Jesus' Grace in Every Situation

Luke 7:13a
“And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her….”

I have come to a remarkable reinforcement of the purpose of grace as it is shown in this passage.  I must remember that I am not alone either in my personal situations or in Jesus' purpose for my life.

First, let me look at the incident in its contexts.  In comparison to the healing of the centurion’s servant, this account of the raising of the widow’s son at Nain shows some remarkable similarities and contrasts in the conditions Jesus encountered and in His responses.

·         No request was made of Jesus in the widow’s situation.  The widow with her mourners simply encounters Jesus and the His followers almost as if by accident or coincidence.  It is obvious that she is on her way to bury her son and is not seeking Jesus, she makes no request of Him, and she makes expressions of faith.

·         The motivation and actions of Jesus are on full display.  The text states that Jesus had compassion on her.  She did not know Jesus, but Jesus was fully aware of her situation and her sorrow.  In His compassion, Jesus told the woman not to weep.

Note: the word used here of Jesus’ compassion is – σπλαγχνίζομαι – splagchizomai, literally to be moved in one’s bowels.  The verb is in the middle voice with indicates that this compassion was completely internal to Jesus meaning He created this compassion in Himself.  Interestingly, this word is only used in the Gospels and only used in direct reference to Jesus.

·         Jesus touched the open coffin which would render Him ceremonially unclean.  In the same way, He would have been unclean had he entered the house of the centurion.  When Jesus raised the dead man and healed the centurion’s servant, the requirements of the law and custom were rendered moot.

·         Jesus spoke to the dead man, whereas He never met the centurion’s servant.  Here Jesus was directly involved working in the personal presence of the one in need.

Sometimes Jesus responds to our prayers as with the centurion, and at other times He responds to our situation as with the widow when we do not even know to pray and have no hope or expectation of relief.  Though this was a remarkable event for the young man, we must also see that the young man was not raised to meet his own need of life but to meet the needs of his mother.  Often the blessings of God in our lives are there for the ultimate benefit of someone else to whom we must minister.

My prayer is that I will have eyes to see God’s purpose in His blessing that stretch beyond my own satisfaction and relief.  By His grace, I must minister in the lives of those around me. 

God’s grace is NEVER for selfish, personal consumption but for His glory and His service.

Coram deo

Fresh Insight to an Old Problem

 

Last night, I finished reading James Barry Babb’s book, Post Cards From Another Gospel.  This was for me a profoundly insightful and at the same time unsettling book.  When I read books and articles that point out the divergence between the biblical gospel message and the contemporary message of the church, my first reaction is to see problems in areas of the church in general while ignoring the problems that might be my own.  This is the familiar mote and beam problem from Luke 6:41-42.

As a result, however, of Babb’s book, I have been forced to look at my own life and message in the stark light of historical biblical truth.  Among the many things that I found important to me, two in particular stand out.

1.      Moralistic Therapeutic Deism – Though I deny it’s tenets on every level, this “de facto-theology” has begun to influence my life and what I teach.  Deism is a heresy, but in practical, everyday ways I have begun to live as if Jesus Christ may not be involved in the details of my life.  I tend to become so focused on myself and so much in control of what I do and its results that I excuse God to go elsewhere and help those in real need of divine influence.

In this, I know I am not alone!  Heaven help us!

2.      Grace of Repentance – Knowing that grace is the enablement and motivation of a sovereign God given to us to accomplish His work, I seldom connect that grace with my own personal need to repent.  That problem may come from my own tendency to see sin, especially my own sin, as less important and less “sinful” that it really is.

What I discovered is, however, that the application and teaching of repentance is vital for both genuine salvation and effective spiritual growth in grace.

Those of us who seek to call ourselves by the name of Christ must daily devote ourselves to personal repentance or we will find that unconfessed sin creeps in and strangles the power of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives and in our churches.

Remember, the parable of Jesus about the mote and the plank in the eye was spoken to His disciples.

