We are then God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Out of all of God’s glorious creation, we are his workmanship. We who were originally made in his image yet fallen in sin are now redeemed to be conformed to the perfection of his Son, which we live out in good works. Yet, even our good works are according to the sovereign grace of God, that the world might see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16). Therefore, let the testimony of our lives show and the praises of our tongues proclaim “the immeasurable riches of [God’s] grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” I never wanted to follow Jesus, but he rescued me by his grace forever!
Tag Archives: Grace
The Holy Spirit Speaks
If anyone tells you that apart from faith in Jesus Christ there is no concern or consequence, he is a liar. Apart from Christ, you are spiritually dead in your trespasses and sins, walking in the way of this world and living like a disciple of her prince in complete disobedience to God (Eph. 2:1-2). If anyone tells you that apart from faith in Jesus Christ that you are truly free, he is a liar. Apart from Christ, you are a slave to the passions of your flesh, carrying out the sinful desires of your body and mind, and deserving the wrath of almighty God (Eph. 2:3).
When Everything Sad Comes Untrue
In his mercy and by his grace, God has dealt with our sin problem: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Positionally, by God’s grace through faith in Christ we are perfectly righteous. Practically, through his Spirit we are enabled to live in obedience to him. And while in this life under the sun, we battle our sinful flesh, Christ is preparing a place for us where the inequities of this life are not true, where the righteous don’t die, where there is no folly nor sadness because sin no longer is. This is the Christian hope, that in the final consummation, we will hear from heaven “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5), and on that day everything sad comes untrue.
Trust Him for His Grace
The crook in our lot is often not plain to our sight, because we live here, under the sun: “For now we see in a mirror dimly,” Paul explains, “but then face to face.” Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12). This side of glory, we do not, we will not, we cannot see God’s sovereign purpose in what he has ordained. And if we interpret this through the folly of unbelief, we will wallow in vanity and dive deeper in despair. But if we trust the Lord, for our good and his glory, we will rest contented in his loving provision, even in adversity.
God knows what is to come because he has ordained it. God knows what is good for us because he ordained that too. Let us trust him for his grace.
Conviction, Contrition, and Community
With three synonyms (“transgressions,” “iniquity,” and “sin”), David confesses the totality of his sin. He no longer hides what could never be hidden. Great is David’s sin but not greater than the forgiveness of the self-revealed One, who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6). David does not offer to work for a wage but to be given grace, knowing that his sin is before him (and everyone else who has ever read this psalm). His prayer is not that his sin be blotted out of human history, but that by God’s grace it would be forgiven. And so it was. Such is the merciful forgiveness of God.
Blessed to Worship
The eighty-fourth psalm is similar to the Songs of Ascents as its focus is worship, directs us toward Zion, and emphasizes the temple. Within the psalm we find characteristics of a hymn, a prayer, and a lament. It is also a psalm of longing, and yet the most oft-repeated word in the psalm is “blessed”: “Blessed are those who dwell in [the LORD’s] house.” “Blessed are those whose strength is in [the LORD].” And, “blessed is the one who trusts in [the LORD]!” And blessed are we, as we read, sing, and meditate upon this psalm.
Vessels of Mercy
Let us show compassion and mercy as God has shown compassion and mercy to us. Our standard for mercy is neither our neighbor nor ourselves but God, as Jesus said, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). Just as we are not God’s judge, we are not our neighbor’s either. Jesus said being a “neighbor” is defined by showing mercy (Luke 10:36-37), and James taught, “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jas. 2:13). If we are indeed “vessels of mercy” it stands to reason that mercy will flow from us to others.
The Good Life
The Holy Spirit “helps us in our weakness” (8:26). The subject is the Holy Spirit, who as the “Helper” whom Christ promised and sent (John 14:16), helps us. The inspired implication is we need the help. But if “we have been justified by faith” and at “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1), and if there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1), and if we are children and “heirs of God” (Rom. 8:17), what help do we really need? Should we believe as we often act, or pray the cowboy prayer, “Give us rain and a little luck, God, and we’ll do the rest”?
The Spirit is Life
In conclusion, let me encourage all of us who are tempted to set our minds on the things of the flesh yet have the Spirit of Christ to remember, reflect, realize, and rejoice. Remember that you belong to Christ. You are not your own but were bought with his blood (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Reflect on the reality that the very Spirit of God dwells in you, a guarantee that you are his child and an ever-present reminder that he is with you, even to the end of the age (verse insert). Realize that “although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life.” Regardless of how you sometimes feel, you are in fact alive in Christ. And rejoice that “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4), and the power of his presence transcends all the trials this world has to offer. So, let him who is greater do greater things in and through you, as you set your mind on the things of the Spirit. For, the Spirit is life.
What the World Needs to Hear
But the faith that God gave Abraham did not falter, as it never will, but grew: “[Abraham] did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do” (Rom. 4:20-21 NET). Therefore, “In hope [Abraham] believed against hope.” Though his circumstances shouted hopelessness, Abraham had hope, not because he looked to himself and his faithfulness but because he looked to the One who promised.
Planter, Pastor, Preacher 