Guilt free

Considering again the analogy of bankruptcy, there is still a problem even if I assume that I have filed chapter 7. In the business world, chapter 7 bankruptcy doesn't totally settle the score. It doesn't pay the price of your debt, instead it cancels it. It frees the debtor from his responsibilities, but it does not free him from the guilt of knowing the lenders only received a portion of what was due to them. It also leaves the business man at square one to start over. To try to perform better the next time, full of guilt and either a resolve to try harder next time or depression that they have failed.

In the Christian life however, our debt has been paid in full. God sees us in the full righteousness of Jesus Christ. And not only the debt of the past, but any debt that we may incur in the future. We can live a life of peace with God, free of guilt knowing that our score is settled.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. -Romans 5:1

I know I have a tendency to find some level of confidence in my Christian life based upon how I am "doing" in my spiritual life. I know when I don't spend time in the word, pray or go to church I get down on myself and assume that God is looking down at me too. While it is true that there are natural consequences for my actions, it is also true that he will lead me back to him. When I consider the times of my life when I have experienced the greatest growth, they are associated with these periods of my walk when God leads me home.

I have experienced his gentle nudge back in his direction many times. I have also experienced his forceful hand on my back. In either case, it was because of His grace that I came home. Not because of my spiritual discipline, lack of sin or good Christian habits.

The writer of Hebrews talks about this new life of guilt free living this way:

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22 (emphasis mine)

Jerry Bridges describes it this way, "We are brought into God's Kingdom by grace, we are sanctified by grace; we receive both temporal and spiritual blessings by grace; we are motivated to obedience by grace' we are called to serve and enabled to serve by grace; we receive strength to endure trials by grace; and finally, we are glorified by grace. The entire Christian life is lived under the reign of God's grace."

God, thank you for giving me grace for today. Not only your promise of an eternity spent with you, but a life lived with you. Thank you for pursuing me daily, changing me through both my good and bad decisions. Thank you for being the God of my circumstances, using them for the good of your kingdom and my sanctification. In short, thank you for your grace.

Sanctification by Grace

The total Christian experience is often described in three distinct phases.

Justification - Being declaired rightous before God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Sanctification - Our growth in Christlikeness.

Glorification - Occurs at the time we depart from this life to be with Christ.

It is easy to think of Justification as being Grace based.

For it is by grace you were saved, through faith. -Ephesians 2:8

It is also easy to think of Glorification as a graceful gift from God. This will ultimately happen upon the return of Christ when:

the spirits of rightous men will be made perfect. -Hebrews 12:23

But this piece in the middle is a bit more trouble to deal with when considering Grace. Our walk here on God's great earth is where we are molded, shaped to be more like Christ. I tend to view this time between justification and glorification as a time when my works are mixed with God's grace to produce the goal of becoming more Christlike. I think this is reinforced by the Christian culture that we live in.

But ultimately there is nothing we can add to the work that Christ has already done. All we are and can be is in response to who He is and what He has done. Our works are in response to His grace. Here is a visual difference Jerry Bridges uses in his Transforming Grace book.

He proposes that the sanctification process is based solely upon God's grace and the works that Jesus Christ has completed. Our decisions to respond to that grace are similar to the decision we had to make in responding to the grace offered for our salvation. By holding this view of God's grace, it puts a new perspective on my daily walk. The legalism that I hold on to goes away and I can now freely respond to God's grace. It gives me something firm to stand on knowing that God is truly in control. Not just to comfort me (which he does), but by his grace he is moving me in the direction of becoming more like Christ. Preparing me for the day that I will be in His presence.

Lord, help me to respond to your grace today. Prepare in me a new heart. Help me to respond to your grace, rather than trying to do good to earn it.

How precious...today

See, we have left everything to follow you! What then will we have? -Matthew 19:27

Recently I was in a period of what I call, wilderness walking. It was a time of frustration not knowing what direction I should head or where I was even traveling. Even though I was convinced that God launched me on that journey, I longed to be back in the place from which I had come. I don't do well in the wilderness. I complain. I turn to the side. Even sin that has been dead in me for a long time again shows it's ugly face. But the Lord blesses me and moves me to the land that he was leading me anyway. He proved faithful this week by leading me home again.

