Habitual Grace

I. Introduction

Please open your Pilgrim’s Guide to page 42 and pray with me at the top of the page.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth.

Oh God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructs the hearts of the faithful, grant, that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Good Morning! My name is Pastor Chuck Benway, I made Western North Carolina Via De Cristo Mixed # 20 in the Fall of 2004, where I sat with my brothers in Christ at the table of St. Mark. This time I am blessed to be seated at the Table of…

My wife, Diane and I reside in the Baton Community of Granite Falls, NC. We serve and worship at Faith Community Church in the small community of Connelly Springs, North Carolina, in between Hickory and Morganton. We have two grown children, Melissa and Erik. We both enjoy being “Empty Nesters” but, at the same time, miss our children dearly. You just never really realize what you have until they are no longer around! I am happy to say that we evidently did something right with them as they choose to come and spend time with us! Praise the Lord!

In the previous talk you were introduced to the concept of Ideals. We should be endeavoring to live our lives by a set of ideals that we have pre-determined and hopefully reflect our values. In this talk, I want to introduce you to another ideal, God’s Ideal, which we can adopt as our own as well. One we SHOULD adopt, I might add!

The title of this talk is ”The Nature of God’s Grace”. You will want to write that down. I will repeat it, “The Nature of God’s Grace”.

Grace is a wonderful word, but it is not one we use every day, right? Except possibly when someone suggests we give thanks for a meal. So we say Grace. We’re even doing that this weekend with the “Blessing Before Meals and After Meals. As a pastor and mentor of mine also said, “it’s also not the name of a beautiful blonde woman either”. We do, however, hear it a great deal more in church, don’t we?

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God.....”, or, “Grace to you and peace from God our father.....”, or even, “.....the Lord be gracious to you, and give you His peace.”

Although the word is used often in the Bible, you won’t find a concise definition of it there. But, like so many other things in the Bible, you will find it described - everywhere; especially in the life of Christ! In the 1st chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus is referred to as being “full of grace and truth”, and that we all, from his fullness, have “received grace upon grace”. Later (1 John 4:9), God’s Ideal is spelled out this way: “In this the love of God was made known among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we may have life in him.”

Let’s explore together, [God’s Ideal, GRACE]!

<Once again> There will be some write-downs during this talk. I will try to emphasize them for you, repeat them and give you time to write them down. I’ll give you a hint: anytime I enumerate something, such as a Roman numeral, a letter or a number, that’s your cue to start writing!

I. GRACE - God loves us, always has, always will. And how do we know that? Well…

A. History reveals it - God is the Initiator, God always keeps promises

1) Creation/Fall - Genesis 1, Genesis 3:8-9

From the beginning God has been pursuing a relationship with humankind, with us. When God created the land and seas, the forests and the wetlands, the mountains and valleys and all of the animals, the creeping things and those that swam in the water, He stopped and said that “it was good”. But, after He created the first human, Adam, He said that “it was very good!” And the Bible describes their relationship in this way, “Adam walked with God.”

As you read through the Bible, you will come to understand that‘s how the Bible describes an intimate relationship with God. Some walked so intimately with God, like Enoch Genesis 5:18-24, that God took them home alive! Wouldn’t that be a trip?! Come, Lord Jesus, come!

One thing I have noticed within my own life, is that when I am walking with God, things seem to go way better than at other times. Now, that’s not to say that things are all peaches and cream. On the contrary, the world keeps coming. But, I am not misled, I am not overwhelmed, I am at peace. God is bigger than the world, stronger than my problems!

Even after Adam and Eve had disobeyed God’s command to not eat from the tree in the middle of the Garden, the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and were hiding from God, God pursued them. God came walking in the Garden in the cool of the day and called out, “Adam, where are you?” Is He calling out to you today?

2) Abraham’s call and covenant, Beginning in Genesis 12

In the story of Abram / Abraham in Genesis, God calls Abram to leave what he knows and to follow God into a foreign land with the promise that He will make of him a great nation, even though his wife, Sarai, is barren. For a woman to be barren during these times, it was considered to be not only an embarrassment but, a withholding of blessings from the Lord. So, Abram and Sarai were taking a great leap of faith. Even though, when God promised an heir of their own when Abraham and Sarah were beyond child-bearing years, they never wavered. But, there’s more! After Isaac is born, Abraham obeyed even when God called him to take Isaac to a remote place and sacrifice him to God. His faith wouldn’t allow him to waiver. God, again, fulfilled his promise by providing a ram to be offered instead. Then, from Isaac we have Jacob and Esau; from Jacob the nation of Israel! God always keeps His promises!

3) The Incarnation - Jesus models God’s gracious invitation, and confronts humanity at its worst (“Father, forgive them”)

From the 3rd chapter of Genesis, we receive this promise from God, “The Lord said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all the beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.” This is the foretelling of God’s salvation plan incarnated through the person of Jesus Christ and His act of tremendous grace upon the cross of Calvary, asking the Father, “Forgive them (us) for they know not what they do!”

My experience watching Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ”...

Movie came out in 2004...

Our sin nailed Jesus to that cross; His love for us kept Him there!

