Rewarded - Part 3

Isaiah 40:10 “Behold, the Lord Yahweh shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him.”

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

There will be a day when every believer will stand before the throne of Jesus to be judged for what they have done after their salvation. This is not a judgement to decide Heaven or Hell - that was already decided in the moment you gave your life to Him. No, this judgement is to determine our eternal rewards.

Last time, we discovered five things that the Bible specifically says bring rewards. But there’s even more! You see, God is a very rewarding God! I believe He’s given us opportunity after opportunity to earn (that’s right, I said earn!) rewards! Salvation is free by grace, but that same grace will push us to do “good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

So here are a few more things I’ve in God’s Word that bring a reward. Again, this list is by no means exhaustive...and if you find any more, let me know! Remember, these acts bring rewards to the believer - but you cannot earn salvation by them! Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone!

#1 - When you do an act of love in secret and without recognition
Matthew 6:3-4 “But when you do a charitable deed (loving act), do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”
If, after you’ve spent a lot of time and energy helping someone, you get upset because no one recognized your effort - you may want to examine your priorities! When you do a “charitable deed” without getting the credit, your reward is far greater than anything you could receive here on earth!

#2 - A sincere and diligent prayer life
Matthew 6:6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”
The day’s coming when we’ll know who really had a healthy prayer life and who didn’t!

#3 - True fasting
Matthew 6:17-18 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”
The kind of fasting that brings a reward doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t play the “rules game” - that is, “Can I drink broth? Can I eat soup? Can I keep a hard candy in my mouth? Should I only drink water?”
According to Jesus’ own words - if other people know you’re fasting, you’re doing something wrong. Don’t complain about how hungry you are. Don’t engage in theatrics when someone invites you out to lunch. Keep your fast between you and God, and you’ll get the reward from it!

#4 - Accepting a prophet (or any other minister of the Gospel) for the sake of their office, regardless of their personality
Matthew 10:41 “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.”
I believe Jesus was showing us how to receive from a preacher, even when his personality doesn’t “click” with our own. He said, “When you receive a prophet because he’s a prophet (not because you like his style) you’ll receive the same reward as he does!”
Don’t get caught up in styles and personalities in ministry. Your focus should be on Jesus Christ and His calling. When you’re sitting in a church service that’s less than exciting, refuse to let your emotions steal what’s being ministered! You don’t have to be bored - you can choose to listen to what is being said, in spite of how it’s being said.

#5 - Preaching/Spreading the Gospel
1 Corinthians 9:16-17 NIrV “But when I preach the good news, I can't brag. I have to preach it. How terrible it will be for me if I do not preach the good news! If I preach because I want to, I get a reward. If I preach because I have to, I'm only doing my duty.”
Firstly, you have to open your mouth and preach the Gospel. You can’t stay silent! Your friends, your family, your coworkers may die today...where would they go? If they end up in Hell, would it be because they’ve never heard the good news of Jesus Christ?
Secondly, you have to preach the Gospel willingly. Don’t keep putting it off and putting it off until you finally feel so guilty and convicted that you have to tell them about Jesus. That may be good for them (they finally get to hear the message of Jesus!), but what’s the reward in that? That’s only doing your duty.
Instead, you should be excited to tell others about Jesus! And why wouldn’t you be? This is the greatest thing the world has ever known, and anyone can get in on it! So let’s do this because we want to, not because we have to!

Rewarded

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

We’ve been saved by grace - aren’t you glad! When we came to Jesus for salvation, He didn’t tell us that we were too far in sin and needed to clean up first! Salvation was the last thing we deserved, but it was the only thing that was in God’s plan for us! When we were saved, it was a free gift of grace!

I am a grace man. I love the freedom we have in grace. I do everything I can to live out Ephesians 5:1 - “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” I know that my salvation was, and continues to be, a free gift of grace. I’m not striving for grace, I’m not trying to earn grace, and I refuse to forget that this grace cost God everything He had.

Having said that...I wonder sometimes why people don’t finish Paul’s thought in Ephesians 2:8 and 9. Let’s read the whole context: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Too many believers have the mindset that grace has made obedience unnecessary. What we need to realize is that we weren’t saved by works, but we were saved for works. Jesus saved us for a reason, He had things for us to do “prepared beforehand.” So, even though your salvation is absolutely free, you can’t expect to live your own life and let grace cover it. That’s not what grace is about!

