NOTE: I do not endorse these advertisements.  They enable me to have free web space.

Spiritual Bankruptcy

• SG #2: Why is it important to focus on your spiritual condition apart from Christ in order to understand God’s grace?
• Because to the extent that I understand my true condition is the extent that I understand my need, which is the extent to which I can understand (recognize, appreciate) God’s grace.
• Rom 5:7-10, 17. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! . . . For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
• The more negative we are, the more positive Christ’s grace has to be to save us.
• Read the first quote in the "Pondering Grace" section of SG (page 18).
  
• SG #1a: What is our spiritual condition apart from grace?
• Rom 3:10-12. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
• In business terms, a bankrupt business still has some assets left over to partially repay its creditors, but man has nothing at all to offer to a holy God.
• Isaiah 64:6. All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.
• Man’s "+10" is viewed by God to be "-10". Man’s righteousness is not just neutral or value-less, it’s gross and detestable. God has no part with it.

Grace and Works

• Bad Definition of Grace: "Grace is when God makes up the difference between the requirements of His righteous law and what we lack in meeting those requirements." In other words, no one is good enough to earn salvation by himself, but God’s grace simply makes up for what we lack" [SG, page 10].
  
• SG #5: Why can’t we "mix" grace and works?
• "To say the grace of God makes up the difference of what God requires of us is like comparing two people’s attempts to leap across the Grand Canyon. The canyon The canyon averages about nine miles in width from rim to rim. Suppose one person could leap out about thirty feet while another can leap only six feet. What difference does it make? Sure, one person can leap five times as far as the other, but relative to nine miles, it makes no difference! When God build a bridge across the ‘Grand Canyon’ of our sin, He didn’t stop thirty feet or even six feet from our side. He built the bridge all the way" [SG, pages 10-11]. How useful is a 1-mile long bridge if it stops 30 feet short of the other side?
• Grace and works are mutually exclusive.
• Rom 11:6. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
• Grace is a different "currency" than works.
• How successful would I be if I walked into Kentucky Fried Chicken and after ordering a bucket of chicken, handed the cashier a handful of Japanese Yen and expected that to be "good enough?"
• Gal 5:2-6. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
• The only thing that "counts" in Kentucky Fried Chicken is American dollars.
  
• SG #4: So, which person needs God’s grace more: the conscientious, dutiful, hardworking Christian, or the most decadent, hard-living sinner?
  
• SG #6: Why is it so hard for us to rely on God’s grace rather than our own efforts?
• Because grace is a threat to our pride!

The Performance Treadmill

• What’s the difference between justification, sanctification, and glorification?
• Diagram Jerry Bridges’ illustration found on BK page 20.
• Show the different "kinds" of grace.
  
• SG #4: Many Christians believe that the basis of God’s favor in sanctification is to be found in our own obedience. Where is the error in this thinking?
• Bridges says, "Most of us would say we declared permanent bankruptcy [with respect to] the gift of eternal life. [We readily admit] that there is nothing more we can do to earn our salvation." Although many of us may admit that we are permanently bankrupt, we actually tend to live as if we were temporarily bankrupt. That is, "We were saved by grace, but we are living by performance."
• Example: "Think of a time recently when you really fell on your face spiritually. Then imagine that immediately afterward, you encountered a terrific opportunity to share Christ with a nonChristian friend. Could you have done it with complete confidence in God’s help?"
• My example: Preparing for this Bible study. I didn’t do so hot this past weekend spiritually speaking. Therefore, in a sense, I was "dreading" this Bible study meeting because I was (unconsciously) linking God’s ability to bless my preparation and teaching with my recent spiritual performance.
• Even the disciples found themselves expecting blessing based on their obedience. Matt 9:27. Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" Then Jesus goes on to tell of the parable of the workers who all worked different amounts, but then got paid the same at the end of the day (Matt 20:1-16). His point was that even the "blessings" of living the Christian life are based entirely on God’s sovereign grace—It’s totally up to Him.
• Seemingly contradictory passages concerning this issue:
• 1 Cor 9:24-27. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
• 2 Tim 4:7-10. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
• Paul isn’t saying that the ensuing reward is based on his merits of obedience. He is saying that obeying simply results in rewards.
• Conclusion: There is a tendency for us to obey in order to receive the blessings that are due us. This is the kind of "performance" mindset Bridges is referring to. Instead, we should obey in order to receive the blessings that are due Christ because we are heirs to the promises that Christ is heir to.
• Put another way: If the Lord blesses you as a result of being obedient, it’s not because you deserved it. It’s because Christ deserved it, and you "happen" to be in Christ. So God’s blessings to us are still based on God’s grace in Christ.
• Col 1:28-29. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
• Read 2 Sam 9.
• Who represents God, Christ, and us in this story?
• God: David
• Christ: Jonathan
• Us: Mephibosheth. "Mephibosheth, in his crippled and destitute condition, unable to improve his lot and wholly dependent on the benevolence of others, is an illustration of you and me, crippled by sin and unable to help ourselves" [BK, page 24].
• Why did David treat Mephibosheth like he would have treated Jonathan?
• Because Mephibosheth was Jonathan’s son. Mephibosheth’s identity was linked to Jonathan.
• Who’s merit "earned" Mephibosheth’s privileged position at the King’s table? Jonathan’s
• How does this passage demonstrate that we not only have a priviledged position before God, but also a lifetime of blessings and rewards, all based on the merits of Christ?
• "Mephibosheth never got over his crippled condition. He never go to the place where he could leave the king’s table and make it on his own. And neither do we" [BK, page 24].

• Don’t link our poor spiritual performance to God’s ability to bless us and use us.

Chapter 2:  Grace--It Really is Amazing

Contrast

• Why would you say that contrast is the essence of our understanding of grace? In other words, how does contrast relate to grace?
• Part of the definition of grace is undeserved favor. In order to understand the extent of the favor, I have to understand how undeserved that favor is.
• When are the subtle intricacies of the beauty of a diamond most visible? When is the light of a flashlight most visible?
• Grace stands out among that which it is not. Light stands out when it is against the backdrop of darkness.
• SG #3: How does Eph 2:1-9 demonstrate this contrast?
• It describes us as dead and deserving of God’s wrath.
• BUT…. God chose to save us anyway through the riches of His mercy in Christ Jesus.
• Eph 2:1-9. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.
• SGD #2: How does Titus 3:3-7 demonstrate this contrast?
• It describes us as slaves to our own passions and desires, disobedient and hateful.
• BUT…. God saved us by His own generosity through Jesus Christ.
• Titus 3:3-7. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
• What is Paul trying to communicate about grace in passages like these?
• In order to understand God’s grace, we have to understand (remember) our own desperate condition before a Holy God.
• We have to see our need.

• SG #1: Read Rom 3:19-26. There are two aspects to our justification. First, God removes our guilt from us and places it upon Jesus (expiation vs. propitiation). Second, He credits Jesus’ righteousness to us (imputation vs. impartation). What practical difference does it make to your life that God has removed your sin and given you Jesus’ righteousness? How should this fact affect the way you feel? The way you live?
• It removes the burden of having to earn my own way. My way is earned by the imputed merits of Jesus Christ. This makes me feel gracious and glad.
• Discuss the difference between expiation and propitiation.
• Discuss the difference between imputation and impartation.
• Rom 3:19-26. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

• SG #4: What is the extent of God’s forgiveness?
• Review Ps 103:12, Isa 38:17, Mic 7:19, Isa 43:25
• Scriptures here
• What’s the difference between legal forgiveness and relational forgiveness?
• Read BK pg 43, last full paragraph.
• SGD #3: Is it possible to go beyond the point of forgiveness with God? How can a person might feel he has sinned one too many times, and why are those feelings wrong?
• As a Christian, no, because if anything that I do can forfeit God’s forgiveness, then His forgiveness is no longer given on the basis of grace.
• As a nonChristian, yes: The unpardonable sin, which is defined as never accepting the Lord Jesus as Savior during his lifetime. But the unpardonable sin only becomes unpardonable when the nonChristian dies.

• Read Rom 8:32. How does Paul amplify the point that God will give us all things?
• By using the argument of the "greater to the lesser."
• SGD #5: Read Jer 29:10-11, 32:38-41. How does God want to treat us? How does this enhance your understanding of God in daily grace?
• God delights in doing good to us, even when we are constantly "blowing it." Read example of Peter in BK, pages 54-56.

• Read Mt 19:16-22. Will there be rewards for us? In what proportion to our obedience will we be rewarded?
• Read underlined portions of page 50.
• Grace is given on the basis of need, not merit.
• Who needs who?
• "God calls us to serve Him, not because He needs us, but because we need Him."

• SG #7: Believers fail to live by God’s grace on a daily basis for many reasons. Why?
• We view God as begrudgingly giving us His blessings, which means that I’m not recognizing His superabounding grace. I’m settling for the mud-pies of this world, when the Lord has prepared a feast for me.
• We view God’s blessings as something to be earned. This prevents me from truly enjoying His blessings. I view them as my wages (as if it’s God’s duty to pay me) not as gifts.
• Read Sproul’s quote, page 28 of SG.
• Is it possible to believe the magnificent grace of God intellectually, but not live it out day-to-day? How can we correct this thinking?
• Read BK, page 43, last paragraph.
• How does our willingness to show grace to others demonstrate our own understanding of God’s grace to us?
• Read the parable of the unmerciful servant (Mt 18:23-34).
• Read BK, page 45, last paragraph.
• What can you do this week to more fully understand and live in the awesome grace of God in light of our sin, and the over-abundance of grace that God is so willing to give to us?
• Preach the Gospel to yourself every day.
• Remember God’s past grace and be thankful. Let His past grace give you hope for future grace.

Chapter 3:  Does God Have a Right?

Roadmap:

• Biblically demonstrate the "attitude of entitlement."
• Premise #1: We cannot earn blessings because even when we perfectly obey, we’ve only done what we were supposed to do anyway.
• Premise #2: Everything we have has been given to us by God.
• Therefore
• God really does have the right to do what He wants.
• We have no grounds for having an attitude of entitlement.
• We have no grounds for discontentment and complaining.
• We have no grounds for comparing our blessings with those of others.
• God promises us His blessings on the basis of Christ alone.
• Now we are in a position to fully lean on the Risen Lord for our blessings.

Warm-up question: Suppose you are among a group of students who work hard in school, and there is another group of students in your class who goof off, never study, and have consistently failed all their tests. How does it make you feel when you discover that the teacher has decided to give everybody in the class an "A" for the class?

Demonstration of the Attitude of Entitlement

• Read Mt 20:1-16. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.' When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.' The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.' But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first will be last.

• SG #1.a: Assuming the landowner represents God, what do we learn about the character of God in this story?
• God Takes the Initiative. Several times, it speaks of the landowner "going out" to find the workers. God goes out to find His people. He doesn’t wait for them to come to Him.
• God Satisfies. We are the ones with the need, and God is the one who can satisfy our need. God doesn’t need us.
• God is Sovereign. God does what He pleases with His riches, because He owns the "rights" to them at all times.
• God is Different. God doesn’t do things the way the world does things. The world is on a system of performance, while God is on a system of grace. ("The last will be first, and the first will be last.")
• God is Compassionate and Abundantly Good. God makes a point of blessing the helpless and giving grace to the needy. God has a special place in His heart for the destitute. God reaches down where no man will reach.

• SG #1.b: What do we learn about human nature and how people tend to respond to the good fortune of others?
• We tend to draw a direct correlation between our hard work (obedient living) and our expected earnings (God’s favor and blessings).
• We tend to think that we can obligate God into blessing us.
• We tend to compare our blessings to others and wonder why they get more.

• SG #1.d: Do you see the landowner as unfair, or generous? How does you answer to that question indicate which set of workers you identify with?
• Draw illustration of the worker’s timeline.
• If you tend to see the landowner as unfair, that’s probably because you are identifying with the all-day worker.
• If you tend to see the landowner as generous, that’s probably because you are identifying with the eleventh-hour worker.
• Read Mt 19:27. Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?
• Which group of workers do you think Peter identified with?

• SGD #2: In today’s society, we tend to have high expectations and a strong sense of self-rights and entitlement. What are some examples of these attitudes? How could they be harmful?

• SG #1.e: So what does this parable teach us about the what God’s grace really means?
• God’s grace is entirely free. We cannot obligate God at all.
• God’s grace is dispensed on the basis of our need, not our abilities to impress or incline God’s favor toward us.

• Quote (BK, pages 62-63): "Why do so many people stumble over this parable and consider the land-owner to be unfair? I believe it is because we Christians instinctively identify with the workers who had worked all day. We place ourselves in their shoes instead of the shoes of those who worked only one hour. We look at society around us, instead of at Jesus Christ, and we begin to feel pretty good about ourselves. We consider ourselves to be twelve-hour workers, and we expect to be rewarded accordingly. That is the way Peter felt and that is the way many people feel today. I was talking one day with a man whose mother, a faithful servant of God for over forty years, was dying of painful cancer. He said, "After all she’s done for God, this is the thanks she gets." Such a statement sounds irreverent to us, but the man didn’t intend it to be that way. He simply thought God owed his mother a better life. He only verbalized what many people feel in their hearts."

• Read Lk 7:1-10. When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
• SG #2.a: On what basis did the Jewish elders appeal to Jesus to heal the centurion’s servant? (See vs 4-5)
• SG #2.b: What was the centurion’s perspective of what he deserved? (See vs 6-7)
• Do you think the centurion would identify with the eleventh-hour worker, or the all-day worker?
• The centurion has every reason (worldly speaking) to identify with the all-day worker. He was an upstanding, self-sacrificing person who stood up for principles.
• But the centurion knew he could not base his confidence on his own abilities, but only on the authority of Christ alone ("say the word, and my servant will be healed").

Duty and Obligation

• Starting today, suppose you completely stop sinning, and you don’t sin any more for the rest of your life. Do you think God would be obligated to reward you because of your dutiful obedience?
• Starting today, suppose you perfectly obey all the traffic laws while driving. You never speed; you always make complete stops, and you always use your turn signal when you should. Do you think the state would be obligated to reward you because of your dutiful obedience to the traffic laws?
• Read Lk 17:10. So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'
• SG #3.a: What should our attitudes be concerning our obedience?
• How does this verse prevent us from thinking that we can obligate God in some way?

• Read Job 41:11 and Rom 11:35-36.
• Job 41:11. Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
• Rom 11:35-36. Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
• SGD #1: What do these verses say about our right to demand anything from God?

Giving to God

• So how should we view our giving to God? Is it possible give God anything that He hasn’t already given us?
• Read Acts 17:25. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
• Read Js 1:17. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
• Read 1Chr 29:14. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
• What can we learn from this verse in our own giving?
• The writer is actually thanking God for the privilege of being able to generously give that which God has already given him.

No Grounds for Entitlement

• So far, we’ve seen that even perfect obedience can’t obligate God, and that everything we give to God has already been given to us from God Himself. Where does that leave us in the parable of the landowner and the workers?
• Quote (BK, page 66): "It leaves us in the blessed position of being eleventh-hour workers in God’s Kingdom," and not the all-day workers. We can only view God as generous, not unfair, and we can only be thankful for His unwarranted provisions. It completely destroys any foundation for my attitude of entitlement.
• Where does that leave us in the parable of the centurion?
• It leaves us in the position of the humble centurion instead of the self-righteous elder. It forces us to put our confidence in the spoken word of Jesus, not our achievements.

• SG #4: Why is a content heart evidence that a person identifies himself as the eleventh-hour worker in God’s Kingdom?
• Contentment is linked to expectation. We are content when we receive more than we think we are entitled to. Therefore, if we eliminate our attitude of entitlement, we can be content with very little.
• Side Note: There are two kinds of contentment:
• Merit-based contentment (opposite of covetousness): based on "entitled expectation." This kind of contentment good, but is virtually impossible to realize because of the human slippery-slope tendency to feel he is worth more than he really is. Too much is never enough.
• Promise-based contentment (opposite of hunger for God): based on "promised, but not entitled expectation." This kind of contentment is bad, because it demonstrates that we are settling for the "mud pies of the world," rather than striving to acquire that which God promises us in Jesus Christ.

• Read 1 Tim 6:3-10. If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
• SG #4: According to this passage, where is the "gain" (or reward) of godliness to be found?
• In vs 5, Paul is talking about people who think that the "gain" of godliness is found in God’s material blessings to His children.
• In vs 6, Paul says that actually, the "gain" of godliness is found in the contentment that comes with God’s material blessings to His children.

• Do you link the gain of godliness to God’s blessings in and of themselves, or do you link the gain of godliness to contentment with God’s blessings? How does this make a difference in your attitude toward the blessings that God has given you?

• In light of this truth, where is there room for complaining?

• Quote (BK, Page 67): "Contentment with what we have—whether it is possessions, or station in life, or mental or physical abilities—is wroth far, far more than all the things we don’t have."

The Danger of Comparing

• Why can God "get away with" bestowing more blessings on some than others without being considered unfair?
• Because we can’t incur obligation on His part, and God is completely sovereign.
• In fact, many times, God seems to bestow the most blessing on those that are most unworthy.

• How does this truth make a difference in my attitude toward others who have be "blessed" more than me?
• Put another way, We rejoice in the generosity of God’s grace as long as it is directed toward us, or toward our family or friends. But how do we feel when someone whom we think does not deserve it is blessed by God?
• Quote (BK, page 69): "The workers who labored all day did not grumble because they received too little pay, but because less deserving workers received the same as they [did]."

• Quote (BK, page 70): "We cannot enjoy grace when there is an attitude of comparing. William Arnot has some helpful words on the perils of comparing. He wrote, ‘See the two groups of labourers as they severally wend their way home that evening. As to amount of money in their pockets, they are all equal: but as to amount of content in their spirits there is a great difference. The last go home each with a penny in his pocket, and astonished glad gratitude in his heart: their reward accordingly is a penny, and more. The first, on the contrary, go home, each with a penny in his pocket, and corroding discontent in his soul: their reward accordingly is less than a penny.’"

• Read 2 Cor 1:20. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.
• SG #6.a: What does this verse tell you about the basis, or reason, God is able to promise His blessings on sinners?
• God is able to say "Yes" to His promises of blessing (especially salvation) because of the righteousness of Christ alone. Otherwise, He would not be able to say "Yes."
• How does eliminating our attitude of entitlement change our attitude of how we view the promised blessings of God?
• It takes the dependence of bestowed blessings off of us (who are frail and unstable) and moves them to God (who is steadfast and faithful). This gives me a certain freedom from myself.
• When I fully realize that I am not entitled to any blessings of God, several things happen:
• I can more clearly see the love and grace of God.
• I can more fully appreciate the gifts that God has given me.
• I have a basis for the certainty of my future hope in my salvation.

