Transformed by Grace

Many a believer has often heard and responded to the song Just as I am without one plea and then almost Immediately the next thing they hear is, now that you’ve received Christ without one plea it’s time to get busy !  The new convert is often instructed to get busy doing stuff for God or God may not be pleased with them. In the beginning we portray God as a loving kind God who only wants to love us and forgive us without conditions but then after we come to God ; God is then often portrayed as a God that has a long clip board checking off all the stuff that we are  either doing or not doing for him.. We then spend the rest of our Christian lives wondering if we are doing enough to really be pleasing to God.

After someone comes to Christ without one plea they also hear things like now that you have received Christ , you also need to start trying your best  to be like Jesus  and please God by keeping the 10 Commandments , Obeying all the words written in red, tithing , Church attendance ,  reading your Bible , and volunteering to do all that you can do so that you can then be all that you can be for God and hopefully in the end God will let you into His kingdom .  This is the Gospel with additives

The new convert often begins to wonder what did I really sign up for?  but because he is told to get busy he then sets off to the nearest Christian book store to buy the latest Christian how to book for dummies ,  that will give him the latest 5 steps or 10 steps on how to live the Christian life, how to please God, How to keep pleasing God, and How to become like Jesus .

So Instead of the Gospel being the gospel of  forgiveness and rest it often turns into the gospel of stress! Instead of the gospel of peace , it often turns into the gospel of fear ,anxiety, worry and wondering if I’m doing enough to please God.

We begin in rest and peace but we are then introduced to the grit your teeth and do it or else gospel! and we begin to be filled with thoughts about ” am I doing enough to please God”?

Instead of finding ourselves drawing near to God in full assurance and confidence we instead find ourselves shrinking back from God in fear with a great lingering sense of unworthiness and condemnation.

Any gospel, that we hear and believe that promotes shame and condemnation is not the gospel of Christ. Any gospel,that robs us from our confidence toward God and that causes us to shrink back from God is not the Gospel of Christ but is another Gospel.

The Gospel is not about what we do for God its about what God has already done for us through the body of Christ

This may shock you but the Bible is not a manual on how to live for God but it’s really a book of life revealing Gods plan to come and live in us!

The Bible is not a manual , it’s about Emmanuel which means God is with us and now in the new covenant He is come to live in us as us!

Gods plan was never for us to try and measure up to His standard of holiness through self effort. Gods plan has always been to inhabit us to live and express himself in us and through us as us.

The apostle Paul knew what it was like to try and live for God through religious human effort but after He had a revelation of Gods grace , He said I’m done with the old humanistic way , I have found a new way of living, called Christ in me. Let’s look at a few scriptures that confirm this.

Philippians 3:3-4 ESV

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

Paul use to try and live for God by the flesh but in essence he said I’ve been their done that and that is not the way to live.

Galatians 2:18-21 ESV

For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

The Apostle Paul spells out why Christ came and why he died. Jesus did not come and die to just forgive our sins but He came to give us a brand new way to live. How odd He do it ? Jesus not only took away our sins but He also took away our old sin nature at the cross , this is what Paul meant when He said I was crucified with Christ but nevertheless I live, but it’s not the old me living any more it’s the new me that has been recreated in Christ. And now the way I live today is not through placing  confidence  in my old self or my flesh but by the faith in the one who now lives in me. As I believe this I will then express the very life of the one who now lives in me who is Christ.

So we need to understand that it’s not me trying to live for God but it’s really now God living in and through me as me.

When Paul said that He died to the law , he was saying that he died to the old system of trying to please God and approach God. We are no longer under the law but we are now under grace. Law is trying to live for God through our ability and grace is living from the ability that God has supplied us with in Christ.

We cannot be a Law-man and a Grace-man at the same time.. We are fully under grace or fully under law but not both. To try and live by both will only produce frustration and condemnation.

The main reason why so many Christians are living more of a frustrated condemned Christian life is because they are trying to embrace both grace and law and grace and law do not mix.

Religion engages men into the futile efforts of trying to change himself through self effort but this is not how change comes. True transformation comes by beholding , believing and resting.

As we firmly believe with God about who God says we now are in Christ in spite of how we may feel then grace goes to work to transform us from the inside out .

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NASB

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Transformation does not come through striving to become like Jesus but it comes through beholding as in a mirror the glory of The Lord.

When you look into a mirror you see your reflection or the reflection of what you look like in the natural seen realm likewise the Bible is  a mirror that reflects who we are in our spirits or in the unseen realm.

So what doe the Bible reflect ? Well of you have been born again , it reflects this about the new you.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

The Bible says that in your spirit that you are a new creation the old you has been taken away and  a brand new you has been put in it’s place. This new you is perfect and is of God. Now I know in our emotions and in the seen realm we don’t always wake up feeling new or looking so new but if we will begin to agree with who God says we are in spit of how we may feel or look , I guarantee you that the new you will begin to manifest through your body and soul. This means that you will begin to experience something that Jesus called abundant life.

We are not trying to become like Jesus , the Bible says in our spirit we are already like Him.

We must not fall into the religious trap ( that was really orchestrated by satan) of believing that we must do something to become like God. This is the lie that satan used to deceive man in the garden and it’s the same lie that satan now uses today to sway many Christians away from the tree of life into a fleshly way of doing .

Genesis 3:5 NASB

For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

satan told man if you do this then you’ll be like God but really man didn’t have to do anything to be Ike God because he already was like God , man was created in the likeness of God from the very beginning.

Genesis 1:27 NASB

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

This doing something to be something was also what satan used on Jesus in the wilderness temptation.

Matthew 4:3 KJV

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

We need to understand that satan knew who Jesus was just like satan knew who Adam was. He knew that Jesus was the son of God, what he was trying to  tempt Jesus  with was to go rogue and to do something to prove who he was.. That’s when Jesus responded back with the word  that man will not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

We are who God says we are and that settles it! We never have to set out trying to prove our so ship to the devil or anyone else.

As we see who God has already created us to be through the reflection of the word , we will then be transformed into His image by the spirit of The Lord.. This is Gods only way for transformation to take place.

