Freedom of the Gospel of Grace
Notes
Transcript
COVENANT THEOLOGY
When God makes a covenant with his creatures, he alone establishes its terms, as his covenant with Noah and every living creature shows.
Adam and Eve, covenant of works. (When Adam and Eve failed to obey the terms of the covenant of works, God did not destroy them, but revealed his covenant of grace to them by promising a Savior (Gen. 3:14)
Abraham Covenant of the Promise ( God’s covenant rests on his promise to bless him and to bless all the families of the earth through him. Abraham followed God’s call because he believed God’s promise; and it was then credited to him as righteousness. Gen. 15:16; Rom. 4:18-22)
The Mosaic covenant at Mt. Sinai (this covenant required obedience to God’s laws under the threat of his curse, this was a continuation of the covenant of Grace. God gave his covenant to a people that he had already redeemed and claimed as his own. The failure of the Israelites to keep the Mosaic covenant showed the need for a new redemption and covenant if God’s people were to be truly his. Therefore, God’s covenant with Israel was a preparation for the coming of God himself, in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant as he offers himself as the true final sacrifice for our sin problem.
THE GOAL OF THE COVENANT
The end goal of God’s covenantal dealings is, as it always was, the gathering and sanctifying of the covenant people “from every nation, tribe, people and language”, who will one day inhabit the new Jerusalem in a renewed world order. Here we find the covenant relationship in its fullest expression - “they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Towards this end goal God is now shaping all human events past and present to lead to this one final glorious outcome.
The Covenant of Grace embraces the entire sovereignty of God’s economy. Christ’s heavenly ministry continues to be that of the “mediator of a new covenant”.
24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
Gods Moral Law has three Purposes
*It’s first function is to be a mirror
*It’s first function is to be a mirror
This mirror reflects the perfect righteousness of God and our own sinfulness. The law is meant to give knowledge of sin by showing us our need of pardon and our danger of damnation, to lead us in repentance and faith to Christ.
* It’s second function is to restrain evil.
* It’s second function is to restrain evil.
Though it cannot change the heart, the law can to some extent inhibit lawlessness by its threats of judgment securing some sort of civil order. This is where man gets a basic understanding of right and wrong. Our judicial system was founded around these moral laws.
* It’s third function is to guide the regenerate into good words that God has planned for them.
* It’s third function is to guide the regenerate into good words that God has planned for them.
The law tells children what will please their heavenly father. It could be called their family code.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
The Law Can't Set Us Free to Play
Imagine you are twelve years old again, and you love baseball. All your heroes are baseball players, all your extracurricular time is spent either with a ball glove in hand or watching a game on television, and, regardless of the season, it's been that way as long as you can remember. It's not that you're particularly good or particularly bad at baseball, you just love the game—the smack of the bat after a line drive, the smell of the grass, the feel of sliding headlong into second base. You've never had to defend it or describe it that way, but that's what you feel. And you can imagine one day having a jersey with your name on the back.
Things have begun to feel a little different this season, though, because twelve-year-olds have to try out for JV teams at the end of the year, and you get the feeling that not everyone makes the cut. You suddenly find yourself comparing your fielding skills with the other infielders and with players from other teams, and you start to count the number of times you miss balls that are hit to you. You keep track of how many strikeouts you get in each game.
Your coach has a way of calling you out, too. In one particularly bad stretch of the season, your coach calls across the field after you make yet another missed fielding play, "That's four times this game! Keep your head down!" You don't keep your head down, though, and after the fifth ground ball makes its way between your legs, your coach demotes you to the outfield. You replay his voice in your head. At your next at-bat, you strike out quickly, and you wonder if baseball is your sport after all.
"The Law is shorthand here for an accusing standard of performance. As we have noted, whenever the Law is coming, condemnation follows close behind. Whenever an expectation stands before us—from our coach, from ourselves, from God himself—we are either condemned by our failure before it, or made to be condemners in our fulfillment of it. The Law is the unfeeling voice of The Coach—it tolerates no excuses, it accepts no shortcuts. The Law is good, in that it proffers good fundamentals ('Keep your head down when fielding a groundball,' 'You shouldn't smoke,' 'Spend only the money you have,' etc.), but the failure which pursues it always creates a reaction. When we are criticized, we must defend."
