Study 54 – Grace teaches us to say ‘No’
‘Should we apply grace or righteousness?’ I was being asked a question at an open forum for leaders and this one provided a real shock to my system. The questioner explained that an unmarried co-habiting couple were asking about the possibility of being baptised at his church. What should he say? For him grace and righteousness were evidently alternatives!
When God declared the Old Covenant obsolete (Heb. 8:13) and introduced a New Covenant he wasn’t giving up on the battle against sin; he was revealing a new and better way of overcoming it. When Jesus arrived on earth, grace suddenly ‘appeared’ (Titus 2:11. Greek epiphany ‘shone out’), not to lower the standards but to equip believers to rise to unprecedented heights.
God has always been gracious
Even under the Old Covenant the Lord was undoubtedly gracious. When Moses asked for a revelation of God he was told, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name’ (Exod. 33:19). How did he manifest himself? ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness’ (Exod. 34:6).
While God has always been gracious, grace was particularly displayed in Christ’s coming. ‘From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ’ (John 1:16,17). Grace doesn’t come to lower the standard but to motivate and enable us to live a totally new life.
Grace to live right
Paul told Titus that the grace of God ‘teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions’ (Titus 2:12). ‘No’ is a word that we must be instructed to say, an anti-social word that goes against the tide. But saying ‘No’ is a vital part of holy living. If we don’t learn to say it, we’ll be dragged down by the downward gravitational pull of human society and will soon be in trouble.
Young person, if you don’t learn to say ‘No’ you’ll quickly be compromised by the opposite sex or lured into experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Potential gossips, revenge-seekers and sluggards – the word is ‘No’. Tele-addicts, Facebook lovers and shopaholics – there’s a place for the TV, for computers and clothes, but there’s also a time to say ‘No’. You need courage, commitment and strong motivation to say it. And grace motivates powerfully.
How does grace instruct us? It begins by telling us that we’re totally acceptable to God through our faith in Christ. We’re justified freely as a gift, winners before we start, accepted before we’ve done anything at all. Isn’t that just such a magnificent relief? Indeed, some might argue, a dangerous one – but they don’t understand.
God will test us later, but he qualifies us first. We start accepted, qualified, justified as a gift. The righteousness of Christ is ours not only to start our Christian life but every day of our life – and he’s the same yesterday, today and forever. His totally righteous life of magnificent decisions, perfect holy choices, steadfast purity in the face of fierce temptation, is unreservedly credited to our account.
This news is so encouraging that it’s almost too good to be true. When I first grasped the grace of God I felt like the early witnesses of the resurrection of whom it says, They ‘did not believe because of joy and amazement’ (Luke 24:41). For some time I’d lived in a school of tough and zealous commitment and was often overshadowed by condemnation. The often-repeated school report phrases, ‘could do better’ and ‘should try harder’ dictated how I should live the Christian life. Success came only through extra effort.
Then one day I saw it! God’s grace covers my failure and sin and justifies me freely as a gift. This revelation exploded into joy, thanksgiving and praise! Grace instructs me first by telling me that I’m a winner before I start.
We shall see some more motivational instructions in the coming weeks.
To Meditate On
Grace sets you free.
‘If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’ (John 8:36).
‘(We) are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus’ (Rom. 3:24).
‘You … were called to be free’ (Gal. 5:13).
‘In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves’ (Eph. 1:4-6).
Food For Thought
Read Psalm 34:22; Romans 8:1,33,34; John 16:8; Acts 23:1-5
What’s the difference between condemnation and conviction?
When you get up in the morning, which do you experience, God’s smile or his frown?
Think about the reason for this.
To Consider
How would you answer the question posed by the man in the open forum?
To Be Inspired
‘There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this: that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret to mean that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace. If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding then it is not the gospel.’
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Exposition of Chapter 6. The New Man. Romans. (London: Banner of Truth, 1972), p. 8.
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