A perfect illustration of this can be seen in the way an ugly old caterpillar is changed into a beautiful butterfly. A caterpillar begins it’s life groping around and crawling trying to find it’s way until one day it stops groping around and climbs up on to a tree, while on the tree the caterpillar then clings to a twig and simply clings and rests, as the caterpillar clings and rests something incredible begins to happen called transformation! A cocoon forms around the caterpillar and as the caterpillar rests in the cocoon the caterpillar miraculously changes from an ugly caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly!

In essence this is how we too are transformed, as we simply cling to Jesus and rest in Him then His grace goes to work and transforms us from the inside out!

So we have two options , we can either believe the grit your teeth, roll up your sleeves and get busy trying to change yourself gospel or we can believe the rest in Him and He that began a good work in you will finish what He started gospel. One will lead to stress and a continued feelings of unworthiness and one will produce trust, confidence and peace toward God

Free to Be You

God wants you free to be you.. There is no better person that you can be then the unique you that God created you to be. You are not the invention of your parents..  Your arrival may have been a big surprise to them but  not to God . You were fearfully and wonderfully  made by God for a distinct and unique purpose

Psalm 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knows right well.

When God made you He made you for a special purpose.

Jeremiah 1:5 AMP    Before I formed you in the womb I knew and approved of you as My chosen instrument, and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; and I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

A Prophet is one who is called to bring a message and to represent God in the earth. We have not all been called to be prophets like Jeremiah but we have all been called to bring a certain message and to re-present God in this earth.

It is in Christ that we begin to discover who we really are and why we are here on planet earth. We also begin to discover what God has specifically called us to do

As we renew our minds to the truth of Gods word and confess truth ( that is to agree with Gods word even over our own feelings ) that we will then begin to know Gods  full purpose for our lives.

Renew simply means to renovate as you would renovate a house. When a house is renovated the old material  is taken out and the new put back into its place. To renew our minds means that we surrender our old thoughts and opinions for Gods thoughts and opinions.. Gods thoughts about us are really the only thoughts that matter .. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways our ways. Our thoughts will often lie to us telling us things that keep us from God and all that God has purposes for our lives. Isaiah 55 gives us powerful  insight about forsaking our thoughts for Gods thoughts and the incredible result that comes as we do.

Isaiah 55:7-13 ESV

let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Our thoughts will often tell us that God is against us , that God is angry with us , that God does not care about us, our thoughts will often tell us things like God could never forgive us for what we did in our past. These are the thoughts that God is telling us to forsake!  Forsake all these condemning thoughts .These thoughts are not coming from God . God say  that He is more than ready to love you ,  to have compassion on you , that He is ready to not only forgive you but to  abundantly forgive you ! As we believe and receive Gods thoughts over our own thoughts we will then see Gods abundant fruit begin to grow in our lives.

Isaiah 55:12-13 ESV

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. [13] Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” …

The result of us believing Gods thought over our thoughts will produce incredible results. We will then begin to experience the manifestation of His kingdom in our lives..the Bible says that the kingdom of God is righteousness . Peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

God desires for us to go out in Joy and be led in His Peace but we must be willing to surrender our thoughts for His thoughts.

Much of the world and sad to say much of the church today is not partaking of all that God desires to give to them because of wrong thinking.

Many of thoughts are formed from our culture or how we were raised or what we have been told or led to believe . Even at an early age many are told they were no good and would amount to nothing. As we receive these thoughts we then begin to form certain opinions about ourselves that are not necessarily true.. These wrong thoughts have often lead to depression that  then often then lead many to engage in to hurtful addictions in an attempt to try and ease the pain of their wrong thoughts but again if we will begin to choose what God really thinks about us and how God sees us now on Christ we will be set free from all  evil imaginations that have keep us bound  in despair

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God knows the plans that He has for us , His plan is not to hurt you but to bless you , to give you a hope and a future.

Paul tells us in Romans 12 that our lives will radically be transformed as we will choose to think different , as we exchange our thoughts for Gods thoughts and Gods thought are found in His word

Romans 12:2 AMP

Do not be conformed to this world (this age), fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs, but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind by its new ideals and its new attitude, so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you.

For us to renew our minds to the truth , we must not approach the Bible as a rule book but as a mirror. The Bible is really not a manual but it’s about Emmanuel , which means God is with us . In the Old covenant God was with His people but now under the new covenant God is more then with us , He is now in us.

Again the apostle Paul tells us in Galatians about Our new identity in Christ .

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

As we see ourselves in Christ and one with Christ we will then not only discover our purpose in life but we will also be supernaturally changed by the grace of God from the inside out.

It is through this process of receiving, believing and seeing ourselves the way God sees us that we will find our security and true identity. We will also experience freedom, Joy and Peace that we could never obtain through our own independent ways of trying to find it ourselves apart from God

Let me make it clear . You will never find your real purpose in this life until you see yourself first in Christ..

We must exchange our thoughts for Gods thoughts and Gods ways for His ways.

We should never fall into the trap of comparing ourselves with  others and then trying to be like them. Their is no better person that we can be  then who God created us to be .  God designed us and  wants to work  specifically through the uniques person that He created us to be.

The main reason Jesus came was to give His life for you so that He could then to give His life to you , so that He  then  could live His life in you and through you as you..

Grace in the Old Testament ..

Grace is not just a new covenant idea, grace has always been Gods way for us to function in this life.. One of the main differences between grace in the old  and grace in the new , is that under the old covenant grace was with them and on them but under  the new covenant ,  grace is not just on us and with us but grace is now in us.

John 1:16  And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. When we received Christ we received the fullness of His grace

Romans 5:17  For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

The way Jesus fully functioned in this life was by grace. Jesus was full of grace,  and grace is how we are  now empowered to function in this life  as well. As we embrace grace and trust grace to work in us then we will do more then just survive in this life we will reign .

