Weekly Grace

As imperfect human beings with our own flaws and shortcomings, we can all remember bad behavior we’ve displayed in the past. The guilt and shame made us wonder if those actions defined us. Getting caught in our mistakes, unable to change from the person we don’t want to be, is discouraging. Thankfully, relying on God to transform us makes it possible to change for the better.

Transformation begins with knowing who we really are in Christ. Unlike what the world tells us, we’re not what we do, but what God says we are. Our past mistakes don’t matter; when we get born again, we receive new identities in Christ. Anyone in Christ is a new creature; old things have passed away and all things are new.

Paul, a former sinner, completely believed in his new identity after his personal encounter with Jesus. Paul’s previous bad behavior was well-known; he had routinely made havoc of the church and put believers in prison. However, as a new creation in Christ, he could truthfully say he had wronged, corrupted, or defrauded no man. His past was gone, and he was therefore able to declare that he was pure from the blood of all men.

Despite what he had done before, Paul received grace. This caused him to change his mind concerning who he was, which in turn led to a change in behavior. For us, this means that no matter what we’ve done, getting born again frees us from having to continue associating with our old selves; that’s just not who we are anymore. We’ve gone from being from sinners to saints.

Being in Christ makes His identity our identity. We’re holy because He’s holy; as He is, so are we in this world. Holiness isn’t a conduct; holiness is a person, and His name is Jesus. Being sure of our identity in Him makes our transformation inevitable.

Prayer:

God, as Your people, we no longer have to work to be holy or righteous in Your eyes; we are righteous because You’ve declared it so. We no longer carry guilt for our past mistakes, and we can now be who You created us to be. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

2 Corinthians 5:17
Acts 8:3
2 Corinthians 7:2
Acts 20:26
Ephesians 2:19
1 Peter 1:16
1 John 4:17

We’ve all been taught since childhood the importance of obedience, even if it had to be drilled into our heads. We most likely remember the pain of punishment for disobedience, whether it was a spanking or even a time-out in the corner. However, over time, how we obey has changed. This was dramatically demonstrated through the transition from the law to grace.

Under the law if man was willing and obedient, first, only then could he eat the good of the land; if he refused and rebelled, he would be devoured by the sword. He would be blessed only if he strictly followed a long list of rules, but failure to perform perfectly brought curses. By contrast, Jesus has given us a new commandment: that we love one another as He loves us.

The greatest commandment under the law required man to love God with all his heart, soul, and mind. There’s nothing wrong with loving God, but it’s impossible for imperfect man to exhibit perfect love through self-effort. By contrast, we can now love God because He loved us, first. Believing in His love is New-Testament obedience.

Forgiveness is another area impacted. Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, man had to forgive, first, before God could forgive him. Afterward, we can forgive one another as God in Christ has forgiven us. This empowers us to let go of bitterness and forgive from the heart.

The requirements for salvation have also changed. Before the cross, when the rich young ruler asked Jesus what to do to be saved, Jesus’ answer was according to the law. After the cross, when the jailer asked Paul and Silas the same question, the answer was different—believe and be saved. Our salvation is now based on our faith, not on our works.

God is no longer angry. He replaced the Ten Commandments with just one law—Jesus’ law of love—and He wants to be our Father. Faith in His grace makes the impossible possible.

Prayer:

Lord, the finished works of Jesus mean that we no longer have to strive endlessly to follow rules. We can instead simply believe in Your love for us. Thank you for changing everything. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Isaiah 1:19, 20
Deuteronomy 28:1-3, 15
John 13:34
Matthew 22:36-38
1 John 4:19
Matthew 6:14, 15
Mark 11:26
Ephesians 4:32
Colossians 3:13
Matthew 19:16, 17
Acts 16:30, 31

Believers operate in a dysfunctional environment. One of the reasons why it feels so foreign to us is that although we’re tuned to God’s frequency, we’re surrounded by people tuned in to the world’s frequency. Similar to radio waves in the atmosphere, negative emotions—such as agitation—“floating around” pose a hazard to our emotional peace. We must be on the alert because this emotion isn’t God’s will for us.

Agitation is defined as a state of feeling restless or a state of excessive psychomotor activity accompanied by increased tension and irritability. Focusing on the wrong things opens us up to this without us even realizing what’s happening. However, we’ve received a directive to guard our peace of mind; Jesus tells us not to let our hearts be troubled or afraid.

Agitation moves us out of our place of peace and troubles our hearts; as the Prince of Peace, Jesus has specific instructions on how to guard against this. We’re not to let our hearts be troubled, distressed, or agitated. We must stop allowing ourselves to be agitated or disturbed, and stop permitting ourselves to be fearful and unsettled.

God wants us to experience rest, both physical and spiritual. If we’re tired and worn out, spending time with Him shows us how to take a real rest. Taking His yoke upon us and learning about Him lets us find rest for our souls. He also wants us to find peace; He keeps us in perfect peace when we trust in Him and fix our thoughts on Him.

Giving God our agitation and letting Him replace it with peace is a sign of humility; conversely, hanging on to agitation is a sign of pride. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Trusting Him to calm and quiet us when the situation seems out of control keeps us from being emotionally swept away.