Conclusion

• Biblically demonstrate the "attitude of entitlement."
• Premise #1: We cannot earn blessings because even when we perfectly obey, we’ve only done what we were supposed to do anyway.
• Premise #2: Everything we have has been given to us by God.
• Therefore
• God really does have the right to do what He wants.
• We have no grounds for having an attitude of entitlement.
• We have no grounds for discontentment and complaining.
• We have no grounds for comparing our blessings with those of others.
• God promises us His blessings on the basis of Christ alone.
• Now we are in a position to fully lean on the Risen Lord for our blessings.
• We are able to pray expectantly on the basis of Christ instead of ourselves. (Therefore, we should make sure that the things we pray for are things that are actually "in Christ")

Chapter 4:  Compelled by Love

Central Idea: When we understand God's magnificent and boundless grace, we become motivated by gratitude and love to respond with a life devoted to Him.

Think about some of the people you come in contact regularly (neighbors, workmates, family, friends, acquantances). What appear to be the basic motives behind why they live and act the way they do, and why they make the decisions they make?

• Why does grace force us to examine our motives?
• Because we know there has to be a reason for every action, and that man inherently seeks meaning in life. We tend to be motivated out of duty, obligation, or simply a desire for self-worth.

• Quote (John Wesley): "If we take grace too seriously … it would undermine our only basis for pursuing a holy life: fear of punishment and hope of rewards."

• Why do you think a misunderstanding of grace can lead to a sense of despair?
• Because it puts pressure on me to perform, and I will never know if I’m good enough.
• We’re trying to climb up a slippery slope blind-folded.

• Why do you think a misunderstanding of grace can lead to a license for immorality?
• Read Jude 4. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
• Because of a misunderstanding of Rom 5:20. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
• Read Rom 6:1-2. What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
• Why was Paul asking this rhetorical question?
• What was Paul’s basis for saying "No"?
• Read Gal 6:13. You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Why do we confuse freedom to obey with freedom to sin?

• SG #1.a: Does God care about our motives? Why?

• Read 1 Chr 28:9a. And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.
• What does this verse tell you about the link between our motives and our total devotion and commitment?

• Read Pr 16:2. All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
• What does this verse tell you about the difference between what man considers important, and what God considers important?

• Read 1 Cor 4:5. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
• What does this verse tell you about the link between motives and our tendency to judge others?

• Why does God care about our motives more than our actions and deeds?
• Because our motives form the very core of our being. God wants us, not our actions.
• Read Ps 51:16-17. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

• SG #2: How does an understanding of God’s grace help give us the right motives for the way we live?
• Understanding grace totally removes any sense of entitlement to blessings or any obligation of God’s favor toward us.
• Since God made man with the search for meaning and self-worth, and since grace "knocks the wind out of our own sails," we are forced to find another reason to obey God: Gratitude in past grace and faith in future grace.

• SG #3.a: How do our motives affect the outcome of what we do?
• When we obey out duty, obligation, or "payment" for blessings, we are obeying for our own glory. We put "hooks" or "conditions" in our actions that actually end up glorifying ourselves in the long run. We seek reciprocity ("return receipt requested"), and with this attitude, we tend to ask ourselves "What’s in it for me?"

• SG #3.b: Does anybody have an example of a situation where a person did something good, but with the wrong motives, and it eventually undermined the entire action?

• SG #7: Seriously think about the answers to the following questions. Examine yourself.
• Why do you pray?
• Why do you read and study the Bible?
• Why do you praise and worship God in church?
• Why do you memorize Scripture?
• Why do you build relationships with nonChristians?
• Why do you help younger Christians grow?
• Why do you fellowship with other believers?
• Why do you serve others?
• Why do you give financially to God?

• SG #4.a: What are some bad motives to obeying God?
• Read Jn 12:42-43. Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
• Read Gal 6:12-13. Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh.
• Read Eph 2:8-9. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
• Col 2:20-23. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

• SG #5.a: What are some Godly motives that should be driving our actions?
• Read Rom 12:1. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
• Read 2 Cor 5:14-15. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
• Read 2 Cor 7:1. Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
• Read Col 3:12-14, 23-24. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
• Read Rev 4:11. You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

• SG #6: Do you think it’s possible to keep your motives pure at all times?
• No. I think in our fallen human state, our motives will always be tarnished with at least a hint of selfishness.
• How, then, can we stand daily in the presence of a holy God?
• Quote (Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace): "The concept of the believer’s union with Christ is especially important in the teaching of Paul. His usual shorthand expressions for union with Christ are ‘in Christ,’ ‘in Him,’ and ‘in the Lord.’ British author John Stott says those three expressions occur no less than 164 times in Paul’s letters…. For … [the concern] that too much emphasis on God’s grace may lead to irresponsible, sinful behavior, the … believer’s union with Christ is the basis upon which Paul refuted that charge in Romans 6."
• Because it was Christ who daily obeyed with perfect motives at all times, and we are united to Him by grace through faith (Jn 8:29). The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.

• SGD #2.a: If a person does something even though he doesn’t feel like doing it, does that mean that his motives are wrong?
• How are our feelings and motives related?
• Read Lam 3:19-26. He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. 14 I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long. 15 He has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me with gall. 16 He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust. 17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. 18 So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD." 19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
• Read Ps 42:5-11. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon--from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. 8 By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me-- a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" 10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
• The basis of our motives is in God’s grace—that is, what God has done, and what He has promised to do—not our feelings. Fact is followed by faith is followed by feeling.

• Key Verse: 2 Cor 5:14-15. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
• Quote (Kenneth Wuest): "For the love which Christ has [for me] presses on me from all sides, holding me to one end and prohibiting me from considering any other, wrapping itself around me in tenderness, giving me an impelling motive."

• What are some practical ways we can turn our motives to be more Godly?

• How do proper motives affect our relationship with God?

• How do proper motives affect our relationship with other people?

• Increase in the knowledge of God.
• Col 1:10-12. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
• Think upon the greatness and goodness of God compared to anything the world has to offer. Ps 73:25. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

• Increase in the knowledge of ourselves.
• Rom 9:20a. But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?
• Ps 139:2-10. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
• Jn 3:30. He must become greater; I must become less.

• Preaching the Gospel to ourselves every day.
• Quote (Michael Horton, Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude): "Since the law, though good in and of itself, can never give us the power to perform what it commands, the Gospel not only reconciles us to God in the first place, it’s the only fuel we have in the process of sanctification. Therefore, gratitude, not fear of punishment or hope of reward, is the only proper basis for pursuing a holy and God-glorifying existence."
• Quote (Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace): "The Gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living by it. I believe part of the problem is our tendency to give an unbeliever just enough of the Gospel to get him or her to pray a prayer to receive Christ. Then we immediately put the Gospel on the shelf, so to speak, and go on to the duties of discipleship. As a result, Christians are not instructed in the Gospel. And because they do not fully understand the riches and glory of the Gospel, they cannot preach it to themselves, nor live by it in their daily lives…. But the Gospel is for believers also, and we must pursue holiness, or any other aspect of disipleship, in the atmosphere of the Gospel."
• You cannot separate the gospel from the ethic. The ethic is based on the gospel. If there is no good basis for the gospel, then there is no good basis for the ethic. If there is a good basis for the gospel, then there must follow a good ethic.
• Live each day as if I was just saved! Preach the Gospel to yourself daily. It's impossible to be a Christian and get completely bored with the Gospel!

• Spiritual Disciplines
• Prayer: Our prayer life is driven at its core by the simple Gospel. If it is not, then we need to ask ourselves if we are praying to the one true God. Conversely, a greater understanding of the Gospel can be sought in prayer.
• Scripture memory and meditation: Get the Word of God in our hearts (Ps 40:8)
• Witnessing: When we share the Gospel, we are forced to recall the message of Christ. This also reminds us of our own salvation, and gives us more motivation to continue.
• Fellowship: We need to uphold and support each other in the atmosphere of the Gospel. Fellowship is the sweetest in the midst of a great mutual problem (law and sin) and a great mutual solution (gospel and grace).

Chapter 5a:  The Proof of Love

Central Idea: As followers of Jesus Christ we are set free to obey the moral laws of God out of love for Him.

Review: Share the Wedge and Wheel Diagrams.

Warm-Up Question: Last week, we saw that our motivations for obeying God and seeking holiness was found in Christ’s love for us. That is, Christ’s love compels. Would anyone like to share any observations related to examining the motives behind your actions from this past week?

• What is the evidence of being a child of God?

• Those who do not do what is right and love one another are not children of God. Read 1 Jn 3:10. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

• People who love have been born of God. Read 1 Jn 4:7-8. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

• Christ’s disciples are those who love one another. Read Jn 13:34-35. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

• But what does it mean to love God? How do we express our love to God?

• Why do you think society has difficulty separating love from feelings?
• Because love produces good emotions and good feelings, so people start defining love by those emotions and feelings.
• Society defines love in a way that is relative to the situation. God defines love according to an absolute code of ethics.
• Quote (TG, pg 88): "One very popular philosophy today is "situation ethics," in which actions are morally evaluated in terms of a "loving" response to the situation at hand rather than by application of moral absolutes. Situation ethics knows no external, objective standard of behavior. Rather, it responds to what "seems right at the moment." The problem with this philosophy is, as Scripture says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure" (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, anything can be made to "seem right." And because of the sinful nature still at work in us, this description of the heart is true to varying degrees even among believers. Through "Christianized" situation ethics, all kinds of sinful actions have been committed in the name of "love." Christians have engaged in adultery—illicit sexual intimacy—on the pretense that they were acting in love toward a "lonely" or "hurting" person. Recently I heard of a man who allegedly conspired to have his incurably ill wife murdered because she would be happier with Jesus."

• What does the Bible say about what it means to love and obey God?
• We will love God if and only if we obey God. Read John 14:15, 21, 24a. If you love me, you will obey what I command …. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him …. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.
• Obedience without love is useless. Read 1 Cor 13:1-3. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

• What is our motivation for loving God? (Reminder from last study)
• As we saw last week, our motivation for loving and obeying God is out of gratitude to what God has already done and what He has promised to do, not out of fear of punishment or hope of rewards.

• How do you respond to the person who says that the "law of love" found in the New Testament has replaced, or canceled the law found in the Old Testament?

• There are verses that seem to indicate that Christ has eliminated God’s law.
• Read Eph 2:15. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.
• Read Col 2:13-14. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
• If the requirements of the law are abolished, then Paul would be contradicting himself in Eph 5:1-4, when he writes, "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."

• What is abolished and nailed to the cross, then, if it wasn’t the requirement of the law?
• The sinner’s condemnation. Rom 8:1-2. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
• The curse of the law. Gal 3:13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
• Relating this verse back to Col 2:13-14, we see that it was the curse of the law that was nailed to the cross (tree).

• There are several difficulties that arise if we say that Christ eliminated the requirement of the law.
• If the requirements of God’s laws turn into God’s desires, then this will actually start leading the person back into a works mentality, because we will start viewing God’s commands as optional. Then we start seeing simple obedience as going "beyond the call of duty."
• Legalism becomes redefined as trying to keep the law of God. (If the requirement of God’s law is maintained, then legalism is simply relying on the keeping of the law to save).
• If the requirements of God’s laws are changed in anyway, then we are forced to separate God’s laws from His character. If we do this, then we have severed all ability to know what God is like, because God’s laws become simply arbitrary. This also casts a shadow on the integrity of God.

• Final thoughts linking law with love.
• Read Rom 13:9-10. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
• Read 1 Cor 13:4-8a. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
• Quote (TG, pg 94): "Love provides the motive for obeying the commands of the law, but the law provides specific direction for exercising love."

• Is it possible to have a Gospel without the law?

• If there is no law then there is no grace, because the good news can only be defined against the back-drop of the bad news.
• The law provides the bad news. Rom 3:20. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
• The law forces us to find good news in Jesus Christ. Gal 3:24. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.
• The bad news "levels the playing field." It puts everyone in the same predicament. That way, God’s saving grace can be given to those in need of His grace. Rom 3:21-23. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
• The law is holy, and brings about death and condemnation, precisely because it is holy and we are not. The law "calls sin like it is." Rom 7:6-13. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
• Quote (TG, pg 92): "You’ve got to get people lost before you can get them saved."
• Quote (TG, pg 92): "The person who knows that he is required to obey God’s commands, even as a child of God, will see more and more how far short he comes in obedience. And if that person understands the biblical concept of grace, he will be driven more and more into the arms of the Savior and His merit alone"
• The law defines and drives us to grace, not only in salvation, but in daily living.
• Quote (TG, pg 93): "This principle applies to us even as believers living under grace. We don’t have to get ‘lost’ time and again, but we certainly need to be reminded that we are still sinners. The best way to do this is to take seriously the commandments of God as a required rule of life. As we do, we will be continually reminded that we really are spiritually bankrupt—even as believers. And as redeemed sinners in a perpetual state of bankruptcy, we will come to appreciate more each day the superabounding grace of God."

• How can we apply what we’ve learned to our everyday lives?
• We should actually delight in God’s law, knowing that it will drive us to Christ.
• Read Ps 19:7-11. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
• Ps 119:97. Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
• Since the law is good and holy, we should actually seek it out, not hide from it (like the kid who hides from the doctor because he wants to give him a shot).
• Eph 5:17. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
• God’s law is like a mirror. We see our sinful selves for who we really are. This causes us to hunger and thirst for God, who alone can provide the righteous remedy for our awful plight in Christ Jesus.
• Our prayer lives should be filled with a certain desperateness that can only be nurtured in the full light of God’s law.
• We should witness with the law and Gospel, because the term "Savior" implies that there is something to be saved from.
• Share Jn 8:29 experience.
• Problem Verse: 1 Jn 5:2-3. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome
• Solution Verses
• Jn 8:29. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.
• 1 Cor 1:30. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
• Christ is my righteousness.

• Love is grounded on an absolute code of ethics
• In today’s society, love is mis-defined as "situational ethics," where the most loving response is dependent on situational factors, not an external, absolute code of ethics.
• God’s commands provide the objective standard that define the expression and boundaries of love.
• Loving God implies obeying Him, and obeying God implies loving Him.
• Our love for and obedience to God is a grateful response to God’s grace, not out of a fear of punishment or hope of rewards.
• Grace does not stand opposed to the law (the anti-nomian mistake)
• Grace leads to the charge that God doesn’t care if we sin or not because it magnifies the unconditional part of His unconditional love.
• The basic mistake of the anti-nomian is that he thinks God’s grace reduces the requirements of the law to a mere set of desires.
• The logical conclusion of this mistake is that to teach obedience to Christ is to be legalistic (because holiness is simply a desire, not a requirement).
• The proper understanding of the relationship of grace and law is that the requirement of the law still stands, but the guilt of the sinner is what is removed because of the forgiving work of Christ on behalf of the sinner.
• In this way, legalism is defined as obeying out of the wrong motives; that is, obeying out of fear of punishment or hope of rewards.
• When we view God’s commands as optional, we begin to slip into a works mentality because we start seeing simple obedience as going "beyond the call of duty."
• Law leads us to grace.
• The law defines and drives us to grace, not only in salvation, but in daily living.
• "You’ve got to get people lost before you can get them saved" (pg 92).
• "The person who knows that he is required to obey God’s commands, even as a child of God, will see more and more how far short he comes in obedience. And if that person understands the biblical concept of grace, he will be driven more and more into the arms of the Savior and His merit alone" (pg 92).
• Rom 7:9-13.
• Love and obedience cannot be separated.
• God’s law prescribes our duty and direction, but love provides the correct motive to obey.
• The "law of love" did not replace God’s absolute moral commands (pgs 93-96).
• God’s love is expressed and summed up in His law (see Rom 13:9-10).
• Freedom from the law means freedom from the law’s condemnation, not its requirement (apparent freedom from requirements found in Eph 2:15 but this is cleared up when you look at Eph 6:1-2 and Gal 3:10-13, 5:13).
• We should delight in God’s law.
• We are commanded not only to obey God, but to seek to obey God.

Chapter 5b:  Holiness:  A Gift of God's Grace

Review:

• Grace and works are mutually exclusive, not only for our salvation, but also for our daily lives. That is, there is nothing we can do to earn or forfeit God’s favor toward us, either for our own salvation, or for daily blessings.
• This fact opens up the charge that Christians now no longer have a compelling motive to obey, and Christian leaders have no real basis to encourage, exhort, and even rebuke other Christians.
• The compelling motive is not borne out of earning or forfeiting God’s favor. We are compelled to obey out of our union with Christ and gratitude for love Christ has for us.
• True Christians evidence the fruit of being saved in Christ by having a love for and obeying God’s holy law, because the sheer holiness of God’s law breaks us down and drives us to Christ, who perfectly obeyed God.
• Grace and law should never be set against each other, because grace cannot be defined apart from the requirements of the law. Christians have been set free from the wrath, or judgement, of the law, and in fact, have been set free to obey God’s law.
• Christ didn’t just save us; He became our holiness (sanctification) before God.

Central Idea: God’s ultimate purpose is that, through the enabling influence of the Holy Spirit, we will become more like Jesus.

Overview: We will now look closer at this daily holiness issue. Is the pursuit of holiness an option for us? How much does God hate our daily sin? Why does God want us to be holy? Does He help us become holy? If so, how much does He help us, and what is the nature of this Divine help? How do we put forth effort to become holy?

Warm-Up Question: Would anyone like to share an experience in which you became discouraged because you were trying to rid your life of a particular habitual sin, and you kept failing? How did this affect your closeness to God?

• What is the difference between justification, regeneration, and sanctification?
• Justification is the instantaneous work of God in which the sinner is declared legally righteous in Christ according to His holy law.
• Regeneration is the instantaneous work of God in which the sinner, who is dead in his trespasses, is made alive in Christ, born again, freed from the mastery of sin, and is given a new disposition to love and obey God. Regeneration is the beginning of sanctification.
• Eph 2:4-5. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
• John 3:3,6. In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again …. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."
• Sanctification begins at the moment of justification and regeneration, and ends at the point of physical death. It is the operation of the Holy Spirit in us whereby our inner being is progressively changed, freeing us more and more from sinful traits and developing within us over time the virtues of Christ-like character. Sanctification is the carrying out of regeneration to its intended end.
• Eph 2:10. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
• Can any of these events be separated from each other?
• Regeneration from Sanctification
• Is it possible for a baby to not grow? No. (Not a living baby, at least). Just the simple laws of nature that God created demand that the physical structures of a baby begin to grow, develop, and mature. It’s inherent to a living baby that growth occurs.
• In the same way, when we are born again, we will begin to spiritually grow. Anything less that some form of spiritual growth is evidence of having never been born again. Spiritual growth is defined by our obedience to God.
• Justification and Regeneration from Sanctification
• Holy, righteous works are a necessary consequence of being declared forgiven and being born again, because the proof of love is obedience.
• Js 2:17. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
• Based on what we’ve studied so far about grace, what part do you think we have in each of these three events?
• In justification and regeneration, our only part is the fact that we are the subjects of God’s saving activity. Even our faith is a gift given to us by God.
• **Find a verse for this!**
• In sanctification, we cooperate with the work of God in our lives, such that our free wills fall within the realm of "secondary causes." That is, our free choices to pursue holiness are actually the outworking of the Holy Spirit within us, but we are still responsible for our actions. Our sins even fall within the perfect plan of God, while not making Him the Author of sin.