We have always defined grace as the unmerited favor of God which is true , Grace is unmerited which means grace is a gift that we can never work for or earn . Gods grace can never be achieved it  can only be  received as a gift. Grace is also the favor of God, which means God is for us not against us. Romans 8: 31-39 confirms this

Everyone who receives Christ also receives Grace and Grace is given so that we are all affectively enabled to minister in this life. The way we minster is by grace

1 Peter 4:10   As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 

Now here we see that not only is grace a gift it is a manifold gift which means there are various aspects and functions of grace. Grace is not just favor , grace has many functions that  will help us to fully  function .

Grace is Gods favor but grace is also what enables us, empowers us, equips us, teaches us, delivers us, heals us, protects us and prospers us . There are many functions of Gods grace not just one.

 Now we can also see Gods grace at work all through the old and new covenant,  Gods grace is not just a new covenant way , Grace is the way God works!

Genesis 6:8  Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord . It’s interesting to note that Noah’s name actually means rest, the way we obtain grace is by entering into Gods rest. Hebrews 4:11 confirms this.

How in the world did Noah a 600 year old man and his kids build a boat that would hold at least two and more of each kind of animal ? I can’t even wrap my mind around this. I can tell you that they did not do it through mere human wisdom or strength , they did it by Gods  Grace!

How did Abraham a 100 year old man and Sarah who was close to 100 ever give birth to a son in their old age? Well I came tell you again that it was not through their own human effort or strength , it was by grace..  It’s also interesting to note that Isaacs name actually means laughter which tells us that when grace gives birth to Gods promises it will always result  in great  Joy.

I’m now reminded of the early church as they heard the gospel of grace and received grace that great grace and great joy was simultaneously on them all. In fact the entire city was filled with Joy.. Joy is a fruit of the spirit of grace.

Acts 13:52  And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

Acts 4:33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

As we embrace grace, then grace will manifest the fruit of peace and great Joy. 

many  in religion reflect the very opposite of joy , in fact many look like they have been baptized more  in lemon juice than in Grace..

We see the grace of God at work in the life of Joseph  over and over .

Genesis 39:2-4  And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

The bible says that God protected Joseph , delivered Joseph, promoted Joseph, blessed Josph , enabled Joseph, gave wisdom , gave great favor to Joseph . This all shows the manifold grace of God at work in Joseph’s life. Yes Joseph went through rough trials and was falsely accused but as Joseph continued to trust God , Gods grace continued to work everything out for good in Joseph’s life. Joseph was no economic major but gave gave Joseph wisdom that turned Egypt’s  entire economic situation around.

We see great grace at work when God delivered the children of Israel from Egypt and from Pharaohs hand, Gods people could not deliver themselves , God is the one who brought them out! Grace delivered them! and when they faced the Red Sea God told them to hold their peace stand still and behold the salvation of Lord .We  need to understand  that God was not telling them to just stand in one place and not physically move but that God was saying stay in rest and move forward. As they stayed in rest and moved forward into the sea then grace spilt the sea wide open and they all walked on dry ground !  Notice that the ground wasn’t even wet, they dint walk in mud they walked on dry ground , when grace does a work grace does a complete and thorough work. We also know that Gods people did not leave Egypt empty handed , they left loaded down with the silver  and gold of Egypt and their was not one feeble or sick one among them! Talk about great grace !  Exodus 14:13

We also see Gods grace at work in a little shepherd boy named David and David’s 5 smooth stones…David a young teenage red headed boy armed with a sling shot and 5 stones brings down a giant . How did this happen?   It’s called Grace.. It’s also interesting to note that 5 is often seen as the number for grace. David had 5 smooth stones but only had to use one to take the  giant gorilla out , so what were the other 4 stones for? Some said maybe they were for the other giants 4 brothers . We are not sure but we do know that grace made David fearless , he did not  timidly walk up to the giant but ran towards him in confidence , David knew that if God was for him then who or what could stand against Him.

We also see the message of  grace that was delivered to the prophet Zerrubbabel

Zechariah 4:6-7   Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. …

The message given to Zerubbabel was that the work of God would not be finished by mans  own power, might or by human strength but by the spirit of grace… Grace is always the way Gods promises  are fulfilled.

Now some may as ” well I thought that the old covenant was all about law and the new about grace”? No grace is really all through the old  testament , The law was never really given to fulfill the promises of  God. Gods way has always been faith and grace.

The law only came after Gods people  had rejected  the  faith and grace way..  It was only after Gods people rejected the way of faith and grace  that God then gave  them the law and God  used the law  to bring them to an end of all their fleshly trying to fulfill Gods plan through their own  flesh.

Hebrews 8:8-9   Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.

Which covenant is God speaking of when He says not like the covenant that He made with their Fathers when He took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt for they did not continue in my covenant?

God is really speaking of 3 covenants here , He is first speaking of a brand new covenant that’s like no other  that’s coming , He is also speaking of a covenant that He originally made with their fathers who was Abraham , Isaac and Jacob  which was really a covenant of faith and grace and last He is speaking of a covenant that He gave them because they rejected the original covenant. The covenant that God gave them because they rejected His original covenant with their fathers was the old covenant of law.

The law was given to bring them to a place where they would ultimately fail and instead trust Gods  new covenant  way of grace.

Today in the new covenant church one of the main issues we have is that we still want to revert back to a fleshly way of trying to carry out the work of God. We see ourselves saved by grace but then we turn back to the flesh for perfection.. Grace and not the arm of the flesh is Gods only way to fulfill Gods purpose. As The Apostle Paul challenged the church in Galatia so God challenges us today…

Galatians 3:2-3

This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Empowered by Grace

Living the Christian life without grace is not difficult it is impossible! We were never called to live the Christian life by our own human effort or strength. Living by soul power instead of spirit power is not the way to live the Christian life

Grace is Gods spirit enabling us to accomplish what we could never accomplish through our own human effort or ability …

Grace is the power of God, the spirit of God and the strength of God..

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.. That’s grace.

Grace can only work as we cease from our own work and enter into rest.. When we work then grace cannot work , when we rest that’s when grace can then effectively go to work.

We obtain grace and walk by grace through faith… It takes faith to believe that grace will work if we cease from all our works. It takes faith to enter into the rest of God.

