Strong in Grace: Completely Forgiven

 So you, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.      
2 Timothy 2:1








  We've begun a new series of study, looking at becoming strong in Grace. People can be strong in various things. Things like education, athletics, and career ambitions. What about becoming strong in Grace?

 Sadly, many believers are strong in the religious tradition of men. They are strong in what they heard some minister say and not so strong in what God actually said. What we want to do is to get back to the truth of the Gospel and become stronger and stronger in the Grace of God.

 One area that will help us become strong in Grace is knowing our forgiveness in Christ. Knowing just how forgiven we are brings a boldness and confidence in Christ.  It also brings about a greater love for the Father, for Jesus Himself said, he that has been forgiven much the same loveth much.

Forgiven completely or not?

 Just how forgiven are we? Tradition has seriously muddied the waters with their confusing cocktail of partial forgiveness. The idea that only our past sins are forgiven but not our future sins. Or the strange concept that we are fully forgiven but only "judicially" and not "familial." These concepts are mere religious traditional double talk. Let's examine what God said and not what man says;

14 who bought our freedom with his blood and forgave us all our sins Colossians 1:14 TLB

13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. Colossians 2:13 NLT

12 I am writing to you, little children (believers, dear ones), because your sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake [you have been pardoned and released from spiritual debt through His name because you have confessed His name, believing in Him as Savior]. 1 John 2:12 AMP

2 He is the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins, and not only ours but all the world’s. 1 John 2:2 TLB 


32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 NLT

13 bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive. Colossians 3:13 AMP 

 I know who I choose to believe, God. I choose not to believe or accept the absurdity of religious tradition. I won't accept the foolishness of the traditions of men. 

 God declared we who've received Jesus are completely forgiven. Forgiven once for all time. If He declared us forgiven, who is man that may say, no God you're mistaken? 

 Religion says we are forgiven but not really. We are only partially forgiven. When you apologize, then God forgives you fully. Interestingly enough is that this isn't the standard God gave man when it comes to forgiveness. 

 He tells us to forgive those who trespass against us. He didn't say withhold forgiveness until they "repent" or "confess" it to you. He didn't say withhold total forgiveness until they come admitting their wrong. Jesus simply said forgive.

 Yet tradition says God has a completely different standard. He withholds full forgiveness until we apologize. Until we repent. So in essence, religion thinks man has a higher standard of love and forgiveness than God Almighty. 

 They claim, no we aren't speaking double talk, we are saying you're forgiven judicially just not familially. Wake up religious tradition you are speaking religious double talk. You're still claiming we're forgiven but not completely. 

 I am writing to you, little children because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake. 1 John 2:12 MEV

Little children, shows me He is speaking of His family. Also, He declared we are forgiven for His name's sake. We are not forgiven for our name's sake. So our apology is not in the equation.

 We are forgiven for Christ's name's sake. Not our own name. Not our own actions. In Christ's name, means the work is attributed to His doing and not any man's. The Name of Jesus, encompasses all Christ did, what He paid for, and all His Finished Work accomplished. It represents Christ's complete work. We are forgiven once for all for His Name. Nothing we've done. 

Rejoice, when you received Jesus, you also received the complete and total forgiveness of all your sins. Your past and present and future, completely forgiven. We can now come before our Father in boldness and confidence because we are completely cleansed from all sins and totally forgiven. 

 The enemy and his accusations and condemnation and guilt and shame have lost all its power over the believer. When we know we are completely forgiven the lying shame of the enemy has no more effect. The Cross, the Finished Work, the Blood, the redemptive work of Christ, has rendered the enemy and all his schemes harmless and ineffective.

 In summation, rejoice believers. You are forgiven. You are cleansed. All sins have been washed away by the precious Blood. We are forgiven, once for all time, all because of Jesus, the person of Grace.


Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

Strong in Grace: Rewards?

