Understanding Grace - Part 4

1:19Grace in the Old Testament, after one of the very first things that God reveals to Moses is that he is someone who abounds in grace and overflows. That's his self-description. And as we summarize our time in the Old Testament, we come to this one conclusion: that God's grace is finally rooted not in what people do, but in his disposition to be gracious in ways beyond any human formula or calculation. In other words, grace is not something that's earned, it's not any formula that we can come up with to predict what grace is going to do, but it is his disposition to be gracious. It's something that comes from God, flows out of God, and everything it touches is blessed. See that from the Old Testament. As we looked at the New Testament and all the different concepts of grace there in the different languages, we made several summary remarks. With reference to the Christian salvation, grace always has the narrow meaning of the unmerited favor of God.

2:40Grace comes out of God's loving and kind disposition. See these concepts in the Old Testament, the loving kindness of God, the mercy. It's grace, this favor, comes out of God's loving and kind disposition. It's a characteristic of Him. Grace is not. Setting aside or a lowering of God's righteous standards, but it accomplishes them in mankind. Grace is actively not lowering standards, but is actively transforming man, bringing us into conformity with His righteousness and His goodness. Why? Because they are good and they are right. And so He does not set those aside. Grace isn't a setting aside of those at all. On the contrary, it is bringing us into a right relationship with Him and transforming us into His own Son.

3:43I summarizing the New Testament and the Old Testament concept, I put it together like this: Grace involves the devoted favor of God upon the undeserving. That's the way I think about it: devoted favor upon somebody completely undeserving. So when you think about God abounding in loving kindness, what is He doing and abounding in grace? It's this concept, Him devoting His favor upon someone completely undeserving. It's one of the most beautiful concepts you'll ever connect with anywhere, is this flow of God's favor. And it's everything.

4:33Also, pointed out that God's grace is highly personal. We're not to think of grace as some independent, impersonal, metaphysical substance out there. You cannot detach grace from the person. Grace is God's favor in action. Just like you have favor on somebody, and you know it. You know when somebody is showing you favor, you know when somebody is not showing you favor. It's not hard. You can tell it, you know, across the room. But grace is personal. You cannot think about grace independent of the person who is extending it. So grace is very personal and involves a person. So just like with anything else, I just had a conversation just a few minutes ago about the righteousness of Christ. You can't separate the righteousness of Christ from Christ himself. It's not like he imputes his righteousness, and somehow it's some kind of independent, impersonal substance that just gets given to you. No, it comes from union, just like a vine is the branch is tied into the vine. It's the essence. You cannot be connected to grace without being connected to the person that's giving grace. Like I couldn't have. If Nancy had favor towards me, I can't have that favor. It's independent of her. Or likewise. We see that.

6:12Then in the scripture, we looked at the metaphor for grace that keeps, that certainly shows up in the New Testament and in the Old, but the whole idea of water and living waters. But it's important to understand that there's an inseparable union, grace and the spirit of grace. You can't separate grace from the spirit of grace, just like you can't separate grace from the person that is extending that grace. So when we talk about grace, we're talking about the spirit of grace, spirit of God's favor, and grace being the expressions of all of that work of spirit, God's Spirit showing his grace, exhibiting that grace. The metaphor, water, just like physical water is necessary to transport needed nutrients into a plant, very much that metaphor is a depiction of God's Spirit at work in our souls. Without water, a plant dies. You don't believe me, just go look at my garden. And if you same with the soul, if a soul is dies, Disconnected from God, separated from God, there's no life, no spiritual, eternal caliber of life. And so that's where we've been.

7:44Just by way of review. So we've looked at grace in the Old Testament, grace in the New Testament, and then we've looked at this metaphor for grace. So now I want to spend our evening looking at the encompassing nature of grace. It just seems like it touches everything. Like I said, everything good that comes into your life, everything that will come into your life, everything future, all of this, everything past, everything good is a comes out of this overflowing, abundant kindness of God. And so, and it is encompassing. You'll see as we go, and I don't even think I have them all. I don't have them all, but I have quite a few, and we'll look at some of them.