• SGD #1. Is the pursuit of holiness an option?
• No. It’s God’s will that we be sanctified. 1 Thess 4:3-5. It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God
• It is uncharacteristic of God’s children to sin.
• 1 Pet 1:14-16. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
• Eph 5:8-9. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)

• SGD #2. How does God view our actions?
• Eph 4:29-31. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
• 1 Tim 2:1-3. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone--2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior
• 1 Tim 5:4. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.

• SGD #4.a. Why does God want us to be holy? What is the ultimate goal of our obedience?
• We are predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His son. Rom 8:29. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
• We are being transformed over time toward His likeness. 2 Cor 3:18. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
• We are becoming pure and blameless for God’s glory and praise. Phil 1:9-11. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.
• What difference does this goal make to your daily efforts to obey?
• When we realize that God doesn’t just "dole out" a bunch of do’s and don’ts just because "He said so," but that obedience conforms us more and more to the image of Christ. Then we have direction and motivation to obey.
• Does this mean that we shouldn’t simply obey God when we can’t see the outcome or benefit?
• No. God has the right to simply tell us to obey. But He’s already given us the direction and the results of obedience in His Word. We don’t have to be in the dark when in comes to seeing where our obedience is leading us.

• There’s an apparent contradiction in what God is telling us in His word. How do we resolve this in our hearts and minds?
• Read Eph 1:4, Col 1:22.
• Eph 1:4. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
• Col 1:22. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation
• God chose us to be holy and blameless, even while we are still sinning as Christians.
• Read Phil 3:7-16. We should live up to (in practice) what we have already attained (in status).
• Read 1 Cor 1:30. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
• Read Heb 10:10,14. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all …. 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
• We "have been made holy" (Verse 10).
• We "are being made holy" (Verse 14).

• How does God equip us to be holy?

• Read Titus 2:11-14. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
• What teaches us to live holy lives (or be sanctified)? Verse 11 says that God’s saving grace teaches us this.
• When does this saving grace teach us holiness? Verse 13 says that while we are waiting for the appearance of Jesus (i.e., this life).
• On what (or on whom) should we set our ultimate vision as we become more holy? Verse 13 says that as we are obeying and becoming more and more holy in practice, we keep before us the blessed hope of Jesus Christ.
• Why am I able to trust in this grace of Jesus to sanctify me? Verse 14 says it’s because Jesus was the one who had the power to redeem you in the first place, for the purpose of becoming more holy, so that we could be His very own people.

• Read 2 Cor 3:18. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
• What does God use to transform us into His likeness? The Lord’s glory.
• How do you behold and reflect the glory of the Lord?
• By embracing the Gospel with our very lives, every day. Quote (Discipline of Grace, pg 107): "It is the gospel that exhibits God’s highest glory, which he chiefly designs to display before sinful men, even that glory of God that shineth in the face of Christ. It is the gospel that sets forth the glory of Christ …."
• What is our responsibility in our holiness? To continually behold the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ through the Gospel.
• What is God’s responsibility in our holiness? To transform us.

• Quote (TG, pg 101): "To live by grace is to live solely by the merit of Jesus Christ. To live by grace is to base my entire relationship with God, including my acceptance and standing with Him, on my union with Christ. It is to recognize that in myself I bring nothing of worth to my relationship with God, because even my righteous acts are like filthy rags in His sight (Isa 64:6). Even my best works are stained with mixed motives and imperfect performance. I never truly love God with all my heart, and I never truly love my neighbor with the degree or consistency with which I love myself. Yet God requires perfection. Jesus said, ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (Mt 5:48). When we take Jesus’ words seriously, we are force to say with the psalmist, ‘Thy commandment is exceedingly broad" (Ps 119:96). What is the answer to our dilemma? All Christians recognize that we are justified—that is, declared righteous—solely on the basis of the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by God through faith (Rom 3:21-25). But few of us fully recognize that we are also sanctified through faith in Christ."

• Conclusion
• The pursuit of holiness is not an option for Christians, because God hates our sin, even though it’s already been bought by the blood of Christ.
• God wants us to be holy so that we can be transformed into the image of Christ.
• God helps us become holy through His saving grace, that becomes transforming grace in our daily lives.
• Our responsibility is to act in the power, desires, and gifts that God has already given to us by His grace.

• Application
• Read Colossians 3. Discuss and meditate.

• The Danger of Perfectionism
• Is perfectionism inherently bad? No, Jesus was a perfectionist. God wants us to be perfect in all that we do and are.
• When does perfectionism become bad? When my own failure to love and obey God leads me to an attitude of "giving up" instead of "pressing on." This actually reveals a works-centered performance mentality because when I give up, I’m actually giving up on my own ability, not God’s ability, because I know that God is able to do all things. When we see and partake of the operative grace of God in our lives, we cannot have an attitude of "giving up" because God’s grace is powerful enough to overcome all sin, and we are leaning on God’s own power for our strength.
• When we give up on trying to be holy, we are actually despising God’s grace, and refusing the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
• "Letting God Down."

Chapter 6a:  Called to be Free (Fences)

Central Idea: As followers of Christ we are free. Free from the drive to earn God’s favor by our actions. Free from the oppression of trying to live up to manmade religious rules and regulations. Free to let the Holy Spirit create in our lives something beautiful and pleasing to God.

Warm-Up Question: What thoughts come to mind when you hear the phrase, "Christian freedom"?

Christian Freedom

• How does Jesus view Christian freedom?
• He commands us to be free. Read Gal 5:1. 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.
• The truth is what is liberating, because belief in the truth saves. Read Jn 8:31-36. To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

• What are Christians set free from? (Review)
• The condemnation of the law (status).
• Eph 2:15. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.
• Gal 3:13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
• Rom 8:1-2. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
• The mastery of sin and death (practice).
• Rom 6:1-2, 6-7,11-14. What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? …. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin …. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

• SG #1.b. What does this new freedom do for the human spirit?
• It motivates, liberates, refreshes, and empowers our spirits to take hold of God’s grace.
• It gives peace and joy because we are free to please God.
• It removes any hindrances from becoming all that we were meant to be in Christ Jesus.
• It compels us to love Him through obedience.

• How do we grow in the freedom God has given us?
• By ridding ourselves of sin and craving spiritual milk (the Gospel). 1 Pet 2:1-3. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
• By seeking God’s power to make all things grow. 1 Cor 3:7. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
• By pleasing Him by bearing spiritual fruit, increasing in our knowledge of God, being strengthened by His power, and giving thanks to God for what He has done. Col 1:10-12. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
• What are the fruits of the Spirit?
• Gal 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
• Col 3:12-14. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Legalism

• What is legalism? There are two ways of looking at it:
• Thinking we can earn or forfeit God’s favor based on our behavior
• SG #1.c. Why do people tend toward this? Because man has been given the innate hunger for worth and meaning. Without God, man seeks to satisfy this hunger in himself. This pride leads to a search toward ambition and a sense of self-accomplishment, in which we desire to be recognized for the things we do, and in which we fear punishment from God for the things we do.
• Enforcing the conformity to man-made rules
• SG #1.c. Why do people tend toward this? Because man tends to "serve the kingdom he sees." He tends toward man-pleasing instead of God-pleasing because man is more "visible" to him.

• SG #5.b. What are some of the consequences of legalism? Have you ever seen how legalism can destroy a Christian fellowship?
• Elitism (Closed circles of friends)
• Self-Righteousness/Piety
• It gives us a false sense of security, which can be dangerous.
• It gives us a sense of despair if we think that we are saved based on our performance.
• Quote (Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace, pg 12): "The impact [of legalism on people]… is remarkably predictable: either despair or arrogance. They either give up or become stuck-up. They think they’ll never make it, or they think they are the only ones who’ll ever make it. Strange, how two people can look at the same [set of good deeds] and one hang his head and the other puff out his chest."
• The means become more important than the end. The law becomes more important than the intent of the law.
• It sometimes keeps us from doing other activities that are good, lawful, and sometimes, commanded.
• Lk 14:1-5. One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?"

• Legalistic Pitfalls

• Fences. Building fences around sins to the point that we no longer can identify the sin.

• What are some ways we can protect ourselves from sin?
• Run away from the temptation as soon as we identify it
• Fill our minds and hearts with Godly things, to keep out temptations
• Make personal rules for ourselves that keep us far from sin

• Why should we create fences around sin?
• Because the farther away we are from sin, the less likely we will be tempted.
• We should run away from all temptation
• Skim Gen 39:1-12. Joseph created a fence: He even refused to be near her (verse 10)
• 1 Thess 5:22. Avoid every kind of evil.
• 1 Tim 2:22. Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
• Quote (TG, pg 122-3): "Our family went on vacation to a different part of the country to enjoy the beach and the ocean …. When we got there, however, I discovered the beach was swarming with scantily clad young women. (I’m not talking about ordinary swimsuits. When I say scanty, I mean scanty.) Now like Job, I had ‘made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl’ (Job 31:1) …. After about twenty minutes of continuously diverting my eyes, I said to my wife, ‘You and the kids stay as long as you like. I’m going to the car.’
• We are told to be sensitive to the convictions of others, so we build fences for their benefit. 1 Cor 10:32-33. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

• SG #5.a. What are some examples of fences?
• Dress codes in worship services (helps protect from lust and irreverence)
• Limiting TV-watching (helps protect from mindlessness and time-wasting)
• Limiting listening to secular music (helps protect from ungodly thoughts)
• Not going to the beach (helps protect from lust)
• Not drinking alcohol at all (helps protect from being tempted to get drunk)
• Not going into bars (helps protect from being tempted to get drunk)
• Not dancing (supposedly protects from emotionalism)
• No card-playing (supposedly protects one from the appearance of evil: gambling)
• No "radical" dress (green hair, mohawks, spiked leather jackets, etc)

• When do fences turn from good to bad?
• When we start to lose sight of the original sin (the "why").
• When we elevate the fence to the level of God’s law.
• When we force our own fences on other people.
• When we allow other people’s fences to be forced onto us.

• General Rules of Thumb
• With all fences, justify them by always linking them to the original sin (create "chain-link" fences that you can still see through to the original sin, not brick-wall fences). Never build a fence that causes you to lose sight of the sin.
• Examine the fences you impose on others, and stop pushing non-essential convictions on them.
• Examine the fences others impose on you, and gently probe their reasoning for the fence, but be careful to do it humbly and with a teachable spirit.
• Examine the kind of fences that have to do with "associations" with other types of people. You could be isolating yourself from reaching out to them with the Gospel because of your concern for not "jumping the fence."

• Conclusion
• Salvation comes with Christian freedom. You can’t have one without the other.
• Jesus commands His children to be free.
• We are set from the punishment and mastery of sin.
• Don’t use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. (Gal 5:13).
• We grow in Christian freedom by growing in the fruits of the Spirit.
• Legalism: Two flavors
• Earning or forfeiting God’s favor for salvation or for daily blessings.
• Elevating man-made rules to the level of God’s law (our focus)
• Man-made legalism tends to weaken and eventually destroy Christian fellowship.
• Fences are good, but tend toward man-made legalism.
• We should run away from sin and temptation
• We should not run so far away that we no longer identify the sin we’re running from.
• We should examine all fences, especially our own, and be gentle and humble about the fences of others.

• Applications
• This week, ask God to reveal to you what your fences are. Write them down.
• Force yourself to explain the reason for the fence.
• Re-construct some of your "brick-wall" fences into "chain-link" fences.
• Be sensitive about others’ fences, and explore with them the reasoning behind their fences, rather than immediately judging them.
• Pick a couple of the fruits of the Spirit and ask God to help you work on them specifically this week.
• Search out opportunities to learn how to grow in those fruits.
• Be particularly watchful for the freedom that comes with growing in the fruits.

NEXT WEEK:

• Differing Opinions. Having different opinions on non-essential issues and forcing them on others.
• [Use Evangelicals and Catholics Together issue to demonstrate this]

• At what point do different viewpoints start to matter?
• We should not try to enforce our opinions on others.
• We should not let others enforce their opinions on us.
• How should we handle "gray areas"?

• Spiritual Disciplines. Allowing the methods or acts of prayer, Bible reading, and witnessing be more important than the goals of the disciplines.

• How do we sometimes become legalistic among our circles concerning spiritual disciplines?
• Necessary for spiritual growth
• Encouraging others
• Methods can be different
• Promote as privileges, not duties

• What Others Think. Seeking the approval of men more than the approval of God.

• Why do we let other people run our lives and determine who we are?
• Approval of Man vs. Approval of God
• Our Security: Identity in Christ

Matthew Henry’s Commentary

1 Cor 10:23-33.

There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourteous behaviour to any, however they may differ from us in religious sentiments or practices. But this is not to be understood of religious festivals, partaking in idolatrous worship. According to this advice of the apostle, Christians should take care not to use their liberty to the hurt of others, or to their own reproach. In eating and drinking, and in all we do, we should aim at the glory of God, at pleasing and honouring him. This is the great end of all religion, and directs us where express rules are wanting. A holy, peaceable, and benevolent spirit, will disarm the greatest enemies.

Geneva Notes

1Co 10:2310:23 {6} {t} All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

(6) Coming to another type of things offered to idols, he repeats that general rule, that in the use of indifferent things we ought to have consideration not of ourselves only, but of our neighbours. And therefore there are many things which of themselves are lawful, which may be evil when done by us, because of offence to our neighbour. (t) See before in 1Co 6:13.

1Co 10:2910:29 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: {8} for why is my liberty judged of another [man's] conscience?

(8) A reason: for we must take heed that our liberty is not spoken of as evil, and that the benefit of God which we ought to use with thanksgiving is not changed into impiety. And this is through our fault, if we choose rather to offend the conscience of the weak, than to yield a little of our liberty in a matter of no importance, and so give occasion to the weak to judge in such sort of us, and of Christian liberty. And the apostle takes these things upon his own person, that the Corinthians may have so much the less occasion to oppose anything against him.

Chapter 6b:  Called to be Free (Differing Opinions)

Central Idea: As followers of Christ we are free. Free from the drive to earn God’s favor by our actions. Free from the oppression of trying to live up to manmade religious rules and regulations. Free to let the Holy Spirit create in our lives something beautiful and pleasing to God.

Review From Last Week:

• Jesus tells us that He came to set us free with His truth. In fact, a "Christian" who is not free is not a Christian, by definition (Gal 5:1, Jn 8:31-36).
• We are set free from the condemnation of the law, once and for all, in status (Eph 2:15, Gal 3:13, Rom 8:1-2), and from the mastery of sin in practice (Rom 6:1-2, 6-7, 11-14).
• This freedom sets our human spirits in a right and pleasing relationship with God, so that we are free to grow in our obedience. One way we do this is to crave the spiritual milk of the Gospel every day (the root). Another way is to grow in the holy attributes of the Spirit (the fruit) (1 Pet 2:1-3, 1 Cor 3:7, Col 1:10-12, Gal 5:22-23, Col 3:12-14, Jn 15:4-5).
• Legalism
• Two Types:
• Thinking we can earn or forfeit God’s favor based on our behavior
• Elevating man-made rules and opinions to the level of God’s word in practice
• What are some consequences of man-made legalism (Phariseeism)? See previous notes
• Legalistic Pitfalls
• Fences
• Fences are good because they keep us from:
• Temptations that we are prone to stumble over
• Causing our neighbors to stumble
• Fences can be bad when:
• We lose sight of the original sin, or forget the reason for the fence
• We elevate the fence to the level of God’s law, to the point that crossing the fence becomes a sin
• We force our fences on other people unnecessarily
• We allow other people’s fences to be forced on us unnecessarily

• Differing Opinions

• What would you say to a person who says, "truth is relative," or "there is no absolute truth"?
• Share Jerry Bridge’s faith illustration: "It doesn’t matter how much faith you have. The only thing that matters is what you have your faith in."
• If there is no external moral code of ethics for people, then there is no basis for meaning in life. There is no anchor of purpose or direction. People can truly do as they please. But there is a nagging minister to the fact of an external truth: guilt.

• What is an opinion?
• The American Heritage Dictionary: "A belief or conclusion held with confidence, but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof."
• Subjective vs. Objective
• Internal vs. External
• Source is Self vs. Source is outside Self

• Does Jesus want His children to be in unity?
• Yes, in a particular sense.
• The spirit of unity is the kind that comes about as we all follow Christ. Rom 15:5-7. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
• We become one in unity just as the Trinity is One. Jn 17:9-11. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one.
• Paul speaks of a unity that is founded on the external truths: Revelation from Jesus Christ. Gal 1:6-12. I 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-- 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But 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! 9 As 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! 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

• Do you think it’s possible to have a body of believers that all share the same opinions about everything?
• No. Since every person is unique in personality, and since opinions are internal and personal, not founded on external fact, then it’s highly improbable, if not impossible, to have true Christian unity down to the level of opinion.
• Quote (Matthew Henry Commentary on Romans 14): "Attempts for producing absolute oneness of mind among Christians would be useless."
• In light of what we have already seen about Scriptural unity, do you think God even desires for us to all be united in opinion?

• Read Rom 14.

• Is Paul speaking about issues that divide Christians from each other, or issues that divide Christians from non-Christians?
• He’s speaking of non-essential opinions among Christians. Rom 14:3,13,15. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.

• Where does Paul draw the line between what is essential and what is non-essential?
• The line seems to be related to the external realities of the Lord Jesus’ death and resurrection.
• He seems to be saying that we draw the line according to the things we are accountable to God for. The things we are accountable to God for are the things He reveals to us in His Word, in which He ultimately reveals Himself to us in Jesus Christ, or the Gospel.
• Rom 14:7-10. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.
• Paul seems to be forcing the essential things toward those things that are external realities, not internal opinions.
• Therefore, we have no basis to pass judgement on our brothers on issues that lie outside the scope of God’s external and factual revelation to us.