Much of the church today begins in the spirit but then winds up trying to live for God by the flesh.. Paul calls this a foolish way.

Much of the church is running on soul power and not spirit power. Soul meaning mind , will and emotions but man is not just body and soul , he is body , soul and spirit. We are not to live and walk by the spirit . As born again believers the spirit and not the soul and body is take the lead in all that we do. When soul and body are leading  instead of spirit this is called flesh. The only thing that flesh will produce apart from the spirit is  just more flesh.. It may be nice looking flesh but it will still be flesh

One of the main reasons that their is so much division and discord in the church today is due to the fact that we have tried to live the Christian life by the flesh instead of by grace who is the spirit of Christ . A vital truth that we must understand is that grace is not a doctrine but grace the spirit of Christ that now lives in us..grace is the way we live the Christian life. Grace is how Jesus accomplished all that He accomplished and grace is how we will accomplish all that God has called us to accomplish in this life.

John 1:12 KJV

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

The power to become the sons of God is the grace of God.

John 1:14 KJV

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:16-17  And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Jesus came full of grace and truth and now every born again believer is full of grace and truth. The law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Today we are not to try and live out the new covenant Christian life in an old covenant way.

The old covenant was about law. Under the old way it was man trying to keep the letter of the law through human effort and might but under the new covenant we have been given a new and better way to approach God and to carry out Gods will on this earth. This new way to carry out Gods will is called grace.

Grace is not just for the forgiveness of sins but grace is what enables us and empowered us  to do and to become all that God has called us to in this life.

Anytime someone says that you shouldn’t preach to much grace because it will cause people to live a sinful recklessly life then that person does not understand grace. You can never receive too much grace, in fact grace is how we live out the Christian life and without grace it’s not only difficult to live the Christian life it is impossible!

Jesus didn’t do all that he did through human effort so what makes us think that we can?

 

Romans 5:17 KJV

For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

It is only as we receive the abundance of Gods grace and the gift of righteousness that we will ever reign in life by one Jesus Christ.

How do we reign ? We reign in life, who’s life ? His life or the life of Jesus Christ..

I’m reminded of the main reason Jesus came in this first place..

John 10:10 KJV

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Abundant life is one of the main reasons Jesus came. Jesus did not come to give us more religion but Jesus came to give us abundant life and it is as we receive Gods abundant grace and free gift of righteousness that we begin to experience Christ’s life in us.

Jesus did not come to give us more law , He came to give us more life… He came to give us His abundant life.

The will of God for my life is to receive and to trust in grace to work in my life . To trust grace to lead me , to teach me, to guide me, to transform me.

Most of the controversy over grace today is a matter of trust… Most simply do not trust grace to its full work or to bring to past what God has promised to do..

We are often like Abraham if we do not see immediate results then we try and help God out to make it happen.. This helping God out is to move from faith to flesh.

Grace does not work through flesh, grace only works through faith.

For grace to work then we must stop trying to help God out ! God knows how to bring to pass what He has promised and it is always in His time not ours ..

Either Grace works or we work but it’s not both. For grace to work we must cease from all our own effort and enter into the rest of God..

But will this not produce a bunch of lazy coach potato Christians? No! The believer who chooses to trust grace to work will accomplish more by accident then religion will ever accomplish on purpose.

Remember Jesus did all He did because he stayed in rest and was full of grace. .today we are called to do it the same way that Jesus did it.. Jesus now lives in us and wants to continue His ministry through us as we trust Him.

Jesus a accomplished more then any human had ever accomplished in history, how did he do it! He was full of grace and He trusted grace to lead Him. Today we need to trust grace to work. We will accomplish far more by trusting grace then we could ever accomplish through human striving and wisdom.

John 21:25 KJV

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

John 5:19 ESV

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

Jesus only did want He saw the father doing and what the father was showing him to do. Jesus did not do everything people told him to do..sometimes I wonder if we are being led more by what man is telling us to do than God.

As Jesus heard and saw  what the Father was  showing him to do ,He then responded and did what the Father was showing to do. Jesus  simply rested and responded to the father.

We have got to move away from this hurry up and get busy doing something for God gospel..

Religion often tells us don’t just stand their do something! But Grace says don’t just do something stand there .. We must first learn to stand and rest in Jesus before we can effectively do anything.

John 15:5 KJV

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Grace is not just for the initial salvation experience but Grace is how we are to do everything Gods called us too.

Grace enables us, empowers us, equips us and grace transforms us.

As we begin to trust Grace then we will be delivered from the hard, heavy yoke religious way of trying to live for God into the grace way that is light easy.

And I love how the message translation says it

Are you tired burned out on religion? come to me ,get away with me and you will recover your life. I will show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it.. Learn the unforced rhythms of Grace. I will not lay anything heavy or ill- fitting on you. Keep Company with me and you will learn to live freely and lightly. Matthew 11:28-30

Shepherds of law or Grace ?

Jeremiah 50:6

My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting-place.

Shepherds need to be careful about where they are  leading Gods people , are they leading them into life or death?, into blessing or cursing?  Are they leading them into judgment and condemnation or into confidence , peace and rest? Into Love or fear?

Are we leading them into Law or Grace? Are we leading them to believe that God is still somewhat displeased with them or that God is at peace with them?

Whatever we believe will determine what will manifest in our lives.

Proverbs 23:7 says as a man believes in his heart so is he.

For example if Pastors are leading the sheep to believe that God still remembers their sins? When it’s clear in scripture that He dose not. Then they are misleading them into believing something that’s not true.

Hebrews 10:16-17   This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

What part of their sins and iniquities I will remember no more do we not understand?

The only place that sin remains for the Christian is in their own memory but not in Gods. If God remembers our sins no more then shouldn’t we be teaching this truth? isn’t  this the truth that will set people free ?

One of the biggest reasons that many pastors preach on sin every Sunday is to control sin , not realizing that making sin the main focus does not do anything to control sin but only gives strength for sin to flourish. The answer to deliverance from sin is not to preach law but grace.

Romans  6:14 for sin will not have dominion over you for you are not under the law but grace.

