grace study ~ week three
This week we will look at Chapter Two of The Grace Awakening entitled “The Free Gift.” Please feel free to join us as we look at the concept of grace, what it means in our relationship to God, and what it means as we live by it in our relationships with others. You will find the studies from the past two weeks in the archives.
Grace Awakening ~ Thoughts for the Day
“The Law was never meant to be a ziggurat of moral steps to climb our way to heaven. It was meant to be a light to reveal the sin that cowered in the dusty corners and dark closets of our lives. But the Law could only reveal. It couldn’t rescue. No matter how formidable the stone walls of sin that surround us, God’s grace is more formidable. No matter how stalwart the iron cells that imprison us, God’s grace is more stalwart. No matter how sure the shackles that bind us, God’s grace is surer still.” ~ The Grace Awakening
In Genesis 11 we read the story of the tower of Babel where the people sought to build a tower that would take them to God. When God destroyed it, He chose to no obliterate the stones but instead chose to leave the rubble as a testimony to others who might also be tempted to worship the creation rather than the Creator.
The Living Bible calls the Tower of Babel “a proud, eternal tower to themselves.” The emphasis was on human achievement and reputation: “ let us make bricks and burn them….let us build for ourselves a city…let us make for ourselves a name.”
Have you ever participated in building such a “tower?”
What was that “tower?”
Or are you currently seeking to build such a “structure?”
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Join me on an adventure as we study through Chuck Swindoll’s book The Grace Awakening. Each Monday I will post some thoughts from a portion of the book and we will discuss them in the comment section, making special application for moms. (Dads and singles are welcome to join us, too!) You can purchase a copy of the book (there are lots of used copies available via Amazon) or it is also available on audio. I don’t want you to feel like you have to read along to join in the discussion; I want this to be as stress free as possible. But I know you will enjoy the book if you read it……understanding and embracing grace is life changing and many have found this book to be a great encouragement after coming through paradigm based ministries, including some homeschooling groups. Please invite your friends, I know you will be blessed!!! We will be starting on July 23rd!
Pros and Cons of the Family Integrated Church
an open letter to my brothers and sister in Christ who serve in leadership to homeschooling families
Simple Thoughts for Building Your Marriage in the Midst of Homeschooling
A Little Perspective On What Matters
Being Pro-Life in the Grocery Store
Discerning True and False Teachers
The "Yes" Face
Nurturing Our Children for the Glory of God
- side dishes for the holiday weekend
- I Am My Child’s Friend
- HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- some more thoughts on complementarianism
- the passing of my mom
- welcome to the world little Odette
- keeping those marriage sparks flying, part two
- keeping those marriage sparks flying, part one
- podcast interview with Seth Gruber, part three
- How do you find a church home?
- podcast interview with Seth Gruber, part two
- podcast interview with Seth Gruber, part one
- Church Shopping
- podcast with Meg Moseley and When Sparrows Fall, part two
- podcast with Meg Moseley and When Sparrows Fall, part one
- Lisa on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- kh on side dishes for the holiday weekend
- thatmom on The Basic Tenets of Relationship Homeschooling
- thatmom on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- Laura (old OR vintage) on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- Aly k on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- Granddad on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- Aly k on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- Miriam W. on The Basic Tenets of Relationship Homeschooling
- Granddad on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- kh on I Am My Child’s Friend
- Thinking About This on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- Granddad on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- Thinking About This on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
- Laura (old OR vintage) on HSLDA accused of turning blind eye to child abuse: you decide
1.We must acknowledge that we are all sinners. “For we are all become as one that is unclean, and all our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6) and “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
2.We are all accountable for our own sins before God. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)
3.There is only one way to be forgiven of these sins and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ. “Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
4.If we confess our sin to the Lord and repent of it (not allow it to rule in our lives) we can be forgiven and be in right standing with God. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousenss.” (1 John 1:9)
5.Genuine salvation will result in living lives of good works but none of those works contribute in any way to our standing before God which is based solely and completely on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:12) and “Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5) and “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)
6.We all, men and women, boys and girls, have direct access to the throne of grace because everyone who is a born-again believer in Jesus Christ is called a “priest and king” in God’s economy. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (I Peter 2:9)
I believe that many of the false teachings within the patriocentric movement are in direct contrast to these Scriptures and I would encourage each of us to first examine what we believe about Jesus and His work on the cross, its implications and its marvelous power.
Secondly, I would challenge anyone reading here to examine your own heart and ask yourself whether you have been trusting in good works….baptism, homeschooling, church attendance, modest dress, the list goes on and on, or if you have placed ALL your faith and hope in Jesus’ blood and righteousness alone.
And finally, I would challenge you to examine the teachings within your own church system, whether it is Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, etc. Ask yourself what your church teaches about ecclesiastical authority and family authority. Does it line up with the Word of God? It is a top down system that requires certain works in exchange for a relationship with Jesus Christ or do you have the assurance that you are saved for eternity by His death on the cross in your stead? Does it teach that the fruits of the spirit and obedience to all the one anothers is what our lives will demonstrate or is there a list of man made rules?
If you desire to talk with me about this, please send me a note to shesthatmom@gmail.com. My desire is that no one who visits this website will leave without knowing the glorious truth that we can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and can enjoy a life filled with His goodness and grace!
Grace Awakening ~ Thoughts for the Day
It isn’t enough just to stand against the heresy of humanism, the concept of being a self-made man or woman. We must take a stand for what is right and true. That truth is the sufficiency of God in all things, in every aspect of our lives! That truth is summed up in one word: grace!
Once To Every Man and Nation ~ James Russell Lowell
Once to every man and nation,
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with false-hood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision,
Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever,
‘Twixt that darkness and that light.
