Grace is free because God would not be the infinite, self-sufficient God he is if he were constrained by anything outside himself.
Future grace is that grace that carries me from this moment on.
Grace and mercy are fused together, every act of one is also an act of the other.
Grace is goodness toward the one who sins, and mercy is goodness toward the one who suffers / misery.
Pain seems to constrain mercy, but guilt does not seem to constrain grace... looks more free.
If God's grace is his natural response to sin, it is owing entirely to something amazing in God, not in the constraining power of sin.
Suffering constrains pity; but sin kindles anger - not grace - therefore, grace toward sinners is the freest of all God's acts.
Grace is occasionally conditional - though you have not earned the gift, but you met a condition [also a work of God's grace]. Add Ephesians 2:8,9 - the faith is a gift, meeting the condition for grace to save.
Exodus 33:19 - "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious" - to be God is to be free.
God does not look outside his own will for an impulse to move his grace.
Free grace produces life. We were dead and unresponsive before God acted unconditionally. Dead people cannot meet conditions, there must be a totally unconditional and utterly free act of God to save them.
What act could be more one-sidedly free and non-negotiated than one person raising another from the dead?
See Ephesians 1:4-6 - Unconditionally chosen before the foundation of the world - predestined.
Eph 2:6-7 "...in the ages to come....His grace....toward us" Most of the grace toward us lies in the future.
God's freedom nullifies the power of pride [next chapter].
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Life That's Left is Future Grace - Ch. 4
The life I now live, I live by faith - Gal. 2:20
If He leaves me with memories only, and not the promise of more, I will be undone.
Paul begins and ends all 13 NT letters with "Grace to you" and "grace be with you"... To you through this letter, with you as you go forward to obey it. So, Paul seeks to bless them with grace that is to come to them, and remain with them.
Every glance backward sparks gratitude for bygone grace; every look forward casts the soul onto faith in future grace.
No one became a Christian without past grace, and no one can be a Christian moment by moment without future grace.
Faith in future grace gives us: Strength of Heart, Endurance in Suffering [grace supplied in the circle of another grace denied], Love.
We live moment by moment from the strength of future grace; if it were not there, we would perish.
If He leaves me with memories only, and not the promise of more, I will be undone.
Paul begins and ends all 13 NT letters with "Grace to you" and "grace be with you"... To you through this letter, with you as you go forward to obey it. So, Paul seeks to bless them with grace that is to come to them, and remain with them.
Every glance backward sparks gratitude for bygone grace; every look forward casts the soul onto faith in future grace.
No one became a Christian without past grace, and no one can be a Christian moment by moment without future grace.
Faith in future grace gives us: Strength of Heart, Endurance in Suffering [grace supplied in the circle of another grace denied], Love.
We live moment by moment from the strength of future grace; if it were not there, we would perish.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Faith in Future Grace vs. Anxiety - ch. 3
When I am afraid, I put my trust in Thee. Psalm 56:3. Note: "When". The Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Mark 9:24, "I do believe! Help my unbelief!"
Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7
My choice: Be desperately dependent [on Word and Spirit], or be independently desperate.
Anxiety is a condition of the heart - inadequate faith, and can provoke many sinful actions and attitudes.
We fight anxieties by fighting against unbelief and fighting for faith in future grace.... by, meditating on God's assurances [Word] of future grace and by asking for the help of his Spirit.
Matthew 6:25-34 - Seven Promises for Meditation in the face of anxiety.
Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you, with My victorious right hand"
2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness"
Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you"
Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who is against us!"
Phil 1:6 "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ"
Let us make war, not with other people, but with our own unbelief.... using the Word and asking for the Spirit.
Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7
My choice: Be desperately dependent [on Word and Spirit], or be independently desperate.
Anxiety is a condition of the heart - inadequate faith, and can provoke many sinful actions and attitudes.
We fight anxieties by fighting against unbelief and fighting for faith in future grace.... by, meditating on God's assurances [Word] of future grace and by asking for the help of his Spirit.