8:40And feel free to just raise a hand if you want to say something as we go through these. I'll try to leave a little time for questions at the end. But first of all, a remnant is chosen by grace. Think about that. A remnant is chosen by grace. You look at. Romans 11, 5. In the same way, then, there has also come to be at the present time, Paul's time, and we would extrapolate even to our time, a remnant according to God's gracious choice. The reason why there is still a testimony in this earth, why there were in Elijah's day 7,000 people who had not bowed the knee to Baal is because of God's grace. It is His favor, and that remnant is chosen by grace. That's why there is still faithful in the land. It doesn't happen outside. It is His favor upon not only those, the remnant itself, but the world in which He places the salt, the world in which He places the light. It is His grace.

10:02So a remnant is chosen by grace. Second, God calls people by His grace. Why does He call people? Well, it comes out of this disposition of His just to be kind and good. That's where it comes from. Galatians 1:15, Paul says, But when God, who had set me apart, Even from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me. Just think about that. The expression of God's grace toward Paul. He called him through his grace. It was through that loving favor. And when you start, when your mind starts awakening, your soul starts awakening, your mind starts being illuminated by the work of the Spirit, and you start understanding, okay, God is, does love me, God does want a relationship with me, God does have a purpose, God thought through my, you start coming with these thoughts.

11:23That is God calling. That is a drawing. And this is what Paul's saying. He called me through his grace. That's where it came from. It was not just that's where it came from. That's the way he calls me. And was pleased to reveal his son in me. So you can see this calling of grace has a purpose, has a destination. What is it? He wants to reveal his son in us. And so God calls people by his grace to reveal his son. And.

12:04So, not only is a remnant chosen by grace, and God calls people by his grace, the act of believing is by grace. That comes out of God's grace. You see, this whole Acts 18, 27, talking about Apollos, a guy mighty in Scripture. Acts 18, 27 says, And when he, speaking of Apollos, wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. And when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. So when Apollos gets there, there are already those who had believed through grace.

12:52And then, how did he help them? Well, he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. So what Luke is recording here in Acts is that he greatly helped those who had already believed because of God's favor upon them. And so you cannot disconnect God's favor from the act of faith. In fact, they're connected. We've been talking about this in our Heart study on Thursday nights. When God, when somebody is being, let me say this: when somebody is giving birth, what else is happening?

13:43This is a pretty hard question. When somebody is giving birth, what else is happening? Somebody is what? Being born. Yeah, you can't separate those. And so, right? You can't. Somebody's giving birth, somebody's being born. Same with God. As He is bringing, as He is causing someone, regenerating a person, He's bringing into being at the same time the one who believes. He doesn't believe for them, but He does bring them into belief by His grace. Why? Because it's good to believe in Him. It really is. And what, what a, and He knows Himself, He knows what faith is, He knows what belief is. And so you can see the just, do you believe in Him tonight? Believe and thank Him for what faith you have and believe in Him all the more.

14:45It's a work of His grace. Say, God, be favorable toward me. Increase my faith. Help my unbelief. So, remnant is chosen by grace. God calls people by his grace. The act of believing is by grace. And forgiveness of sins comes by grace. Seeing a pattern here. All these good things. Ephesians 1:7, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us. What did he lavish upon us? The riches of his grace. As I said this morning, there was the church in Laodicea. And what Jesus was telling them, I want you to buy gold refined in the fire. Buy the pure gold. Take from me. I want to give you something. As the seller, I want you to really have something good. And you have absolutely no means to pay for this, but I want you to have it anyways, and I will make sure you have it. You come to me and buy from me gold refined in the fire. And the riches, what is that? It's the riches of his grace. Jesus is the dispenser of God's favor. He is the mediator of God's favor. All judgment has been given to him, so that all would honor the son as they would the father. This is why Psalm 2, as we heard Tim last week, speak, kiss the son. Oh, be wise. Kiss the son, lest he be angry with you. May Christ be all. And that's a hard song to sing, by the way.