• SG #6.a. Paul states that God allows equally godly people to have differing opinions on certain matters. Can you think of any modern parallels to the issue of eating meat?
• Dietary Convictions
• Sabbath Convictions
• Spiritual Disciplines
• Worship Services

• In verses 5,22, and 23, Paul mentions that we are to be "fully convinced" of our opinions. How do we understand this?
• Quote (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Rom 14:5): "Compelled assent to any doctrine, or conformity to outward observances without being convinced, would be hypocritical and of no avail."
• Quote (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Rom 14:22-23): "Hast thou faith? It is meant of knowledge and clearness as to our Christian liberty. Enjoy the comfort of it, but do not trouble others by a wrong use of it. Nor may we act against a doubting conscience."
• Quote (The Message, Rom 14:22-23): "You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you’re out of line. If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong."

• When should we not enforce our own opinions?
• When it causes our brother to stumble. Rom 14:13,15,21. 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

• What are some other ways differing opinions can lead us to sin?
• When elevate our opinions and others’ opinions to the level of God’s law, especially those in apparent authority or position of respect.
• When we let the existence of many opinions discourage us in our walk with God, because humans inherently seek resolution.

• How can differing opinions among Christians actually be good?
• "Triangulate" the real truth
• Can give us a fresh perspective of the issue
• Humbles us by helping to keep us teachable and flexible with our growing knowledge

• Conclusion
• Truth (Fact). There is a body of external, objective truth that exists independently of what anybody believes. This body of truth includes two spheres of reality.
• God’s general truth (laws of nature)
• God’s specific truth (biblical truth)
• Opinion. There is a body of internal, subjective assertions that people have confidence in that are not substantiated by any external truth.
• Call of Unity. God calls His children to be united in truth, not opinion.
• Disunity. If you’re going to be divided with somebody on an issue, make sure it’s based on essential, external, and objective truth. Don’t be divided based on non-essential, internal, and subjective opinions.
• The Line Drawn. The line is drawn at the things we are accountable to God for. In everything else, we are free to have our own opinions, without sacrificing true Christian unity.
• Sensitivity. We are to be sensitive about enforcing our opinions in situations that might cause our brother to stumble.
• We actually sin when our behavior that is based on opinions causes a brother to stumble spiritually, or stunts his spiritual growth.
• We should be humble with our opinions, and be willing to change them based on better understandings of biblical truth and sensitivities toward others.
• Benefits
• They remind us what the essential truths are.
• They give us a fresh perspective on the issue.
• They keep us teachable and humble.
• They help us appreciate the diversity in the Body of Christ.

• Applications
• How do these truths affect the way we view Christian fellowship?
• I can have koinonia with my brothers and sisters based on things that are unchanging, the true vine, not based on opinions, which constantly change.
• It helps me appreciate the diversity in personalities in my friends.
• When I exhort or encourage my brothers and sisters, it keeps me within the bounds of biblical fact, not opinion.
• How do these truths affect our relationship with the lost?
• I recognize that I cannot have unity (fellowship) with them, because they are on a different vine than I am.
• I can more effectively focus on the essentials, and not try to share the gospel of my opinions, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• How do these truths liberate me in my own walk with God?

Chapter 6c:  Called to be Free (What Others Think)

Central Idea: As followers of Christ we are free. Free from the drive to earn God’s favor by our actions. Free from the oppression of trying to live up to manmade religious rules and regulations. Free to let the Holy Spirit create in our lives something beautiful and pleasing to God.

Review From Last Week:

• Differing Opinions
• Truth (Fact). There is a body of external, objective truth that exists independently of what anybody believes. This body of truth includes two spheres of reality.
• God’s general truth (laws of nature)
• God’s specific truth (biblical truth)
• Opinion. There is a body of internal, subjective assertions that people have confidence in that are not substantiated by any external truth.
• Call of Unity. God calls His children to be united in truth, not opinion.
• Disunity. If you’re going to be divided with somebody on an issue, make sure it’s based on essential, external, and objective truth. Don’t be divided based on non-essential, internal, and subjective opinions.
• The Line Drawn. The line is drawn at the things we are accountable to God for. In everything else, we are free to have our own opinions, without sacrificing true Christian unity.
• Sensitivity. We are to be sensitive about enforcing our opinions in situations that might cause our brother to stumble.
• We actually sin when our behavior that is based on opinions causes a brother to stumble spiritually, or stunts his spiritual growth.
• We should be humble with our opinions, and be willing to change them based on better understandings of biblical truth and sensitivities toward others.
• Benefits
• They remind us what the essential truths are.
• They give us a fresh perspective on the issue.
• They keep us teachable and humble.
• They help us appreciate the diversity in the Body of Christ.
• Applications
• Fellowship
• We can have true Christian unity based on the things that God calls us to be unified on (His external truth), and celebrate our differences in all other areas.
• When we encourage or exhort each other, we are free to do so based on the essential truths, not on our opinions.
• Witnessing
• We are careful to recognize that we cannot have true unity with unbelievers, because they do not believe in the essential truths.
• We will be more ready and willing to focus on the essentials (give them what they need, not what we want them to have). The Gospel will be clearer when it is shared free from our opinions.
• Personal Walk
• I can appreciate God’s eternal truth, and understand that His truth doesn’t depend on me. This makes me want to join God, not for Him to join me.
• These things humble me, and keep me open to other opinions, including my own.

• What Others Think

• SG #8.a. Sometimes we fail to enjoy our Christian freedom because we are afraid of what others think. Can you give an example of a time when you worried about what others would think when you were doing something you knew God had given you the freedom to do?
• Personal example: Our evening Church service begins at 5:00, but the Calvary Chapel evening service starts at 6:00. I am attending Calvary for the sake of Patrick, but I chose not to go to the 5:00 service and then just leave early, because I was concerned about what other people might think about me if I just got up and left in the middle of the evening service. So I deprived myself of at least a little while of evening fellowship and teaching, just because I was concerned about what others would think of me.

• There are two distinctions:
• Positive sense: "If I do this, I might win their approval."
• Negative sense: "If I don’t do this, I might not be accepted by them."
• In either sense, the concerns of man are placed above or before the concerns of God.

• Should we be more concerned about what God thinks than what man thinks?
• The only thing that matters is who the Lord approves, and it’s not man. 2 Cor 10:18. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
• Why? Because God has a limit to who He accepts before Himself. God only accepts Jesus Christ (Jn 6:27) and those He has justified because of Christ (Rom 5:1-2a).
• Jn 14:6. Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Why not? Because Jesus is the only One approved.
• Jn 6:27. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.
• Rom 5:1-2a. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

• Read Gal 1:6-10. I 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--7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But 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! 9 As 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! 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

• How do you know that Paul was seeking the approval of God, rather than men?
• Because when the essential truths were being attacked, he chose to stand up in their defense.
• Because he is still a servant of Christ (based on the contra-positive—see below).

• If we live our lives seeking the approval of the people around us, what does this say about our service to Christ?
• If I am a man-pleaser, then I am not a Christ-servant (statement, P --> Q).
• If I am a Christ-servant, then I am not a man-pleaser (contra-positive, ~Q --> ~P).

• Does this mean that we are to never seek the approval of men?

• No. We should serve men and seek their approval.
• Rom 14:15-19. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16 Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. 19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
• Rom 15:1-3. We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."
• Phil 2:3-5. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus
• 1 Cor 10:19-23. Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

• On the one hand, we should not seek the approval of men. One the other hand, we should. How do we reconcile these? We should seek the approval of men, but never before or more than seeking the approval of God. We should seek to please everybody, but never at the expense of our first seeking the approval of God.

• Read 1 Thess 2:1-9. You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. 3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed--God is our witness. 6 We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7 but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 9 Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
• In this passage, how do you know Paul and his friends were seeking the approval of God, rather than men?
• They dared to share the Gospel in spite of strong opposition (vs 2).
• They didn’t use flattery and didn’t put on a mask to cover up greed (vs 5).
• They not only shared the Gospel, but their lives as well (vs 8).
• They weren’t a burden to them by causing them to support Paul and his friends (vs 9).
• Do you see in this passage the dual aspect of standing firm with respect to the truth, but being gentle, humble, and loving with respect to the people? Do you see how Paul and his friends sought the approval of God first and foremost, but then sought the approval of man secondarily?

• How can Christians be so giving and so serving? How can we continue to lay down our own interests for the interests of other people? How were Paul and his friends able to share "not only the gospel of God but their lives as well" with the Thessalonians?
• The key is in our identity. Who do we belong to? Who is our security? Where are we going when we die?
• Read Jn 13:1-5. It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
• How did Jesus show His disciples the full extent of His love? By washing His disciple’s feet—by doing that which only the lowliest of slaves did.
• What compelled Jesus to humble Himself in this way? Where was His security?
• He knew that God had put all things under His power.
• He knew that He had come from God.
• He knew that He was returning to God.
• In short, He knew who He was, and He had security in the Father.
• His identity wasn’t threatened, because He knew that He belonged to the Father.
• Where does this truth leave us?
• Since we are united with Christ, our identity and security are found in Christ.
• God says, "Go! And I will be with you." Josh 1:9. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
• Jn 17:18. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
• Our unity with Christ necessarily leads us to have a servant’s heart, because we have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Phil 2:1-3. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
• Rom 8:35-37. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

• Conclusion
• We should be more concerned about what God thinks than what man thinks.
• God has approved Jesus and those whom He saves to be granted eternal life.
• We are free from seeking the approval of men. We have every reason to seek the approval of God, because God has the last word concerning our eternal lives, not men.
• Indicators that we are seeking the approval of God, rather than men:
• We stand up and fight for the things that have eternal significance.
• We don’t flatter people for ulterior motives or in order to advance our own agendas.
• We not only share the Gospel with people, but we share our lives to people.
• We don’t put ourselves in situations where we unnecessarily burden the people we are serving.
• We are to model Christ’s example of being a servant to all men, as much as possible, but our seeking of man’s approval should never go above or before our seeking of God’s approval.
• A true servant’s heart can only come from those who are united with Christ, because:
• We know who we are (our identity is found in Christ).
• We know where we are going when we die (our security is found in Christ).
• We are now free to die to ourselves and not let our pride be threatened by the humility that comes with being a servant.

• Applications
• What are some areas in your life where you let yourself be concerned about what others think? How can you fix the problem?
• How do these truths affect your outlook on servanthood?
• What are some ways you can start serving like Christ served?
• How can simply understanding who you are in Christ affect every area of your life?

Central Idea: As followers of Christ we are free. Free from the drive to earn God’s favor by our actions. Free from the oppression of trying to live up to manmade religious rules and regulations. Free to let the Holy Spirit create in our lives something beautiful and pleasing to God.

• We should be more concerned about what God thinks than what man thinks (2 Cor 10:18).
• God only saves those who are approved by Him.
• God has approved Jesus (Jn 6:27).
• God has approved us because we gain access to God through Christ (Rom 5:1-2a).
• We are free from seeking the approval of men. We have every reason to seek the approval of God, because God has the last word concerning our eternal lives, not men.
• Indicators that we are seeking the approval of God, rather than men:
• We stand up and fight for the things that have eternal significance (the things of principle, rather than preference) (Gal 1:6-10, 1 Thess 2:2).
• We don’t flatter people for ulterior motives or in order to advance our own agendas (1 Thess 2:5).
• We not only share the Gospel with people, but we share our lives to people (1 Thess 2:8).
• We don’t put ourselves in situations where we unnecessarily burden the people we are serving (1 Thess 2:9).
• We are to model Christ’s example of being a servant to all men, as much as possible, but our seeking of man’s approval should never go above or before our seeking of God’s approval (1 Cor 10:19).
• A true servant’s heart can only come from those who are united with Christ (Jn 13:1-5, Phil 2:1-3, Rom 8:35-37)
• We know who we are (our identity is found in Christ).
• We know where we are going when we die (our security is found in Christ).
• We are now free to die to ourselves and not let our pride be threatened by the humility that comes with being a servant.

Gracious Freedom: Tying it All Together

• Read Gal 5:13-14. You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
• There are five "L" words that Jerry Bridges uses to distinguish five concepts that we’ve either studied in detail, or touched on. They are law, liberty, love, license, and legalism.
• Bridges states that these five concepts are either stated or implied in this passage.
• Where do you find the concept of "law"?
• "The entire law is summed up…"
• We spoke of God’s law as being an expression of His holiness.
• You cannot separate God’s law from God’s grace.
• To love God means to obey God (adhere to His law).
• Where do you find "love"?
• "Serve one another in love"
• "Love your neighbor…"
• To love God means to obey God (adhere to His law).
• Where do you find "liberty"?
• "…were called to be free"
• Where do you find "legalism"?
• Maybe in the phrase, "serve one another in love." This might be a check against the notion of "serving one another in order to earn God’s favor."
• Maybe also in the phrase, "the entire law is summed up in… love." This may protect people from thinking that there is law outside the command to love.
• Where do you find "license"?
• "Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature."

• Draw Bridge’s "Road to Freedom"

• This diagram graphically demonstrates the interrelationship between all five of these concepts.
• Law, Liberty, and Love are found on the solid road of Grace.
• License and Legalism are found off this road.

• Love. Why is God’s grace necessary for us to properly have and demonstrate love?
• Because God demonstrated His love for us by sacrificing His Son in our place.
• We forgive much because we have been forgiven much.
• We love because God first loved us.

• Law. Why is God’s grace necessary for us to properly follow God’s laws?
• Properly following God’s laws implies following them out of a motivation of gratitude.
• We cannot properly follow God’s laws if we are following for the wrong motivations (earning or forfeiting God’s blessings based on our performance).
• We must have God’s unmerited favor and blessings if we are to obey out of gratitude.
• Legalism. Why is legalism found off of the road of Grace?
• Because the moment I obey out of the motivation to earn, I am outside the realm of God’s grace.
• In this state, "we have unduly focused on God’s law [or man’s law] and disparaged liberty" (TG, pg 133).

• Liberty. Why is God’s grace necessary for us to be truly free?
• We are set free from the condemnation of the law (justification).
• We are set free from the mastery of sin (regeneration).
• We are given the ability (freedom) to serve God with the power and desire He gives us (sanctification).
• If the above statements exhibit true freedom, then grace is necessary for this freedom, because we didn’t deserve to be set free from the condemnation and mastery of sin (in the negative sense), and we didn’t deserve to be given the power and desire to obey and please God (in the positive sense).
• License. Why is license found off the road of Grace?
• The phrase, "cheap grace" comes to mind. It’s the attitude that "I may live as I please; I may sin as much as I want because God will still love me and forgive me" (TG, pg 133).
• "It results from focusing exclusively on liberty and denigrating God’s law" (TG, pg 133).

• Focus. So out of all the concepts on this drawing, which one should we always focus on in order to keep everything else in perspective?
• "When you focus on grace in the fullness of its meaning, you will keep the law, liberty, and love in their proper relationship to one another. But if you focus on any one of them instead of on grace, you will invariably end up in the swamp of legalism or license" (TG, pg 133).

• In the course of studying Christian Freedom, what are some of the most impacting truths that you’ve learned? How is this study in Christian freedom changing the way you understand and serve God and people?

• If time permits, read Ex 16.
• You’re now the teacher. How would you teach the concept of sufficient grace using this chapter? What are some questions you could come up with? What does God tell us about the sufficiency of His grace here?
• Jn 6:48-51. I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Chapter 7a:  The Sufficiency of Grace (Grace as Ability and Desire)

Central Idea: God’s grace enables us to persevere and grow despite any and all obstacles. God gives each of us the grace we need to fulfill the ministry and service He has given to us to bring glory to His Name.

Warm-Up Question: Give an example in your life where you had your "thorn in your side," or you had to endure a traumatic event, and God’s grace was sufficient to enable you to meet this challenge.

We have seen in this study that the grace of God is necessary for salvation, and we’ve even seen that the grace of God is necessary for living the Christian life. But can we go so far as to say that the grace of God is sufficient for living the Christian life?

• Other ways of putting this question:
• Will the grace of God ever "run out" or not be there when I need it?
• Do I need anything else besides the grace of God in my life?
• (Is anything else necessary besides the grace of God in my life?)

• Let’s start with the passage that speaks directly of the "sufficiency of grace."
  Read 2 Cor 12:2-10. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--God knows. 3 And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows--4 was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say. 7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
• SG #1a. What explanation does Paul give for why is physical suffering is not removed?
• To keep him from becoming conceited (vs 7).
• So that Christ’s power may rest on him (vs 9).
• Because suffering causes him to be weak. And weakness leads to strength (vs 10).
• SG #1b. Why do you suppose we don’t always get a clear explanation of why we are allowed to suffer certain things?
• Because God wants us to depend on Him alone, not the security of a certain future.
• The (immediate) future, to us, is unknown and unstable. This forces us to put our trust in that which is steadfast and stable: God in the present. Prov 27:1. Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.
• What was Paul’s attitude toward suffering? Why?
• He delighted in his weaknesses and sufferings, because it make God’s strength more apparent (vs 10).
• SG #1c. Why do you think God expresses His power through our weaknesses rather than through our strengths?
• Possibly, because we really don’t have any strength apart from God, we just think we do because of our deceptive pride.
• Because God wants us to recognize His strength as His, so that we don’t take the credit.

We see that God gives us enough grace to rely on, but what are some ways we can rely on His grace? In other words, what form does God’s grace take on when we rely on it? How does it help us?

• In order to further understand the sufficiency and fullness of God’s grace, we need to look at some passages that bring out other aspects of God’s grace.

• What is the more popular understanding of the definition of grace?
• Most people would say something like, "undeserved favor"
• Most people associate grace with salvation: God delivers me, not because of who I am, but in spite of who I am.

• Let’s look at some passages that seem to indicate a more complete meaning of grace than just, "undeserved favor."
• Teaching Practice: You’re now the teacher, and you are preparing your Bible study for your students. You’re preparing a study on the sufficiency of God’s grace.
• There are three principles of Bible study:
• Observation: "What does it say?"
• Interpretation: "What does it mean?"
• Application: "Why do I care?"
• To give you practice assembling truths from the Scriptures, we’re going to look at several verses that you know talk about grace. (Get from topical Bible, concordance).
• Focus on this question as you observe: What questions do these verses answer?
• Heb 4:16. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
• The source of transforming (or enabling) grace is the throne of grace (Jesus Christ). Grace is something we receive when we are needy, and it helps us.
• Ac 13:43. When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
• Grace is something a person can continue in (there is a time domain to grace).
• Ac 20:32. Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
• The word of God’s grace can strengthen me and give me blessings.
• Rom 15:15-16. I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
• God gives us His grace for a purpose that glorifies Him. Duty comes with grace.
• 1 Cor 15:10. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
• God’s grace shapes who we are. God’s grace works within us to do the work of the Lord.
• Eph 3:7-8. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ
• God’s grace causes us to become servants of the Gospel. God’s grace comes to us through the power of God. Grace is the ability and desire to do the work of God.
• 2 Cor 9:8. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
• God’s grace gives us everything we need. No only so, but God gives us enough grace to do every good work.