NOTE: The Christian is free from the law as far as it leads to a system of Salvation, but “under Christ’s law” as a rule of life.
NOTE: The greater issue for the Jewish culture was the doctrine of Salvation has now come for all people by faith, through Grace alone.
Those who had been a part of the Pharisees had brought a good share of the Pharisaic tendencies into the early Church.
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
The situation that was going on in Acts 15 is the same as we see referred to in Galatians 2:11-16. The statement that “some men came down from Judea to Antioch corresponds with certain men came from James to Antioch. They were trying to set two apostles against each other, claiming James as their champion and framing Paul as their opponent. These zealous for the law Pharisees, were given the name Judaizers or the circumcision party.
QUESTIONS THAT MUST BE ASKED
Is the sinner saved by the sheer grace of God in and through Christ alone?
Has Jesus Christ by his death and resurrection done everything necessary for salvation?
Are we saved partly by our faith, and partly by good works and religious performance?
Is Justification Sola Fida, ‘by faith alone’, or through a mixture of faith and works?
NOTE: This was not some ancient grudge match between the Jewish culture and the Gentile believers. The very truth of the gospel and future of the Church is at stake. (Can you imagine that if the Jews had continued down this road circumcision and Jewish ritual law would still be a requirement in the church today.)
After a time of debate among the apostles and the elders of the Church Peter stood up and gave his defence. Remembering his experience with the conversion of Cornelius and how God is a God after humanities heart. God knows that the heart of man is wicked, however, he still chooses to fill the heart of mankind with the His Holy Spirit. There was no distinction made with God having cleansed their hearts by faith.
3 Barriers to us experiencing the freedom of the Gospel
3 Barriers to us experiencing the freedom of the Gospel
Paul’s Key Statement
“WE BELIEVE.”
OK, what do you believe Peter? Did Peter say? “We believe in circumcision; we believe in salvation or regeneration through baptism; we believe in the sacramental efficacy of the Lord’s Supper; we believe in pompous ceremonies and rituals; we believe in priests, and alters, and robes etc......
No he does not say a word about any of these being necessary, “We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we who have been circumcised as well as those who have not will be saved.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
NOTE: Sin makes us thick headed, unwilling to accept certain truths.
1. Without the Holy Spirit, we think we are basically good and can contribute something to our Salvation.
1. Without the Holy Spirit, we think we are basically good and can contribute something to our Salvation.
8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,
What is the Holy Spirit and who has the Spirit inside of themselves.
Misconception: That we are all Children of God. We are all God’s creation, however, those that he calls his children are those who have been regenerated through the Holy Spirit. If you are not a believer you are not a Child of God.
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
Scripture tells us that the spirit searches the deeper things of God.
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
NOTE: This is why without the Holy Spirit people are unable to discern the deeper truths of God. We are to grow in the grace and truth of Christ, but we can only grow if we have the help of the Holy Spirit.
The moment that we receive Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts. Our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit helps us live the Christian life.
There is not a person anywhere who can be a Christian without the Holy Spirit. There is not a person who can follow Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sees everything that goes on. He knows what goes on in our hearts. He knows what goes on in our minds. Nothing is hidden from Him. And in Hebrews 9:14 the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is eternal.
All other belief systems except Christianity lead us to believe that we can somehow contribute something to our Salvation. This line of thinking causes us to......
Strip Glory from God and give it to Ourselves.
Strip Glory from God and give it to Ourselves.
The spirit is called holy. The Bible says, “Be holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). One of the spirits super powers is to make us holy. We ought to be more holy today than we were yesterday. We should always be conforming more to the image of Jesus Christ, and it is the Holy Spirit who helps us in this growing process of Holiness.
CONVICTION OF SIN
First, the work of the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin.
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
NEW LIFE
Second, the Holy Spirit gives new life. The Bible says that we are dead in sins and trespasses following the ways of the world until the spirit comes alive in you.