16:37Lovely song, but you think about it. Bring me lower still. I've learned that when you pray that, he answers. And going lower is not something our flesh likes to do, but it's something very good for us. Bring me lower still. He knows how to bring us low, but for the purpose of filling us with his riches. And so grace, that is the truth. Listen, if you have God's favor, what else is there in all the universe? If you have his favor, and that's what's freely offered in the gospel. It's almost like he wants you to want it. Do you want his favor? Do you value that favor? Do you value his goodwill? It's everything. It's everything. So, forgiveness of sins. And that's just a gift of his grace. You see, it's a gift to forgive. I'm going to let this go because favor. Listen, if he wants to hold on to our sins, it's like, that's not good.

18:01But he wants to let them go. And that comes out of his benevolence, out of that flow, that abundant living waters expression. Number five, we're justified by God's grace. We're justified by God's grace. Romans 3, 24, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Now, you've got this law that's focused on you. The righteousness of God has been revealed. You, he sees all, and he knows, and so now here you are before the bar of God's righteousness, and here you are afraid to even look over the top because we're so unholy in his sight. We so fall short of that.

19:05But he is loving and kind, and so he wants to justify us. And so that justification before him to where it's like, okay, declared clean, forgiveness of sins, I have taken away. You are justified in my sight. The law no longer has a claim on you. Justified. Why? We need that. If God imputes sin to us, if He holds us to our sin, I mean, there is no future but to justify, to cleanse, say, you know what, forgiven. And you are now right in my eyes.

19:52And who can bring a charge? You have to, for somebody to, if God justifies us by His grace and the work of Christ, who is there to bring a charge against God's elect? Who can bring a charge against those He's justified? Either you have to assume that God's not just, wouldn't go there, that Jesus' sacrifice isn't sufficient, wouldn't go there. And so it's right. He can be just and justify at the same time because of the work of Christ.

20:41And that too is a gift that comes out of His grace. Titus 3:7 says the same thing. So that being justified by His grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So you can see the justification. Justified to give us eternal life, justified to make us heirs of all that eternal living that's ahead. Humanity at its best. We've lived in a fallen world. We've studied war. We see the breakdown at every level.

21:25But there's coming a time, and I can see incredible good in humanity, not independent, but just as the vestige image-bearers of God, humanity has done some great things, some wonderful things. I can see that, I love the sciences, I've loved what we've studied, I've loved the entrepreneurial, I love the imagination, I love what man has created. It's when sin gets in it that it really perverts the whole thing. But there is so much talent. I love seeing an artist at work, somebody good in what they do. I think God gave this. God celebrates these things, and there is a future where a whole lot of living, eternities of life ahead, where humanity is firing on all its cylinders without sin, the creative energies. The creative thoughts, the imaginations, the ability to seek God and to understand God and to understand His world is just going to be let loose so that we can be made heirs.

22:47I'm excited for what's ahead. I'm excited for the millennium. I'm excited for the eternal state. As you said, as I said before, blip or no blip, if you remember, he holds the key. So, wherever you are, there is coming a day in that whole understanding the future eschatology. You can know that God is going to put humanity in a place and an eternity of time and places to know Him and free from sin. It's like that's when humanity gets to start living. And I see the vestiges of His goodness all around us in this fallen world. And so, I hope you're excited. But you have to be justified by His grace. He wants to give us that eternities of life.

23:52So, we're justified by God's grace. Number six. Regeneration is by grace and mercy. So you think about this. Chosen by grace, he calls people by his grace. The act of believing comes about through his grace, and by his grace, forgiveness of sin, then he once comes out of his grace, justified for him, and regeneration, putting on a whole new humanity. I love this thought. Peter 1:3 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, there's the word, mercy, grace has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Born again.

24:48A lot of theology wrapped up in that whole thought of being born again. As I said, if one's giving birth, someone's being born. That's the idea. What's being born? Someone who's regenerated. What is that? Somebody that has a whole new humanity, a new humanity. We're no longer in Adam, but in Christ. Two different humanities. Think about the old Adam. What can we say about the old Adam? The old Adam lives for himself, was put in paradise.