• So we see that:
• God’s grace doesn’t just mean "undeserved favor,"
• His grace actually provides us with the ability and desire to do the work of the Lord.
• It enables and motivates us to obey Him.
• Now we can better understand how God’s grace can be sufficient for our lives.

• But what if I say, "God’s grace is a storehouse of good things, and it’s always available for me to use, but I’ll take just enough to be saved. God won’t mind if I rely on Him for salvation, but rely on myself to get by in my everyday life." What do you think God thinks about that?

• Read Deut 8:2-3. Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
• What are some observations?
• God led the Israelites through the desert in order to do three things:
• Humble them
• Test them
• Reveal their hearts and to see if they would obey God
• God took away food of the earth and gave back food from heaven.
• God caused the Israelites to hunger.
• In their state of hunger, God fed them.
• This was done for a purpose: to teach them that God’s word is necessary in their lives.
• What are some interpretations and applications?
• God not only allows us to suffer, but causes us to suffer for very specific purposes: To give us something far better.
• God doesn’t waste pain.
• God is able to provide everything we need for everything that is important.
• The things that we think are necessary for living are rarely ever the same as the things God knows are necessary for living.
• The manna was a shadow of Christ.
• Jn 6:32-35. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." 35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
• Jn 6:48-51. I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
• Jer 2:13. My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
• Therefore, all our needs are met through Christ, and only Christ, who gives us strength.

• Analogy: You are in a canoe in the middle of the ocean. The canoe represents self-sufficiency. This canoe has kept you from drowning for all these years. When the weather is calm, you are calm and stable. Then God saves you. He anchors you to the Rock of Christ. You are glad that you are no longer drifting throughout the seas of purposelessness, but you still have affections for your old, faithful canoe. Besides, it’s given you something dry and stable to stand on for all these years out at sea. It’s comfortable. It’s what you are used to. Then, a storm comes. The waves begin to pick up. You start to lose your balance. The only thing you can think of is to jump onto the Rock, because it’s not moving with the waves. It looks stable. So you abandon your capsized canoe and find firm footing on the solid earth. It’s the first time you’ve experienced such firmness and steadiness. When God saves us, He anchors us to Christ. We soon find out that this Christ is so steadfast and faithful, that we can rely on Him for everything. As Christians, we have no reason to be self-sufficient, because everything that I need is found in Christ.

• Why do we settle for so little? Do we not realize what is promised us? Do we not let the glorious weight of the phrase "eternal life" impact the very core of our beings? Do we not realize that we will know God in the full relatively soon? Why do we settle for our own self-sufficient pride?

Conclusion

• Quote (DG, pg 67): "Grace, as used in the New Testament, expresses two related and complimentary meanings. First, it is God’s unmerited favor to us through Christ whereby salvation and all other blessings are freely given to us. Second, it is God’s divine assistance to us through the Holy Spirit. We have seen that God’s grace assumes our sinfulness, guilt, and ill-deservedness. In the second meaning of grace, we see it also assumes our weakness and inability. Just as grace is opposed to the pride of self-righteousness, so it is also opposed to the pride of self-sufficiency."

• Main Points:
• Necessity. We’ve already established that God’s grace is necessary for our lives.
• Sufficiency. God’s grace is sufficient for our lives. It’s all we need. There is nothing we need that cannot be found in God’s grace.
• Ability and Desire. God’s grace is the ability and desire to live a life holy and pleasing to Him. He doesn’t just "smile down on us." He helps us with His grace.

Application

• How do these truths comfort you in your present trials?
• I can realize that God never leaves me, even when it feels like it.
• It is comforting to know that all pain and suffering has a purpose, and that God doesn’t waste pain.
• How do these truths affect your prayer life?
• I will pray for more transforming grace, in very specific ways.
• I can expect to get grace when I approach the throne of grace.
• How do these truths affect your witness to others?
• To non-Christians, when things get shaky, I can offer them positive hope: "God doesn’t just cancel your moral debt. He actually gives you His blessings and grace to endure."
• How do these truths affect your Christian growth?
• Col 1:6b. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.

Chapter 7b:  The Sufficiency of Grace (Examples of Relying on God's Grace)

Central Idea: God’s grace enables us to persevere and grow despite any and all obstacles. God gives each of us the grace we need to fulfill the ministry and service He has given to us to bring glory to His Name.

• Necessity. We’ve already established that God’s grace is necessary for our lives.
• Sufficiency. God’s grace is sufficient for our lives. It’s all we need. There is nothing we need that cannot be found in God’s grace.
• Ability and Desire. God’s grace is the ability and desire to live a life holy and pleasing to Him. He doesn’t just "smile down on us." He helps us with His grace. God doesn’t just pardon us and let us struggle on our own for the rest of our Christian lives. He positively gives us the power, strength, ability, and desire to do His will and please Him.
• Dependence. God arranges things (trials, hardships) in our lives to get us to depend on His sufficiency, rather than our own sufficiency.

We’ve seen how God uses hardships and trials to get us to depend on His grace instead of ourselves. Let’s look at a few passages that demonstrate this truth in action.

Some of the most famous Bible passages that exalt God’s faithfulness, love and provision in the Bible are preceded by accounts of anguish, anxiety, and despair.

• Read Lam 3:16-26. He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust. 17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. 18 So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD." 19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
• What are some descriptive words or phrases that Jeremiah uses to describe his anguish?
• Broken teeth, trampled, deprived of peace, forgotten prosperity, no splendor, no hope, affliction, wandering, bitterness, gall, soul is downcast
• What are some descriptive words that describe a time when your soul was downcast?
• What did Jeremiah do to receive God’s sufficient grace?
• He called to mind:
• The Lord’s great love for him protects him
• His compassions never fail
• His compassions are new every morning
• He is faithful to him
• He said to himself:
• The Lord is my sufficiency
• I will be patient and wait for Him
• How does Jeremiah assure us that if we wait on the Lord, we won’t be waiting in vain? He tells us that the Lord is good to those who have hope in, seek, and wait quietly on God.

• Read Ps 13. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; 4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
• What are some descriptive words or phrases that describes the Psalm-writer’s anguish?
• He feels that God has forgotten him and hidden his face from him
• Wrestle with thoughts, sorrowful heart (every day), enemies triumphing
• At what point did God give the Psalm-writer His grace? How do you know?
• There is a radical shift from the positive to the negative at the beginning of vs 5.
• What did the Psalm-writer do to receive God’s sufficient grace?
• He asked God to look on him and answer him.
• He asked God to give light to his eyes.
• He trusted in God’s unfailing love.
• He rejoiced in God’s saving him.
• He remembered that God had been good to him, so he sang to Him.

• Read Ps 73:12-17, 21-26. This is what the wicked are like--always carefree, they increase in wealth. 13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. 14 All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning. 15 If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed your children. 16 When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me 17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. 21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, 22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. 23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
• What are some descriptive words or phrases that describes the Psalm-writer’s anguish?
• He is frustrated that his enemies are triumphing.
• He feels that he has pursued holiness and innocence in vain.
• He feels that he has been plagued, punished all day, every day.
• He felt oppressed trying to understand why.
• His heart was grieved, his spirit embittered.
• He was senseless and ignorant.
• He felt like an animal.
• What did the Psalm-writer do to receive God’s sufficient grace?
• He entered the sanctuary of God.
• He "saw the future"—the end of the wicked…He gained an eternal perspective
• He remembered that he is always with God, and that God holds his hand.
• He acknowledges that God guides him with wisdom.
• He acknowledges the promise that God will take him into glory.
• He "has" God and only God for His sufficiency.
• He looked around and recognized that the world has nothing to meet his real needs.
• He recognized that everything could be taken from him, including his very live, but God is his strength and his provision, not just for the moment of need, but forever.

• Catalog of the bad and the good from the above passages:
• Words that describe the anguish: broken, trampled, deprived, forgotten, splendor is gone, hopeless, affliction, wandering, bitterness, gall, soul is downcast, crying out: How long?, neglected, wrestling with thoughts, sorrow in heart, triumphant enemies, vanity, purposelessness, failure, plagued, oppressed, grieved, embittered, senseless, ignorant.
• Actions that brought them out of the anguish:
• Ask God to
• Look on me
• Answer me
• Give me vision
• Trust in God’s unfailing love
• Praise
• Rejoice in salvation
• Sing to God
• Go where God is
• Find support in the Body of Christ
• Get nourished at Church
• Wait for God (for His future grace)
• Quietly (without complaining)
• For salvation (our glorification with Him)
• Remember (call to mind), realize, acknowledge, affirm
• God’s great love toward me
• I am not consumed
• God’s compassions are new every morning…they never run out
• God is faithful toward me
• God is my portion…God is where I go to meet my needs
• God is good to me
• God is always with me
• God holds my right hand…He is Abba, Daddy…I know Who I belong to.
• God guides me
• God will take me up in glory…I know where I’m going.
• God alone is my strength
• I have nobody else who will meet my true needs…God’s grace alone is sufficient!

• What do you learn about prayer from these passages?
• There is a strong element of desperation and urgency.
• There is a strong element of remembrance: The writers use their minds to recall all that the Lord has done for them.
• They praise Him in prayer.
• They wait for Him in prayer.
• They gained grace through prayer.
• There seems to be a daily element to these passages. They are being afflicted daily, and they are drawing on the compassions of God, which are new every morning—to meet their needs.
• They draw their strength from their salvation, the fact that they have been saved. They seem to have the attitude, "If God can save me, then why would He not provide for me?"
• None of the writers are rosy and comfortable when they start speaking to God. They are all looking for God, searching, waiting, feeling downcast.
• There seems to be a reality to these prayers. They aren’t praying to God for the sake of prayer: They are looking for God’s refuge and comfort. God is their goal, not prayer.

• Appropriating God’s Grace through Prayer
• One of the ways we can gain strength, or appropriate God’s grace to our lives, is to, in the midst of our circumstances, be with God in prayer,
• Remembering all that He has provided us
• Remembering His promises for our future
• Realizing that only He can sustain us
• Trusting Him with our life
• Praising God: Who He is, and what He’s done

Chapter 7c:  The Sufficiency of Grace (Just-In-Time Grace and Contentment)

Central Idea: God’s grace enables us to persevere and grow despite any and all obstacles. God gives each of us the grace we need to fulfill the ministry and service He has given to us to bring glory to His Name.

Last week, we saw real-live examples of people in the Bible who sought God’s sufficient grace through prayer in the midst of their circumstances.

• There is a strong element of desperation and urgency.
• There is a strong element of remembrance: The writers use their minds to recall all that the Lord has done for them.
• They praise Him in prayer.
• They wait for Him in prayer.
• They gained strength through prayer.
• There seems to be a daily element to these passages. They are being afflicted daily, and they are drawing on the compassions of God, which are new every morning—to meet their needs.
• They draw their strength from their salvation, the fact that they have been saved. They seem to have the attitude, "If God can save me, then why would He not provide for me?"
• None of the writers are rosy and comfortable when they start speaking to God. They are all looking for God, searching, waiting, feeling downcast.
• There seems to be a reality to these prayers. They aren’t praying to God for the sake of prayer: They are looking for God’s refuge and comfort. God is their goal, not prayer.

Read Ex 16:16-21. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'" 17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. 19 Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." 20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. 21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

• Why do you think Moses told the Israelites not to store any manna until morning?
• It reminded them every day who was providing their food.
• It kept them trusting God every day.
• If they couldn’t store their food, they couldn’t put their securities in their stored food.
• It helped them realize what they really needed. They really needed God, not manna.

• What does this passage tell you about how God distributes His grace?
• He doesn’t give it to us all at once. This causes us to seek Him continually.
• Quote (John Calvin, Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries): "For men have no taste for [God’s power] till they are convinced of their need of it and they immediately forget its value unless they are continually reminded by awareness of their own weakness."
• God gives us just enough grace to perfectly and sufficiently meet our need.
• Quote (John Blanchard, Truth for Life: A Devotional Commentary on the Epistle of James): "So [God]supplies perfectly measured grace to meet the needs of the godly. For daily needs there is daily grace; for sudden needs, sudden grace; for overwhelming need, overwhelming grace. God’s grace is given wonderfully, but not wastefully; freely but not foolishly; bountifully but not blindly."
• He wants us to be uncertain about the "near" future, so we will trust Him. He wants us to put our securities on the "far" future (our eternity with Him), rather than the "near" future, which is so uncertain.
• 1 Tim 6:17. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
• The power of the provision is not in the provision itself, but in the provider. This is evident because the manna rotted after one day. This keeps us from putting our trust in the provision.
• Example: Have you ever seen a stray animal such as a cat near your house, which you feel sorry for, so you decide to care for it by giving it food? So you start feeding this cat every day, and you start to have a certain fondness for this cat. You want to care for it, pet it, and oversee its well-being. In a way, you want this cat to come to you because it knows that you care for it. But probably, in reality, this cat is coming to you for the sole purpose of getting food, not because it cares for you. How does this make you feel? In a similar way, do you see how God wants us to put our securities on Him, and not on the things that He provides us?

• What does this passage tell you about the character of God?
• He realizes our weaknesses, and accommodates to us. He meets us at our level.
• He is like a patient Dad, wanting His child to realize who is caring for him.

• How does this principle change your prayer life?
• I realize that I need to go to God as often as possible and get more grace to face the struggles and challenges of the day.
• When I don’t go to God in prayer, it’s almost like I’m settling for stale or rotten manna (that is, my own counsel, rather than God’s). It may get me through the day physically, but I'm not being nourished spiritually.
• I start paying more attention to the provider than the provision.

What can we learn about contentment using these principles?

• I am discontent when I have:
• Mismatched needs:
• I am discontent when I think I need something that God knows I don’t need.
• I am complacent when I don’t think I need something that God knows I do need.
• Mismatched motivations:
• I am content when my want is for God’s glory and satisfaction. (This may cost me my sense of comfort).
• I am not content when my want is for my glory and satisfaction.

• Solution
• We should match our perceived needs with our actual God-given needs.
• We should put God’s glory above our comfort.
• We should put God and others before ourselves.
• We should not covet.
• We should have an active hunger for God and His will.
• We should run to God for all our needs.

• Does contentment mean inactivity?
• We find contentment when we are obeying and serving God. Job 36:11. If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.

• Is it possible to be content, whatever the circumstances?
• Phil 4:10-13. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
• What is the secret of contentment, according to Paul?
• It’s the fact that God is the one who gives him his strength to be content (vs. 13).
• I think vs. 13 has been isolated from its context too much. I think Paul is making the point that in whatever circumstances, God gives him the strength to get through it. There is nothing that can happen to him that God’s grace cannot enable him to be content in.
• Wrong emphasis: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength"
• Right emphasis: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength"

• How does the fact that we brought nothing into this world and will take nothing out of it help me be content with what I have?
• It helps me realize that God has given me even the most basic things in life, like food, clothing, and a shelter.
• It also helps me realize that everything that I gain for myself that doesn’t have eternal value is useless and will be destroyed.
• 1 Tim 6:6-8. But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

• How does the fact that God has told us, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" help us be content?
• We are enabled to be content, because we are constantly reminded that God alone is our portion. Since the embodiment of Gracious Sufficiency [God] promises to be with us forever, we don’t have any reason to want anything else but Him.
• Heb 13:5-6. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

• "Just-In-Time" Grace
• God only gives us the grace we need, at the very moment we need it. Why?
• It forces us to trust God continually. Not just believe, but place our securities in God.
• It forces us to trust God continually. Focus on the Provider, not the provision.
• It forces us to trust God continually. For daily needs, there is daily grace.
• It forces us to put our hope in the certain things, not the uncertain (Living Hope).
• This kind of grace tells us a lot about God’s character:
• God wants to take care of us.
• God is intimate and personal.
• God realizes our every need, and delights to meet them in a way that we realize Who is providing for us.
• This kind of grace affects my prayer life:
• The daily availability of God’s grace motivates me to pray daily.
• My prayers are focused on the Provider, not the provision.

• Contentment
• One of the ways God provides His grace is by giving us contentment.
• We are content when our perceived needs match our actual needs.
• We are content when our motivations are for God’s glory, and not our comfort
• Contentment does not mean complacency or laziness…. He has given us a job to do.

Chapter 7d:  The Sufficiency of Grace (God's Grace and the Ministry)

Central Idea: God’s grace enables us to persevere and grow despite any and all obstacles. God gives each of us the grace we need to fulfill the ministry and service He has given to us to bring glory to His Name.

• "Just-In-Time" Grace
• God only gives us the grace we need, at the very moment we need it. Why?
• It forces us to trust God continually. Not just believe, but place our securities in God.
• It forces us to trust God continually. Focus on the Provider, not the provision.
• It forces us to trust God continually. For daily needs, there is daily grace.
• It forces us to put our hope in the certain things, not the uncertain (Living Hope).
• This kind of grace tells us a lot about God’s character:
• God wants to take care of us.
• God is intimate and personal.
• God realizes our every need, and delights to meet them in a way that we realize Who is providing for us.
• This kind of grace affects my prayer life:
• The daily availability of God’s grace motivates me to pray daily.
• My prayers are focused on the Provider, not the provision.

• Contentment
• One of the ways God provides His grace is by giving us contentment.
• We are content when our perceived needs match our actual needs.
• We are content when our motivations are for God’s glory, and not our comfort
• Contentment does not mean complacency or laziness…. He has given us a job to do, and the Christian is content to strive with all his might to do it.

What kinds of things would you expect to see on a pastor’s resume? In other words, what kinds of things qualify a person for the pastoral ministry?

• What do you think Paul’s resume looked like?
• Descriptions of Paul (Saul) in Acts:
• Gave approval to the stoning of Stephen (Ac 8:1)
• Tried to destroy the church (Ac 8:3, Gal 1:13)
• Tried to destroy the Christian faith (Gal 1:23)
• Went from house to house, putting men and women in prison (Ac 8:3)
• Persecuted followers of the Way to their death (Ac 22:4)
• Did everything within his power to oppose the name of Jesus (Ac 26:9)
• Went from synagogue to synagogue to punish Christians (Ac 26:11)
• Tried to get Christians to blaspheme God (Ac 26:11)
• Was obsessed with being anti-Christian (Ac 26:11)
• Went to foreign cities to persecute Christians (Ac 26:11)
• Was a violent man (1 Tim 1:13)
• 1 Cor 15:9. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
• If you were the head of the Human Resources department for the early Church, would you hire this guy? Of course not! This man does not qualify for the ministry of Jesus Christ, because
• He not only lacks the character and competence of being a minister, but
• He hates Jesus and all His followers. Not only this, but
• He acted out, in every way possible, his hatred toward Jesus and his followers.