Coram deo

Ridiculous Christianity, Luke 6:27-31

What does it mean to be like Christ anyway?  Jesus brings forward the radical and "ridiculous" truth that almost every aspect of the Kingdom of God is opposite of what the culture of the world expects – even the very best of the culture.

·         Love those who hate you personally

·         Speak well of those who curse you and maliciously lie about you

·         When someone hurts you, do not strike back.  Not only that, don’t defend yourself from a second blow

·         When someone steals from you, give him more than he has taken

·         Loan whatever you have to everyone and anyone who asks

·         Treat everyone in the way you would wish to be treated

Let’s be real – no one lives like that.  NO ONE!  If anyone did, the whole world would take advantage of them and ruin them in every way imaginable.  Not only is this a list of ridiculous expectations, this list is a summation of impossibilities!  Only Jesus Christ could live up to this, and He is the only One who did.  Aha!  Jesus Christ lives in me, and what is impossible for me becomes not only possible, but a reality in the power and motivation of His grace.

Questions of Law and Grace

In practical terms, the conflict between law and grace is embodied in the term “legalism.”  The term legalism is distinctly pejorative, but to use the word accurately, it needs definition in practical terms.  Legalism is the conviction that one can gain a better standing with God in his salvation and/or sanctification by something he does or does not do.  That conviction of legalism is often not limited to one’s personal status, but the legalist usually extends the application of his standards to others.  In comparing himself to those around him, he sees them as spiritual or not spiritual by whether or not they perform to this own personal standard of behavior.

With that definition, I am examining one of Jesus’ parables from Luke 5:33-39.  Jesus was answering His critics regarding the practice of fasting and “making prayers” (KJV).  To answer the underlying problem, Jesus used three illustrations in a parable: mending a tear in an old garment with fabric from a new one ruins both, putting new wine in an old wineskin destroys both, and once people have drunk the old wine, they have no preference for the new.

In this parable, Jesus is illustrating the necessity of changes to the forms, prejudices, and practices that had grown up regarding the Law of Moses that were necessitated by the coming of the gospel.  The rituals associated with the Covenant of Law would not suit the New Covenant of Grace.  Here are the elements of the parable:

·         A piece of the New Covenant cannot be torn out to repair a tear in the Old Covenant

·         The spirit of the New Covenant cannot be poured into the Old Covenant

·         Those who have experienced the Old Covenant will not easily accept or appreciate the New Covenant

Some have said that there seems to be an application in this parable to our own day with regard to the new forms of worship and music in the contemporary church.  In this context I wish to explore the principles of law and grace.

As I continue to formulate my areguments, I invite any comments my readers may have.

Grace in Perspective

I am convinced that the greatest problem in the theology and teaching of the church today is the perspective from which contemporary Christianity is defined.  That faulty perspective is that God acts in the human experience primarily for the benefit of man.  To be fair and honest, that conviction comes from two realities: first, we are the personal recipients of God’s blessings, and second, the only true blessings we receive are from God.  I fear, however, that from those inescapable realities, we draw the conclusion that we are the primary purpose of God’s work.  In other words, we see that the primary purpose in what God does for us is to bless us individually and personally.  The truth of Scripture is quite different.  Though in each case we are the most immediate recipient of God’s blessings, our being blessed is not the primary or ultimate purpose of those blessings.

The most visible result of this trend is that the predominant teachings in our churches tend to emphasize the human and experiential nature of God’s dealings with us.  Perhaps the best example of this is what is taught about grace.  Most anyone you ask in the average evangelical church would respond to the question, “what is grace?” with the reply “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense, GRACE.”  Others might reply, “Grace is God’s blessings in my life.”  These descriptions of grace center on man as the ultimate and final object of God’s grace and focus on the recipient of grace rather than the One who gives grace.  The definitions admit naturally that God gives grace, but the real emphasis in the minds of most Christians is on the benefit to the person who receives that grace.  In that sense, grace is seen as the blessing of God and is something of a “consumable commodity” given by God to His children.  To put that in the common idiom, people would say that “grace is all about me and what makes my life better.”  Whether by design or default, we understand grace in terms of personal benefit and blessing.