Matthew 6:25-34 - Seven Promises for Meditation in the face of anxiety.
Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you, with My victorious right hand"
2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness"
Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you"
Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who is against us!"
Phil 1:6 "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ"
Let us make war, not with other people, but with our own unbelief.... using the Word and asking for the Spirit.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
When Gratitude Malfunctions - Ch. 2
Let us not say that grace creates debts; let us say that grace pays debts.
Past grace is glorified by intense and joyful gratitude. Future grace is glorified by intense and joyful confidence.
Faith empowers us for venturesome obedience, it is the source of radical, risk-taking, kingdom-seeking obedience.
It is natural to embrace a mindset of repayment - but the only debt that grace creates is the 'debt' of relying on more grace for all that God calls us to be and do.
Christian obedience is the work of faith, and not the work of gratitude.
If the impulses of gratitude slip over into the debtor's ethic, grace soon ceases to be grace. If we see acts of obedience as installment payments, we make grace into a mortgage.
We glory in past grace through gratitude, and we bank our future, by faith, on the inexhaustible flow of future grace.
Past grace is glorified by intense and joyful gratitude. Future grace is glorified by intense and joyful confidence.
Faith empowers us for venturesome obedience, it is the source of radical, risk-taking, kingdom-seeking obedience.
It is natural to embrace a mindset of repayment - but the only debt that grace creates is the 'debt' of relying on more grace for all that God calls us to be and do.
Christian obedience is the work of faith, and not the work of gratitude.
If the impulses of gratitude slip over into the debtor's ethic, grace soon ceases to be grace. If we see acts of obedience as installment payments, we make grace into a mortgage.
We glory in past grace through gratitude, and we bank our future, by faith, on the inexhaustible flow of future grace.
Cry Out in the "Surprise"
This week, I will be surprised.
Life is fluid. Change is thrust upon us. Part of who you are in Christ is how you react to surprises.
Just when I think I’ve got everything figured out, something changes.
And that happens just about every day!
We look at a river, and it seems to flow along exactly the same route day after day, year after year. But in reality, the route of the river is always changing. The hardness of the rock that forms the channel, or the wind direction and velocity, nudge the water-flow against the edges of the channel. Gradually the pressure carves out a new route.
Or — suddenly — a tree falls, or a boulder tumbles down a mountain, and the water is forced to re-route instantly.
In any event, the pressure is constant, the change is constant, and our inability to prevent it is constant!
As ministry leaders, we tend to want to control events. We want to minimize risk, maximize positive potential — chart the course, see it through, celebrate success. It’s not a “power trip”; it’s passion for the mission!
But even so, it’s hopeless. The river is shifting its course. The lay of the land is different every day. A worker moves away; a terrorist act makes donors quit giving; another ministry pops up and somehow overlaps your mission.
How will I react to the surprises?
Dr. Darryl DelHousaye of Phoenix Seminary says the way to tell what’s really inside a Christian is to bump him and see what spills out. When someone yells “Surprise!”, what do I yell back?
Change is often — maybe even usually — painful. But pain is the most effective growth device in the world. The apostle Paul observes in Romans 5:3,4 that we can “rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” He’s mapping out the ideal spiritual growth curve of the Christ-follower’s life. To make me more like Christ, more like God’s ideal for me, he starts with a secret ingredient: pain!
The challenge of change has an equally potent side-effect: It more or less forces us to keep turning back to God for direction. When Jesus in Luke 18 tells the parable of the pushy widow and the unjust judge, he holds up the ideal of talking with God about our problems “day and night.” Jesus isn’t giving us carte blanche. The promise of this parable is for his followers who are willing to “always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1), “who cry out to him day and night” (Luke 18:7).
Ministry leadership is a wonderful source of pain, because it’s more than just new: It’s ever-new. It’s a constant source of the character-building pain of change! (Somebody say “Hooray.”) This week, someone will yell “Surprise!” I need to be ready to “cry out” to God — not just with a yelp for help in that first moment of shock, but “day and night”!