Are pastors leading Gods people into having a sin conscience or a righteous conscience? What are pastors preaching on the most? sin or  righteousness? law or grace? the old covenant or the new?..

2 Corinthians 3:6 says that God has enabled us to be ministers of the new covenant ,not of the letter but of the spirit for the letter kills but the spirit gives life.

Are many ministers killing their congregations softly with their words every Sunday by preaching the law or are they preaching the new covenant of grace and life.

Are pastors leading Gods people to believe that God is not really pleased with them unless they are real busy doing stuff for him and  Are pastors leading Gods people into dead works or good works? Dead works are a result of us trying to do a bunch of stuff to maintain right standing with God , good works are a result of Gods people knowing they are 100% right with God because of Jesus. Gods people are to be led into good works not dead works. Good works  are a natural result from us believing the truth about Gods grace.

Are Pastors leading people from mountain to hill or from one church project to the next ? Are Gods people being led into rest or  are they being led away from rest? Have we removed ourselves so far from the gospel of grace that we have  forgotten our resting place in Christ.

The main place sheep are to be led is to Jesus who will always lead then lead His sheep in rest and into rest. It is in rest that our ultimate shepherd restores our souls

He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: Psalm 23:2-3

Under the new covenant pastors should be feeding the sheep not beating the sheep and pastors should be leading the sheep to one Shepherd who is our ultimate shepherd Jesus.

In Ezekiel 34 God promised to raise up one Shepard over His people

Ezekiel 34:23

And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

Of course we know that Jesus came through the lineage of David and that this prophecy ultimately spoke of Jesus who would not only be our high priest but also the Shepard of our souls

Again Psalm 23 Is one of the most incredible scriptures that reveal Jesus as our personal Shepherd.

Psalm 23:1-6

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall a not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely g goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell h in the house of the Lord forever. …

As pastors or main call is not to lead Gods people to depend on us but it’s to lead people to depend on Christ . Christ is grace and Christ is the one who leads us , feeds us,frees us  and restores us.

Im reminded of the four who carried their sick friend to Jesus. They chopped a hole through the roof and lowered there friend down just to get him to Jesus.. They knew if they could just get him to Jesus that He would be healed.. And he was, our call is to get people to Jesus.

Our call is not to coral the sheep, beat the sheep but to lead the sheep to Jesus.

Pastors must ask themselves the question , what am I leading the sheep to believe? This is vital for they will give an account to God for what  they  have been teaching.

Pastors must know how to rightly decide the word of truth. Today we are no longer under the law but grace.. One of the main things Jesus came to do is to take away the old and establish to new.. To take away the old way of relating to God and established the new way of  relating to God. This new way is called the new covenant of grace.

Hebrews 10:9   Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

The Kingdom of God and Grace 2

The kingdom and grace

The only way that we will ever affectively become involved in the kingdom of God is through grace. It is by grace that we accomplish all that God calls us to do.

It may surprise many to know that Gods work only begins when we enter into His rest.. gods work does not begin by us forging ahead trying to do a bunch of stuff for God. gods work is not by perspiration but by participation.

Remember perspiration came as a result of the fall and the curse.

Genesis 3:19

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art , and unto dust shalt thou return.

But under the new covenant of grace we are no longer under the curse but under grace.

Under the new covenant of grace His yoke is easy and His burden is light… now this is not to say that we will never roll up our sleeves again and go to work and that now we will all just sit around and become praise The Lord coach potatoes ! But it means that instead of doing things by the flesh we now have grace and Gods grace is how we now function.. The apostle Paul said this about work and grace.

1 Corinthians 15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 

Notice Paul said I labor more than anyone but it was not me but grace that was with me.

 

Today we must not rely on our flesh to do the works but grace.. This is how Jesus did it and this is also how we are called to do it.

When Jesus came , He came full of grace and truth, all that Jesus accomplished in 3 short years was by grace.. We will get a whole lot more accomplished by grace then we could ever do in a life time of planning and striving by the flesh.

It is by Grace  and faith that we will properly represent the kingdom of God in this earth.

Romans 5:17 For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

The way we begin to rule and reign in this life is by receiving not doing..

As we receive abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness we will then reign in this life by one Jesus Christ..

We reign in life because of the one who is now in us. Jesus who is full of grace and truth now lives In us and as so as He is we are in this life.

When we received Jesus  we also received His fullness.

John 1:16

And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

Most in the church still do not understand how that we are to now function now in this life.. We are no longer to try our best to live for God but today we now live from God…God has under the new covenant given us the fullness of Christ ! Christ is now in us , so now the works He did I can now do and even greater works.. So if this is true then why are we not seeing the works of Christ ? The problem is located right between our own two ears. It has been a matter of wrong believing.

We have often taught only half the gospel and with only half the gospel we will only get half the results.. What do I mean by half the gospel?

We have been taught that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and made us a new creation, that our sins are forgiven and we now have our ticket for heaven but we haven’t really been taught a very vital truth and that is how this how do we live the Christian  or rather how now is this new Christ-in me life  is now manifested through me.

We have not really been taught Galatians 2:19-21 .

Galatians 2:19-21 KJV

For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. [20] I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. [21] I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

We have not been taught what it means to be dead to the law , we have not been taught what it really means to be crucified with Christ and we have not been taught what it means to have Christ now living in me as me.

What we have been taught is that we are forgiven born again Christians that now need to do our utmost through trying real hard to live for God.. We have been taught that we need to do our best to keep the law of Moses ( you know the big 10 ) and that God  really grades on a curve so as long as we  keep trying  real hard that we will be ok with God . We have  also  been taught  that yes we  are new creations in Christ but the old really has not been done way , we still possess an old nature. In other words when Christ came in He in essence  He is now roommates with the devil. What we have taught is not the gospel of Christ.. A partial gospel or a mixed gospel  and our wrong belief has kept us for the most part wandering  in the wilderness.

I’m reminded of what a good friend of mine John Kellog wrote in His book ” a kingdom for the Father” that really grabbed my attention..

He used Neh 9:19-22 as the scripture reference to his insight.