• Why do you think God chose Paul, of all people, to carry forth the Good News to the Gentiles, and to be the instrument through which He inspired most of the New Testament?
• Principle: God chooses the lowly, unworthy, and inadequate to do His work.
• It is a greater demonstration of God’s grace and power to convert a persecutor of Christ than to convert the average agnostic.
• 1 Cor 1:27-30. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
• 1 Cor 2:1-5. When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.
• Argument from the greater to the lesser: If God demonstrates His power in salvation by saving sinners, then will He not also demonstrate His power in giving us the ability and desire to obey and serve Him every day, even though we continue to sin?
• Rom 5:6-8. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
• Rom 8:32. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

• When God gives me gifts to serve Him and fulfill the ministry, are they because of anything we have done, or even because of who we are?
• Grace and gifts are inseparably linked. We know that the gift of eternal life was given to us on the basis of God’s grace alone. Likewise, the spiritual gifts have been given to us on the basis of God’s grace alone.
• Rom 12:6a. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.
• 1 Pet 4:10. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
• The Greek root for "grace" and "gift" are the same:
• Charis means "grace"
• Charisma means "gift"
• So we can never earn the privilege of ministry based on our hard work, or faithfulness, or sacrifice, because the ministry itself is a gift from God. In short, we are unworthy to receive this great privilege.

• Read 1 Cor 15:9-10. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
• Who remembers the two definitions of grace that we’ve been studying in the "sufficiency of grace" series of studies? (1) God’s unmerited favor, (2) God’s power and desire
• How is Paul’s unworthiness met by God’s grace in this passage? How is Paul’s inadequacy met by God’s grace in this passage?
• Unworthiness is met by grace because it is God’s undeserved favor expressed toward us, and inadequacy is met by grace because it is God’s power and desire given to us.

• Quote: "Looking back to his acknowledgement of unworthiness in verse 9, his statement would appear to mean, ‘I am unworthy to be an apostle, but by God’s unmerited favor I am one.’ Looking forward to the remainder of verse 10, however, where Paul was speaking about the effects of God’s grace on his ministry, it would appear to mean, ‘By God’s enabling power I am an effective apostle.’ I believe both of these meanings of grace are incorporated in Paul’s statement…. When [Paul] said, ‘But by the grace of God, I am what I am,’ he was saying, ‘I am an apostle as a result of God’s unmerited favor shown to me and as a result of God’s enabling power at work in me’" (TG, pg 158-9).

• So, according to God, what are the qualifications to be a minister of His Gospel?
• The qualifications are to be unworthy and inadequate.
• Do you meet any of these qualifications?

• But God not only accepts people who are unworthy and inadequate to enter into His service, but He actually insists, and in fact, demands that His servants be unworthy and inadequate in and of themselves. Why?
• Our weakness clears the way for God’s power to operate. When there’s less of me, there’s more of God.
• Mt 5:3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Js 4:6,10. But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble…." Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
• 2 Cor 12:9-10. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
• Quote: "[God] glories in calling into His service people who are neither worthy nor adequate. He makes them worthy in Christ alone, never in themselves. Then He makes them adequate through the mighty working of His Spirit within them" (TG, 159).
• Quote: "Sometimes when I am introduced as a speaker, I cringe inwardly as the person introducing me waxes eloquent about my accomplishments. I sit there and think, What if they knew the other side of the story? Would they all get up and leave? Yet ironically, it is the other side of the story, the humiliations and the heartaches, the failures and frustrations—not the successes and accomplishments—that have qualified me to be there to speak. Those difficult times have driven me to the Lord. I’ll be honest. It wasn’t that I wanted to lean on God; I had no other choice. But I am finally learning that in weakness I find strength—His strength" (TG, pg 148).

• How serious should we be in carrying out the ministry of God to those in need?
• Think of it this way:
• We are tools of God through which He does eternal business.
• God allows us to participate in the very thing that the Bible says angels rejoice over: one repentant sinner.
• We are the ones whom God has commissioned to bring the Good News to the lost. Isa 52:7. How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
• Think of the most amazingly beautiful place in this world. Would it be a sunset over the Grand Canyon? A helicopter flight through the Swiss Alps? It doesn’t compare with the beauty of setting a person free with the Gospel of salvation to a person who is enslaved to his own desires. In fact, all of creation is affected by man’s sin and redemption.
• Rom 8:19-22. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
• Our task is the ministry of reconciliation: Being agents through which God brings His children back to Him.
• 2 Cor 5:19b-20a. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
• Quote: "It is an awesome thing to attempt to speak on behalf of God. Yet that is exactly what we do when we teach, or preach, or write…. Anytime we say or write something that we hold out to be biblical truth, we are putting ourselves in the position of being God’s spokesman" (TG, pgs 156-157). 1 Pet 4:11a. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.
• With responsibility comes accountability. Paul spoke of God before the people, knowing that God was observing ("we speak before God"). 2 Cor 2:17. Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
• Bridge’s personal example: teaching Sunday School with the president of the seminary present as a student. How much more should we be aware of God’s gaze?
• How serious are we actually in carrying out the ministry of God to those in need?
• We let that which is visible and temporal command our attention and desires, thus quenching those things that are invisible and eternal.
• We acknowledge that evangelism and outreach is serious in our minds, but when it comes to action, we’re sorely lacking, and action is where the seriousness counts!
• Realizing the seriousness of the Gospel forces us to throw our hands up and say, "I’m unworthy! I’m inadequate!" Then, we’re finally in a position to gain God’s strength for the ministry.

Sufficient Grace for Our Unworthiness and Inadequacy

• What, then, will give us the courage to undertake or continue to teach the Scriptures or, for that matter to exercise any other spiritual gift?
• 2 Cor 4:1. Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
• Ex 3:10-12a. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" 12 And God said, "I will be with you."
• Isa 43:2-3a. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
• Isa 45:2-3. I will go before you and will level the mountains ; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
• Quote: "When we discover we are weak in ourselves, we find we are strong in Christ. When we regard ourselves as the less than the least of all God’s people, we are given some immense privilege of serving in the Kingdom. When we almost despair over our inadequacy, we find the Holy Spirit giving us unusual ability. We shake our heads in amazement and say with Isaiah, ‘Lord, … all that we have accomplished you have done for us’" (Isa 26:12).
• Quote: "Yet the duties God requires of us are not in proportion to the strength we possess in ourselves. Rather, they are proportional to the resources available to us in Christ. We do not have the ability in ourselves to accomplish the least of God’s tasks" (TG, John Owen, 164).
• 2 Cor 3:5-6a. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant
• God has the hard job! We have the easy job!
• The easy job is taking the message to the uttermost ends of the earth, and scattering the seed of the Word of God. Every Christian has the capacity to do this.
• The hard job is to "level the mountain" of rebellion and resistance in an unbeliever’s heart. God is the One who convicts and saves!

• Our sense of unworthiness and inadequacy need to continue to deepen as we walk with God. Why do you suppose that’s true?
• Share the Wedge illustration ("He must become greater; I must become less")
• What happens when we lose the balance of unworthiness and responsibility?
• Quote: "To lose sight of our unworthiness is to risk exercising our gifts and fulfilling our ministries in a spirit of presumptuous pride, as if God were fortunate to have us on His team" (TG, 158).
• We usually lose sight of our responsibility because we are too focussed on our own unworthiness or inadequacy.
• Quote: "To focus too much on our unworthiness, to the neglect of God’s grace, will effectively immobilize us for His service" (TG, 158).

• Quote: "This is the amazing story of God’s grace. God saves us by His grace and transforms us more and more into the likeness of His Son by His grace. In all our trials and afflictions, He sustains and strengthens us by His grace. He calls us by grace to perform our own unique function within the Body of Christ. Then, again by grace, He gives to each of us the spiritual gifts necessary to fulfill our calling. As we serve Him, He makes that service acceptable to Himself by grace, and then rewards us a hundredfold by grace" (TG, pg 170).

Conclusion

• The qualifications of carrying out God’s ministry is unworthiness and inadequacy.
• God demands that we be unworthy and inadequate, so that He can demonstrate His own power in our lives and the lives of others through us.
• The ministry is an awesome responsibility. All of creation hangs off of ministry.
• God gives us the grace to meet this awesome responsibility every day.
• The Wedge illustration demonstrates at least two things:
• As we grow in our knowledge of God, and as we grow in our knowledge of our own unworthiness, Christ is exalted, because He gives us our worth.
• It also demonstrates that as we increase our understanding of the awesome responsibility of the ministry, and as we grow in our knowledge of our own inability to do the ministry, Christ is exalted, because He gives us our strength.

Applications. How do these truths affect your understanding of evangelism and discipleship?

Appropriating God’s Grace (Bridge to next Study)

• Quote (TG, pg 151): "God said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you." God, who is "the God of all grace" (1 Pet 5:10), is the giver of grace, but that does not mean we Christians are passive recipients of it. Rather, we are to appropriate His grace…. Just as the Israelites had to gather day-by-day the manna God graciously provided, so we must appropriate day-by-day the grace that is always sufficient for every need.
• We’ve established that God’s grace is something to be gained, because it provides for our needs. So how do we use it? What are some ways that we can appropriate, or apply, God’s grace to our lives?

• [Put this near the end of this section] Quote (TG, pgs 151-2): "Timothy needed moral strength because he was prone to timidity. So Paul wrote, "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. What is your greatest need just now? Is it contentment in a very difficult situation? Paul would say to you, "Be content in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Is it patience or forbearance in very trying circumstances? Then be patient in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Is it moral purity in a romantic relationship? Then be pure in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Whatever your need at the time, you too can experience the reality of God’s words to Paul: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ God’s grace is sufficient. It is sufficient for all your needs; it is sufficient regardless of the severity of any one need. The Israelites never exhausted God’s supply of manna. It was always there to be gathered every day for forty years. And you will never exhaust the supply of God’s grace. It will always be there every day for you to appropriate as much as you need for whatever your need is."

• Jn 15:5b. …apart from me you can do nothing.
• Read Rom 8:32. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
• Read 2 Pet 1:3. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Central Idea: God’s grace enables us to persevere and grow despite any and all obstacles. God gives each of us the grace we need to fulfill the ministry and service He has given to us to bring glory to His Name.

• The qualifications for carrying out God’s ministry are
• Unworthiness
• Inadequacy
• God demands that we be unworthy and inadequate, because
• He can demonstrate His own power in our lives and the lives of others through us.
• Any "worth" apart from Christ (pride) only gets in the way of God’s power.
• The ministry is an awesome responsibility.
• Eternal lives are at stake.
• Man’s rebellion and repentance affect even creation itself.
• God gives us the grace to meet this awesome responsibility every day.
• The Wedge illustration demonstrates at least two things:
• As we grow in our knowledge of God, and as we grow in our knowledge of our own unworthiness, Christ is exalted, because He gives us our worth.
• It also demonstrates that as we increase our understanding of the awesome responsibility of the ministry, and as we grow in our knowledge of our own inability to do the ministry, Christ is exalted, because He gives us our strength.

Sacrificial Grace: Necessary for Ministry

• So far, we’ve been focussing on the grace to do God’s ministry. There’s one more aspect of this grace to explore: God’s sacrificial grace.

• What would you say the word sacrifice means?
• The American Heritage Dictionary
• (noun) The forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.
• (verb) To forfeit one thing for another thing considered to be of greater value.

• Would you say that we sacrifice ourselves in our holy living and in carrying out the daily task of the ministry? Yes.
• Rom 12:1. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
• Luke 9:23. Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
• 1 Cor 15:30-31. And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• But I thought the sacrifice of Jesus was enough. If we have to sacrifice ourselves everyday, then doesn’t that take away from the finality of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross?
• The sacrifice of Christ was done, once for all. Heb 10:8-10. First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

• How do you reconcile the finality of the sacrifice of Jesus with our understanding that we can offer God sacrifices in our daily living?
• We cannot sacrifice ourselves for our salvation, because Christ was the once-for-all, complete sacrifice for our salvation (Heb 10:10).
• By strict definition, for us to sacrifice anything to God, that thing would have to be worth something before Him. But since "without faith, it is impossible to please God" (Heb 11:6), and since spiritually dead men (Eph 2:1) cannot offer anything of worth before God (not even our faith), we can only sacrifice things that God gives us to sacrifice, because every good and perfect gift comes from God (Js 1:17).
• So in this sense (the daily walk sense), we can daily sacrifice only that which is daily available for us to sacrifice. This would be God’s sacrificial grace. It is the grace that is given to strengthen and replenish us as we give it back to God, and give it out to others.
• Side Notes:
• In another sense, humans tend to value ungodly things. So we "sacrifice" our old sinful lives in exchange for our new holy lives, but our old sinful selves only have perceived value from our perspective, so they only appear to be worthy sacrifices.
• This is a picture of the "now and not yet" phenomenon. The Christian is at the same time completely holy, but yet becoming more holy. Phil 3:10-14,16. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

• What are we actually offering as sacrifices?
• Heb 13:15-16. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
• Ps 51:17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
• Mark 12:30-31. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
• Eph 5:2. and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
• Rom 12:1. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

• If we keep on sacrificing ourselves, where are we getting our worth? Our identity? Our strength? How do we gain this sacrificial attitude?
• Only through Christ. 1 Pet 2:5. you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
• We can sacrifice ourselves because we are kept secure in Christ’s strength. Not only this, but we can conquer with Christ’s strength. Rom 8:35-37. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
• When we make sure our neighbors are "amply supplied," we have the promise that God will meet our all our needs as we give ourselves away. Phil 4:18-19. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
• We gain this attitude by the grace of God. 2 Cor 8:1-4. And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.
• "So it was the grace of God operating in them through the Holy Spirit, not the superiority of their own character, that caused such and abundant outpouring of generosity from the Macedonians. God did not leave them to the resources of their own human nature—which is not naturally generous—but intervened in their hearts by the power of His Spirit to create this amazing generosity" (TG, 167).

The Reward of Grace

• Emphasis on God’s grace apart from human worth or inadequacy leads to the question of the relationship of grace and rewards
• Doesn’t God promise rewards to His faithful servants?
• Didn’t Paul himself teach that we must appear before the judgement seat of Christ to receive what is due us?
• If all our efforts are the results of God’s grace, what room is left for "faithful service?"

• God does promise us rewards
• Eph 6:7-8. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
• Col 3:23-24. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
• Heb 11:6. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
• Heb 11:26. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

• How do you reconcile the clear teaching of the Bible that we get rewarded for our actions when we know very well that we can never earn any blessings from God, whether salvation, or daily blessings, or final glory? These rewards are rewards of grace, not merit
• "If all our service to God is made possible by His undeserved favor and made effective by the power of His Spirit, then we have really brought nothing to Him that we did not first receive from Him. The Puritan Samuel Bolton said, ‘If there was anything of man’s bringing, which was not of God’s bestowing, through it were never so small, it would overturn the nature of grace, and make that of works which is of grace.’ But it is all of God’s bestowing. Every thought, word, or deed emanating from us that is in any way pleasing to God and glorifying to Him has its ultimate origin in God, because apart from Him, there is nothing good in us" (TG, pg 168).
• 1 Chron 29:14,16. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand…. 16 O LORD our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.
• Rom 11:35-36a. "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things.
• Faith is a necessary condition to pleasing God. So our acts of service must be done in faith. Heb 11:6a. And without faith it is impossible to please God
• But faith itself is a gift of God’s grace. Rom 12:3. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
• "So the grace of God in our service to Him does not negate rewards, but rather makes them possible. As R. C. Sproul said, ‘But the blessing Christ promised, the blessing of great reward, is a reward of grace. The blessing is promised even through it is not earned. Augustine said it this way: Our rewards in heaven are a result of God’s crowning His own gifts’" (TG, pg 169).

• The effective minister needs more than just ability and desire. He needs the heart and disposition of a servant.
• 2 Cor 4:5. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
• 1 Thess 2:8. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.
• 1 Cor 9:22. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
• Jn 13:3-5. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
• When I realize that really have nothing to offer God, that’s when I really start relying on the grace of God in Christ in my daily life.
• The worth that I have is seen in different light: It’s not mine. It’s all from God. Therefore, I am a steward not only over "tangible" resources (money, time, etc.), but also over every aspect of my ability to please God (prayer, witnessing, worship, study).
• When I realize that even the rewards that are promised me are given to me on the basis of God’s grace alone, then I am utterly amazed at God, and my motivation to obey out of gratitude is fueled, and in fact, is more rightly seen as the only valid motivation.
• Summary. "This is the amazing story of God’s grace. God saves us by His grace and transforms us more and more into the likeness of His Son by His grace. In all our trials and afflictions, He sustains and strengthens us by His grace. He calls us by grace to perform our own unique function within the Body of Christ. Then, again by grace, He gives to each of us the spiritual gifts necessary to fulfill our calling. As we serve Him, He makes that service acceptable to Himself by grace, and then rewards us a hundredfold by grace" (TG, pg 170).

Appropriating God’s Grace (Bridge to next Study)

• Quote (TG, pg 151): "God said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you." God, who is "the God of all grace" (1 Pet 5:10), is the giver of grace, but that does not mean we Christians are passive recipients of it. Rather, we are to appropriate His grace…. Just as the Israelites had to gather day-by-day the manna God graciously provided, so we must appropriate day-by-day the grace that is always sufficient for every need.

• We’ve established that God’s grace is something to be gained, because it provides for our needs. So how do we use it? What are some ways that we can appropriate, or apply, God’s grace to our lives?
• Word
• Prayer
• Being ministered to by others
• Ministering to others
• Daily circumstances

• Quote (TG, pgs 151-2): "Timothy needed moral strength because he was prone to timidity. So Paul wrote, "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. What is your greatest need just now? Is it contentment in a very difficult situation? Paul would say to you, "Be content in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Is it patience or forbearance in very trying circumstances? Then be patient in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Is it moral purity in a romantic relationship? Then be pure in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Whatever your need at the time, you too can experience the reality of God’s words to Paul: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ God’s grace is sufficient. It is sufficient for all your needs; it is sufficient regardless of the severity of any one need. The Israelites never exhausted God’s supply of manna. It was always there to be gathered every day for forty years. And you will never exhaust the supply of God’s grace. It will always be there every day for you to appropriate as much as you need for whatever your need is."

