Skip to main content

Towards the end - revisiting Grace

I began a series of teachings in September at our church in the book of Romans, and am now nearing the end of it.  As the Apostle Paul comes to the end of his letter to the Romans  he makes two statements that have intrigued me to think some more.

In writing about the need for unity in their differences he urges them to not pass judgment on one another over disputable things in chapter 14.  I dealt with that issue in a message a couple of Sundays ago.  I did not touch much on a verse that struck me more this week - reflecting back on it - than the week I was teaching it.  The passage is Romans 14:22-23 (ESV) 
22  The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.
23  But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
 

The essence of what Paul is saying is that we have freedom before God in many decisions, but if our conscience is bearing witness it is not a faith decision, but rather a sinful one - that is, it might be ok, but if it is not done by faith, it is clearly not faith in action.

NOW, as I said, I didn't really deal with that passage that much.  But in preparing to teach yesterday's message from chapter 15, I found myself thinking about how these two thoughts belong together.
The first thought was the one above in 14:22-23, and the second one is in chapter 15.

Romans 15:14-18 (ESV)
14  I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.
15  But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God
16  to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17  In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.
18  For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed,  

Paul's emphasis here is on the conviction that he carried in writing this letter to them - that by God's grace he was set apart to be a minister to the Gentiles, and also commissioned by God in priestly duties for the service of the Gospel.  Paul is not ego centric here, and he is not proud in the sense of "look what I have accomplished".  

His pride comes from seeing what God has done - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - in bringing the Gentiles to faith in Christ through the Grace of God that was poured out to them (us) in the Gospel.
NOW, in a practical I need to add another passage to this in order to make the point.  Reflecting on the Grace of God in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul makes this statement in chapter 15.
1 Corinthians 15:9-10 (ESV)
9  For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 

I was riding in the car on the way home from church, and I started to think about the passages above.  In concert they say something very practical about God's grace.  This Grace that comes to us to save us, is also the grace that comes to us for sanctification - that we might know how to toss away those things in life that are not of faith, and therefore, no matter how "ok" they may seem, and not beneficial.

Our identity is one of graced people.  We are people who receive God's grace...and it is effectual to our sinful needs.  But this grace was never meant to be a reason to tolerate sin in our lives.  It is a grace that speaks to our conscience, and it reminds us that what is not of faith is not worth hanging on to.  Literally, "whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" and "his grace toward me was not in vain...on the contrary I worked harder than any of them".  

Dallas Willard wrote his amazing treatise on the Christian life in his book "Divine Conspiracy".  Perhaps one of the most interesting things to contemplate is his words that mirror Paul here:

"Grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning".

We are people of Grace...let's not waste it.

Peace

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but l...

Joy to the World - Help is On the Way

It’s the first day of Advent– while you prepare for Worship this morning at church take a minute to ask God to direct you through this season that you might be prepared to “receive your King”. In the first week of Advent we celebrate the PROMISE of His Coming. His promise is based on our need. We were made in his image, but there is emptiness in our soul that is the result of the Fallen nature of sin. But why did Jesus come? What in his coming announces God's heart? His desire for us to know and experience? 10 BUT THE ANGEL SAID TO THEM, "DO NOT BE AFRAID; FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY WHICH WILL BE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE; 11 FOR TODAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID THERE HAS BEEN BORN FOR YOU A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD. GREAT JOY! Did you know that God is Joyful? 1 CHRONICLES 16:23-27 (NASB) 23 SING TO THE LORD, ALL THE EARTH; PROCLAIM GOOD TIDINGS OF HIS SALVATION FROM DAY TO DAY. 24 TELL OF HIS GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS, HIS WONDERFUL DEEDS AMONG ALL THE PEOPLES....

Wondering Out Under the Stars

A Reading: Colossians 1:9-20 (NIV) 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether th...