Nehemiah 9:19-21 NASB

You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, To guide them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go. “You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst. “Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want; Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell. …

John said as he read this , it dawned on him that this sounded strangely enough like the full gospel that we often preach today.. Come to Jesus , He will deliver you , He will provide for you, He will take care of you until death , he will give you direction in life and all these things are true and benefits from knowing The Lord but did you know that  God had a higher purpose for them then to just take care of them in the wilderness? God had called them to possess the promise land which represents His kingdom purpose.. Because God is merciful even though His people  were a very unbelieving  and refused to go forward in what God had called them to do He still took care of them.

Provision, healing and all these other things are incredible benefits that we receive for being a part of Gods family but God has not just saved us so we could have these things , He saved us and called us to a higher purpose , which involves His kingdom being expressed on earth as it is in heaven.

Such a gospel will leave us all dressed up with no where to go or without a purpose.. Our purpose is not to just sit around  on our blessed assurance and wait for Jesus to come back to rescue us from this present evil world.. No God has called us to be delivered from this present evil world , while we are living in it, He has called us to be  a light in this  dark world, to be the salt of the earth that will make people truly thirsty for God. We are called to be ambassadors for Christ… To not just represent Christ but to Re-present Christ . We  a re called to express Christ in this world.

In order for this to happen it will not come by us trying harder or by us trying to do better and be better, we already know that has not worked..it will not come by us  buying the latest how to live the Christian life or how to do the Christian works book.. These books are often top sellers but for the most part  they still do not work..

You know the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things and expect different results.

So what is the key to seeing us becoming fully engaged into the kingdom of God, if it’s not trying harder?  Well how about this ! Why don’t we try something new. , why don’t we take a leap of faith! Why don’t we instead of trying harder why don’t we  just make up our minds to just stop all our trying and instead rest .

A major key to seeing Gods kingdom advance in this world is by entering into His rest. As we rest God then works.

As we begin to believe the truth of the whole gospel not just the partial gospel or mixed gospel the. We will see the power of the gospel released in and through the church.

 

The Kingdom of God and Grace

First, God wants to move us to a new center, from self centeredness to God centeredness .
Before the fall Man was God centered , after the fall  man moved to a new center of self.
Man still believes that the entire world revolves around him… Gods trinity is father , son and the Holy Ghost and not me , myself and I

When we are born again we are born from above… Born of the spirit..  But being born again is not the end for why Jesus came , its only the beginning .

Because of our old self centered mentality… We have often made salvation  the end of what Jesus came for when really it’s just the beginning. There is much more to  the Christian life then getting saved and getting  our ticket to heaven.

God has really called us to a bigger eternal purpose called His kingdom… Jesus, preached the good news of the kingdom of God every where that He went, the Bible says that Jesus came to prepare a kingdom for the father and that the end will come when he delivers this kingdom to the father. 1 Corinthians 15:24

The kingdom of God speaks of the big picture… The eternal purpose and intention of God.. The kingdom of God  is the above the line eternal purpose of God and the way that this purpose is fulfilled is going to be in an above the line way  and not in a below the line way.

Above the line speaks of  the eternal unseen spirit realm and  below the line speaks of temporary seen  flesh realm. Babel is an example of  men trying in a fleshly, carnal  way of trying to build a kingdom for God

Genesis 11:4
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

Man has always had a tendency to  organize , build  and make a name for himself in his kingdom building efforts for God…

But Jesus gives us the true above the line way..of  doing the will of God and seeing Gods kingdom fulfilled.

John 5:19
Jesus answered them by saying, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the Son is able to do nothing of Himself (of His own accord); but He is able to do only what He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does is what the Son does in the same way in His turn.

Jesus did not move independently from the father trying to build stuff for the Father.. Jesus did not move and do things by the flesh .. His eyes were  on the father and Jesus simply walk responded and did whatever He  was shown by the father to to do. Jesus was was not anxiously trying to figure out what He should do next. Jesus did not feel that He has to stay busy for The Father or the Father would be displeased and yet Jesus accomplished more than any human had ever accomplished  and most of it was accomplished in 3 short years.  Do you think that maybe we should stop from all our  religious busy activity and learn from Him?

John 21:25
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

How did Jesus do all of these things ? It’s called Resting , Relying and Responding

Jesus walked in Rest, Jesus Relied on the Father and Jesus simply Responded to what the Father was showing Him to do..and He now calls us to do it the same way..

Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

The Bible says  that in Him we now live and move and have our being.. The same way  that Jesus did it is how we are to do it.. Gods kingdom will not come by carnally  trying to build and doing a lot of stuff for God.. No ! It comes by simply moving into what the father shows us to do step by step. It comes as we walk after the spirit , not the flesh.. Someone asked once how do you walk in the Spirit?  That’s simple , you do it one step at a time. Walking in the Spirit is much like trying to walk naturally, when a baby first learns to walk he is always watching his feet and concentrates on every step that he takes , but after a while the bay will not even notice that his feet are moving … He  will just walk.. This is how we walk in the spirit… It is a process that we learn.. It’s a process of resting and responding to what God shows us to do.

Now For us to even begin to participate in Gods kingdom  we must first be born from above .

John 3:5-6
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

For us to even participate in the kingdom of God we must be born twice!

Once of the flesh and then once of the Spirit. It’s interesting to note that Jesus was speaking to a very religious man named Nicodemus when he made the statement , you must be born again.

Being engaged in a lot of Religious works does not necessarily  mean that you have  born again.. Nicodemus was probably more devoted in doing more for God then most Christians today, but  good works is not what saves us, Jesus and faith in Him is what saves us , and it’s through faith in Christ that we are born from above.

The only way that we can become involved in kingdom above activity is to first be born again or born from above. It is  only by the Spirit that we  are ever enabled to do kingdom activity not the flesh.

Galatians 5:25 KJV
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

We are also enabled to participate in the kingdom of God as we are moved from a place of dead works to rest and  faith. Dead works are all those works that you do still trying to earn or maintain favor with God, but true faith says a God is already pleased with me and it’s not because of my works but because of the finished work of a Jesus.. As we move from dead work activity we will then be able to enter in the rest that God has already prepared for us and out of His rest we will then be able to move in good works.. We will also  be moved from condemnation to confidence toward God.