Then to side with truth is noble,
When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
And ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses,
While the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue,
Of the faith they had denied.
Though the cause of evil prosper,
Yet the truth alone is strong:
Though her portion be the scaffold,
And upon the throne be wrong,
Yet that scaffold sways the future
And behind the dim unknown
Standeth God within the shadow
Keeping watch above his own.
“One of the moist compelling examples of grace in the Bible is Abraham. If ever there was a man who could have pulled himself up by the bootstraps of his own works, it was Abraham. He was wealthy, well-respected, and had a wonderful wife. Yet he was still completely without hope of ever earning God’s favor. Then, out of the clear blue sky, God reached down and sovereignly chose him. A choice that was made not on the basis of works but of grace:
“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’” ~ Romans 4:1-3
Why do you think Christians so easily fall into a works-based religion?
Is this a temptation in your own life?
How?
Grace Awakening ~ Thoughts for the Day
“Our earthly economy is built on a system of rewards for work rendered. You work, you earn a wage. The harder and longer you work, the more wages you earn. God’s economy is built on the opposite premise. Grace is not something you work for, it’s not something you earn. It’s a gift. Consequently, there is no room for boasting, all credit goes to God. The story of the thief on the cross is the classic example that God’s grace is not based on effort . Not only did the thief do no work, he couldn’t have if he tried. All he could do while he was hanging on that cross was believe.” See Luke 23: 39-43
Looking at Abraham again, what was it that justified him before God? His social standing? His sincerity? His service? No, none of these even moved the scale so much as a millimeter. Here is what Donald Barnhouse had to say:
“The day came when, in the accounting of God, ungodly Abraham was suddenly declared righteous. There was nothing in Abraham that caused the action’ it began in God and went out to the man in sovereign grace. Upon a sinner the righteousness of God was placed. In the accounting the very righteousness of God was reckoned, credited, and imputed. The Lord God Himself, by an act of grace moved by His sovereign love, stooped to the record and blotted out everything that was against Abraham, and then wrote down on the record that He, God, counted, reckoned, credited, imputed this man Abraham to be perf3ect even at a moment when Abraham was ungodly in himself. This is justification.”
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~ Romans 5:1
Do you remember when you first realized that you had been justified by faith, that your salvation had nothing to do with any works you have done? Take a few moments and consider this. Write down a few words and place them somewhere today where you will see them several times. Meditate on this amazing truth!
Am resisting being silly and saying that if that moment to decide comes “once to every man and nation,” then as a woman, I can blither along happily and never reach that moment.
We used to sing this in a church choir I was in so I’ve had ample chance to think about the text, and it seemed to me that “that moment” comes over and over. And that’s good, because you can screw up and choose the wrong thing, but you’ll get a chance later in possibly a different scenario to choose the right thing. On the other hand, you can’t ever rest on your laurels until you’re on your deathbed.
The church I attended growing up was BIG on “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Maybe we could have talked a little more about works because I’m not aware of anything we did for the community outside the church besides invite people to our events. But I never thought my works would save me.
I know I keep talking about 1 Cor. 13, but it’s huge for me, right up there with the Sermon on the Mount. It doesn’t matter what tremendous works you do: if you don’t do them from love they don’t count at all. Love requires a lot of thought; it may make you discipline a child when you would rather let something slide and it may make you hold back from giving an adult something they ask for. Or make you give something you would rather not. It helps you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought, as if you are better than other people, and it helps you remind yourself, as Lewis said, that the everyday people you are surrounded by are each immortal souls.
Grace Awakening ~ Thoughts for Today
Our condition:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” ~ Ephesians 2:1-3
God’s solution:
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” ~ Ephesians 2:4-9
Are you one of those people who holds to this: “the Lord helps those who help themselves?”
My Captain (in response to the poem Invictus)
Out of the night that dazzles me,
Bright as the sun from pole to pole,
I thank the God I know to be
For Christ the conqueror of my soul.
Since His the sway of circumstance,
I would not wince nor cry aloud.
Under that rule which men call chance
My head with joy is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears
That life with Him! And His the aid,
Despite the menace of the years,
Keeps, and shall keep me, unafraid.
I have no fear, though strait the gate,
He cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the Master of my fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul.
by Dorothea Day
Are you still trying to earn God’s grace in your heart or in deed? How?
What does it mean to you that grace cannot be earned, that your salvation is a free gift from God?
What type of behavior from other people might make your raise your eyebrows and discount them from God’s grace?
Today, memorize this verse in your favorite version of the Bible:
“Not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” ~ Titus 3:5
Grace Awakening ~ Thoughts for the Day
If the grace of God comes to us apart from human effort, does that mean we are justified in becoming “couch potato” Christians?
“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
Describe “works” in their proper context.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” ~ Matthew 5:14-16
What is the purpose of good works?
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;[a] and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” ~ John 15:1-5
“for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” ~ Philippians 2:13
What is the source of our good works?
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ~ Matthew 25:14-30
“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for[a] you serve the Lord Christ. “ ~ Colossians 3:23-24
What is the motivation of our works?
“I know I keep talking about 1 Cor. 13, but it’s huge for me, right up there with the Sermon on the Mount. It doesn’t matter what tremendous works you do: if you don’t do them from love they don’t count at all. Love requires a lot of thought; it may make you discipline a child when you would rather let something slide and it may make you hold back from giving an adult something they ask for. Or make you give something you would rather not. It helps you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought, as if you are better than other people, and it helps you remind yourself, as Lewis said, that the everyday people you are surrounded by are each immortal souls.”
AMEN, Laura!!!!!