The Grace Game

"Any concept of grace that makes us feel

more comfortable sinning

is not Biblical grace.

   

God’s grace never encourages us to live in sin,
on the contrary, it empowers us to say no to sin 
and yes to truth."

~ Randy Alcorn

And the misconceptions of grace are exposed...

                         Can I fall from grace?
                                   How much can I get away with?

                                              Is it possible to not sin at all?

                                                       What does it mean to frustrate the grace of God?

                         

I was a mischievous, headstrong child with a sensible, fun-loving mother -- a godly mother with a good sense of  humor.  I don't blame her, but I get my sarcasm from her.  And perhaps a tendency towards legalism.

It all comes back to me now...   growing up a preacher's kid. The sacred things. The silly things. The things I thought were funny -- which really weren't.  It was easy to poke fun of people whose theology of grace was not our own.  I had fun with it. I think most preacher's kids do.

We try so hard to be unlike the world that we become polished pharisees.

We had the most fun with Catholics.

They lived lives so very much unlike our own -- engaging in all the things legalists find offensive.

          Dancing.

                    Drinking.

                              Swearing.

                                        Smoking.
                                                  Other stuff...

But they went to "confession."

               And this -- of course -- made it all okay.

I think the Catholics got it wrong
Although... my legalism got it wrong too.
Two opposite ends of  a spectrum.

And so goes the grace game. 

                              A constantly swinging pendulum, 

                                                            swinging back and forth between the two.

New Idea: Being dead to sin.  It's a phrase familiar to all of us. Oh! Remember how we heard this growing up in church.  But what does it mean?

When we think of the death of someone, we immediately think of their separation from this present world. We think of their spirit being separated from their physical body and entering into eternal life.

But how does that square with the whole concept of sin? Is a Christian really completely and totally separated and forever free from the power of sin?  Isn't sin a constant battle?  After all, we do live in a fallen world surrounded by sin and sinners.  And our bodies are "flesh."  So if it is a battle, how do we deal with it?

Unfortunately, there are Christians who believe that God -- in all His glorious grace -- will forgive us.  So why not indulge in sin? It is one way to deal with the struggle and it's actually very common. But it is altogether not biblical.  Romans 6:15-22 tells us that if we do live like this, sin will enslave us,

     it will shame us,

          it will limit us,

               it will defile us,

                    it will bring corruption and death.

¹⁵What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

 ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

 ¹⁷But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

 ¹⁸and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

 ¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

 ²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

 ²¹But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

 ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
(English Standard Version)

So even though we are a Christians trusting that God's grace will forgive us, we're unhappy, miserable, lacking joy because we cannot give way to sin without being enslaved by it.

Here's another approach... And let's just call it what it is:  LEGALISM.  Just as crazy-far from Biblical grace as the GRACE-ABUSERS that I poked fun of 40 years ago.  We attempt to handle sin by trying our dead-on best to do what we think God wants.  We throw up caution tape at every turn -- wondering if this or that counts as sin and finding that almost everything does count as sin.

We use discipline, dedication, and determined willpower to live according to "The Law." It seems like a far more suitable battle plan.  But, again, it's not biblical.

The beginning verses of Romans Chapter 7 describe what happens when we become legalists:

                    We become defensive,

                    self-righteous perfectionists,

                                                                         critical of others,

                                                                         proud of our own record.

                                                                         We become bored, 

                                                                         dull, 

                                                                         discouraged,

                                                                         depressed,

                                                                         and even despairing.

So what’s the answer? Paul’s own words reflect the dilemma:

“In my inner being, I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” 

~ Romans 7:22-24

Paul’s dilemma is the human dilemma. It’s every believer’s battle.

Good News:  In verse 25 we find this:

“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” 

Perhaps this sounds too simple.

News: the Gospel is simple.

What verse 25 is telling us is that the sin battle is nothing more than Grace vs. Will-Power.

It is the same faith that brought us to Christ in the first place that we must rely on to separate us from sin. Every believer’s battle is won by relying on Christ and Christ alone by the indwelling of His Spirit. This is the yielding process and the beginning of sanctification....

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of 
unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, 
as those that are alive from the dead, and your members 
as instruments of righteousness unto God.

~ Romans 6:13

What does that mean? Too often we read a passage of Scripture and we believe it simply because it’s God’s Word, but we haven’t a clue what it really means. Right?

Well, when we come to the realization that within our human bodies lives an unrestrained flesh that seeks to influence us to sin, we make a choice to NOT allow the flesh control.  That’s called salvation.

STEP ONE.

The Apostle Paul is telling us that the STEP TWO is to consider the members of our bodies: hands, feet, eyes, whatever you want to refer to as a "member" of your fleshly body.  Paul calls it a body of sin. And we’re told not to yield it anymore as an instrument of unrighteousness.

Sometimes we forget what the word “yield” means. It’s not just traffic terminology. It comes from two Greek words. One word means “alongside,” and the other word means “to place yourself.”

The picture Paul is drawing here is amazing! Paul is saying, “Don’t keep putting yourself in a position where you can be overpowered by the flesh. It’s just waiting for you to do that. Don’t keep yielding yourself. Don’t keep putting yourself “alongside” that kind of thing.