My Prayer for the Next Seven Days... God, please fill me up with your Spirit, so fully that when I’m bumped this week, it will be your Spirit that people see spilling out! Amen.
1 Peter 4:12-13
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
Life is fluid. Change is thrust upon us. Part of who you are in Christ is how you react to surprises.
Just when I think I’ve got everything figured out, something changes.
And that happens just about every day!
We look at a river, and it seems to flow along exactly the same route day after day, year after year. But in reality, the route of the river is always changing. The hardness of the rock that forms the channel, or the wind direction and velocity, nudge the water-flow against the edges of the channel. Gradually the pressure carves out a new route.
Or — suddenly — a tree falls, or a boulder tumbles down a mountain, and the water is forced to re-route instantly.
In any event, the pressure is constant, the change is constant, and our inability to prevent it is constant!
As ministry leaders, we tend to want to control events. We want to minimize risk, maximize positive potential — chart the course, see it through, celebrate success. It’s not a “power trip”; it’s passion for the mission!
But even so, it’s hopeless. The river is shifting its course. The lay of the land is different every day. A worker moves away; a terrorist act makes donors quit giving; another ministry pops up and somehow overlaps your mission.
How will I react to the surprises?
Dr. Darryl DelHousaye of Phoenix Seminary says the way to tell what’s really inside a Christian is to bump him and see what spills out. When someone yells “Surprise!”, what do I yell back?
Change is often — maybe even usually — painful. But pain is the most effective growth device in the world. The apostle Paul observes in Romans 5:3,4 that we can “rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” He’s mapping out the ideal spiritual growth curve of the Christ-follower’s life. To make me more like Christ, more like God’s ideal for me, he starts with a secret ingredient: pain!
The challenge of change has an equally potent side-effect: It more or less forces us to keep turning back to God for direction. When Jesus in Luke 18 tells the parable of the pushy widow and the unjust judge, he holds up the ideal of talking with God about our problems “day and night.” Jesus isn’t giving us carte blanche. The promise of this parable is for his followers who are willing to “always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1), “who cry out to him day and night” (Luke 18:7).
Ministry leadership is a wonderful source of pain, because it’s more than just new: It’s ever-new. It’s a constant source of the character-building pain of change! (Somebody say “Hooray.”) This week, someone will yell “Surprise!” I need to be ready to “cry out” to God — not just with a yelp for help in that first moment of shock, but “day and night”!
My Prayer for the Next Seven Days... God, please fill me up with your Spirit, so fully that when I’m bumped this week, it will be your Spirit that people see spilling out! Amen.
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
Friday, September 7, 2012
The Debtor's Ethic - Chapter 1
If gratitude is twisted into a sense of debt, it gives birth to the debtor's ethic - and the effect is to nullify grace.
The debtor's ethic, argued against as biblical, is an effort to pay back the debt we owe to God.
Many OT examples were given as to lack of faith vs. ingratitude being a reason for sin.
The argument seems to be that motivating power between past grace and future obedience was not past oriented gratitude, but future oriented faith.
"fear the Lord" means "fear the terrible insult it would be to God if you do not trust his gracious promises of power and wisdom on your behalf." It is to tremble at the awareness of what a terrible insult it is to a holy God if we do not have faith in his future grace after all the signs and wonders he has performed to win our obedient trust.
Looked for reference in the chapter/book to this verse... Ponder Romans 12: 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Is not the obedient presentation of ourselves a consequence of reflective gratitude on the former mercies of God?
Gratitude sends its impulses of delight into faith in future grace. "Embrace more of these benefits for the future, so that my happy work of looking back on God's deliverance may continue."
Faith turns from contemplating the pleasures of past grace and starts contemplating the promises of the future.
The debtor's ethic, argued against as biblical, is an effort to pay back the debt we owe to God.
Many OT examples were given as to lack of faith vs. ingratitude being a reason for sin.