Do you realize that every believer is going to stand before Jesus’ judgement seat one day? It’s true! 2 Corinthians 5:10 makes this very clear: “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Don’t be confused, this isn’t the white throne judgement of Revelation 20. That’s a judgment to decide eternal destination - that’s already decided for us! The judgement seat of Christ is to decide eternal rewards.

Pay attention to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

Jesus Christ is the author of our salvation. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection secured our place with Him in eternity. This salvation is the foundation of our new lives. But a foundation isn’t the finished project, is it? Salvation is the start, but now we must build on it. And we can see from this passage, rewards will be given based on what we do after we’re saved. I do not want to be one of those who “makes it in” to Heaven but still suffers the loss of any reward. I want my life to be worth something for the Kingdom of Heaven!

Thankfully God didn’t leave us by ourselves, to try to be obedient on our own. The very same grace that brought us into God’s kingdom also causes us to live “soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” (Titus 2:12) We don’t have to obey God by our own strength. Paul told Timothy where his strength came from in 2 Timothy 2:1 - “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Hebrews 12:28 echoes this thought, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

Why do we serve God with fear? Let’s read 2 Corinthians 5:10 again, this time including verse 11 - “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.” The fear of the Lord comes when we realize this, everything we do in this life will be seen on our judgement day and rewarded!

Remember these words from Jesus out of Revelation 22:12. This is from the closing chapter of the Bible, one of the last things Jesus had to say in His Word. “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” I don’t know about you, but I want all of Jesus’ reward that I can get!

Justified

Titus 3:4-7 “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Like redemption, justification is another doctrine that too many Christians can’t define. Even though it’s an incredible benefit of salvation, it simply isn’t taught or defined in many churches. As a result, many believers simply don’t know what this concept means - and many others have a distorted view of it.

In its simplest terms, justification is another legal term. The Greek word is “dikaioo.” It refers to a person that is accused of breaking the law being found innocent in court. When they leave the court, they leave justified of those charges. They are legally unaccountable for what they were charged with and are in right standing (righteous) according to the law

Spiritually, justification is to have right standing with God - to be righteous in His eyes. I’ve heard it said that to be justified is to be “just-as-if-I’d never sinned.” According to the Bible, there are two ways to be justified:

The first way to be justified is by never breaking the law in the first place. God is going to judge the world based on the ten commandments. So doesn’t that mean we’re righteous if we obey them? Absolutely! This is called justification by works. As long as you obey the ten commandments, God will pronounce you righteous and unpunishable. Leviticus 18:5 declares, “You shall therefore obey My commands and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am Yahweh.” You see, as long as you do what God says, you’ll be righteous!

But before you try justification by works, you should know something. There is an inherent problem with that kind of righteousness. God doesn’t only look at outward actions - He also looks at (and judges) inward thoughts. God judges hatred to be the same as murder (1 John 3:15). He sees a lustful look in the same way He sees adultery (Matthew 5:28).That time you would’ve rather stayed in bed instead of going to God’s house? He saw that as idolatry (putting anything else before Him). Can you see the problem with justification by works? You have to control your thoughts just as much as you need to control your body!

But that’s not the only problem with justification by works. Let’s say that from now on you obeyed everything in the law (the ten commandments). Let’s say that from this point forward you were even capable of obeying God in every one of your thoughts. Does that make you righteous? Sadly, no. Obeying God today won’t erase disobeying Him yesterday. God keeps intense records! Being the righteous judge that He is, He can’t ignore a single act of disobedience. Even if it looks like your good should outweigh your bad - your bad still requires judgement.

As if that wasn’t enough reason to avoid justification by works, read what James 2:10 says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” So liars will get the same judgement as murderers! Someone who disobeys their parents as a kid will be judged in the same way as an adulterer or a thief! How can anyone be justified by obeying the law?

You can’t. Romans 3:20 declares, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.” No person can find their righteousness by obeying the law because no one has ever obeyed all of the law. So aren’t you glad there’s another way?

The only way we can be justified is by faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This kind of justification comes when you believe what Jesus did for you. When you trust that Jesus took your punishment to Himself on the cross, you receive His righteousness. It’s a simple exchange - Jesus took the punishment of your sin, and you take the reward of His righteousness. That’s it. That’s all there is to being justified!

Do you think it sounds too simple to be true? Well, the Bible affirms this over and over again:
Romans 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
Acts 13:39 “...and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
1 Corinthians 6:11 “ But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
Galatians 2:16 “Yet we know that a person is made right with God (justified) by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right (justified) with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

If you were able to keep the law, you could be justified by it. But no one has ever been able to keep God’s law by themselves! If I were you, I would would chase the justification that comes by faith!

