PART II: GRACE FOR ETERNITY/GRACE FOR TODAY

Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

Still threshing through the grace verses in the NT. In Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians etc, I’ve gleaned that both salvation grace & specific grace comes from God. He gives to the broken, those who humbly recognize how desperately they need His power to live. We need grace to live. We need grace to see we are no longer slaves to the power of sin. We need grace on every level to bring every part of us under subjection to grace and to act out the faith in every daily trial/thought/action. God’s grace both saves us from eternal hell & the dark hell of blind human pride.

Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

SALVATION/FREEDOM GRACE:
Booyah! Through forgiveness & faith, I am not under the law anymore, and Paul says the “new way of the Spirit” has completely transcended the “old way of the written code.” The immovable law has been fulfilled through God’s GRACE in the death & blood of
LAW:
Jesus. Paul uses the laws governing marriage to illustrate how Jesus death has freed us from the Mosaic law (6:2-3). After a husband died, the wife was free from the law that bound her to him for life; through a death she was free to remarry. We died with Christ to the law of works – we are free to belong & give our hearts to him!

Here enters the concept of “cheap grace” (romans 6:15) that shocks the socks off Paul. Keep sinning so that God has “more of an opportunity” to give you grace???!!! Does a married woman commit adultery on her faithful husband because she knows he loves her better than life? NO!

CHEAP GRACE?
How do you combat the get-out-of-Hell-free mentality that comes with the done-deal nature of Jesus’ death & resurrection? Read Scripture. Nowhere in the ENTIRE Bible ever excuses man of his sin or lets him out of accountability with God. Grace isn’t needed on your death bed, it is needed AT ALL times. C.H. Spurgeon said, “Between here and heaven, every minute that the Christian lives will be a minute of grace.”

We must understand that, “Grace is never cheap. It is absolutely free to us, but infinitely expensive to God… Anyone who is prone to use grace as a license for irresponsible, sinful behavior, surely does not appreciate the infinite price God paid to give us His grace.”-Jerry Bridges, Pursuit of Holiness

“Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjack's wares. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

HUMILITY & GRACE [logical; essential]: “We abuse grace when, after sinning, we dwell on the compassion and mercy of God to the exclusion of His holiness and hatred of sin.”-Jerry Bridges

Realize what were/are apart from the grace of Christ; remember the pit you came out of; remind yourself that your stone heart is flesh because God wrought a change. Isaiah talks about Israel being covered in open sores, and God healing her & caring for her. The princely King of white-hot holiness touches a leper.
That is grace.
Healing and rescue.
The Holy Spirit indwells us, and we need grace to be sensitive to its reminders—by daily drawing on the riches of Scripture & prayer, we will (thru grace) maintain a proper view of our condition in & apart from the VINE. Back to Jerry Bridges (sooo good!):

“Before we can learn the sufficiency of God’s grace, we must learn the insufficiency of ourselves. The more we see our sinfulness, the more we appreciate grace in its basic meaning of God’s undeserved favor. In a similar manner, the more we see our frailty, weakness, and dependence, the more we appreciate God’s grace in its dimension of His divine assistance. Just as grace shines more brilliantly against the dark background of our sin, so it also shines more brilliantly against the background of our human weakness.”-Transforming Grace


MAKE-THE-DOG-HUNT GRACE: [daily shots of eternity-caliber grace]
In a discussion on humility & service in politics, my journalism prof., John Grano, said “You’ve gotta actually iterate/apply this stuff, with God as your guide, on the everyday level…or the dog doesn’t hunt.” And a lot of the remaining mentions of grace in the Bible are in the context of practical application. (Interruption! my favorite verse in LIFE: “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16)
It’ll probably take me a couple more days (read: years) to chew through and understand the context/meaning of each mention of “grace,” but the first flavors are good ;). Both salvation grace & daily grace come through Jesus Christ, and serving him is a 24/7 lifestyle.

Jonathan Edwards saw it as a pretty strenuous mode of existence: “In efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some and we do the rest. But God does all, and we do all. God produces all, we act all. For that is what produces, viz. our own acts. God is the only proper author and fountain; we only are the proper actors. We are in different respects, wholly passive and wholly active.”

Along the same lines, Bran Chapell said, “Resting on God's grace does not relieve us of our holy obligations; rather it should enable us to fulfill them.”- Holiness by Grace


LIVING GRACE:
We need grace to verbalize externally what is internal reality: we are new creations through Christ’s blood. Per James 3:6, we know the human mind-mouth connection is explosive stuff; the tongue is a fire. Ephesians 4:29 reminds us we need speaking grace: “Let no corrupt word proceed from your mouth…but only that which imparts grace to the hearers.” 2 Peter 3:18 says we are to “grow in grace & knowledge” and Colossians 4:6 says we should have vocabularies well salted with God’s gracious words.

Additionally, throughout the NT letters, we are told grace is necessary to:
• Love your spouse (1 Peter 3:7)
• Minister/preach (Ephesians 3:7-8)
• Glorify the name of Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:12)
• Stand (Romans 5:2, 1 Peter 5:12)
• Do any kind of good work (2 Corinthians 9:8)
• Fellowship with believers (Galatians 2:9)
• Hope (2 Thessalonians 2:16)
• Sing/worship from the heart (Colossians 3:16)
• Be strong (2 Timothy 2:1)
• Submit to authority (1 Peter 5:5)

FINAL THOUGHTS:
My initial question after Sunday’s sermon was: “Do I daily need to pray for salvation grace poured out on me, or do I ask for a DIFFERENT kind of grace? And if the Holy Spirit fully indwells me RIGHT NOW, then why do I need to ask for grace? Doesn't God supply all my needs according to his riches & mercy?”
Dude, I haven’t answered this question, or even significantly clarified the definition of grace in its various forms, BUT I have seen that grace in mouth & mind & heart of a believer IS life & health & peace & hope. It humbles us & exalts Christ, and it causes (2 Cor 4:15) thanksgiving to abound & ultimately glorifies God.
OF COURSE I want to pray for that kind of grace every day, especially because the Holy Spirit indwells me. God sent his Spirit specifically for the purpose of creating a hunger & appreciation & understanding of His ways in our hearts. We must be grateful for the gift of mysterious, inexplicably-undeserved grace EACH time God supplies our needs. The final verse in Revelation 22 that closes the 31,103 preceding verses says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,” and THAT sums up the Law & the Prophets!

CAN I GET AN AMEN!!!
(and some more caffeine?)