📖 Are you refusing God's grace?

I. Are you refusing the grace of God? Many people do, often without even realizing it.

In Galatians 2, Paul is writing about the grace God offers to us through Christ Jesus. And anytime we add our good works to the list of reasons why God should save and forgive us, we are demeaning the sacrifice of Jesus and its necessity for us.

In Galatians 2:21, Paul writes:

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.”

Paul is essentially saying that if you can make yourself right with God by obeying God’s law, then Jesus didn’t need to die.

If keeping the law makes us righteous, then Christ’s death is unnecessary.

However, Christ did need to die because we cannot attain righteousness through our attempted obedience. But no one is perfect, meaning no one is perfectly righteous. Therefore, we refuse the grace of God in our lives when we deny Jesus or assume Jesus needs our good works to be added to his perfect sacrifice.

It is important for followers of Jesus to live God-honoring lives, but that is not what saves us.

Only the grace of God given through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus can do that.

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II. Some of your desires are good. And some of your desires are bad. So simply having a desire does not mean it should be pursued. If it is dishonoring to God or others, you should not pursue it.

In James 4:1, James writes:

“What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you?”

He then goes on to explain what happens when our passions take control and lead us away from what is good and holy.

Here is what this means: it is our unrestrained passions that get us in trouble.

This is why Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23), why we are told to train ourselves in godliness (1 Timothy 4:7), and why we are to transform our minds (Romans 12:2).

It is not wrong to be passionate about something or to have a desire. However, these things must be filtered through what is good and righteous. When they are not, they lead to all sorts of sin and pain for ourselves and others.

The source of much of our misery comes from pursuing unholy passions. The way of Jesus, even when it is hard, is always better.

Herman Bavinck on the beauty of God electing to save us:

"The doctrine of election is a source of unspeakable comfort, for it assures us that our salvation rests entirely in the unchanging will of God.

It is not our fragile faith or weak resolve that holds us fast, but His eternal love which chose us before the foundation of the world. When we grasp this truth, our hearts are filled with a deep, unshakable peace that no earthly storm can destroy."

A sign of a mature/maturing follower of Jesus is understanding that the primary reason for going to church is to worship the Lord, not for what we can get out of it.

Yes, it is good to participate in a local church where you can learn God’s Word and where the community helps you in your walk with the Lord. But if the primary reason you go to church is for what you can get out of it, you will treat church as something that primarily exists to serve you.

The Lord is worthy to be worshiped, and a wise believer will structure their life in such a way that demonstrates this reality.

There are so many benefits to participating in a local church, but above all, we gather to worship the Lord because he is worthy.

Mere Complementarianism by Denny Burk

A book about complementarianism, the view that describes the complementary roles of men and women according to God's design. It teaches that men and women are equal in worth but, as anyone can observe, different.

This book focuses on two things. First, natural law, which is the belief that God has built objective moral truths into human nature and creation, making them knowable through reason even apart from special revelation.

Second, Scripture. What does God's word say about the differences between men and women, and how should those differences be expressed in marriage, society, and the church?

While a book like this is not going to be a page-turner, the author does a great job moving from argument to argument without unnecessary or overly lengthy explanations.

I also enjoyed the book's thorough commitment to Scripture. We get into trouble when we try to speculate on things that Scripture does not actually say, and a major weakness of egalitarian arguments (the view that men and women may serve interchangeably in the home, church, and society) is that much of their case relies on extra-biblical and unconvincing evidence.

This book does cover a lot of ground, so at times it can feel like a lot. But it does a great job taking a holistic view of Scripture, paying careful attention to grammar and syntax while also appealing to natural law to demonstrate God's good design for men and women.

I would definitely recommend it if you want a better understand on God’s good design for men and women.

8/10

I write about how pursuing holiness is more important than theological knowledge. These things are not in competition with each other, but one matters more when it comes to our relationship with God and our impact on others.

Click here to read some biblical thoughts on holiness.

P.S. What was that like…