Verses on Rewards

• Eph 6:7-8. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
• Geneva Notes
• Eph 6:7 With good will doing service, as to the {e} Lord, and not to men:
• (e) Being moved with a reverence for God, as though you served God himself.
• Eph 6:8 {10} Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether [he be] bond or free.
• (10) Although they serve unkind and cruel masters, yet the obedience of servants is no less acceptable to God, than the obedience of those that are free.
• Wesley Notes
• 7 Unto the Lord, and not to men - That is, rather than to men; and by making every action of common life a sacrifice to God; having an eye to him in all things, even as if there were no other master.
• 8 He shall receive the same - That is, a full and adequate recompense for it.
• Col 3:23-24. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
• Geneva Notes
• Col 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the {p} reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
• (p) Because you will have duly obeyed your masters, the time will come, that you will be changed from servants to sons, and you will know this for certain, which will be when you are made partakers of the heavenly inheritance.
• Heb 11:6. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
• Geneva Notes
• Heb 11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a {d} rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
• (d) This reward is not referred to our merits, but to the free promise, as Paul teaches in Abraham the father of all the faithful, Ro 4:4.
• Heb 11:26. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

•  
• Jn 15:5b. …apart from me you can do nothing.
• Read Rom 8:32. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
• Read 2 Pet 1:3. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Central Idea: God’s grace is applied to our lives and made real in our experience through prayer, the Bible, submission to His sovereignty, and the ministry of other believers.

Warm-Up Question: Describe a recent time when you experienced God’s grace in a specific way. What did God use to give you His grace?

• What do you think it means to appropriate God’s grace?
• "To set apart for specific use; to take possession of; to make one’s own" (American Heritage Dictionary).
• To appropriate God’s grace is to apply it to our lives to meet a specific need over the period of time that we need it.

• (Quick review of the sufficiency of grace) Do I have any needs at all, whether big or small, physical or spiritual, that God’s grace cannot and does not meet?
• God’s grace is sufficient and, in fact, is given for our every need.
• Quote (TG, pg 151): "God said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you." God, who is "the God of all grace" (1 Pet 5:10), is the giver of grace, but that does not mean we Christians are passive recipients of it. Rather, we are to appropriate His grace…. Just as the Israelites had to gather day-by-day the manna God graciously provided, so we must appropriate day-by-day the grace that is always sufficient for every need.
• So if I’m downcast, and I need God’s joy, does God’s grace fulfill that need? 2 Thess 2:16-17. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
• If I need the strength and skills to minister Christ to people, does God’s grace fulfill that need?
• Rom 15:15-16. I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
• Eph 3:8. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
• If I need strength just to endure an excruciating trial, does God’s grace fulfill that need? 2 Cor 12:8-9. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
• If I am struggling with overcoming laziness, does God’s grace fulfill that need? 1 Cor 15:10. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
• If I am struggling with personal holiness, does God’s grace fulfill that need? 2 Cor 1:12. Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace.
• If I am struggling with not being thankful, does God’s grace fulfill that need? 2 Cor 4:15. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
• If I am struggling with being self-serving, does God’s grace fulfill that need? 2 Cor 8:7. But just as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us --see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
• Quote (TG, pgs 151-2): "Timothy needed moral strength because he was prone to timidity. So Paul wrote, "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. What is your greatest need just now? Is it contentment in a very difficult situation? Paul would say to you, "Be content in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Is it patience or forbearance in very trying circumstances? Then be patient in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Is it moral purity in a romantic relationship? Then be pure in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Whatever your need at the time, you too can experience the reality of God’s words to Paul: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ God’s grace is sufficient. It is sufficient for all your needs; it is sufficient regardless of the severity of any one need. The Israelites never exhausted God’s supply of manna. It was always there to be gathered every day for forty years. And you will never exhaust the supply of God’s grace. It will always be there every day for you to appropriate as much as you need for whatever your need is."
• 2 Cor 9:8. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

• We’ve established that God’s grace is something to be gained, because it provides for our needs. So how do we use it? What are some ways that we can appropriate, or apply, God’s grace to our lives?
• Prayer
• Word
• Submitting to our daily circumstances
• Being ministered to by others
• Ministering to others

• Read Heb 4:14-16. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
• SG #1.a. This passage encourages us to go to God in prayer, asking for the grace we need. What does this passage give as some of the reasons we can approach God with confidence?
• We have a great high priest, who is the Son of God.
• Our priest sympathizes with our weaknesses because He’s been tempted in every way, but without sin.
• Jesus is able to help us because He suffered Himself. Heb 2:18. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
• SG #1.b. How do you find those reasons encouraging?
• We tend to be more willing to talk to Someone who has been through what we’ve been through. In light of these reasons, I should never use, "God can’t identify with my struggles" as an excuse for prayerlessness.
• The fact that the God of Creation would willingly subject His only Son to a life of suffering and persecution, and ultimately the gross injustice of a Roman cross helps me realize the depth of the love that God has for me. Why would he go through so much to save me, but then not provide for me through prayer?
• Rom 8:32. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
• Mt 7:7-11. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

• How much of a privilege is prayer?
• We need to have a healthy fear of God in order to understand the high privilege of prayer. Eccl 5:1-2. Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
• In the Old Testament times, entering God’s presence was a big deal. Only the high priest could enter, and even then blood had to be shed. Heb 9:7. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
• The sacrifice of Jesus opened up the Holy of Holies to anyone who turns to God. So now, Jesus is our High Priest, and we can enter into God’s presence unharmed because Jesus protects us from God’s wrath.
• Mt 27:50-51. And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.
• Heb 10:19-22. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
• Quote (TG, pg 173): "We need to remember that it was God Himself who presented Jesus as the atonement for our sins, as the One who satisfied the justice of God and by that satisfaction turned aside God’s wrath from us. And because of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, God’s throne is no longer a throne of judgment and wrath for us, but is now a throne of grace."
• How do these verses help us properly appropriate God’s grace through prayer?
• Your appropriation of God’s grace is directly linked to your view of God. These verses draw us into a much higher view of God in prayer.
• When I realize how much of a privilege prayer is, prayer itself becomes a blessing from God. Just being able to be with our awesome Creator should, in a sense, appropriate comfort, security, etc.

• Do we approach the throne of grace alone?
• Rom 8:26-27. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
• Rom 8:34. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
• Heb 7:24-25. but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
• How do these verses help us in prayer?
• When I realize that I’m not alone, I feel strengthened. When I realize that it’s Jesus Himself and the Holy Spirit Himself that are with me, interceding for me, then I can rest on their ability to help me appropriate God’s grace to my needs.
• The effectiveness of my prayers are not dependent on my fancy and convincing words. This helps me realize that I can enter into God’s presence just as I am, as clumsy and inefficient as I am with my words, and God will still meet my needs.

• How are faith and prayer linked?
• Prayer seems to be an expression of our faith.
• Rom 12:12. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
• Mk 11:24. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
• Mt 21:22. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
• In these verses, does God promise to answer all our prayers the way we want?
• No. The unspoken condition in these verses is found in the following verses.
• Js 4:2-3. You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
• Jn 15:7. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
• So when we seek to appropriate God’s grace, our faith must kick in as we call to mind all the things God has done for us, and as we lean on all the future promises God has given us. We need a strong element of faith in order to effectively appropriate God’s grace in our lives.
• How do we overcome our unbelief and prayerlessness?
• Realize that even faith is from God, and ask Him for more. We do believe perfectly in Christ, because when God looks at us, He sees Christ. But we don’t believe perfectly in our daily living. We should cling to Mk 9:24. Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

• SG #2. If we are to experience God’s grace through prayer, we must pray. But even for Christians, this seems to be the last thing we get around to doing.
• SG #2.a. Why do you think many Christians don’t pray more than they do?
• Unbelief
• We tend to forget how much we need God every day.
• We think we can handle it on our own. Prayer presupposes dependence on God.
• SG #2.b. How do you feel about your prayer life at this point in your daily walk with God?
• SG #2.c. What specific things do you need to do to improve your prayer life?
• Develop the habit of daily, protected prayer time (special time, special place).
• Take care of your body (proper food, exercise, and rest).
• Deliberately remove distractions.
• Don’t pray for the sake of prayer; Pray out of a hunger for God.
• Ask God to help make you a man or woman of prayer.

• God is the God of all grace. He delights to meet our every need.
• God meets these needs with His grace through:
• Prayer
• Word
• Submitting to our daily circumstances
• Being ministered to by others
• Ministering to others
• Prayer is a great privilege
• We are allowed to enter the "Holy of Holies" through prayer, anywhere, anytime.
• We enter God’s presence through Christ, who protects us and intercedes for us.
• Our prayer is an expression of our faith
• When we pray, we should pray in faith. As we pray more in faith, then our desires start to become God’s desires, and we ask for things that interest God.
• When we don’t pray, we are saying, in practical terms, that we really don’t believe God.

• Write down five needs that you have.
• Write down five needs that people you know around you have.
• Pick one or two from each list. Focus on these in prayer this week. Watch God answer.

These are just some verses that lifted my Spirit while preparing for this study. They can be used as passages just to reflect on, not necessarily to tear apart and study in great detail.

• This passage speaks of God’ delight in doing His children good. Jer 32:38-41. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
• This passage speaks of the depth of God’s love for us. Eph 3:16-21. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Chapter 8b:  Appropriating God's Grace (God's Word)

Central Idea: God’s grace is applied to our lives and made real in our experience through prayer, the Bible, submission to His sovereignty, and the ministry of other believers.

Warm-Up Question: Share a time when God used a particular Scripture passage in your life to speak directly to you.

Appropriating God’s Grace through His Word

• What are some ways Scriptures are brought to our attention?
• Friends, sermons, Bible study, Bible reading, Christian books, Bible memorization, Christian radio and television
• What do all these things have in common? They all require the attention of our minds.
• Quote (TG, pg 177): "The grace we receive from God … is the aid of the Holy Spirit. We do not understand just how the Holy Spirit interacts with our human spirit, but we do know He most often uses His word. That is, He brings to our mind some Scripture or Scriptures, particularly appropriate to the situation."
• Rom 12:2. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
• SG # 1.a. Which of these are a part of a typical week for you?
• SG # 1.b. Which of these areas do you feel you need to give more of your attention?

• How does the Word of God describe itself?
• The Word of God is different from any other writings. It is directly from God, and is perfect.
• 2 Tim 3:16a. All Scripture is God-breathed.
• Prov 30:5a. Every word of God is flawless
• The Word of God is described as a living entity.
• Deut 32:46b-47a. Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you--they are your life.
• 1 Jn 2:14. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
• 1 Pet 1:23. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
• The Word of God is active. It changes people.
• 1 Pet 2:2 (NASB). Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.
• 1 Thess 2:13. And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
• Heb 4:12. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
• The Word of God is a weapon of warfare, spiritual warfare. Eph 6:17. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
• How can a physically lifeless book full of pages and ink, which is made from dead trees actually be what is described here?
• Actually, the Bible is not really the Word of God, in the physical sense. Jesus is the Word of God, and the physical book just points to Jesus. So there’s nothing wrong with calling the Bible the Word of God, as long as we are understanding it to be somewhat metaphorical. That is, the Bible points to, or represents the Word of God, who is King Jesus.
• [Side note: It is unnecessary to venerate the physical Bible over any other writings. I probably take better care of my Bible than any other book, not because it has special powers, but because it points to Christ, who does have special powers.]
• Jn 1:1, 14. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
• Rev 19:11-13. I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

• What are some hinderances to getting the Word of God into my life?
• We must battle sins of unbelief.
• If we truly believe that the Bible is really God speaking directly to us, then wouldn’t we come to it more often to find out what God is saying to us about Himself?
• If we truly believe that the Bible is God’s primary means of giving us His grace, then wouldn’t we come to it more often with our needs, applying the Word of God to our particular situation?
• We must battle the sins of business and laziness.
• Maybe we are too consumed with our own life agendas. We have to be so enraptured by our chief purpose in life, to glorify God, that it’s not even a question that we would be getting the Word into our minds and hearts. We should never categorize God in our lives!

• With the above Scriptures in mind, how do we now understand what it means to appropriate God’s grace through the Word of God?
• Ac 20:32. Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
• Quote (TG, pg 177): "[Paul] referred to ‘the word of his grace, which can build you up.’ The reference here is to the ongoing use of Scripture in our daily lives to build us up in the Christian faith. But Paul specifically called it ‘the word of his grace,’ the word through which we come to understand and appropriate God’s grace in our daily lives…. If we are to appropriate the grace of God then, we must become intimate friends with the Bible."
• R. C. H. Linski said, "God and the Word of his grace always go together; God lets his grace flow out through that Word."
• Rom 15:4-5. For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus….
• In verse 4, what gives us endurance and encouragement? The Scriptures
• In verse 5, who gives us endurance and encouragement? God
• What does this say about the relationship between God and Scriptures? God doesn’t just use the Word to inform us, or to just reveal who He is; He uses the Scriptures as a means of grace to us. God is a source of power and strength through the Scriptures.
• So when we have a healthy intake of the Bible, we are appropriating life (grace) into our own lives because in a sense, Christ comes alive in our human spirits through normal, mundane words and language that we use every day.

• What are some practical ways I can get the Word of God into my mind?
• The Bible Mind Model (Three concentric circles)
• The inner circle contains those verses I’ve memorized. These are the verses I can recite perfectly with topic and references.
• The middle circle contains those verses that I can find right away in the Bible, but I don’t necessarily have them memorized.
• The outer circle contains concepts that I know are found somewhere in the Bible, but I can’t necessarily find them right away.
• We should seek to broaden all three circles of biblical knowledge.
• This model is somewhat (but purposefully) limited. It only demonstrates categories of methods for learning what the Bible says.
• More than just getting biblical information into our minds, we should seek to understand the Scriptures. Meditate on them. Act on them. Obey them. Sink them down into our hearts. See God in our lives and in the lives of others using the rule of life: The Word of God.
• We can "pray with our eyes open." That is, we can pray over Scriptures as we read through them. This completes the circle of communication. God speaks to us. Then we respond by speaking to Him.
• Quote (some preacher): "You will serve the kingdom you see."
• Ways to get the Word of God in front of us:
• Scripture memory systems (i.e., TMS)
• Placing post-it notes containing verses in conspicuous places
• Write key words on your hand.
• Etc….
• The closer we can get the Word of God to our minds, the more opportunities we will have, practically speaking to appropriate God’s grace, given through His word, to our lives.
• Read Mt 4:1-11. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" 7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." 10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
• How did Jesus appropriate God’s grace in the desert of temptation? He quoted Scriptures.
• Deut 8:3b. …man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
• Deut 6:16a. Do not test the LORD your God
• Ex 23:25a. Worship the LORD your God,
• Ex 20:3. You shall have no other gods before me.

Application

• Now that we’ve studied some aspects of the sheer power of God through the Scriptures, one nagging question comes to mind: Why do I not get myself in the Bible every day? Why do I not hunger for God through the Scriptures?
• How are you going to make sure you’re in a position to appropriate God’s grace through His Word this week?

Conclusion

• God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. He may bring Scriptures to mind in many different ways, but God’s primary means of communication to us is the Bible.
• The Bible describes itself as:
• God-breathed and perfect
• Living and active
• Something that transforms people
• A weapon of warfare: The Sword of the Spirit
• The Word of God is actually Jesus, but we refer to the Bible as the Word of God because it points directly to Jesus. It’s the story of God’s redemptive purposes in Christ for His people.
• We must identify, confess, and overcome hindrances that keep us from the Word of God.
• Some ways we can get the Word into our minds:
• Mind Model:
• Verse Memorization
• Verse Familirization
• Concept Familiarization
• Casual Reading
• Rigorous Bible Study
• Use techniques to make Bible verses more "visible" to us

Central Idea: God’s grace is applied to our lives and made real in our experience through prayer, the Bible, submission to His sovereignty, and the ministry of other believers.

Appropriating God’s Grace through Submitting to God in Our Circumstances

• What are some examples of circumstances where you need a "healthy portion" of God’s grace to get you through?
• When people treat me unfairly
• When I’m being persecuted for my beliefs
• When I find myself in a "bind" that I need to get myself out of
• When my friends betray me
• When we or people we know experience trauma
• A break-up with a girlfriend or boyfriend
• A death in the family

• How do we prepare ourselves to receive God’s grace through submitting to God in our circumstances?

• SG #1. "To experience God’s grace, we must humble ourselves and trust that God is in control regardless of the difficulty of our circumstances." Read 1 Pet 5:5b-7. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

• SG #1.a. According to this passage, how do we receive God’s grace? In other words, what are we told to do in these verses?
• Humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand
• Clothe ourselves with humility toward one another
• Cast all our anxieties on Him

• SG #1.b. What is the end result of our humility? We will be lifted up.
• What does it mean to be "lifted up"?
• We have been given eternal life. Jn 5:24. "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
• We have been promised God’s richest blessings. Eph 1:18-19a. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
• This promise is a steadfast, reliable hope. 1 Pet 1:3-5. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
• When will we be "lifted up"? In due time.
• Why do you think the answer is somewhat vague?
• God wants us to be in a state of constantly trusting Him
• We are not to focus on when we will be lifted up, just simply that we will be lifted up.
• How does the fact that God promises to lift us up in due time actually give us grace to endure our present trials and circumstances?
• It goes back to our identity. If my securities are in Jesus, then I have nothing to lose by being humble, and everything to gain.
• My strength to endure is directly linked to the credibility of the One promising relief in the future. Since God is perfectly reliable and trustworthy, I have nothing to fear. Rom 8:35-37. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

• Why can we cast all our anxieties on Him? Because God cares for us!
• Mt 7:11. If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
• Rom 8:31b-32. If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

• What does it mean to "cast all our anxieties on Him"?
• The root of our anxieties is unbelief. Mt 6:25-34. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
• If the root of anxieties is unbelief, then how do we battle unbelief?
• By appropriating the graces of the Word, and the Holy Spirit through prayer
• Quote (John Piper, Future Grace, pg 56): "How do we fight [feelings of anxiety]? We fight anxieties by fighting against unbelief and fighting for faith in future grace. And the way you fight this ‘good fight’ is by meditating on God’s assurances of future grace [the Word] and by asking for the help of His Spirit [prayer]. The windshield wipers are the promises of God that clear away the mud of unbelief, and the windshield washer fluid is the help of the Holy Spirit…. Without the softening work of the Holy Spirit, the wipers of the Word just scrape over the blinding clumps of unbelief. Both are necessary—the Spirit and the Word. We read the promises of God and we pray for the help of His Spirit. And as the windshield clears so that we can see the welfare that God plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11), our faith grows stronger and the swerving of anxiety smooths out.