INDWELLING SPIRIT
Third, The Holy Spirit indwells the believer. Many of you are spiritually dead and are completely immersed in the culture of this age. God says, “I will put my Spirit in you. I will come to live in you.” your body becomes the temple where God dwells by His Holy Spirit.
This why we should take great care about the things we take into our body. This is the reason we should discipline our body. The rub comes that many times Christians try to separate their physical body from the spiritual. God loves your body. He doesn’t want it polluted by fleshly lusts and the things to which you give yourself. The Bible says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)
POWER TO SERVE
Fourth, the Holy Spirit gives you the power to serve Christ. “You will receive power when the Holy spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me.” It would be impossible for me to do the work for Christ that I am doing right now absent from the Holy Spirit. (Look at those who have tried to lead a Church apart from the Holy Spirits power).
He called me and gave me that gift. What counts is the message that–according to Scripture–Christ died for our sins, He rose again, He is coming back again and He is ready to come into your heart by the Holy Spirit and make you a new person. That is the Gospel.
The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit, which is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Grace and Works on a Train Ride
The difference between righteousness by works and righteousness by grace is illustrated by a ride on a commuter train.
A train rumbles into the station with warning bell clanging. The doors open, the uniformed conductor steps out, and you climb on board and find your way to a seat. When you look around the car, you see tickets clipped on the top of occupied seats, paid for with hard-earned money. Those tickets displayed at each seat are the special concern of the conductor, who walks through the car to punch tickets and confirm that you paid for the right to take this ride. If the conductor finds you without a ticket, you will either pay on the spot or be escorted off the train at the next stop. To ride this train, what matters is the paid ticket. This is righteousness by works.
Righteousness by grace, on the other hand, works in a very different way. God's train pulls into the station, warning bell clanging. The doors open and the conductor steps out. Masses of people crowd on board and find their seats, for most everyone wants to ride this train to the city where people never die. Eventually the conductor walks through the train to see if everyone belongs on board. But on this train the conductor is not looking for tickets clipped to the top of seats. In fact, anyone who tries to pay for the right to be on the train will be escorted promptly from the train at the very next stop. That's right; no one can earn the right to be on this train. What the conductor looks for as he walks seat by seat through the car is the penniless people he knows by name, the people who are his friends and who completely lack the means to pay. These poverty stricken people climb on board with only one hope: they believe in the generosity of their conductor friend.
This is righteousness by grace. A ride on God's train is a gift. By our standards, it's unfair. It's scandalous. But like it or not, it's heaven's way
2. A failure to understand God’s grace leads us to view God as an impatient, angry, and disappointed Father.
2. A failure to understand God’s grace leads us to view God as an impatient, angry, and disappointed Father.
HOW WE THINK ABOUT GOD
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
The Israelites had a warped view of God’s grace. In verses one through five, the Lord offers a tender rebuke asking, “What have I done to you?” He reminds them of how he delivered them out of the hand of Egypt and other righteous acts he’s done on their behalf.
Instead of responding with gratitude, they exposed themselves. Whether they intended to or not, they paint a picture of God that makes him out to be a demanding, cruel and impossible to satisfy Father.
In Case you missed it, Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us one more time....
We bring nothing to the table of redemption
We bring nothing to the table of redemption
Therefore, any good works we perform are not the ground of our status before God but the result from us having been chosen and gifted with Salvation: “By grace you have been saved by faith. And this is not your own doing.”
Grace, by it’s very definition removes any hint that human merit contributes to our righteous standing before the most holy and perfect Creator, and faith, which admits our inability to help ourselves and rests wholly on another for Salvation, confirms that our works have no power to atone for our wickedness.
God’s grace is not like Man’s Grace
God’s grace is not like Man’s Grace
Much of the time our view of God’s grace stems out of our experience with grace shown to other people around us.
Natural man is motivated to show grace because he is aware (to some extent) that he is just as guilty as the person in need of Grace.
Natural man forgives others because he often only know a small piece of all that the other person is actually guilty of.
The two overarching factors in the human motivation for showing grace are our own sin and ignorance.