25:30He used his mind, his intellect, and his heart to look at the world around him to see and perceive what he thought would be best, raised his own throne above God's, and sinned against God. That's the old Adam. And listen, that's life. That's fallen human nature. You can't ever please God apart being married to that fallen human nature because no matter what you do, even your religion will be about yourself. Even your Christianity or so-called Christianity will be an expression of yourself, self-survival.

26:18Remember when you remember many of you, Albert Rambo, the Vietnam vet, Albert Rambo. How many of you don't even remember him? Or how many do remember him? Let me put it that way. Very small number. Albert Rambo, Vietnam vet among us, came in to our body. He said Stallone used his identity. He said he was the only Rambo in the Special Forces unit, whatever. Maybe in some of his stories, he certainly had that kind of resume. But what was fascinating, see, he came to Christ, the Lord transformed him, and really we saw a work of grace. He thought he only had six months to live. God in his humor gave him another four to four and a half good years.

27:14But one of the things is that he got to the near the end, and in some of the final days, he came to me, or he asked me to come to him, and he said, You know, I'm wondering, was all of this Christianity that I just went through just another survival tactic? Because I know I'm about to step into heaven and stand before him. Was this just another? And he started, and we started going through some of these scriptures, and what settled his heart was that you've been born again by his grace.

27:53You have been called by his grace. And Jesus has promised, the one whom the Father brings to him, he certainly in no way at all whatsoever is going to cast out. But it was going back to this idea of God's grace that prepared Rambo for eternity. And it's in his great mercy he has called us to be born again, to put on the new Adam. If you were here Sunday school, I think Russell did a great job the other day walking through some of the theology and Romans. 7 and there and where else, just pretty much Romans 7 when I was there.

28:37But what a great Paul is talking about: there are those who are in Adam, and there are those who are in Christ. You're not in both. What happens is when we are put into Christ, or we are dead to the old Adams, we put on this regeneration, we put on a new nature, a new humanity is put upon us. Say, well, why do we still sin? Well, the flesh is still in us, but we're not in the flesh anymore. Do you see the difference? That's what Paul is basically saying.

29:20It's different to say you are in the flesh. What happens if you're in the flesh? What is that saying? You're incarcerated in it. Even your religion will be about fleshliness. It's that Adam paradigm where you use your intellect, your thinking, your heart, your passions, all to serve yourself, to advance yourself. That's what being in the flesh is. That's why it leads to sin, because it's all about self. And it's self, it's based upon self-perception. Self-understanding, self-authority, self-desire, and all that stuff. And so, yeah, you can't help but sin in that paradigm. But when you're put in Christ, you are put in and on a new humanity. Yes, you are still, the flesh is still in you, so to speak, but you are no longer its slave, but its master, if you are in Christ. And that's why, when you are in Christ, you have the freedom to put down the deeds of the flesh and to live for him.

30:42So it's a different paradigm, and it is real. This is what God wants. If you are so enslaved to your sin, it's because you do not know Christ. You do not really have a relationship with Christ. Because in His favor, He wants you free from sin. And so, regeneration, the whole humanity, the new, it's all what? It comes out of this loving, kind desire. Any thoughts? I've got a whole bunch more, and maybe I won't even try to keep going, but I'll do another one. But if you have any questions or thoughts.

31:31Well, let's look at number seven. Grace allows us to grow in our daily spiritual walk. Grace allows us to grow. I love this. I love this. You think about, okay, there's grace, but then there's growing in grace. In fact, it commanded. Peter, 2 Peter 3:18, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Grow in the grace. Grow in the favor of Christ. Grow in the knowledge of our Lord.

32:16Grace and knowledge. It's interesting to note that speaking about Jesus as when he grew, it's the same word. Luke 2:52 speaks about Jesus' childhood and nature of his growth. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with men. He grew in favor with God. He was given favor and he grew in that favor. Interesting concept. Yes, it's like he gives us his grace, but it's like we respond. He grew by becoming more and more matured in that grace.

33:01Grace relationship with his heavenly Father. And God doesn't just want us in heaven as little babies. He wants us matured humanity. He wants us to mature and to grow and develop in maturity and in favor. How do we grow in favor with God? Well, by favoring Him. We grow in favor, and this should be our response. He favors us, let us favor Him above all. Let us extend grace to Him and not put our favor and affections on other things, but let us in all things grow in favor.

