The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying grace. The title of the study is "What's So Amazing about Grace"
There could have been no grace whatsoever for us but for the fact that God the Son volunteered to take our place and redeem us: Grace... came through Jesus Christ.
Grace brought freedom from the bondage of slavery of sin and the freedom to serve God without guilt. Grace gave the Christian Freedom from fear. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from worry. Freedom from emptiness. Freedom to overcome rage, sensuality, envy, pride, insecurity, and selfishness. Freedom to walk in love, faithfulness, patience, grace, and compassion. Sensing God’s presence like never before. Joy that flows like a fountain. Peace as stable as a mountain.
How is it possible to break the habit of serving the old master of sin and start enjoying the benefits of being free? To walk in freedom and experience the liberty of our new lives, we must know some things, consider something, and present something.
We are using the books, "The Grace Awakening: Believing In Grace Is One Thing. Living it is Another", and "The Grace Awakening Workbook" by Charles E. Swindoll. You can study along with us by clicking the above links or the images after the notes.
These are the notes to Session 9
Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Something that I read;
I was convinced through reading the New Testament that Jesus really is the Son of God. But I did not want to be a Christian as I feared that I would lose my freedom. The last things that I associated with faith were love and freedom. I associated faith with losing my freedom. I thought that God would want me to stop doing all the things that were fun and that I enjoyed.
In fact, I have discovered over the last forty years that true faith leads to freedom and love. Love, faith and freedom are inextricably entwined.
Grace is incompatible with earning, not with effort. Hebrews 12:14 speaks about effort: “make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy.” Being holy is not automatic, but it also does not just mean trying hard. We need the presence of God’s grace.
Today’s reading contrasts those who come to God through Jesus Christ with those who draw near under the Law of Moses. In verse 20, we learn that those who heard the Law on Mount Sinai “could not bear what was commanded.” However, verses 22–24 say that those who responded to the gospel have come to the heavenly Jerusalem (not Sinai). There they find the assembly of angels and the church of the firstborn “whose names are written in heaven” (v. 23). They also come to God Himself and to Jesus, their mediator.
By these images, the writer is showing that the Law could only take us so far (to Sinai), but grace which comes to us through Jesus Christ can take us where the Law could not (to God). The Law points us to God, but grace brings us into His presence. The gospel speaks a “better word” that must not be ignored (v. 24). The holiness that the writer urges Christians to practice is energized by grace. It begins with grace and is carried out through grace. Second Peter 3:14 echoes this theme when it tells us to “make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” The only way we can be blameless before God is to be found in Christ. Christ is our righteousness.
We must claim and walk in our freedom from sin’s control.
Romans 6:5-14 NIV For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
What can we do to keep our old master out of control? Paul presented three practical applications in Romans 6. He advised that to walk in freedom from the old master and experience the liberty of our new lives, we must know some things, consider something, and present something.
“know” some things
Romans 6:3, 6, 9 NIV Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
“Consider” something
Romans 6:11 NIV In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
and “present” something
Romans 6:13 NIV Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
Know
Romans 6:3-7 NIV Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Romans 6:8-10 NIV Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
Now that we know we are free we should consider something.
Romans 6:11 NIV In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The Greek word we translate count or consider means “to calculate, to take into account, to figure.” It is a financial term, an accounting term. Rather than meaning “act like it is so,” it means “reckon it true.
What exactly are we to calculate? We are in Christ, dead to sin’s power. And Christ is in us, releasing God’s new power.
And the result of such calculating?
Romans 6:12 NIV Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
What is really liberating is this; even when we do sin, when we occasionally fail, God has set us free through Christ so He will not allow us to become slaves again so
1 John 1:9 NIV If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Your secure position in Christ leaves you with nothing to fear, absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Rather than thinking, My sin, my shame, my failure, remember, His forgiveness, His grace, His life.
So to enjoy our emancipation from slavery to sin we have to know something, we have to consider something and finally we have to present something.
Romans 6:13-14 NIV Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Present
Not only must there be intelligent calculation (“consider”) based on true information (“know”), there has to be a conscious presentation of ourselves to God. Paul spells that out in two simple commands. One is negative and the other is positive.
Romans 6:13-14 NIV Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Negative
“Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.” Why? Because we aren’t slaves anymore. Our bodies are not helpless victims of lustful urges and uncontrollable weaknesses. Those days ended when we became Christians. Remember, we’ve been emancipated!