Romans 8:1 says that their is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.. When Paul mentions flesh here he is not  just speaking of that yucky sinful flesh but the U.S.D.A. That we often put our confidence in trying to do great works for God or to obtain favor with God..

God does not want us in condemnation , Condemnation will only keep us self focused, self centered and only keep us in full time ministry to ourselves. On the other hand confidence   toward God will move us from a place of self centeredness to Christ centeredness and rest and in confidence we will then be able to see and hear what the father is saying and showing  us to do. It is almost virtually impossible to walk in the Spirit and walk in condemnation at the same time.. This is why the enemy loves to promote theology that is laced with condemnation.

One of the greatest needs for the church today is to get delivered from bad theology that breeds  condemnation in the life of the believer

As we are delivered from condemnation and self focused ministry, we  will then be free to  know what it means to seek first the kingdom of God which is the bigger plan and His righteousness.

We will begin to realize that our being saved was not the end goal but really just the beginning to entering  into the bigger plan of God which is to participate in His kingdom.
Even as I am writing these things , I  just felt the Lord say  Rick your not writing a blog  you are simple taking notes for me..the Bible was not written by educated men but it was written as they were moved by the spirit on what to write. This is what it means to participated in the kingdom.

2 Peter 1:20-21
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. [21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

But we need to understand that salvation is not the end but the beginning of what God has called us to. He has called us to participate with Him In His kingdom being expressed on earth as it is in Heaven.

Here is a good illustration of what we are saying… A  certain man had a chance to obtain a very limited ticket to the Big Super Bowl  game  and in fact  someone that loved the man had actually purchased a ticket and then gave the ticket to the man for the  Big  game , but after the man receives  the ticket he  then becomes so excited about having  the ticket and showing His ticket to everyone in the parking lot  that he actually winds up missing  the  entire game.

The man missed the entire reason for having a ticket in the first place and that was to get him into the game .. This is how so many Christians are today.. We often think that Jesus came to just give us a ticket  for heaven and we have made the ticket the  ultimate end  when instead the ticket  was really a way to get us into the game. The ticket was not only to get us into  heaven one day but the ticket was also a way for is to enter into seeing and participating in the game.. The big game being the kingdom of God..

Again Our  very first step is to be born again to get our ticket so that.. We then may be able to enter into active participation of the eternal purpose of God which is His kingdom.

Matthew 5:20 AMP
For I tell you, unless your righteousness (your uprightness and your right standing with God) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Religion will not get you us into the game. Works righteousness will not give us access into the kingdom of God. We can’t even see the game of we are busy in dead works

Salvation is just the beginning and not the end of seeing Gods kingdom purpose fulfilled.

Now once we have our ticket it’s time to enter into the game , where we will not only see the game being played out but we will actually participate in the game itself, but to affectively  participate we must be careful of distractions all around us in the stands..Jesus speaks of some of these distractions

Matthew 6:31-33
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Gods kingdom and His righteousness are the top two priorities that God says we are to seek after in this life, not things , not even food or clothes which are often seen as essentials in this life , but His kingdom is what we are to really seek and God says if we will seek these two things first then all the other things will be added to us. The question is do we believe that God loves us enough to take care of all these other things if we will seek first what He has called us to seek?

Unfortunately most Christians never make these two things their top priority but instead like much of the world they are often caught up in seeking the other things first and if their is any  time left over then  we will then seek Gods kingdom .  I am not writing this to bring condemnation on anyone  because It really does take faith to trust that God knows what we have need of and that God will  indeed will take care of all the other things as we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness but we need to trust that God knows what is best.. Father knows best. God will never  lead us into condemnation but always into liberation..for true freedom to come we must often  choose faith over what makes sense.

Did Jesus come to seek things? Or  did Jesus come and seek to do the fathers will? And as Jesus did the Fathers will  not only were all His needs  met but He always had plenty to meet the needs of others.

Often times we have seen the gospel turned into a way for us to now focus on and believe God for things.. The everyone should have a Cadillac gospel..I’m not sure the reason  Jesus came to die was so that everyone could drive a Cadillac but O do know He came that we might have life and have life more abundantly.

Don’t get me wrong I am not against having things , God has blessed me with a lot of nice things.. And I thoroughly enjoy all the things that God has given me .. But I’m not sure if I should use the faith of Jesus to believe for a Cadillac.  This is more of the name , it claim it , take it home and frame it gospel..

But neither Do I believe that every Christian should sell all there possessions and become homeless wanderers In order to be a disciple.  To be honest ,I don’t even know any  Christian that have  actually done this, even the ones who passionately preach the sell everything gospel  that only heaps condemnation on those they preach too  have  themselves not even done this..but  some may ask didn’t Jesus tell us that  we had to sell everything  to follow Him? No… He told the one rich ruler to do this because those things the young rich ruler  possessed actually possessed him… It’s ok to have things as long as things don’t have us..

Matthew 19:21-22 NKJV
Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And just a note , you  don’t have to be rich for things to have you, you can also be poor and still be possessed by things..

We have seen the  Hoarders who live in piles of stuff and most of it is garbage, why do they do this , they do it because they think it gives them security and value. I have seen homeless people pulling and pushing loads of stuff all over town and have often thought why are they holding on to all this stuff? It seems that they would be able to be able to move around a lot easier without all of this , but again it gives a sense of security and value. We also who have homes with garages and storage sheds packed with stuff , why in the world do we hang on to all of this stuff?  O I know we might need it one day! Right !

For us to really be free we must keep the main thing the main thing..seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all these other things will be added to us. We must realize that salvation is just the very beginning and not the end, salvation is our way into the game. We are not on planet earth just to believe God for things so that we can be comfortably until we die, Neither are we here to just be spectators … No , God wants us to experience the joyful participation of being involved in His Kingdom. We must remember that being involved in His kingdom is not a heavy yoke or burden but it is lite and easy… Matthew 11:28

So again what is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is the full expression of God, The nature of God ,The ways of God, The will of God, The wisdom of God, The ultimate intention of God, The revelation of God , The truth of God ,The people of God. The kingdom of God is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. Being involved in the kingdom of God is by far the most exciting thing that you will ever be involved in..