Some time ago, I came across this definition of grace penned in my old study Bible.  The definition was written beside 2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”  The definition was, “Grace is God’s extension of His dynamic for His work.”  When I break down the specific words in this definition, it reads, “Grace is God’s extension of His ability, authority, and motivation to accomplish His work.”

This definition of grace is radically theocentric.  God originates grace and administers it to us for His work and His glory.

The more I study, the more I realize that most of what we practice in contemporary evangelical Christianity is fundamentally anthropocentric – man-centered.  I want to examine the core principles of our theology with the question, “Is my understanding, practice, and expression god-centered or man-centered?”

What is Grace?

The following discussion resulted from my personal study in Galatians 1:3.

Most anyone you ask in the average evangelical church would respond to the question, “what is grace?” with the reply “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” Others will reply, “Grace is God’s blessings in my life.” In fact, those are the descriptions I would have used myself until a few weeks ago. My complacent understanding was shattered by a rather mundane event. In my personal Bible study, I came across an old note in the margin of my Bible that completely shattered my complacent understanding of that familiar word, “grace.”

The revolution I experienced radically changed my perspective. What I came to realize was that both of these definitions of grace focus on the recipient of grace rather than the One who gives grace. The definitions include the truth that God gives grace, but the real emphasis in the minds of most Christians is on the benefit to the person who receives that grace. In that sense, grace is seen as the blessing of God, and the objective of grace is that God is glorified by showing his love and beneficence to His children. To put that in the common idiom, people would say that “grace is all about me and what makes my life better.”

Consider the foundation of our faith as Paul detailed it in Ephesians 2:8-10. Our Lord extends His grace in two aspects of our faith. We are saved by grace in that salvation is all the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast). We are also sanctified by grace which means we are set apart to live for Him by His sovereign work. Notice how the emphasis of grace turns from salvation in verses eight and nine to effective Christian living in verse ten. We are sanctified by grace which means we are set apart to live for Him by His sovereign work (Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them). Though we are the recipient of the benefits of God’s grace in both our salvation and our daily living in Christ, we have absolutely no reason to become self-centered and fail to see God’s broader purpose in His grace.

In one of my old Bibles, I have this note written in the margin next to 2 Corinthians 9:8 which effectively gives a true definition of Grace. This note dramatically awakened my understanding of God’s grace. Here is what I had written – Grace is God’s extension of His dynamic for His work.

That statement is so profound and so powerful it demands a close examination. The pivotal concept is in the meaning of the word “dynamic.” In its noun form as used here, dynamic means “a basic or dynamic force, esp. one that motivates, affects development or stability.” In other words, God’s dynamic is His motivation and enablement. Within that understanding, God’s motivation and enablement for His cause is what constitutes grace.

I have been unable to find the source of that note, but I found that my Greek lexicon renders the same idea for the Greek word translated “grace” (χάρις / charis). Consider the following definition of grace from A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Joseph Henry Thayer (often simply referred to as Thayer's Lexicon). Grace is “the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.”

God’s grace in both my salvation and sanctification are expressly for the purpose of accomplishing His work and bringing Him the glory He deserves. Though I am the recipient of God’s grace and benefit from it, that grace is not primarily for my own advantage nor is my personal blessing the ultimate purpose of that grace. God’s grace is always to the purpose of His glory and accomplishing His will.

Turning the concept of grace from personal blessing to the fact that grace is to accomplish God’s glory makes the popular notion of grace as a personal blessing ring exceedingly hollow, selfish, and naive. The whole purpose of grace from my salvation by His grace to my ultimate resurrection is that I might be diligent and effective in the work He has given me to do bringing glory to God. The Grace of Jesus Christ is central to my being deliberately Christian.
2 Peter 3:18 (ESV) But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

The clearest evidence of this definition for Grace is in 1 Corinthians 15:10 where Paul declared, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."