Trusting God and His Grace
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Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.
On the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, He said to him, “I am Yahweh; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I am telling you.” But Moses replied in the Lord’s presence, “Since I am such a poor speaker, how will Pharaoh listen to me?”
The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land.
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put My hand on Egypt and bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out My hand against Egypt, and bring out the Israelites from among them.” So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the Lord commanded them.
Point: Trusting in the grace of God enables one to passionately and courageously live by faith, and thus please God.
Is faith the same as having a heart after God?
Do you not have to have faith in order to have a heart after God? In order to please God, one must have faith in God, and then one may develop a heart after God, once in relationship with God. So then, in developing a heart after God, does one concentrate on avoiding sin or living a passionate and courageous life of service to God?
“Being a Christian is not about avoiding sin, but about passionately and courageously serving God.” -Eric Metaxas, Letter to the American Church, p.118
One position believes that God is a hard taskmaster looking to punish for a misstep, the other position believes that God is a God of grace and looking to reward one’s faith and love. Who do we say that God is? Is He a God who wants you to play this life safe, or a God who wants us to passionately risk our lives, religion, and reputations for His glory? Is that not the lesson from the Parable of the Talents? Who was rewarded? Who was rebuked and corrected? The Christian life is not about living safe and avoiding sin, but about taking the talents, the responsibilites and opportunities, that God has given to us and making something of them to bring glory to God.
What was the desire of God towards Moses? That Moses would passionately and courageously serve and trust Him. In doing so, Moses would have the privledge of leading the Israelites out of Egypt, while experiencing first hand the miracles, faithfulness, and goodness of God. But what would this endevour require? Trust, courage, and faith by Moses, not cowardice, not safety, and not avoidance. Most of all it required Moses’ belief in the grace of God. Do you and I have confidence in the grace of God, the real grace of God, toward us?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s confidence in the real grace of God, made it possible for him to do what needed to be done. Bonhoeffer’s decision to play his part in the assasination plot against Adolph Hitler, was based upon trusting in the love and grace of God. Let me ask you this question before you pass judgment on Dietrich: What is more godly, to give your life in an attempt to save 6 million Jews from certain death, and many thousands of more on the fields of WW2, or do nothing, be silent, and avoid sin, by obeying leaders who were obviously intent on evil. How would you deal with this ethical question? Your answer will be formulated based on how you view God: as a harsh taskmaster or as a loving God of grace. Consider these verses:
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Bonhoeffer proved his love for God, for the Jews, for his nation, for sinners, when he decided to come back to Germany and stop Hitler from commiting genocide and starting WW2, knowing he was a wanted man by the Nazi regime. Unfortunately, the plot failed, and Bonhoeffer was executed three weeks before the war ended.
If we are living our Christian life with the belief that God is a harsh taskmaster, what is the greater sin, the sin of commission or the sin of omission?
A sin of commission is defined as something we do that we’re not supposed to do. Sins of commission are overt, sinful acts. They constitute a violation of God’s moral law (ie. the 10 Commandments and the Great Commandment).
A sin of omission is defined as something we don’t do that we’re supposed to do. Sins of omission are the failure to forsake sins, confess faith in Christ, and join God’s church in baptism for the remission of sins (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38). Also, the neglect to worship the Lord in His church (Hebrews 10:23-25), to speak the truth (Ephesians 4:15), to reverence Him (Hebrews 12:28-29), and to preach the gospel (1 Peter3:15-16), are sins of omission (Romans 12:1-2).
If we are living our lives concerned about not sinning against God, which sins are we more concerned about? We tend to be more concerned about the sins of commission rather than the sins of omission because we as Christians tend to think we are basically righteous because we do not commit murder, adultery, theft, lying, or using vulgar language. But righteousness is equally demonstrated through active obedience to commandments that demand action. We are commanded to be baptized, are we baptized? We are commanded to preach the Gospel, are we preaching the Gospel? We are commanded to love our neighbor, are we loving our neighbor? We are commanded to forgive one another, are we forgiving one another? Are we seeking the forgiveness of another?