The Whole You

1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

There's more to you than meets the eye! You were made in the very image of God! Just like God is three in one (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), you are also made up of three parts. Your spirit, your soul and your body.

Your spirit is the real you. Instead of saying that you have a spirit, it would be better to say you are a spirit. When 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” - it is referring to the spirit of a believer. You see, when you were born again, your spirit was re-created. Your old, dead, sinful spirit is gone – now you have been remade!

You serve God with your spirit – Romans 1:9 “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son.” Your spirit is your connection to everything in the spiritual world. This is the part of us that connects with God in worship. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” In fact, everything in the kingdom of God – everything in our new life – must me done from the spirit.

Your body is the most obvious part of you. It is the place that your spirit lives. Although your body is part of you, it isn't the real you. The best way to say this is, you are a spirit and you live in a body. When you gave your life to Jesus, your body remained the same. Except for supernatural incidents of God's power, your body is subject to the laws of nature. One day, God will recreate your body in the same way He recreated your spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:35-45 states that this will take place at the rapture.

You use your body to connect to the physical world. You see, you feel, you taste, you hear and you touch with your body. You use your body for transportation in this world and manipulation of things in this world. When your body is governed by your new spirit, good things happen! But problems come when the third part of you takes control.

The third part of you is your soul. You are a spirit, you live in a body, and you have a soul. Your soul is made up of your reasoning, your emotions, and your desires. Any time you think something through, your using your soul. Any time you feel sad, mad or glad – that is the emotional part of your soul. When you see something you really want, or when you're facing something you really don't want to do – that's your soul too.

Before you were a believer, your soul was in charge. You were governed by you limited thinking, you were paralyzed or energized by your emotions, and you did whatever you wanted to do. Now you have a brand new spirit that wants to obey God's word. The problem is, your soul is still the same! You see, God recreated your spirit when you got saved, He's going to recreate your body at the rapture, but He's given you the responsibility of renewing your mind!

Often, when we talk about salvation, we use the wrong terms. We speak about Jesus “saving our souls.” The reality is, He saved our spirit when we got saved – but our soul was still as degenerate as ever! The salvation of our souls is a process! James 1:21 says, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” The only thing that is going to save your soul is a constant, steady diet of God's Word!

As long as your soul (your mind) is unsaved, it is God's enemy! Romans 8:7 says, “Because the carnal (degenerate, unsaved, un-renewed) mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” So how do we get our soul to do what's right? It has to be renewed by God's Word!

Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

As we continue to take in God's Word, our soul is renewed. You start to notice that it's easier to obey God. That's because, as your soul is recreated by God's Word, it begins to line up with your spirit.

Your new spirit always wants to obey God. In Matthew 26:41 Jesus said, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Your flesh will obey whatever is stronger, either your spirit or your soul.

So let your Spirit man be stronger than your soul! Don't let your emotions control you any more – instead learn how to be controlled by God's Word and God's Spirit. Don't let the natural things that you desire drive you, instead learn how to desire what you read in the Bible. Don't let you reasoning and your intellect to talk you out of obeying God.

Let God's Word have the final say in your spirit, your soul and your body!

For All Of Us Who Were Raised In Church...

First of all, I want to make it clear that I am very grateful for the parents I have. I think we can all agree that all of the values and ethics that we have came from the way we were raised. All of us have had sort of a “head start” by learning right and wrong early in our life. However, what I want to relate to you now is the hidden danger that comes from being raised by godly parents and from spending your childhood years in church.

    The danger here is the lack of personalization – when you never internalize the faith of your parents. This condition can manifest itself in one of two ways. The best example of this is Isaac’s family. His two boys, Jacob and Esau, illustrate both sides of what I like to call “the second generation syndrome.” These two boys had an incredible family. Their grandpa was the Abraham. Their dad was the Isaac; the miracle baby of Abraham and Sarah. They were miracle kids themselves! So if anyone should’ve had a head start in their relationship with God, it was these guys. But this advantage didn’t mean anything to them, did it? Why is that?

    They both had problems. Neither of them  adopted their father’s faith as their own. Jacob sums it up in Genesis 27:20 where he told his dad that God was “the Lord your God.” That says it all...not my God, but your God. He and his brother were second generation. They were raised by righteous parents, even adopted it as their culture, but never personally knew God!

Still, these guys were as different as night and day. They show us the two sides of the second generation. Another story about the second generation is the story of the prodigal son and his older brother. This story almost parallels Jacob and Esau’s. Who knows - maybe Jesus was thinking about Jacob and Esau when He told it! Jacob and the older brother were on the same path, Esau and the prodigal were on the other.