Prayer:

Lord, getting too concerned about everything going on around us and not focusing on You causes us anxiety and agitation. By contrast, fixing our thoughts on Your grace and peace gives us peace and protection from negative emotions. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:
John 14:1, 27
Isaiah 9:6
John 14:1, 27, AMPC
Matthew 11:28, MSG
Matthew 11:28
Isaiah 26:3, NLT
James 4:6

Most people lack a biblical understanding of what obedience means under the covenant of grace. Some take it to mean knuckling under to someone else’s orders or instructions. Others define it as changing one’s behavior to follow the rules, but doing so unwillingly. Jesus’ finished works radically redefined what it means to obey, so that we now can have clarity and understanding in this area.

The world still lives with an old-covenant mindset about obeying. Under the law, God required strict obedience to a long list of inflexible regulations and requirements. An “if-then” expectation was in place; if the people obeyed perfectly, only then would they be blessed. Whoever kept all the law but missed on even one point was guilty of breaking all the commandments.

The law was perfect and reflected God’s morality; however, it had no wiggle room and was too perfect for imperfect man to keep. This all changed when God replaced it with grace. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. By Him, everyone who believes is justified from all things they couldn’t be justified from under the law.

God now measures obedience by faith, not by works. When the people saw Jesus doing miracles and asked Him what to do to work the works of God, Jesus answered that the work of God is to believe in the one whom He sent. This spares us from unnecessary empty works and gives us rest from them. Faith is so critical under the new covenant that God sees unbelief as disobedience.

When God was leading the Israelites through the wilderness, their refusal to obey kept them from entering into the rest He’d promised them. He equated their unbelief with disobedience. For us today, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to all who believe. Simple faith is now what matters most to God.

Prayer:

Lord, we no longer have to work hard or perform perfectly to be considered obedient. We can now simply rest in Your love and grace and receive Your blessings by faith. This is a vast improvement from the law; thank You for making the change. In Jesus’s name, amen.
Scriptures:
Deuteronomy 28:1-13
James 2:10
John 1:17
Acts 13:39, NKJV
John 6:28, 29
Hebrews 3:18, 19
Romans 10:4

Most people don’t know how to correctly divide what they read in the Bible. Contrary to what religion tells us, the New Testament doesn’t begin with the gospel of Matthew; it begins with the cross and Jesus’ death and resurrection. It was at this point that Jesus ended the Old-Testament law and replaced it with grace. The world still lives under religious law and knows nothing else; however, the cross changed everything.

The law focused on work, not faith. It was man’s schoolmaster, designed to bring people to Christ, so that when He did come we could be justified by faith. Jesus is the end of the law to everyone who believes. For this reason He’s the mediator of the new covenant—now that He’s died to set us free from the sins committed under the first covenant. After all, a will, the New Testament, is in force only when the one who made it has died.

On one hand, there’s an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness; the law never made anything perfect. One the other hand, there’s the bringing of a better hope which allows us to draw near to God. If the first covenant had been faultless, there would’ve been no need for a second covenant to replace it.

When Jesus shed His blood, not only did He take away the sins of the world and re-open heaven to mankind, but He also became the mediator between God and man. Job spoke of this mediator in the Old Testament. Just before His death, Jesus told His disciples that He’s the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him. Later, Paul wrote to Timothy that there’s one God and one mediator between God and men—the man Christ Jesus.

Understanding what Jesus did greatly impacts the quality of our lives. He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. This puts the Scripture, “…With all your getting, get understanding” in a whole new light.

Prayer:
Lord, You radically changed life for the better when You sent Your Son to save us. We can now live in the abundance of your favor, even when we don’t deserve it. Thank You for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Galatians 3:24
Romans 10:4
Hebrews 9:15, 17, NIV
Hebrews 7:18, 19, NKJV
Hebrews 8:7, NLT
Job 9:33, NLT
John 14:6
1 Timothy 2:5
John 10:10
Proverbs 4:7

Without an understanding of the nature of grace, life is a constant struggle to do good things through our self-efforts, but failing. The requirements for pleasing God changed between the Law of Moses of the children of Israel and the grace of God for born-again believers. The difference in mindsets is radical; if we don’t pick up on it, we go back to trying to live by the old, expired law. By contrast, properly dividing between the systems gives us much better results.

The old covenant was conditional and based on the concept that man had to do something, first, to get God to bless him. If the people were willing and obedient, only then could they eat the good of the land. Only if man observed all of the commandments would God set him high above all the nations of the earth; if not, multiple curses would overtake him.

Most churches still preach this, which instills fear in people and traps them in the same place. Thankfully, the finished works of Jesus Christ released us from bondage to constantly striving in dead works. Salvation is one example. Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, eternal life was attainable only by following all the commandments; afterward, the only requirement was to believe in Jesus.

Prayer is another example. Before the cross, mankind had to beg God not to cast him away from His presence; after the cross, God promises that He’ll never, ever leave us. Forgiveness is a third example. Before the cross, man was required to forgive others, first, before he could receive forgiveness from God; after the cross, we can forgive others because God has already forgiven us.

Mankind couldn’t keep the law because it was too perfect. Thankfully, under grace, the Holy Spirit helps us keep God’s new covenant law of love. God working in us giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him takes the pressure off us. This is a game-changer.

Prayer:

Lord, under the Law of Moses, life was difficult and frustrating, and man was unable to follow all Your commandments. You had mercy on us and sent Your Son to replace the law with grace, which has the added benefit of the Holy Spirit to guide us in love. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Isaiah 1:19

Deuteronomy 28:1-3, 15

Matthew 19:16, 17

Acts 16:30, 31

Psalm 51:11

Hebrews 13:5, AMPC

Mark 11:25, 26

Ephesians 4:32

Philippians 2:13, NLT