Fool Proof

SCRIPTURE

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

~Ephesians 2:8, NLT

QUOTE

Faith pleases God and it prompts man.

~Ya’akov

Paul preached grace, pure unadulterated grace and to the Jews, it was a stumbling block. They believed in two things that are antithetical to grace. [1] They believed in special favor. They believed that being descendants of Abraham was equal to a new birth. This created an inordinate pride that lead them to believe they could earn salvation on a point system. [2] In other words, they believed they could be saved by obeying the laws of Moses. They were convinced they could receive right standing by their own efforts.

The first thing Jesus did to upset them was to inform them that being a descendants of Abraham was grossly insufficient and then he went on to point out the fact that their righteousness was totally unacceptable. All their righteousness was tainted by their selfish desire to glorify themselves. God confounded them; He made salvation simple, so simple that a child can be saved but salvation is not something we do for God,  it is something He does for us.

God’s grace initiates our salvation; His grace makes salvation possible for sinners. We can response to His goodness is faith. Faith works in two directions Godward and Manward: [1] Faith pleases God {Hebrew 11:6} [2] Faith prompts man,  Abraham was moved by faith. So faith has a Godward side and a manward side. Since my salvation is a gift {grace} I can only boast in Christ. If I had any part in earning my salvation, I would have bragging rights.

If you buy a new car but you are short $1,000 and you come to me for a loan; you have made a mistake. You have given me bragging rights. Every time I see you go by in the car, I will think or say: there goes a car that I help pay for. Literally, if I paid $10 on your car I could boast. Salvation is all grace because God retains all the bragging rights. What impresses me is that His Grace, His plan cannot be abused. It is fool proof.

Let’s say for example; you determine to do God’s will your way by the power of your flesh a part from His grace. In the flesh you attempt to serve Christ by living morally, doing good deeds, faithfully attending worship, and tithing every cent that goes through your hand. The end results of attempting to please Christ by living in the power of the flesh is: Pride, vain glory [you crave recognition and praise], you become super judgmental of others, you are ungrateful and you cannot offer sincere praise to God. You going through the motions of praise but it is all pretense.

God has it fixed where it can only be done one way: HIS and the end result is praise to His Son. It’s like buttoning up a shirt; if you don’t start right, you will not end right. If it originates in the flesh, the flesh will seize the glory; if it begins with the Spirit, Christ will get the glory. You cannot begin in the flesh and end in giving Christ glory.

• Today we pray for the World.
• Regular schedule tonight: Lord willing I will be with you as you try to move back toward normal.
• No Senior Adult Fellowship this Friday. I need a little more time to get back to 100%.