Jacob was a homebody. He preferred to stay at home with his parents. He usually did what his parents told him (I know he tricked his dad, but he did it because his mom told him to), and worked hard to make them happy.  Esau was always gone. He was a rebellious guy who loved the party lifestyle.  Jacob was smart and a little tricky, Esau was more of a brute and very gullible. Jacob didn’t really hang out with girls very much, Esau was definitely a womanizer! This sounds a lot like the prodigal and the older brother, doesn’t it?

    The problem was, they were both stuck in the same trap! Neither of them knew the God of their parents. Both sides of this second generation need to realize something - being raised in by godly parents doesn’t make them godly! They needed their own encounter with God! It wasn’t until Jacob was on the run, with nothing except the clothes on his back, that he came to realize that something was wrong. He had an encounter with God at Bethel, (since you were raised in church, you remember the story about Jacob’s ladder) and right there made a promise that God was going to be his God.

    Sadly, Esau never had this encounter. But in the story of the prodigal son, it was the older brother that never got it. The prodigal realized that he didn’t really know his father like he should. The older brother didn’t really know his dad either, but he never realized that! Both of these boys only saw their father as someone to be obeyed; all they saw was rules! The prodigal rebelled, the older brother stayed and submitted - but neither of them had a relationship with their dad.

    There are thousands of young men and women who are in the same situation today. They were raised by Christian parents, raised in church, taught all the Bible stories; but they’ve never known God except as Someone to be obeyed. All they see is a list of dos and don’ts. The second generation in church still follows one of two paths

Some of them are like Esau – running, rebellious, turning their back on the way they were raised. Some of them are like Jacob – staying home, seemingly doing everything right, but never bridging the gap between their parents’ faith and their faith. What they both need to realize is, everyone “must be born again” - even if they’re raised in church! God has zero grandkids! The way to get out of the second generation is to know God for yourself!

Prodigal/Esau - is this is where you’re at? Are you running away from what you were raised in? Are you tired of all the rules, so you’re turning your back on everything you were taught? have you found yourself in a pigpen? Then it’s time for you to realize Who you’re running from. Your Father loves you and He wants you to come home!

Older brother/Jacob - are you still trying to earn God’s love? Are you doing all the right things and still wondering why something feels wrong? Do you go to church every week, maybe even volunteer there, but still feel alienated from your Father? You’re on the more dangerous path, my friend! You need to wake up now! You need to realize that going to church your whole life, working hard, and being a good person doesn’t make you a Christian!

We can’t do this anymore! We need to find our Bethel! We must come to the place where we encounter God for ourselves! I know you remember hearing how much the “unchurched” need a revival. What I’m proposing to you is that there needs to be a revival in us first – the ones who were born here, who were raised here, who know all the right things.

    This is where we’re at. Are you going to keep sitting in church, working hard, volunteering there - only because it’s how you were raised? Or are you like Esau? Are you going to keep doing your own thing, pretending like you have all the time in the world? Listen to this verse and hear what it is saying to you:

1 Chronicles 28:9 “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

Isn’t time you found your Bethel?

Slackers Don't Get This

Proverbs 25:19 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint.

Do you remember when you had loose baby teeth? You would go to take a bite out of something at dinner time, and it would just give way! Or how about this, have you ever sat on your leg until it went to sleep and didn't know it? You would get up and take a step, only to have your leg buckle under you! That feeling – knowing that something should work and it fails you – is the kind of feeling that comes from depending on an unfaithful person.

Have you ever depended on someone, and they didn't come through for you? It stings, right? Or, have you ever been the cause of that kind of frustration? I have been in both places, and I didn't enjoy either!

Faithfulness and loyalty are not common in this world anymore. Even in the church, where we should be true to our word, there are a lot of unfaithful people. Even Solomon noticed that trend back in his day; Proverbs 20:6 says, “Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?”

In the New Testament, the Greek word for faithfulness is “pistis” - and it's used to describe both reliability and faith! Why is the word for faith used to describe our reliability (faithfulness)? Because, the Bible is describing a faithful person's trustworthiness from someone else's viewpoint (“I have faith in them”). In other words, our faithfulness should allow people to put their faith in what we said we would do!

Faithfulness is our human reflection of God's character. God is always faithful to His word – that's why we put our faith in Him. As His kids, we should be faithful to our word as well! From marriage vows to job contracts, a believer's word should be binding. Psalm 15:4 shows how a faithful person views his promises; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. Even when it's costly, a faithful person does what he says. This is the kind of character should be found in the home, on the job, and in the church.

