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.
Grace, while a gift that brings freedom, does not mean freedom gone wild, or 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.
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 10
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.
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.
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.
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.
Warnings to Keep Us from Abusing God’s Grace
Romans 6:16-23 NIV Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How we live depends on the master we choose.
We must be taught to handle grace rather carefully because
Romans 6:16 NIV Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
So we have two alternatives “either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness.”
Before Jesus was present in our lives, we had no choice. There was no way we could find freedom. We were enslaved to wrong, lawlessness, selfishness, wicked choices, and impure motives. When Christ came, He freed us, leaving us with a choice. We can choose Him to be our Master, or we can go back and choose sin to master us.
Grace makes the choice possible. Before Christ, we had no choice. Sin was our one and only route. Grace freed us from the requirement to serve sin, allowing us the opportunity to follow Christ’s directives voluntarily. So as long as we do this, we will not sin! But as soon as you or I compromise with His mastery over us, the old master stands ready to lure us into sin.
Unfortunately there is no guarantee in this life that we will not sin again, not so long as we are earthbound. Perpetual sin-lessness will not be ours to enjoy until we are given glorified bodies. The good news however is that we don’t have to sin on a constant, day-after-day basis. Grace has freed us to obey Christ:
Romans 6:17-18 NIV But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
You have a choice now, however if you make the choice to sin and be outside God’s will there will be consequences.
Proverbs 5:21-23 NIV For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.
Grace never means we’re free to live any way we wish, whatever the consequences. Grace does not mean God will smile on me, regardless. It means I’m free to choose righteousness or disobedience. If I choose the latter, I will have to take the consequences: mental anguish, a guilty conscience, hurting and offending others in the Christian community, and bringing reproach to the name of Christ. Sin can multiply much the same way as it did in our unsaved days. The Christian can be temporarily addicted to sin.
As one man writes: Sin begets sin. The first time we do a wrong thing, we may do it with hesitation.The second time we do it, it is easier; and if we go on doing it, it becomes effortless. To start on the path of sin is to go on to more and more. Yes we have freedom but our primary goal in life is to glorify and please God.
Why does God grant us grace?
Colossians 1:10-12 NIV so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
Never give yourself permission to hide behind grace as a cover for disobedience.
This from Chuck’s book “Life is like a menu in the Grace Restaurant. In this new establishment you are free to choose whatever you want. But whatever you choose will be served to you, and you must eat it. If you choose the wrong food and realize later just how badly your body reacted to it, don’t think that grace will protect you from getting sick. There is good news, however. God’s grace does hold out the hope of acceptance before the Father. He will welcome you back into His fellowship if you deal with the wrong, repent of it, and get back on track.
I may warn you of the harm it will cause you to make the wrong choice, but grace means I take hands off and give you the freedom to choose. God is quite capable of guiding you. there are differences of taste or preference, grace frees us to choose. So let people make their own choices. Accept them as they are. Let’s uphold each other’s right to have different opinions, convictions, and preferences. That’s grace.
IMPORTANT REALIZATIONS
Romans 6:19-23 NIV I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Two important things from this passage.
Make the right choice
Romans 6:19-21 NIV I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!
Next focus on the benefits of our current position in grace.
Romans 6:22-23 NIV But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Because of God’s grace we are freed from sin’s mastery.
• By God’s grace we are enslaved to God.
• Through God’s grace there are benefits to be derived.
What are the benefits?
an exciting process of growing up and maturing as a Christian;
a guilt-free lifestyle characterized by creativity and freedom;
and finally, enjoying the outcome—eternal life.
The alternative is a sinful lifestyle that results in “death wages.” Those wages are:
• Instant breakdown of fellowship with God
• Removal of His hand of blessing
• Misery of a guilty conscience . . . knowing how much others were hurt
• Loss of personal integrity
• Sudden stoppage of spiritual growth
• Strained relationships with fellow Christians
• Reproach brought to one’s family and to the name of Christ
• Injury to the testimony of your local church
Grace invites you to return and find forgiveness, but it doesn’t automatically erase the scars that accompany sin; some could stay with you for life.
Grace means I will not force or manipulate or judge or attempt to control you, nor should you do those things to me. It means we will keep on helping others to freedom by providing breathing holes. It means we deliberately let go so each of us can grow and learn on our own; otherwise, we shall never enjoy the liberty of an open sea. For most of us, letting others go is neither natural nor easy. Because we care, it is more our tendency to give people hints or advice. The thought of letting them fail or fall is extremely painful to us, but God treats us like that virtually every day of our lives.
Being a person of grace requires letting go of others.
LETTING GO
- To let go doesn’t mean to stop caring, it means I can’t do it for someone else.
- To let go is not to cut myself off, it’s the realization that I can’t control another.
- To let go is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences.
- To let go is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.
- To let go is not to try to change or blame another, I can only change myself.
- To let go is not to care for, but to care about.
- To let go is not to fix, but to be supportive.
- To let go is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.
- To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to effect their own outcomes.
- To let go is not to be protective; it is to permit another to face reality.
- To let go is not to deny, but to accept.
- To let go is not to nag, scold, or argue, but to search out my own shortcomings and to correct them.
- To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to take each day as it comes.
- To let go is not to criticize and regulate anyone, but to try to become what I dream I can be.
- To let go is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future. 1st
- To let go is to fear less and love more!
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