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Transforming Grace
Discussion Guide, Chapter 8c: Appropriating God’s Grace (Submitting to
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.
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.
Conclusion
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?
-
- 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.
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