God is neither motivated by his own sinfulness nor enabled by his ignorance. He is completely holy and righteous God in every way, He is completely void of sin and full of goodness and love. He has never made a mistake and can never do anything that will fail. He is perfect in all his ways. If he were a doctor, he would never lose a patient. If he were a lawyer, he would never lose a case. There is no moral compass that could measure how upright and blameless he is.
Nevertheless, when we, his sinful and rebellious prodigal children, spit in his face, wallow in our sin, and grieve the Holy Spirit, he calls us to repentance with open and loving arms saying, “Come home my child, I have been waiting for you.”
He is not ignorant of all the ways we have sinned against him. He know everything we have every done and is able to stomach our sinfulness. His infinite knowledge of who we really are will never hinder his great love for us. He is even aware of the evil behind our most righteous deeds. The intimacy by which the Lord knows us but is still able to love and embrace us as his children is beyond human understanding. Evert time I am made painfully aware of this reality I am brought to my knees in tears because I serve a God whose love and grace baffle the human mind.
When you forget what Grace looks like go back and read
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
'The Last Jedi' Prompts: 'Is There Hope in What We Are Trusting?'
In his blog, Major Dalton dives deeply into the nature of hope:
Authentic hope is a hard thing to kill. In the heart of the one who knows that outcome is not driven by perception or circumstance, hope may just be immortal.
In the 8th installment of the Star Wars saga, Kylo Ren, son of Han Solo & Princess Leia, has embraced the Dark Side of the force and bowed to the power of a Sith Lord named Snoke. Donned in a black robe and helmet like his grandfather Lord Vader, Ren believes he has crushed the rebellion once and for all. But Snoke knows better.
Returning from an apparent victory for the Dark Side, Ren is chastised by his master Snoke: "You are no Vader. You're just a child in a mask."
Kylo Ren: "I gave everything I had to you; to the Darkside."
Snoke: "Skywalker lives. The seed of the Jedi lives. As long as he does, hope exists."
Rebellions will live as long as they are led. It is true in the Star Wars universe. It is true in ours as well.
Some people live as though hope is a concept reserved to the "long ago," or relegated to a "galaxy far away." Hate reigns, lies rule, and fear sits as a monarch in the hearts of those who have surrendered to despair. But there is a rebellion subverting hate, lies, and fear. A counter-cultural existence led by a lowly Galilean carpenter. Some believe he died long ago. But he lives! And because he lives, hope exists!
So, the real question is not; "Is there hope?" There is hope in the universe! We only have to ask; "Is there hope in what we are presently trusting?"
3. We think that faith is something that we bring to the table when we are saved.
3. We think that faith is something that we bring to the table when we are saved.
Since faith is something that we exercise, many Christians think that we bring this to the table when we are saved. They think we work faith up in ourselves and that all people are born with the ability to do so.
Faith is the only instrument by which we receive the righteousness of Christ and so that we are declared to be righteous heirs of eternal life.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
Jesus makes it very clear that on the day of the Lords coming some will believe that they have been servants of Christ but in fact will be cast out of the kingdom because they never actually believed in Him.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
3 Aspects of faith that are Essential for Saving Faith
1. The intellectual content of what we believe.
1. The intellectual content of what we believe.
Saving faith is faith in the person and work of Christ, so we must know something about Jesus and what He has done of we are to have actual faith in Him. This is evident from the very existence of the Christian gospel-we tell people about Jesus, giving them the biblical content in order for them to believe.
James makes it clear that intellectual knowledge of God is not enough.
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
2. The belief that the content of the Christian gospel is true.
2. The belief that the content of the Christian gospel is true.
It is possible to know something and not believe that thing to be true, and in fact we know many things that we do not believe are true, such as the content of other religions. But as the Christian faith is dependent on the historical reality of tings such as the resurrection of Jesus, we must not only know that Christianity proclaims the content of Christ’s historical resurrection, but we must also believe that the resurrection happened.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Why do more people go to Church on Easter Sunday than any other time of the year? Most would say to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. However, do they really believe in the resurrection. I would have to question whether they truly believe that the content of the gospel is true. Why? because if they did believe it was true, then their faith and commitment to Jesus Christ would not merely be represented at Easter. This one even would ultimately change their whole life.
