Living by Grace

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10
Life is so NOT ABOUT US! It is by grace (God's unmerited favor) that we are not slaves of sin any longer or bound for an eternity in hell! So often, once we have been saved a while, we stop living by grace. We think we can just do whatever we want, for our own pleasure. We think we can sanctify ourselves. We act as though, "having began in the spirit, we are now being made perfect in the flesh."
Every day is an act of grace. God gives us the grace to breathe. To think. To worship. To praise. To respond with love. To show mercy. To glorify Him despite our sinfulness.
His grace is sufficient.
His mercies are new every morning.
His faithfulness is great.
He will never fail us.
Living by grace is complete dependance on Him to do the things that He destined for me before the creation of the world. I could never do good works on my own; I am incapable of doing or thinking anything good.
BUT BY HIS GRACE I can point others to His goodness and saving grace that changes everything about my life!

Latest Treasures...

Long ago, God, in many different ways, revealed himself to us through many different people, who like us were mere men.
But in these last days, He has spoken to use in a special way, using a personal messenger. He has spoken to us through His Son.
His Son is the heir and inheritor of the entire world, because through HIS POWER the world was created.
He IS the radiance of God's glory.
He is not just a reflection of God; He is the EXACT IMPRINT OF GOD.
He UPHOLDS THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, which He created and will inherit, by THE WORD OF HIS POWER.
"After making purification for sins..."
after taking the form of a slave,
after taking on mere humanity,
after submitting Himself to serve those whom He created,
after surrendering to their humiliation of Him,
after suffering in His human body in the cruelest means of death,
after suffering through utter separation from THE FATHER,
after making Himself the scapegoat for OUR SIN,
He sat down.
He, being God, being All-Powerful, completed that which we could never do.
He paid the debt for our sin, took our well-deserved punishment, then ascended back to the heights of HIS GLORY : THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD : The Ultimate Seat of Power, Authority, and Blessing!

And we are IN CHRIST. We are united with Him in His death, and in His Resurrection, and someday...
WE ARE TO SHARE IN HIS GLORY.

Sin and Absolute Truth

In our world full of tolerance and relativism, it is important for us to know what we believe about sin. For instance, if we’re trying to witness to someone and tell them about Christ saving them from their sin, but they don’t believe that what they’re doing is sin, what do we tell them? If they say “Well, you may believe that, but I don’t really think of lying as a sin.”

If you believe that this world has evolved over time, that there is no God, that there is no purpose for life, then the concept of no absolute truth makes perfect sense. If there is no God holding us accountable for our actions, then we can do whatever we want; it doesn’t really matter.
 If there is no absolute truth, if truth is defined by each person, then we have no ground to stand upon. If there is no absolute truth, we can have no confidence that what we believe is the truth. We can have no confidence that our salvation according to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ can save us. I mean, if there is no absolute truth, then what right have we to say that those who don’t believe in Christ are on their way to a Christ-less, awful eternity? If there is no absolute truth, then our faith is in vain. If there is no absolute truth, then there is chaos and anarchy.
But, on the flip side, if God does exist, if He created the world and every individual person with a specific purpose, then He is the One with the plumb line (measuring stick), He is the One who dictates right and wrong.

There is Absolute Truth. The Almighty God Who created the Universe wrote it down, through human authors, and it gives clear direction as to how we should live our lives.
Sorry to break it to you, but we serve an intolerant, unrelativistic God. He doesn’t say, “You know, whatever you want to believe is okay, I mean, I can handle it!” He said in Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.” He is perfect and holy and He is One Who judges sin.

The reality of sin and its consequences is absolute truth.
Sin is anything that goes against God. (Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”)
Sin is missing the mark of God’s perfection. (Leviticus 20:7 “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.”)
Sin is not only doing wrong, but also not doing good. (James 4:17 “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”)
Sin has eternal consequences. (“Proverbs 11:19 “As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”)

The Absolutely Truthful Word of God says that ALL HAVE SINNED, ALL have fallen short, ALL are deserving of eternal death. (Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”) Since that is TRUE, then there is only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ. John 14:6 “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father, except through Me.” Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which you must be saved.”

The Absolutely Perfect, Absolutely Just God is also Absolutely Loving. He sent His Son to die so that all who have fallen short may be brought near. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 1:16-22 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools…”
There are consequences to what we believe. You can believe something with all your heart and still be wrong. Even the “wisest” man can be utterly foolish. But what is really foolish is when we have the truth, the ABSOLUTE TRUTH and we are ashamed of it. People are (literally) dying because they don’t know the truth about sin and salvation and we are afraid of standing up and declaring the Truth.

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ…for it is the power of God! And that’s the truth!

Eleven years ago...

....I was 6 years old, a stubborn little sinner who knew alot about Christ, but didn't really know Him.  I was one of those know-it-all little kids who memorized easily, loved facts, loved knowing more than other people (especially those older than me) and facts about Christ were just that: facts.

Then on April 2, 1999, Good Friday, my family and I went to an Easter drama at a local church.  I sat there stunned as I watched a gruesome (at least it seemed that way to me) reenactment of Christ's rejection, suffering, death, and burial.  I had known that Jesus died, but never did I understand what He went through because He loved me.   I was overcome with the realization: Christ died for me!  Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

I was definitely a sinner, there was no question about that!  I wasn't one of those little kids who make people question whether people are born sinners: I confirmed it!  I was rebellious, disobedient, stubborn, deceitful, angry, resentful, jealous...among many things.  I was on my way to a Christless eternity in hell.  Though I was young, I was old enough to understand. 

It was in that moment, that I understood.  Christ suffered so much because He loved me and wanted me to be His child, and yet, what was I going to do about it?  That night, I humbled myself and admitted that I was a sinner in need of salvation.  I thanked Christ for dying, and rising for me and asked Him to save me from my sin, from death.

I ran forward at the invitation, yes, at age six, without my parents, and joined a line of a hundred or so people  for counseling.  I had been in line for a while when my parents realized that I was gone, and I decided that I didn't want to wait in line, or go in a back room with a stranger by myself, and so I ran back down the middle aisle!

When my family and I got home, my parents took me back to their bedroom and talked about what salvation was, making sure I understood.  I prayed with them, and we called relatives and friends telling them the good news. 

Some may question the validity of a decision made at a young age.  Some may belittle the fact that I had not done many terrible things.  Some may think my story sounds normal and not "exciting." I am not ashamed of being saved at a young age: I am grateful.  As a missionary who came to our church said, "I was not saved out of a life of terrible sin, but I was saved from a life of sin." I am so grateful, for if that day, I had not become a child of God, who knows where I would be today?

Eph 2:4-10 "But God, ( I love those two words!) who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." 

I have nothing to boast in, no righteousness of my own to hold up and exalt.  I was lost, but Jesus found me, and did everything possible and everything necessary that I might be justified (declared righteous) in His sight.

The next verse in Ephesians 2 goes on to say: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

My response to what Christ did must be to be faithful in what He has prepared for me, and to live my life to glorify Him.  Luke 9:23 "Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?"

This is the part I'm in now, denying myself, taking up my cross and following, wherever my Savior leads.  After all, He did so much for me, how can I but love Him and serve Him with all my life?

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."