I find myself on this roller coaster quite often. We are taught in books and in church that we should spend time in prayer, read the bible, tithe, go to church... In my naturally legalistic mind, I assume that when I do these things I will receive God's blessing. And conversely, when I am not doing these things God will withhold some blessing that he had intended. I answer Peter's question above for myself all the time. "What then will I have?" In times when I am doing well I expect great blessing. In times that I have fallen away I expect to have my prayers go unanswered. But that isn't the way God works.

So why did God move me through the wilderness walk I was taking into the promised land at the end of the journey right when I was at my spiritually worst moment? It didn't make sense why he would bless me when I was wallowing in my self pity. Is it because I obediently left where I was happy in the first place? It certainly wasn't because of my willing nature along the way.

The answer is because his blessing is a product of His grace, not my action. I ran across this quote in my reading this morning which explains it better than I ever could.

One of the best kept secrets among Christians today is this; Jesus paid it all. I mean all. He not only purchased your forgiveness of sins and your ticket to Heaven, He purchased every blessing and every answer to prayer you will ever receive. Every one of them - no exceptions. -Jerry Bridges: Transforming Grace

If my prayers have already been answered, and the blessings of God have already been paid for by Jesus, what am I supposed to do? It was so easy for me to accept his gift of salvation as I know I was dead in my sin. But it is another thing to understand for the first time that His grace does not stop there. He has forgiven all of my sin and given me all of his blessing.

I realize now that when I sing, "How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed" , it is a reminder that I haven't been appreciating the fullness of God's grace. When I consider that his full blessing is for today, this very moment, it is grace that is constantly added to my salvation. Not because I do well, not withheld if I do not. Jesus paid it all and I can not add to that. I realize that His grace is precious not only when I first believed, but this very moment.

Thank you Lord for your blessings. For the grace that you have rained upon me. Even when I turned back on the path you were leading me, you chose to guide me back in your direction. Thank you for teaching me that your grace goes much further than my salvation. It is for today, here, now. Open My Eyes Lord to see your grace in my life today. For when I see your grace in my life, I see Jesus walking beside me.

7 or 11?

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. -Romans 3:10-12

At the moment that I came to Christ I declared spiritual bankruptcy. Totally broke and unable to pay my way. But what kind of bankruptcy was it? Chapter 7 or Chapter 11? When you file for chapter 11 bankruptcy you are forgiven of your "current debt" and allowed to reorganize your finances in hope that you can do better in the future, one day able to stand on your own successfully. Chapter 7 however requires you to admit that your business venture was a complete failure and you must permanently close your doors. Never to open again.

As I understand salvation, I would say that I have filed chapter 7 bankruptcy as I know that:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. -Ephesians 2: 8,9

But do I really believe that? When I fall back into a sin of the past, or fail to move in an area that I know God wants me to, am I confident in my faith. Confident to share the gospel. Full of the joy of my god? Able to worship in spirit and in truth? I don't think I am living my life with that Blessed Assurance that I have permanently filed bankruptcy now and forever solely depending upon God's grace for my every breath, thought and action.

I propose instead that I have filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy where Christ has forgiven my debt, but as a Christian I am going to reorganize my life and "try harder" the next time to be successful. God has pointed out my mistakes, shouldn't I be able to learn from them?

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all of our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment -Isaiah 65:4

Yes, by his grace we should learn, but without his grace we will never succeed. We can never step away from the power of his grace. This is when we stumble.


Lord I pray that you show me your grace today. Give me a sure path and help me not to stumble. Give me your clear direction and the power to move. Most of all Lord, raise me up and move me. Reign in me today.

In His time

God was amazing today. After months of being "stuck" where God wants me, I realized that his intention was to answer each of my prayers. I wonder why we search for the things that He has already delivered? I pray that I can move beyond my frustrations to find myself in His joy.

Tomorrow I will begin my re-consideration of His grace. I hope some of the thoughts passed to me may touch someone else. I will be studying from "Transforming Grace; living confidently in God's unfailing love" written by Jerry Bridges.