takes me to Hebrews 10: 26, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the Truth, no sacrifice for sin is left, but only fearful expectation of punishment." Then in Heb 10:29, "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot and treated as an unholy thing the Blood of the Covenant that sanctified him and who has insulted the Spirit of Grace?"
By these Scriptures, I see the point that Holiness is making to me today. Grace can be offended. Grace is deeply personal, and while forgiveness is to be offered liberally to others, my personal response to Grace must be to stop the sin within. Through the power of the Holy Spirit I can and must live a life that models surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord.
Grace is favor from God. We cannot earn it, but we can live in humble and sacred appreciation for it. Grace cannot be fully appreciated unless we grasp the flip side of Grace and look deep into the dread of Holiness and the wrath our sin deserves.
Religious pride, self-righteous arrogance, and legalistic judgment skirts the entire issue of Grace. If we continue to look at the sin of others even in Godly forgiveness, but refuse to come to the place of accountability and repentance for personal betrayal of Holiness, we miss the most important component of Grace: the ability to stop sinning.
The whole of the subject of God's amazing Grace is beyond our ability to fathom here. The knowledge of God's Grace is progressive.
Today was an important lesson in the school of God's Grace. It is sufficient to keep me from sinning, unless of course, I "deliberately keep on sinning:, treating as unholy the Blood of the Covenant that sanctified me" and insulting the (Holy) Spirit of Grace by my decision to keep on in my sin.
Accountability must come before Grace can be appreciated. Unless and until we humbly acknowledge the depth and weight of our own depravity in the eyes of a Holy God, Grace becomes cheap forgiveness. A superficial, "I'm sorry" for that which required the brutal crucifixion of the Holy One.
The next time we are exhorted to offer Grace, may we first look deep within and understand what it really means to have received it.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
No comments:
Post a Comment