We will speak more of the Kingdom of God and Grace in the next blog.. But we need to understand that there is far more to the Kingdom then what we have often been taught and Faith and  Grace is how the Kingdom is realized

Repent !

 

Repent !!!

What does the word Repent really mean ?  I think most of us have been conditioned to believe that  the word repentance means to turn from sin but it may surprise many to know that repentance does not actually mean to turn from sin but to change our  mind or to change the way we are thinking or  believing.

We can change our minds about anything, but Jesus called us to change our mind and believe the good news (Mk 1:15).

When Jesus preached and said repent and believe the gospel , He was really telling us to stop trying to earn righteousness by works and instead receive the only true acceptable  righteousness that comes through faith , under the new covenant righteousness is a  free gift from God  that can never be earned or  achieved by any good work we do . The only true righteousness  of God cannot be achieved it can only be received, right standing with God is a free gift from God through faith in Christ.

It’s interesting to know that the apostle John never once used the word repent in any of His writings , if repentance is so vital then why didn’t John use it ? Instead John used the word Believe… Believe the Gospel , Believe in Jesus , but we need to understand that to fully believe the good news and to receive the grace of God and the free gift of righteousness apart from works is to repent.. Repentance means that you are no longer trying to pay for your own sins  or  trying to earn right standing with God , but  that you recognize that Christ has already paid the price for all  your sins and that you now  freely receive forgiveness for all sins  and right standing with God through faith in Christ.

John 1:12

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

To repent means to turn from achieving and instead turn to receiving and believing.

To repent means that you fully believe what God has promised to do in  the new covenant ? 

Hebrews 10 :17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 

What part of our sins and iniquities He will remember no more do we not understand?

When the Pharisees came to Jesus one day they asked him what can we do to do the works of God? Jesus told them this is the work of God that you believe in the One that He has sent.. John 6:28-29

Religion is all about doing something to become righteous before God but this is not how we receive true righteousness. True righteousness can never be achieved it can be only received as a gift ..the Apostle Paul knew what it was like to try and earn His way with God under the law , but he had a divine revelation of the only true righteousness of God under the new covenant

 After Paul’s revelation he says now I just want to be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness , which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Philippians 3:9

 

Repentance means to firmly believe that God has forgiven us of all sin and has given us the free gift of righteousness apart from works

Some might ask “so what are we really repenting from?” We are repenting from dead works ! We are repenting from works that we often do to  try and make ourselves right with God.. We repent of all dead works of trying to earn Gods approval or keep Gods approval. Today we are fully approved by God through Jesus plus nothing else. We repent from all dead works.

Hebrews 6:1

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.

To continue in dead works is to stay stuck in religion and immaturity .

Preachers who preach that the church needs to get busy doing stuff for God or God will turn His back on them,  are really preaching a dead works theology that will keep the church bound in immaturity and carnality.

There is a big difference between dead works and good works. Good works are works that come as a result of right believing , because we believe that God unconditionally loves us and forgives us apart from our own works then this right believing  moves us into doing good works .                        The works  that I do are not because I’m afraid that Gods going to disown me if I don’t get busy  and do a lot of stuff for Him.  The good  works are a result of believing Gods great love for me.

God is our Father not our Employer and we are His children not His employees .

Romans 4:5-9

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

To repent means that we refuse to work for righteousness

God is the one who has chosen to forgiven us and to turn away from our sins . To Repent means to believe that God has chosen to do this.

Those who do not embrace the new covenant of Gods grace and who refuse to believe that God completely forgives  of all sin once and for all are really the ones who have not yet repented. They are un-repented

Those who believe that they will stand in judgment for sin have not yet repented, that is they still have not full believed the good news of grace.

Grace preachers are often accused of promoting sin but who are the ones really promoting sin? Is it the grace preachers who preach that we are in right standing with God through faith or is it the preacher who continually  preaches on sin every Sunday?  If  God remembers our sin no more then why are we still trying to remind people of their sins that God remembers no more?  If the blood of Jesus was given to cleanse  our conscience from all sin then why are we still promoting a sin conscience ? Are we called to be preachers of sin? or are we really called to be preachers of righteousness? The last time I looked we are suppose to preach the New Testament and righteousness that comes  through faith in the finished work of the cross .

The ones promoting sin are the ones who are always talking about it.. What ever we focus on is what will manifest in our lives. Many struggle with sin today because they are more focused on their sin then on Christ.

Sin is not the thing we are to be focused on Jesus is the One we are to be looking to not sin. We are not changed by beholding sin but by beholding Jesus.

2 Corinthians 3:6 KJV

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills but the spirit giveth life.

We need to understand that today we are under a new covenant , we are no longer under the old but the new.

The old was about external demands but the new is about internal supply. Today we do not try and live by the demands of the letter , instead we live by the internal promptings of the Holy Spirit.. One leads to life one leads to death.

Repent means that we no longer are to live by the law but by the spirit of Grace.

In fact the only way that we will ever produce vegetation for God is to be dead to the law.

Romans 7:4

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

If we are to be dead to the law then why are so many still teaching the law as a way for Christians to conduct their lives? To mix law with Grace is to teach another gospel .

We don’t begin in the spirit and then try and perfect ourselves by the flesh.. We need to repent from trying to perfect ourselves by the flesh. We are only perfected by beholding and believing and the same way that we received Christ is the same way that we continue to walk in Him. 

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

As we continue to behold what God has already done for us and in us then the spirit of grace can then go to work to transform us into the image of Christ from glory to glory.

What are we to behold? Sin ? No ! We are to behold Christ and what He has already done in us

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new…. We are to always behold that all things have already been made new in Christ , no matter how we feel or how we  fail we are not  changed by beholding  our feelings or failures but the truth that we are a new creation.

We are not changed by beholding our sins, flaws and failures we are only changed as we continue to behold who God says we are now in Christ . 2 Corinthians 5;17