3. Saving faith includes placing our trust in the one revealed in the content that is believed to be true.
3. Saving faith includes placing our trust in the one revealed in the content that is believed to be true.
So, knowing what has been revealed and believing it to be true is a good thing, as we read in today’s passage, but it is not enough. James 2:14-19 reminds us that even the demons know and ascribe to the truth of God’s revelation, so merely knowing and believing while necessary truths for salvation are insufficient for redemption. The knowledge such as the oneness of God are insufficient for redemption. Mere knowledge and belief, “can no more connect man with God, than the sight of the sun carry him up to heaven.”
You must place your trust in Christ alone to save you!
You must place your trust in Christ alone to save you!
We must believe that Jesus came to save us personally. We must place our lives in His hands, pledging ourselves to follow Him no matter what the cost.
By placing ourselves in Christ’s hands for salvation, we are not denying that saving faith is essentially something that one receives. That is because when we trust in Christ, we are not saying, “Here we are, and you are darn lucky to have us in your kingdom.”
“Rather we are saying, “Lord, we have nothing and are owed nothing; please take us and use us as you will.”
NOTE: Circling back to what Peter was saying, just like in the focus on Cornelius and the dramatic expression of the giving of the Holy Spirit to Cornelius and his people was sot hat the other believers might have been in no doubt that God regarded them as equals: he made no distinction between us and them and gave them the Holy Spirit just as he did us. We are saved, just as they are, rather than receiving a yoke of slavery we have been given the grace of God through Jesus Christ alone.
CONCLUSION
BIG IDEA: Have you reached your V1 speed
BIG IDEA: Have you reached your V1 speed
Christians' Point of No Return
If you were inside the cockpit of a departing airplane, just as it took off from the runway you would hear the copilot or captain call out, "V1." This phrase represents the "point of no return."
As the airplane accelerates toward the end of the runway, the pilot must decide if the plane is moving fast enough for a safe takeoff. This speed must be determined preflight based on several factors, including the air pressure, temperature, speed of the wind, and weight of the aircraft.
The pilot maintains a hold on the throttle as the plane approaches the V1 speed, so that he or she can abort the takeoff if something goes wrong. However, after V1, the plane must take off.
As Christians, we should have a V1 commitment to our walk with Christ. Once we have placed our faith in Christ alone, we have reached the point of no return. We need to adjust our "attitude," apply full throttle, and take off.
Chinese Prisoner Finds True Freedom
Thousands of Chinese Christians were killed during the Boxer Rebellion—a nationwide effort to snuff out any foreign influences in China that were political, cultural, economic, or religious. Though the rebellion was relatively short, the intense persecution it started persisted for years—most notably under the later Communist leadership of Mao Zedong.
A Christian evangelist who called himself Epaphras was a young man during the early years of Chairman Mao's reign. He refused to sing the Communist Party songs, salute the Chairman's picture, or show his allegiance to any leader other than Christ.
Epaphras was soon arrested and sentenced to life in prison. A guard asked him why he was so happy all the time. Flashing his characteristic grin, Epaphras said, "Didn't the Lord tell me from the beginning to give up everything and carry the cross to follow him? This is the Lord's way. I am following him on the same path. Why should I be upset? Why should I complain? This is my biggest blessing."
Eleven years after Chairman Mao died, Epaphras, then 62, was surprised when prison officials agreed to set him free. He soon discovered the reason for his sudden release: "The court cheated me," he said, "by changing my record to show I had recanted my belief in Jesus."
In response, Epaphras rented a cell-like room just outside the prison gates and kept himself under house arrest. "If I stay in jail," he insisted, "they will know I haven't recanted."
Epaphras went one step further to show how serious he was about not recanting—he fasted five days a week. Ever-smiling, he would say, "If I die from fasting and living under house arrest, then I die as a criminal just like my Lord Jesus Christ!"
After 15 years of fasting, Epaphras died at the age of 78, having made an emphatic, brave statement that true freedom is found in Christ alone. Believers all across China celebrated his life and mourned his death.