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Intro
Intro
The consumerism paradigm. — this is natural
Buying milk — consumerism is natural
The difference between a panhandler (so destitute he knows he has nothing to give) and a window washer — again, it’s natural to give if you want to receive — it’s also natural to give because you receive (Guy who insisted on washing my window even though i didn’t have cash for him.—it’s humbling)
It’s hard to believe that grace is as free as it is, because we aren’t accustomed to getting anything for free.
We are accustomed to getting what we pay for and we get mad if we pay and we don’t get what we want.
Theological system that rely on human effort.
POD: Pelagianism
It’s hard to believe that grace is as free as it is, because we aren’t accustomed to getting anything for free. And we are accustomed to getting what we pay for and we get mad if we pay and we don’t get what we want.
God’s economy is different—God gives freely; there’s nothing we can do, no social expectation, of exchange.
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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
We weren’t saved by good works
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.
We weren’t saved by good works
No one does good by nature
All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
There is certainly no one righteous on the earth who does good and never sins.
If you had to save yourself, you wouldn’t (not to mention you couldn’t—but even if you could, you wouldn't)
Even if you could and you did:
…you would boast in yourself and not in Christ and that would not be salvation—
living forever with yourself would be hell not heaven; living forever with Jesus is heaven.
Grace
Gift of God — Paul says that we are…
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
For Paul, the free gift of God is Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins.
The gift of grace is the offer of redemption through Christ.
Jesus’s death on the cross
Jesus did the work on our behalf and that is grace.
You couldn’t/wouldn’t do the work, so he did.
But then is everyone saved if Jesus died?
No, because…
Faith (for we are saved by grace through faith…)
Faith is the gateway to salvation.
Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Faith is not, “I hope there’s a God out there.”
Faith is not, “Let me see if this Christianity thing works for me.”
Faith in this context is gut level conviction.
Sometimes this takes time.
Your understanding the Gospel of Jesus takes time to transition to being totally sold out for Jesus—faith.
RECAP QUICK
We were not saved by good works, but we were saved for good works.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Before salvation we were not able to please God, but with faith, now we can please God.
Our works couldn’t save us, because we had no game, but now we have faith and we can please God.
Now without faith it is impossible to please God… (Hebrews 11:6)
Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews
Why do we care?—we want an individualized faith where we are in control just like we seek with everything else in our lives
paints a picture of pure dependence on God for life and salvation from sin
The independence paradigm (MTD) — you don’t want a free gift; you want to pay for it.
The defacto religious perspective in the west is that of individualism.
Individualized morality (anyone can be good if you get to determine what good is for yourself)
Access to God on the terms of the individual (God as therapist or jeanie—right there when you need him)
Deistic independence (God isn’t concerned with you unless you call on him; He’s busy ordering the cosmos)
A focus on individualism (MTD) Reduces God to a means to make your life go the way you want it to go—|—precursory beliefs that make the prosperity gospel so easy to fall prey to (Ryan)
Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
What do we do?
What work did God prepare ahead of time for us to do?
This is a very specific statement
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
We as Christians are all unique beings who have been called to good works.
Is it each of us are made unique by God (which is true)?
Or is it that together, we make up his work?
Greek syntax, leads to the latter conclusion. There is a good work that God has prepared for the church to accomplish.
If it’s individual, we can talk about God’s calling on your life, how he wants you to grow spiritually and all that. — And those are all good things.
But, today the exhortation is to know who you are.
By grace, you are Christ’s church, and through your faith you have recieved the salvation from sin and you have now been called to accomplish the work that God set apart ahead of time for His church to do.
These are things we as Christians should be thinking about every day, praying about every day, and dreaming about every day.
No Christian is exempt from from this calling, because we are only the church if we are the church together.
It’s all in for all of us or it’s nothing.
What good work has God prepared for us?
No one is exempt from this. We are all called to 3 categories of good works — usually we see these manifest in a persons life in progression and they all continue to grow as you go through your life (you’ll never perfect any until Christ returns)
Sin—the things you don’t do
Righteous works—the things to should do to love others
The selfless God produces selfless people
When you kick your individualism, you’ll begin to love other people in a new way
see them as your responsibility, etc.
Mission—the unique ways that you have been gifted and called to carry out the purposes of God
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
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Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), .
faith is the gift
grace is the gift
faith is the gift
salvation (grace through faith) is the gift
grace contrasts with boasting
if the grace is God’s gift—a gift you don’t deserve—then you cannot boast.
If the faith or salvation in its entirety is the gift, there is still no boasting. But, you lose the linguistic tie between grace and boasting.
We are not saved by good works, but for good works.
Those who incorporate works into the message of salvation.
Those who reject work as important for the Christian life.