• SG #1.c. In what areas of your life is God teaching you to be more humble?

• Read 1 Pet 5:10-12. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 12 With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.

• Who is the one who restores us, strengthens us, and makes us firm and steadfast? God Himself
• And how reliable is God? Is He One who keeps His promises?
• Lam 3:22-23. Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
• Num 23:19. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

• How do you suppose we stand fast in the grace of God?
• Remember God’s past grace
• Let God’s faithfulness in His past grace secure your faith in His future grace
• Given a particularly difficult circumstance, choose to have a Godly attitude.
• We stand fast in the grace of God by humbling ourselves and letting His sovereign and providential hand work. Let’s see how the Psalm-writer did this. Ps 51:1b-4, 10-12. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge …. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

• SG #2.
• a. Describe the attitude of a person who refuses to submit to what God is allowing into his life.
• It’s an attitude of denial, anger, anxiety, fear, pride, unbelief, …
• He is only thinking of the "here and now"
• Pride is the root because it declares, "I know what’s best for me, and this isn’t it!"
• In effect he’s not believing God’s promise that "all things work together for the good…"
• b. How is the grace of God restricted in this person’s life?
• According to 1 Pet 5:5, God actually opposes the proud.
• The condition for receiving God’s grace is humbleness. Why? Because to receive God’s grace, we have to play by His rules, not our own. (In a sense, pride is playing by our own rules).
• c. Have you ever experienced a time when your attitude created a barrier in your life to enjoying the grace of God? Share what you learned from this experience.

• We prepare ourselves to receive God’s grace through submitting to God by:
• Humbling ourselves before God’s mighty hand
• Clothing ourselves with humility toward one another
• Casting all our anxieties on God
• The root is unbelief
• We battle this by meditating on God’s faithful past grace and promised future grace through the Word and prayer
• We appropriate God’s grace during these trying times by:
• Battling unbelief by remembering God’s past grace and claiming God’s promises of future grace
• Seeking God’s grace in the Word
• Seeking the Holy Spirit in prayer
• The key is the God-centeredness of life. (That’s why the root sin is pride and unbelief, and also why we must humble ourselves).

Application What will you do this week to appropriate God’s grace to your life through your particular circumstances?

Central Idea: God’s grace is applied to our lives and made real in our experience through prayer, the Bible, submission to His sovereignty, and the ministry of other believers.

Warm-Up Question:

Describe a time when you were in great need, and all you could do was go to a friend and share your burdens. Did God give you His grace through that person?

Appropriating God’s Grace through the Ministry of Others

• Why do you think it’s difficult to ask for help from other people when we are in a time of need? In other words, what are some barriers that prevent us from seeking help?
• Pride/Denial (I don’t want to admit to myself or others that I have a problem.)
• Control (I don’t want to lose control of the situation by opening up to somebody else.)
• Lack of Trust (I can’t trust anyone with my deepest needs.)
• Fear (I’m afraid to reveal my weaknesses because I might be exploited.)
• Frustration from bad experiences (I don’t want to receive a sermon. I just want somebody to listen.)
• False sense of security (I’m OK. I can handle it on my own.)
• Inconvenience (I don’t want to ‘burden’ other people with my problems.)

• What are some ways we can be more open to receive grace from others?
• Be humble enough to admit we have a problem and let people know about it.
• Be secure enough in Christ to be able to be vulnerable and open.
• Don’t let bad past experiences ruin our search for grace from others.
• Don’t have such high expectations for people we can confide in—You’ll never find that "perfect" friend.
• Remember that sometimes it’s hard word finding a good friend.
• Let people know that they have "permission" to minister to us. We have to be active in communicating our need for ministry.
• Ask people for advice in situations, even if we already think we know the right course of action. This communicates to the other person that their opinion is valued.

• What are some ways we can be more giving of grace to others?
• Demonstrate that you care about them.
• Let them know that you are available for them.
• Listen attentively, and remember what they say!
• Be aware of subtle signals of emotional pain or troubles.
• Be gentle and nurturing.
• Be private and trustworthy. Don’t be a loudmouth.
• Don’t be pushy, preachy, or patronizing. Come along side of the person.
• Don’t have a judging spirit when interacting.
• Don’t feel like you have to be the hero and that you must "save" that person from their distress.
• As a listener, don’t be "solution-oriented." Be "relationship-oriented."

• What do we do about people who require "extra grace?"
• These are people who, in our eyes:
• Whine and complain a lot about their troubles and distresses
• Are constantly distressed over "stupid" or "insignificant" things
• Constantly reject your counsel, but keep coming back for more
• Are usually very insecure about themselves
• Etc…
• In situations where we feel that the other person is taking advantage of us, we must remember that it’s God’s job to avenge and to make things right. It’s our duty to have unconditional love. We must do our part, and let God deal with their lack of appreciation. We are called to live a life of imbalance and injustice (Rom 15:1-3).
• To address their insecurities, we can build them up by pointing out strengths in their characters and identifying their potential
• Sometimes, "tough love" is the answer. But be very cautious with this.
• Make sure the person is clear on why you are administering "tough love."
• Don’t reject the person. Only reject their sinful behavior/attitudes.
• "Tough love" should only be for a season, and you should clearly communicate your expectations and the other person’s "exit requirements."
• Perhaps more than anything else, these people need prayer.

• So far, we’ve talked about ways we can either seek grace from others, or give grace to others. What are some things that we can actually do to minister to each other?
• Pray for each other
• Help each other understand and apply Scriptures to each other’s lives
• Help each other submit to God’s sovereign hand in each other’s current circumstances

• Read 1 Cor 12:12-27. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
• Why do you think Paul likens the Church of Christ to a physical body, and each of its members to body parts?
• Unity (vs. 12). A body is a single unit with a specific identity, but is made up of many diverse parts. The church is a single unit with a specific identity: Christ, but is made up of many parts: Christians.
• Belonging (vs. 16-17). All the body parts belong to the body. The body "owns" the body parts. All Christians belong to the body of Christ, the Church.
• Functionality (vs 16-18). All the body parts perform individual functions (seeing, hearing, smelling), but have a higher purpose of serving the body with its desires and activities. Christians all have different functions (music, encouragement, hospitality, mercy) and all contribute their array of gifts, abilities and talents for the higher purposes of Christ in the Church.
• Self-Preservation (vs 21-26). This goes two ways. We take care of our body and its many parts by cleaning them, bandaging them, and protecting them because we care for ourselves. In the same way, Jesus cares for and nurtures His children through the church. Also, the body has the amazing ability to heal itself. When we get cut, white blood cells rush to the job to protect us from harmful germs. Our blood caries vital nutrients to all the parts of our bodies. Our hands tend to the parts that are under stress or trauma. In the same way, Christians uphold each other, rushing to meet each others needs when we encounter stress or trauma. Each part needs each of the other parts. 2 Cor 8:14. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.
• If we Christians fail to maintain this bond of unity, what does this say about our faith? It certainly casts a shadow on our belief in Jesus because Paul says that each one of us is a part of the Body of Christ, and if we fail to be and do our part, we have, at a minimum a cloudy understanding of who Christ is and what He is doing.
• If we Christians fail to maintain this bond of unity, how does this affect our witness to the non-Christian? If the Church truly is the vessel through which the Body of Christ can be seen, then if Christians weaken their God-given unity, Christ will appear fragmented, small, and meaningless to the non-Christian.
• (Optional) In what ways do you think the American culture of individuality and independence has weakened the church?

• Eccl 4:9-12. Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
• Why is there greater strength in greater numbers?
• We keep each other in check. We "sharpen" each other with our complementary strengths. We can keep each other accountable. I should live my life in such a way that I’m representing the nearness of God to the other person.
• When we get ourselves in a bind, our friends can rescue us.
• We can stand back-to-back in spiritual warfare, covering up each other’s weaknesses and only displaying the strengths of each other.
• Why is Christian friendship likened to a "cord of three strands?" A cord of three strands is not just three individual strands that are brought close to each other. A cord consists of multiple fibers that are interwoven in order to distribute the workload more evenly. Each strand’s weaknesses are compensated for by the strength of the other strands at every point. Instead of a strength additive, it’s actually a strength multiplier.

• Rom 15:1-7. We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
• What reason, or basis, are we given for being able to endure the failings of the weak and to accept one another, failings and all?
• Christ bore the ultimate injustice for our sakes. We should be able to humbly endure the difficulties of bearing each others’ burdens (vs. 1-3).
• Christ accepted us while we were dead in our trespasses, in order to give God the praise. In the same way, we bring God praise when we accept our neighbors as if we were accepting ourselves (vs. 7).
• How do the Scriptures play a role in our ministering to each other?
• The Scriptures give us endurance and encouragement.
• God gives us endurance and encouragement.
• It’s safe to say that God gives us endurance and encouragement through Scriptures, which bring about hope and Christian unity.
• In context, it’s apparent that one of the ways we become more unified is to minister to one another through the Scriptures.

• Mk 2:1-5, 11-12. A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven…." 11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
• What does this passage imply about caring for each other in the body of Christ?
• The four men who carried the paralytic could have:
• Ignored him, thinking that there will be others that come along to care for him
• Ignored him because the burden of carrying a paralytic is just too great
• Carried him a little while, then given up.
• Seen that
• Why did Jesus forgive the paralytic? The passage seems to indicate that when He saw their faith, meaning either the four men, or all five of them, he forgave the paralytic and healed him. This means that there is a mysterious relationship between our compassion and diligence to minister to those in need and Jesus actually meeting their needs.
• What are some ways we can carry each other to Jesus?
• Prayer: Individually, corporately, silently, out loud
• Scriptures: Reading, studying, interpreting, applying

• Read Ps 142. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy. 2 I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble. 3 When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. 4 Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. 5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living." 6 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. 7 Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.
• How can we apply this Scripture to our desire to minister to each other? One way is to make it our ambition to never have a person in our midst who has to say that "no one is concerned for me…. No one cares for my life."
• Is it always bad to be alone, without friends to support us? Not necessarily. God meets us where we are. If our friends abandon us, He accounts for that and accommodates Himself to meet us in our time of loneliness. But Scriptures are clear that "two are better than one."

• We need to build up our support network:
• "Bosom friend"—that one person who we confide in and pray with. You and this person need to be on a level of understanding in which you can ask each other the "tough questions."
• Accountability/prayer group—a group of three to five in which you share sins, pray for each other, exhort, and encourage one another.
• Strong base of fellowship—a large group of general friends that we "pick from" to minister to and to confide in.
• Church attendance—strong, healthy intake of the Word with the corporate body of believers. None of this "John Wayne Christianity" where we just "take care of ourselves."
• We need to pray that God would:
• Send these people into our lives
• Give us humble, exhortable, and rebukable hearts
• Help us develop our interpersonal relationship skills

Chapter 8e:  Garments of Grace

Central Idea: God’s grace is applied to our lives and made real in our experience through prayer, the Bible, submission to His sovereignty, and the ministry of other believers.

Objectives:

• The grace that saves us is the same grace that transforms us. When we feel we are not bearing fruit, we should:
• Re-establish our understanding of the Gospel message (saving grace)
• Seek our strength from the Gospel message (saving grace)
• The evidence of saving grace (justification) is transforming grace (sanctification).
• We are clothed with the sanctifying garments of grace that are the evidence and visibility of God’s inner, saving grace.
• There are five character traits that are particularly evident of God’s grace in our lives:
• Gratitude
• Contentment
• Humility
• Forbearance
• Forgiveness

Garments of Grace

• (Review) What’s the difference between saving grace and transforming grace?
• Saving grace is God’s justification of us by removing our sins and placing them on Jesus, imputing to us the righteousness of Christ, and declaring us "not guilty" in the sight of God. This is a point-in-time act of God.
• Transforming grace is God’s sanctification of us by empowering us through the Holy Spirit to become Christ-like in His holiness. This is a process that starts at justification and continues until we die. We are enabled to do the good works of God based on the merits and righteousness of Christ alone.

• Can transforming grace exist without saving grace? In other words, can a person be in the process of becoming more Christ-like (sanctification) without actually being saved?
• No. Before we have faith in Christ, we are dead in our sins, incapable of doing anything good in the sight of the Lord.
• Eph 2:1-2. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
• Heb 11:6. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

• Can saving grace exist without transforming grace? In other words, can a person be saved, but not be exhibiting at least some fruit of that salvation through the transforming work of God’s grace? Can a person be justified without starting the sanctification process immediately upon salvation? In more contemporary words, can a person truly consider Jesus to be "Savior", but not "Lord"?
• No. It’s impossible for a new believer to not begin growing in holiness.
• 2 Cor 5:17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
• A person who claims to be a Christian but still lives in his sin proves that he is not a Christian.
• Lk 6:43-49. "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. 46 "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47 I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
• Eph 5:5. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
• It’s faith alone that saves, but saving faith is never alone. Js 2:14-18. What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
• God created us to do good works. Eph 2:8-10. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

• Why do you think saving grace and transforming grace are inseparably linked?
• The salvation that we are given is to be worked out into our daily lives, by the out-working strength, ability, and desire of God. And what God starts, He finishes.
• Phil 2:12-13. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
• Phil 1:6b. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
• They are inseparable because they are the same grace that come from the same God! The grace that saves us is also the grace that teaches us to be holy and to be eager to do what is good. Titus 2:11-14. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

• Read Col 3:12-14. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
• Why do you think Paul likened the acts of being compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient to clothes that one puts on?
• It reminds us that virtues that are pleasing to God do not come from within us. They have to be given to us from an external source. We are not inherently able to do the good works of God. 1 Cor 1:28-30. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
• Paul may be making a connection between being justified (being clothed in Christ), and demonstrating the fruits of sanctification (being clothed in the works of Christ). Gal 3:26-27. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
• Paul understood this inseparable connection between God’s saving grace and His transforming grace. If we are clothed in Christ, then we are necessarily clothed in the works of Christ, and demonstrate them as we work out our salvation into the world. Col 3:9-10. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
• Verses that speak of being clothed in Christ by saving grace:
• (Gen 3:21 NIV) The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
• (Isa 61:10 NIV) I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
• (Zec 3:3-5 NIV) Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." 5 Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.
• (Mat 22:10-14 NIV) So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. 13 "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen."
• (Gal 3:26-28 NIV) You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
• Verses that speak of being clothed in Christ by transforming grace:
• (Rom 13:13-14 NIV) Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
• (Col 3:12 NIV) Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
• (1 Pet 5:5 NIV) Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
• SGD #1.a. What do these verses say about how God thinks of us?
• We are God’s chosen people
• We are holy
• We are dearly loved
• We are forgiven
• How does this make a difference in our efforts to be holy?

• Jerry Bridges identifies five character traits that are particularly related to grace: gratitude, contentment, humility, forbearance, and forgiveness. Why do you think these traits are particularly related to God’s grace in our lives?
• Gratitude and Contentment
• Motivation. We not only don’t earn our salvation, but we also don’t earn any blessings that God gives us in our daily Christian walks. Therefore, our motivation for obedience should be that of gratitude for what God has done and what He has promised He will do.
• Attitude of Entitlement. We need to rid ourselves of the attitude of thinking that we are entitled to God’s blessing for obeying Him.
• Basis for Contentment. When we remove our attitude of entitlement, we become glad and satisfied with what we do have, no matter how little.
• Humility
• Ill-Desert. Quote (TG, pg 201): "As Charles Hodge so aptly said, ‘Christian humility does not consist in denying what there is of good in us; but in an abiding sense of ill-desert, and in the consciousness that what we have of good is due to the grace of God.’ Humility, then gives credit where credit is due, namely to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Pride, which is the opposite of humility, seeks to find within ourselves some innate goodness or even to ascribe to our own commitment or faithfulness the cause of any blessings of God in our lives."
• Basis for Humility. We can afford to be humble because we know who we are in Christ and where we are going after this life. Our self-preserving pride becomes unnecessary.
• Forbearance ("Bear with each other")
• Literally means, "to put up with"
• Basis for Forbearance. To the extent that we consciously live under God’s grace, remembering the fact that He "puts up with" us every time we sin, we will be able to "bear with one another."
• Forgiveness
• Quote (TG, 204): "Forgiveness differs from forbearance in that it has to do with real wrongs committed against us."
• "We are beggers showing other beggers where to find food."
• Basis for Forgiveness. We forgive much because we have been forgiven much.

• Concluding passage: Col 1:3-8,9-12. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints-- 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth…. 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
• How do we know that Paul is talking about the good works of the Colossians when he speaks of their faith and love in verse 5? Because in verse 4, he says that he has heard of their faith and love for the saints. It must be something that is externally evident to other people.
• What is the source of their faith and love? They spring from their hope in heaven, as testified by the Scriptures in the Gospel.
• At what point did the Gospel start bearing fruit and growing, according to verse 6? The Gospel started bearing fruit the day they heard it and understood it in all its truth.
• How should we pray for each other, then, according to verse 9? We should pray that God would fill our friends with the knowledge of His will (which is primarily found in the Gospel message).
• What are the results of these kinds of prayers in our friends, according to verses 10-12? Why should we pray for our friends?
• Live a life worthy of the Lord
• Please Him in every way
• Bear fruit in every good work
• Grow in the knowledge of God
• Be strengthened with His power and might for endurance and patience
• Joyfully give thanks to God

• God’s two graces of saving and transforming are not really two different graces. They’re just aspects, or distinctions, of the same gracious work of God in our lives.
• Saving grace cannot exist without transforming grace, and transforming grace cannot exist without saving grace.
• When we seek to become more holy, we should seek to deepen our understanding of the Gospel message, our own salvation, and go from there. The Gospel is the source and foundation of our ability and desire to be holy.
• Five particular character traits of the Christian are direct out-workings of God’s saving grace in our lives: gratitude, contentment, humility, forbearance, forgiveness
• The (true) knowledge of God’s grace drives us to love the Lord and obey Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbors with the love that God showed us.
• Share the wedge and wheel illustrations.

• How will a deeper understanding of God’s grace affect:
• My prayer life?
• My worship?
• My Bible intake?
• The way I relate to Christians?
• The way I relate to non-Christians?
• What are some practical things I can begin to do to gain a deeper understand of this grace?

(Gen 3:21 NIV) The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

(Isa 61:10 NIV) I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

(Zec 3:3-5 NIV) Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." 5 Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.

(Mat 22:10-14 NIV) So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. 13 "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen."

(Gal 3:26-28 NIV) You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

(Rom 13:13-14 NIV) Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

(Col 3:12 NIV) Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

(1 Pet 5:5 NIV) Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

To e-mail me, click here:  [email protected]
This page was last edited on 19 Dec 1999.