B. The Scriptures proclaim it

1) Grace in the Old Testament

a. The trials and tribulations of David

Psalm 51 (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

2) Grace in the New Testament

a. The Woman with a flow of blood, Mark 5:25-34

“25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, …”

Did you get that? She was a woman who had been ceremonially unclean for 12 years. She was an outcast to society. And yet, Jesus identifies her as “daughter”! The grace of Jesus is “all inclusive”. There is no discrimination whatsoever! So, if Jesus is all inclusive then, what in the “wide world of sports” are we doing?!

And, is there a greater redemption story than that of Saul? Saul was a righteous Jew. He describes himself as a “Jew of all Jews; a Pharisee by order. He made it his mission to persecute the early Christians, or people of “The Way”, as they were known. He was fresh from the stoning of Stephen and was on his way to Damascus when he had an intimate encounter with the Lord Jesus.

b. The Conversion of Saul. Acts 9:1-9

“1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”

From that point on Saul, who became known as Paul, the writer of most of the New Testament in the Bible, joined the rest of the disciples in spreading the Good News of Jesus. He is responsible, arguably so, with spreading the Gospel to the Gentiles and thus to the rest of the world!

Never believe that you are too far gone for first, God to redeem you and second, for God to use you for His divine purposes.

II. Grace - What It Is: God’s gift - An Invitation to a New Relationship

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

A definition - The undeserved love and favor of God, free and unearned.

or, as Chaplain Dick Camp, a mentor of mine, summed it up:

-Justice is getting what we deserve; mercy is NOT getting what we DO deserve; but, grace is GETTING what we DON’T deserve!

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

In other words, you can’t earn your way into heaven. You may have heard it said that you can’t make God hate you nor love you any more than He already does.

Romans 5:1-8

“1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Christ died for us, sinners (His sworn enemies) who DESERVE death, so that we might have life instead, which we DO NOT DESERVE!

A. Grace is supernatural

1. unconditional (Israel just kept up disobedience; God was faithful)

Isaiah 30:15–18

“15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling, 16 and you said, “No! We will flee upon horses”; therefore you shall flee away; and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. 17 A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill. 18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”

2. habitual

Romans 8:35–39

“35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do you hear that folks? There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can come between you and Jesus that He cannot overcome! And He will do it again and again and again; as long as it takes!

3. unending

John 1:16

“16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

Jesus will never give up on you! Got that?!

B. Grace is sacrificial; It’s Priceless!

Matthew 13:44-46

“44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

You can think of God’s grace in this way: the word grace is an acrostic for “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”

A question for you to ponder: Are you willing to give up everything you have, everything that you are today in order to attain that which is yours through Christ Jesus?

St. Paul wrote this:

Philippians 3:8-9 “

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—”.

The Greek word Paul uses here translated to rubbish is “σκῠ́βᾰλον (skubalon)”. It is extreme. It has the meaning of human waste, the filthiest of all dung! Let that sink in for a minute!

III. Grace - What It Does: Imparts New Life

A. Awakens faith within us

Acts 16:23–34 (ESV)

23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,

Now, when the Bible says that they were severely beaten, inflicted many blows, it means that they were beaten half to death. I don’t know about you but, I don’t think I would feel much like praying and singing. Yet, the other prisoners were watching and listening for how they would respond. Who’s watching you?

26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

B. Imparts forgiveness

Isaiah 1:18

“18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

Romans 8:1–4

“1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Because of grace, you are free from sin and death and empowered to live lives of gratefulness and worthy of His grace. You see, our righteous works are not a requirement but, a response to what God has already accomplished through Jesus.

C. Gives us a new status

Galatians 4:4

“4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,”

Jesus came to earth in much the same way we do, as a baby. He experienced all that we do and more. He is our Brother and we are heirs with Him! Did you know that you are royalty? How much different are you going to act now that you know?

D. Enables us to love

Ephesians 2:10

“10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

When we are created in Christ Jesus, we become a mirror reflection of Him and that is the epitome of love. We want others to see Christ instead of us. Everything we do should point to Him. We don’t want the imperfection of a glass mirror either. We want to reflect like polished silver; perfection! Remember that you may be the only Bible some else reads!

1 John 4:9

“9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”

To live as Christ is to die to one’s selfish desires and pick up the mantle for others. Jesus modeled the very kind of love we aspire to, that agape or unconditional love. His very commands for us in the gospel of Matthew are to love God and love each other!

E. Gives us hope - God in Christ has written the final chapter

1 Peter 1:3–4

“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,”

I have mentioned my spiritual mentor from West Point, Chaplain Dick Camp already. I saw him about a year and a half before he died and he gave me his “* Principles for a Well-lived Life”. #3 on that list was “RUN TO WIN”. Under that he wrote this: “Be physically and spiritually fit. Keep your body in shape. You could be facing the Boston Marathon, a mountain in Afghanistan or Parkinson's Disease (which took his life). Whatever it is be ready for it. One of my favorite verses is 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, I quote it often. It says, “You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that is gold eternally.”

When we honor Jesus and “Build Spiritual Muscle”, we tap into the hope that He brought us through His life, death and resurrection!

V. Conclusion - RUN TO WIN!

God loves you, my brothers and sisters, and so do I!