God's currency is faithfulness!

For example, if you want to advance in your workplace, make sure you're faithful to your boss! Luke 16:12 says, “And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?” If you have to be told two or three times to do something, if you're badmouthing your boss behind his back, if you're always complaining about the job you have – why on earth would you be expecting a better position? If you're not faithful to what your boss is giving you to do, you will never be made a boss yourself. 

When you're faithful, other people may call you a “kiss-up”, but God will honor your faithfulness to your boss!

This type of faithfulness applies to ministry as well. When someone has a call to preach, the best thing they can do is submit to another man's ministry. Be faithful in what is another man's and God will give you your own! The worst thing a young minister in a church can do is badmouth the senior pastor and constantly maneuver for a better position! You're setting yourself up for failure, my friend, so stop it! Take a lesson from Paul, look at how he was placed in ministry: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Timothy 1:12).

Luke 16:10 sets the rule - He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Go ahead, try to claim that you'll do a better job when you have something more important to do. But I'm telling you – the way you serve in the little things is a picture of what you will do with greater things. In God's eyes, someone who faithfully cleans the church bathrooms for ten years is more qualified to step into ministry than a fresh Bible school graduate!

Faithfulness is essential for your Christian walk! God emphasizes it over and over again. Be faithful to the people in charge, and God will bless you!

A faithful man will abound with blessings Proverbs 28:20

The Forgotten Side of Grace

If I were to ask you what grace is and what grace does, what would you say? Undeserved favor? Getting what we don't deserve? How about “God's Riches At Christ's Expense? Have you heard any of this before?

Grace is probably one of the most taught about subject in church today, and rightfully so. It's by grace we are saved through faith; not of works lest we should boast. It is accurate to say that grace is when God freely gives us His own righteousness. We don't have to work for it or try to earn it – we're no longer under the old law! God's grace has completely wiped out our past sins, leaving us clean in His eyes! Praise God!

But forgiveness isn't the only side to God's grace. It is the only part being taught today, though. This message is very true, but it is also incomplete. From what is being taught in a lot of churches today, it would be easy to come to the wrong conclusions. It would be easy for us to get so caught up in Ephesians 2:8 and 9 (For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast), that we forget to read on to verse 10 (For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them). There is more to the story of grace than we're being told!

The rest of the grace message is found in Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. We have gotten so wrapped up in being saved by grace and not works, that we have lost sight of the fact that grace teaches us to do good works.

Grace isn't about how much we can get away with once we're saved. We aren't allowed to do whatever we want and claim grace over it. Paul says in Romans 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Paul absolutely disagreed with the doctrine of “greasy grace.” That's the teaching that “as long as you believe in Jesus, it's ok, go ahead and do whatever feels right for you.”

Jesus agrees with Paul when He said in John 14:12 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. Obviously, even though it is God's grace that saves us, it is obedience that proves our love for our Savior.

It is God's grace that saved us, but grace didn't save us just to let us go back to our sin! Now that grace has saved us, it teaches us how to live a godly life! That makes sense, right? I mean if we were saved “for good works” (according to Ephesians 2:10), it would be understandable that the same grace that saved us would teach us how to do what is right!

Not only does grace save us and teach us, it also empowers us. It doesn't just teach us to do the right thing and then expect us to be able to do it alone. We were powerless to obey God before we were saved. And now that we are saved, we still need the strength do do what's right. Grace gives us that strength. It is God's grace that empower us and enables us to obey Him. Hebrew 12:28 sums up this side of God's Grace, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” After reading that, God's word to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 makes more sense: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” There you have it: grace is synonymous with strength!

So, God's grace saves us by faith in Jesus Christ. It teaches us to live right and to obey God. And when our strength to obey is weak, God's grace empowers us. What an amazing gift God has given us! It's no wonder Ephesians 1 and 2 declare the “riches of His grace!” God's grace is truly all that we need in our Christian walk! It is a pity to think that so many people would cheapen the real grace message to “what can I get away with and still be a Christian?” How sad!

Now, don't get confused and think that I'm talking about legalism. I'm not! I'm not teaching obedience instead of grace

First of all, we're not talking about doing something to get saved; we're talking about doing something because you are saved!

Secondly, true grace is the only way to obey God! You simply can't obey God by your own power. You need God's grace to enable you!

And finally, this isn't about earning righteousness – it's about demonstrating righteousness!

That is the forgotten side of grace. Not just a salvation, but the wisdom and power to obey God in our everyday life!