So you, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.       2 Timothy 2:1 MEV









 




   We've begun a new series studying on becoming strong in the Grace of God. Many are strong in various things. Strong in intellectual knowledge. Strong in ambitious desire to succeed in their career. I want to share how to become stronger in the Grace of God. 

 When we speak of Grace, sometimes we find a portion of our thinking resisting the complete truth of Grace. Why? Because living in this world conditions us to want to play a part. To earn our way if you will. 

 The early 1980s musical film Annie adapted from the comic strip, perfectly illustrates how many believers respond to God's Grace. When the orphan girl comes to stay at the billionaire's home, the first thing she does is grab a bucket and scrub brush to beginning scrubbing walls. The staff all looked at her perplexed and tell her she is a guest there. Her response was how will I earn my keep?

 Isn't that how we often respond to Father's Love and Grace? All of the splendor of Heaven has been given to us to enjoy and we grab a proverbial mop bucket and begin scrubbing floors. Instead of enjoying the riches and joy of the Father's house, we look to earn our place there. A place we could never earn, to begin with.

 Let's look then at rewards under Grace. What I am not endeavoring to do is discuss or debate about eternal rewards in Heaven. I personally understand based on Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 3, there is some form of eternal rewards, but nothing that would allow us to take credit for and become boastful about. 

 I am speaking of rewards for our doings now. The idea that the blessing and favor and goodness of God are predicated on our own goodness and works and deeds. I used the illustration of the film because the orphan was invited to dwell with a wealthy person. The invite was his estate's idea not the orphan's. The invite then wasn't extended because of the personal works and deeds of the orphan but the goodness of the wealthy person's estate.

 Some classify the blessing of God as a reward for service. They classify healing as a reward for works. They classify favor as a reward for doing good. The real question then becomes in order to receive all these things how much works do I need to do? How do I know when I've done enough? How do I know if I've done these works right? 

 Imagine a father who only gave his son a treat when he did something good. All the child would believe is that his father cares for him more when he does good and when he doesn't his father is sore displeased and disappointed in him and angry at him. So he works harder and harder to win the approval of his father. Eventually, he will burn out trying to earn his father's love and favor. 

 What if the father often blessed his son with a piece of candy after dinner? What if he loved him and blessed sometimes in spite of his faults and failures? I am not advocating rewarding bad behavior if you will, but I am speaking of unmerited favor and blessing. When the child sees the love and acceptance of their father despite their failure they will want to return their father's goodness with goodness of their own.

 The blessing and favor and mercy of God is rooted in God's goodness, not our own goodness. He blesses and favors us because He is good all the time not because we are. His goodness and healing and favor are extended to us because He perfectly purchased them in His redemptive work. All we need to do is simply believe.

 Healing for our bodies, favor in all areas of our life aren't rewards for services rendered. We aren't in some business transaction with God. He is our good Father, not our employer. 

 Maybe someone would ask, are you saying God will bless and favor us even when we sinned or messed up? That He will heal us even when the sickness or disease is the result of our own doing? Allow me to clarify, yes I am saying this.

 God is not given a stamp of approval of our sins or wrong choices. That's not what the Favor and blessing of God are. God's favor is ours because of Jesus, not ourselves. If we are abstaining from wrong choices and sin only to ensure we are getting a blessing, then that's transactional relating to God and not living in a relationship with our Father. 

 The blessing of God, the Favor of God, His goodness are ours because of the Finished Work. Because He became something He never was so we could become something we've never been. He became sin so we could become accepted, approved, and in right standing with God. We receive from God because of our righteousness in Christ, not our own goodness. 

 In summation, God's goodness and blessing isn't some reward system. He blesses us because of Jesus, not our works. Because He is so good to us, inwardly we begin to desire to abstain from wrong thinking and choices. Growing strong in Grace is receiving what He did for us with joy and resting in it.