Positive
“But present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead. . . . For sin shall not be master over you.”
Since we have been emancipated, it is high time we start living like it.
But it’s not easy. Old habits are terribly difficult to break. Thinking correctly takes courage. Legalists will continue to come at you remembering they are driven by pride. Grace killers don’t want you to walk in the freedom you have received.
Guiding Others to Freedom
We should be encouraged—and encourage others—to embrace the freedom we have in Christ, discover the balance between self-restraint and liberty, and wisely use our freedom to serve Him.
With all this talk about liberty and freedom we have to be careful that we don’t get carried away. Liberty has some limits. Sometimes we need to restrain our freedom and hold them i check.
As we have said several times grace can be—and sometimes is—abused. We can sometimes exercise our liberty without wisdom . . . having no concern over whether it offends or wounds a young and impressionable fellow believer. Limitations are appropriate and necessary, but that is between the individual believer and God through the Holy Spirit. There is no place in scripture where it tells us to require such restraint from another. To do so is legalism.
Our job is to free people; God’s job is to restrain them.
The best restraint is self-restraint that comes from the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit through the person and presence of Jesus Christ in each individual life. Most believers need to be freed, not restrained.
Breathing holes
Truths about Freedom from Scripture
It was for freedom that Christ set us free. (Gal. 5:1 )
For he who has died is freed from sin. (Rom. 6:7)
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free. (Rom. 8:2)
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also withHim freely give us all things? (Rom. 8:31–32)
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)
If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)
Grace killers plug up the breathing holes.
Here’s a huge breathing hole;
1 Corinthians 10:23-33 NIV “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
Back then the major question was this: Should Christians eat meat that had been offered to idols?
In ancient pagan worship, portions of meat were offered to idols. Some of the carcass, however, was left over and was sold in a meat market. It was perfectly good meat.
There were Christians back then who had no qualms about buying that meat in the meat market. Others who were young and recently converted out of an idol-worshiping lifestyle felt they should not do that. They reasoned like this: “That is meat that has been offered to idols. We shouldn’t buy it or eat it. Its association with an idol temple and pagan worship contaminates the meat.”
Paul writes to say, in effect, “Meat isn’t contaminated because the other part of the animal was sacrificed on a pagan altar.There’s no way that some idol of wood or stone could contaminate a piece of meat.”
He is setting believers free. They don’t have to worry about the meat served in an unbeliever’s home. If the unbeliever is going to have barbecued steak, great! Eat up and don’t ask questions.
Paul also makes some wise comments about times when it is best to restrain; but the overall general rule is to eat the meat. “The grace of God says you can eat it,” implies the Apostle of Grace. So enjoy! Some, however, don’t feel the same freedom, but they have no reason to slander those who eat.
In other words don’t give me your personal list of dos and don’ts to live by! And you can count on this: I will never giveyou my personal list of dos and don’ts to follow! Being free means you have no reason whatsoever to agree with my personal list; nor should you slander me because it isn’t exactly like yours. That is one of the ways Christians can live inharmony. It is called living by grace . . . and it is the only way to fly.
Now one word of caution. If there is a specific list is Scripture that says do or don’t do something then that should be obeyed without hesitation or question. However that’s an inspired list for all of us to follow, not someone’s personal list.
When questionable things aren’t specified in Scripture, it then becomes a matter of one’s personal preference or convictions.
God has given His children a wonderful freedom in Christ, which means not only freedom from sin and shame but also a freedom in lifestyle so that we can become models of His grace. Being free, enjoying your liberty, and allowing others the same enjoyment. But you must allow the Holy Spirit to balance your life.
On the one hand we can use Scripture to control, manipulate, and judge and pound folks into submission rather than using it as a guide to lead others into grace. On the other hand we can use our freedom and abuse God’s grace by flaunting our liberty.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 NIV “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.
Grace is not the God-given, pervasive covering to do whatever you please. You cannot twist Scripture to accommodate your desires. That has nothing to do with grace.
That is freedom gone wild, liberty without limits, which is nothing more than disobedience. That is abusing grace. Those who do so not only live confused and get hurt, but they also confuse and hurt others. We should think of grace as a privilege to be enjoyed and protected, not a license to please ourselves.
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