 (*That thing could be gossip, unwholesome entertainment,
non-Christian friends who negatively influence us,
alcohol, television, pornography, 

you fill-in-the-blank _______.) 

Instead of yielding ourselves to *that, instead of accommodating the flesh, Paul says accommodate God: Yield yourselves to God. That’s how He replaces our unrighteousness with His Righteousness.

Here's the neat part:  That word “yield” is aorist active imperative. That means that --  grammatically speaking -- it's a command!  The aorist tense means DO IT!   Just do it!

If you’re saved – you need to train your senses to line up under Christ. Accommodate yourself to Christ. Put yourself where you can be influenced by the Spirit of God and not by the flesh. 

What does that mean for you?

For this recovering legalist...

God's grace is not a game.
It is my teacher.

 

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all...  
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, 
we should live soberly, righteously, 
and godly, in this present world.

~ Titus 2:11-12

~ Esthermay V. Bentley-Goossen

© 2012 The Heart of a Pastor’s Wife

 

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This installment of InOtherWords is hosted by Urailak
on her blog, Living for God

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It's Not About My Failures. In Fact . . . It's Not About My Performance At All!

"God’s promises are never affected by our failures.

He can use us at any age."

~ Michael Youssef
from Leading the Way.

It' s interesting. . . When I read a quote like this, my mind immediately begins functioning in the realm of performance. After all, the very definition of "failure" implies performance . . . .

I'm thinking of all the different "religious" activities that Believers can perform in the various stages of life using their gifts, talents, resources. . .

At age eighteen:

God's Word tells us,
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young. . . " (I Timothy 4:12)

. . . We use our youthful energy and excitement to engage in spiritual activities and programs that we know will advance His Kingdom. Regardless of our failures, God uses our performance. We are in His favor.

At age forty:

God's Word tell us,
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. . . " (Matthew 28:19)

. . . We use our education to instruct others and we tithe regularly, knowing that our money will help advance His Kingdom. Regardless of our failures, God uses our performance. We are in His favor.

At age seventy:

God' Word tells us that our
“age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.” (Job 32:7)

. . .We use our lifetime of education and wisdom to witness to everyone we meet and we pray hard, knowing that our works will help advance His Kingdom. Regardless of our failure, God uses our performance. We are in His favor.

However, from God's perspective (and what He tells us in His Word), our performance at any age is irrelevant. Probably laughable in His eyes -- if not pitied.

Why do we do this? Why does my own thinking go immediately towards the idea of performance?

An excerpt from The Journal of John Woolman (1720-1772) answers the question:

"But many others, having their religion chiefly by education and not being enough acquainted with that cross which crucifies to the world, do manifest a temper distinguishable from that of an entire trust in God."

Most of us are legalistic by nature, we innately think so much performance by us earns much favor and blessing from God. After all, this is how society works. Is the Christian life any different?

Peter had this attitude when he said to Jesus in Matthew 19:27, "We have left everything to follow you. Therefore what shall we have?" Peter had already added up his merit points, and he wanted to know how much reward they would buy. Jesus answer to him was, "many who are first will be last, and the last first."

Galatians 3:3 tells us this:

"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal through human effort?"

Ephesians 2:8-10 teaches us this:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God. . . "

"God's promises are never affected by our failures." Absolutely! But if we base His promises on performance -- regardless of our success or failure rate -- His promises can never ring true in our lives. Ever!

"He can use us at any age." Absolutely! But God uses us based on our readiness to accept His Grace -- Not our readiness to perform.

Do you understand grace?

A professor at a Christian college in Missouri once gave his students a penetrating, unforgettable picture of grace. A student from his class wrote this in an e-mail:

In the spring of 2002, I left work early so I could have some uninterrupted study time before my final exam in the Youth Ministry class at Hannibal-LaGrange college in Missouri. When I got to class, everybody was doing their last-minute studying. The teacher came in and said he would review with us before the test. Most of his review came right from the study guide, but there were some things he was reviewing that I had never heard. When questioned about it, he said they were in the book and we were responsible for everything in the book. We couldn't argue with that.

Finally it was time to take the test.

"Leave them face down on the desk until everyone has one, and I'll tell you to start," our professor, Dr. Tom Hufty, instructed.

When we turned them over, to my astonishment every answer on the test was filled it. My name was even written on the exam in red ink. The bottom of the last page said: "This is the end of the exam. The reason you passed the test is because the creator of the test took it for you.All the work you did in preparation for this test did not help you get the A. You have just experienced . . . Grace."

Dr. Hufty then went around the room and asked each student individually, "What is your grade? Do you deserve the grade you are receiving? How much did all your studying for this exam help you achieve your final grade?"

Then he said, "Some things you learn from lectures, some things you learn from research, but some things you can only learn from experience. You've just experienced grace. One hundred years from now, if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your name will be written down in a book, and you will have had nothing to do with writing it there. That will be the ultimate grace experience."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"God’s promises are never affected by our failures.

He can use us at any age."

~ Michael Youssef

"God uses us based on our readiness to accept His Grace
-- Not our readiness to perform."

~Esthermay Bentley-Goossen


© 2009 The Heart of a Pastor's Wife

This installment of InOtherWords is hosted today by Karen on her blog, In Love W.I.T.H. Jesus.

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