33:56Romans 6:14, For sin shall not be your master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. I love that. Sin is not to be your master. Just file that away about who you are in Christ. Sin is not your master. It is not to be your master. Don't let it be your master. Though you are still in the world and flesh is still very much a part of you, you are no longer. In the old Adam, you are in the new Adam, and so you're not under the law, you're not under sin, you are under grace.

34:44Titus 2:11 says, This for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. Grace, feared, bringing salvation, instructs us, teaches us, so that we may deny ungodliness. Why? Because ungodliness is no bueno. Impressed with my Spanish? Yeah, it's not good. And God does not want us walking in that which is not good. Why? Because He's good.

35:38Well, we're at 7 o'clock. I think I'll leave it there: the encompassing nature of grace. I've got several more to discuss. But any thoughts or comments before we adjourn for the week and go to the yes? I'll just throw this one out to the prime and trump because I know other people out of comments too, but when you're talking about regeneration, the verse that you have there is about 1 Peter 1:3, it caused us to be born again. I really have come to appreciate this is not something we say a lot in regular conversations that you're born again. As a matter of fact, we kind of stay away from it because that whole bag that you kind of identify as born again, you know, I like Jesus using that imagery because just like we didn't have anything to do with our first birth, we have absolutely nothing to do with our second birth. Right. I love that. And it points to how this is purely by God, it's not our own empowerment. Yeah. Yeah.

36:54Very good. Yeah, it's a work of God, and this is what Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus in John 3 about. The wind blows where it wishes. You don't see the wind, but you know when it has occurred. And what brings about? What comes about? Well, faith comes about. True faith. And he caused us to be born again because of his great mercy. That's the expression. If he doesn't. You think about the cause of it all. It's being born again. And remember our men's night, we talked about adoption.

37:31The beginning of this whole salvation enchilada. And I don't separate these things. I don't think you can separate faith from being born again. I don't think you can separate it from conversion. I don't think you can separate belief from repentance. I don't think you can separate justification from faith. You can't, these all come as a big plug. It's the act. Like I said, somebody being born. When God is bringing somebody, bringing, going through the birthing process, somebody is being born at the same time.

38:09But the end goal, the cause of all this is regeneration. The end of it is adoption. Adoption. To be sons of God, to put on that same humanity that Christ puts. We see that, and it's very different than the first Adam. The first Adam had paradise. He had everything, but he didn't have faith. He didn't trust in God. He didn't simply take God at his word. The second Adam does. He trusted all the way to the cross and beyond. And he had that trust, that deep-seated confidence in his heavenly Father. And that's what we're being born again. And yes, the terminology, I think it is important.

38:59We talk about this one. Wide spectrum of evangelicalism. Who are we? What are we? I mean, it's getting difficult to even under, it's such a broad thing now. What is evangelicalism? Well, you throw in, how do we separate this from all the different Christianity and different developments and schools of thoughts? Well, the born-again one, yes, that one really identifies us, and I think it's good terminology. Are you a born-again Christian? Yes, I have been born from above. There's a new spirit in me, washed, cleansed, renewed, and I am not what I was.

39:42Good. Any other thoughts? Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't we go home? Let me pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the evening. Thank you for the truth of your word. Thank you for this encompassing revelation of yourself, about you, how you are abounding in grace and loving kindness. Help us to believe who you are and look in our own lives and see the evidences of your favor. It's all around us. Help us to be responsive, acutely aware of the good things that you have brought into our lives and what you have done and what you have. Promised and of things to come. Father, you've given us a hope, you've given us a future, you've cleansed us from our past, you've separated us from being separated from you. And so, Father, in all this, we thank you, and we now want to leave tonight, going in your grace into our workplace, into our school, into the task that you have us each day. And may you be exalted. May we leave here with a sense of a high calling to walk with you, to know you, to revel in your grace, and to be bold and to go forth as lights into this world, salt.

41:18So, Father, be exalted. Thank you for this body of believers here. And may you protect, guard, and keep each one. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.