Image by Агзам Гайсин from Pixabay 

Becoming Strong In Grace

So you, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1 MEV






 Be strong. We can be strong in a lot of things in this life. We can be strong in studying for a degree. We can be strong in bettering ourselves for our career goals. In the spiritual realm, we can be strong in the religious traditions of men. Today, I want to begin a new series studying something all believers need to be strong in, the Grace of God.

 We can be strong in Grace. We can grow in Grace and in the knowledge of Jesus. We can trust in and rest in God's great Grace. Too often we're strong in something other than God's Grace. 

 Sometimes we find ourselves strong in the religious tradition of men. Sometimes we find ourselves strong in Old Covenant mindsets and not New Covenant thinking. Other times we are strong in trying to earn or achieve God's blessing in our life. 

 The blessing of God is not a blessing on our behavior or our performance. The blessing of God is a blessing on Christ's perfect redemption and His Finished Work. The blessing, the favor, and the mercy of God are God's response to Jesus' works, not our works. We didn't pay the price at the Cross. We didn't bear the sin of mankind. We never bore anyone's infirmities, weaknesses, poverty, or disease. We didn't bear the curse, Jesus did. 

 The blessing of God is a blessing on Christ's work, not our work. When we look at our works as some form of currency in receiving God's goodness we are in a business transaction and not a relationship with a Father. When we look at our performance as something that now qualifies us for all of Heaven's goodness we are putting the focus and attention onto ourselves and not Jesus. When we look at our behavior as the disqualifier of God's blessing and favor we are discounting Jesus' perfect redemption that was accepted as the once for all payment that was perfectly pleasing to the Father. 

 The goodness and favor and blessing of Almighty God is not a stamp of approval of our actions, our words, our deeds or behavior. The blessing isn't something we achieve. It isn't something we earn. God's blessings come because of what Christ did. God is blessing the work of Christ. Now don't misunderstand, good works, avoiding sin, saying no to temptation, being a blessing, serving and loving others is good fruit and bring its own rewards. It's just not the root of God's favor. 

 This cuts cross-grain to all we've heard growing up as believers. We heard "do good and get good." "Do bad and get bad." That's Old Covenant not New Covenant. Under the New, we are already blessed in Christ Jesus. We also must allow God's Word to rightly divide our own thinking and motives. Without even realizing it, sometimes we do good works to achieve something. To gain the favor of leadership or impress others. That's why the blessing is rooted in Jesus' work and not our own.

 Becoming strong in Grace is becoming strong in knowing and understanding all Christ did for us. It's learning to trust in His perfect redemptive work and not our own. It's resting in the Finished Work and not trying to earn, achieve, strive for what God already purchased and performed on our behalf. 

 Becoming strong in Grace isn't about becoming more and more bitter at local churches, ministries, and those that lead them. It isn't about becoming more and more isolated from others in the Body of Christ. It isn't about becoming stingy and no longer giving of our resources and time to bless other ministries. It isn't about becoming more rebellious and delving deeper and deeper into darkness and depravity. Becoming strong in Grace is about becoming strong in who we are already in Christ because of Jesus' Finished Work. 

 We can become stronger in this Grace of God. We can grow in our understanding of what it means to be New Creations in Christ. We can grow in understanding what it means to be accepted and approved in Him. We can become more and more confident in the presence of God. We can rejoice before our Father knowing He isn't holding our sins or misdeeds against us. 

 In summation, we can choose what to be strong in. We can be strong in bitterness. Strong in sinful desires. Strong in religious tradition. Strong in Old Covenant mindsets and observances. Or we can grow stronger and stronger in God's Grace. We can grow stronger in Him. He welcomes this growth and encourages it via His Spirit within and the promises of His Word and the Finished Work of the Cross. 

 God is for us not against us. Go back to when we first received Jesus. We knew we couldn't earn anything. We knew we didn't deserve anything based on our own merit. We knew we were lost and hopeless apart from Christ and His perfect love. Yet He chose us, blessed us, highly favored us, made us new, gave us His righteousness. He forgave us past, present, and future and forever secured us in Him. We can grow strong in this Grace. 
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