The argument seems to be that motivating power between past grace and future obedience was not past oriented gratitude, but future oriented faith.
"fear the Lord" means "fear the terrible insult it would be to God if you do not trust his gracious promises of power and wisdom on your behalf." It is to tremble at the awareness of what a terrible insult it is to a holy God if we do not have faith in his future grace after all the signs and wonders he has performed to win our obedient trust.
Looked for reference in the chapter/book to this verse... Ponder Romans 12: 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Is not the obedient presentation of ourselves a consequence of reflective gratitude on the former mercies of God?
Gratitude sends its impulses of delight into faith in future grace. "Embrace more of these benefits for the future, so that my happy work of looking back on God's deliverance may continue."
Faith turns from contemplating the pleasures of past grace and starts contemplating the promises of the future.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Valley of Vision
The Valley of Vision
Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.
Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett
Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.
Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett
Future Grace reflections from Intro #2
The faith that justifies also sanctifies
Faith, which is alone the means through which pardoning grace justifies, is also the faith through which empowering grace sanctifies.
Faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is not alone... it is accompanied by deeds rooted in love, rising from our new affections.
Good works are an evidence of authentic faith - James 2:18, proving saving faith, not producing salvation.
Justifying faith is also sanctifying faith - Gal 5:6 "faith working through love"
Those who have experienced saving faith, will experience a new appetite for completing deeds done in love.
Justification is an act of God's reckoning [righteous as Christ]; sanctification is an act of God's transforming [becoming Christ-like in values and mind].
Justifying faith is not only a trusting in the past grace of God, but also in the future grace of God, secured by the past grace of Christ's death and resurrection.
Faith is not mere intellectual assent [demons believe - James 2:19], but is also a vital heartfelt satisfaction with God. A sigh of relief and rest.... total trust.
Faith, which is alone the means through which pardoning grace justifies, is also the faith through which empowering grace sanctifies.
Faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is not alone... it is accompanied by deeds rooted in love, rising from our new affections.
Good works are an evidence of authentic faith - James 2:18, proving saving faith, not producing salvation.
Justifying faith is also sanctifying faith - Gal 5:6 "faith working through love"
Those who have experienced saving faith, will experience a new appetite for completing deeds done in love.
Justification is an act of God's reckoning [righteous as Christ]; sanctification is an act of God's transforming [becoming Christ-like in values and mind].
Justifying faith is not only a trusting in the past grace of God, but also in the future grace of God, secured by the past grace of Christ's death and resurrection.
Faith is not mere intellectual assent [demons believe - James 2:19], but is also a vital heartfelt satisfaction with God. A sigh of relief and rest.... total trust.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Future Grace reflections from Intro #1
We shall bring our Lord most glory if we get from Him much Grace - Charles Spurgeon
Prizing is the authenticating essence of Praising - John Piper
Sin is what we do when our hearts are not satisfied with God - John Piper
Behind most wrong living is wrong thinking.
Could it be that gratitude for bygone grace has been pressed to serve as the power for holiness, which only faith in future grace was designed to perform?
The essence of faith is the deep satisfaction with all that God promises to be for us in Jesus, beginning now.
Thomas Chalmers' aim was to displace from the human heart its love for the world by setting forth another object, even God, as more worthy of its attachment.
John Piper's aim is to emancipate human hearts from servitude to the fleeting pleasures of sin.
Prizing is the authenticating essence of Praising - John Piper
Sin is what we do when our hearts are not satisfied with God - John Piper
Behind most wrong living is wrong thinking.
Could it be that gratitude for bygone grace has been pressed to serve as the power for holiness, which only faith in future grace was designed to perform?
The essence of faith is the deep satisfaction with all that God promises to be for us in Jesus, beginning now.
Thomas Chalmers' aim was to displace from the human heart its love for the world by setting forth another object, even God, as more worthy of its attachment.
John Piper's aim is to emancipate human hearts from servitude to the fleeting pleasures of sin.
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