So then, again, what is the greater sin, the sin of commission or the sin of omission? Which are we trying to avoid in order to live lives pleasing to God? Are we trying to earn our righteousness by avoiding sin? Well then, how many lives have been lost because we have not shared the love of Christ, nor done the work commanded of us by Christ? By which will we fall short of the glory of God? Both lead to His displeasure.
It should be pretty clear, that, as God says in His Word, we cannot justify ourselves by trying to satisfy the requirements of law.
know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.
Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.
Galatians 5:4–5 (ESV)
You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.
What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith.
But Israel, pursuing the law for righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law.
Romans 9:32 (HCSB)
Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.
What are we to do? Trust in the love and grace of God, in all we are and do, by faith…true faith resulting in works. This is not to say that we ignore our failures and embrace sin and sinning. No, it means that we chose to live in an active, living, and loving relationship with Christ, not living by a mere religion of rights and wrongs. We are saved by grace through faith, not by avoiding sin and following law; and our faith is evident by our works, true faith ALWAYS has works.
Each of us needs to consider this question: Do we believe God looks on our hearts and sees our intentions as they really are, and will forgive us if we make a mistake when our hearts are in the right place (Metaxas, Ibid, p.110)? Is He a hard taskmaster, bludgeoning us for our sins? or a God of grace and love looking to reward our faith, passion, and courage to live for Him and His glory?
There is only one individual who was called a man after God’s own heart: David. Not Abraham, Elijah, Moses, or Paul. That means He was a man who passionately and courageously served and followed God, doing all His will, the person God is looking for.
Acts 13:22 (ESV)
And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
1 Samuel 13:14 (ESV)
But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
But, David was not perfect, and that is good news for us. You do not have to be perfect to be a man or woman living and serving by faith and trust in the love and grace of God. You will be forgiven for a misstep, even a big one like David. Moses did not have the passion or courage, at the beginning, to do the will of God, we might even question Moses’ love for God, but he did become a man of faith, and that was pleasing to God.
Moses confronted Pharoah as God commanded (Exodus 6:6). He went before Pharoah twelve times in fact. Moses expected God to take action quickly in the Israelites being released from the bondage of Egypt. But, much like then, God will take His time today to ensure that powers and principalities, Prime Ministers and Presidents, Believers and non-believers, will know that He is God, that Jesus is the Messiah, and by the person and power of the Holy Spirit, His people, both Jew and Gentile, will be preserved, for His glory.
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Point: Trusting in the grace of God enables one to passionately and courageously live by faith, and thus please God.
David took down Goliath with passion, courage, and boldness. He would not allow an Anti-God giant to defy the living God of Israel (1 Samuel 17). Being a mighty shepherd, having saved his sheep and lambs from both bear and lion, what would a military trained giant of a man, 9 feet tall, do against a shepherd with God, and trust in the grace of God, on his side? What is this world against a man or woman with trust in God, and the grace of God on their side? How will you stand and change the world by living in a dead relationship with Christ, avoiding sin and keeping rules and law?
If a prostitute, named Rahab, a Gentile, could please God, by lying to government authorities and hiding spies in her home, and ending up in the “Hall of Faith” in the Bible, in Hebrews 11:31 (Joshua 2);
By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
how pleased will God the Father be, when we live the same passionate and courageous life, with the knowledge that Jesus, our Savior and Lord, has given everything to us, including the powers and principalities of this world, through His sacrifice on the cross?
The truth is very pleased, because then He knows we understand His Love, and how His Love, Jesus, came, and how he overcame the world…through a passionate, bold, courageous, faithful, sacrificial, trusting love in His Father’s grace. It is written of Moses, in the same “Hall of Faith” that Moses “considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the reward” (Hebrews 11:26).
By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
Do you see and believe in the grace of the One who is invisible? Are you living, by faith, in the love and trust of God’s grace, the gift of Christ? Fear no man, fear only God. Amen.
