Process Proves Grace
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Appeal after late night attack. He takes away the knowledge that we have already attained of him. We become forgetful Christians like the Israelites.
The Israelites saw the miracles of God in Egypt. This was a natural result of lack of obedience—they could not appropriate the knowledge they had. Many Christians are like the Israelites. They stay in the wilderness—a time of stagnation and discipline in their spiritual life. In order for the Israelites to leave the wilderness and go into the promised land, they had to practice obedience. This was a necessary component. Whoever has will be given more but he who does not have even what they have will be taken away.
What areas have you been unfaithful in that God is again calling you to obedience? Is it Scripture reading and prayer? Is it getting out of an ungodly relationship? Is it changing your language or entertainment? He who has will be given more, but he who does not have even what he has will be taken away.
Yes, God gives us grace, but we must be disciplined in order to grow. This is the kind of discipline seen in Christ who got up early before everyone else and went to the mountain to pray. What types of disciplines must we practice in order to grow in sanctification?
Jesus prayed this right before going to the cross: In order for us to grow in Christ, we must be people of the Word of God. We must be devoted to the study, memorization, and teaching of it. Scripture says the Word of God is active and alive Heb 4: It equips the man of God for all righteousness 2 Tim 3: If you are consistently getting into the Word of God and obeying it, it will make you grow.
It will make you look more like Christ. This is a discipline that all believers must develop in their lives so that they may grow up into their salvation. Jesus had previously told Peter and the other disciples that they would deny him; however, Christ also taught them how not to fall to the temptation—how not to sin. They needed to be disciplined in prayer. This prayer was not a quick arrow prayer but a disciplined time in prayer. He called them to pray for an hour so they would not stumble. He put a time limit on it.
This amount of prayer would make them strong enough not to deny him. How many of us stumble into frustration, depression, anger, pride, or lust because we are not disciplined in our prayer lives? If we are not going to succumb to temptation, we must find time to pray, a space to pray, and people to pray with. It should be noted that when Christ was preparing for his own temptation, he not only prayed but called a prayer meeting.
We must not only have individual times of prayer but also corporate times of prayer. It will build us up and make us strong to stand against temptation. Developing accountability relationships where we confess sin to one another and pray for one another will bring healing and victory in our lives.
Who are your accountability brothers and sisters? Many Christians have fellowship but their fellowship is centered around TV shows, shopping, sports, etc. Let our Christian fellowship be centered around spiritual growth and knowing God more. In fact, this may be the primary method of spiritual discipline Paul had in mind when addressing the Philippians. Each of the pronouns in Philippians 2: The Philippians were to become more like Christ together.
They needed one another, and we need one another as well. There are no lone rangers in the Christian life. Sanctification happens in the context of Christian fellowship. Thus Christians who do not go to church and are not involved in the life of the church are going to struggle with their spiritual progress. Along with the idea of growth through Christian fellowship is mentorship. Paul was mentoring the Philippians as he challenged them to work out their salvation.
The more you get around people who are wiser than you and know God more than you, the wiser you will become. We see this model throughout the Scripture. Someone compared mentorship to walking in the airport. While in an airport, you see people walking to their destination, but you also see others walking to their destination on escalators.
The people on escalators get there faster than people who are walking by foot only. We never get too old for mentorship because there is always somebody who knows more than us and who has walked with the Lord longer. Sometimes the mentor approaches us. Jesus approached the disciples. However, sometimes the potential mentee should approach the mentor. Mentoring helps us grow. With this said, we must understand that we not only grow by being mentored but by mentoring others. Teachers always learn more than their pupils. This is often true in mentoring relationships as well.
We should not see mentoring as a burden, but as a way for us to grow as well. Paul said this to Philemon: Paul told Philemon to be active in sharing his faith because through sharing he would come to a full understanding of every good thing believers have in Christ. He would come to know God and his blessings more through sharing his faith—serving. If a person is not serving then he, by necessity, will be going backwards and will never come to a full understanding of Christ.
If we are going to grow in Christ we must be disciplined. These disciplines include but are not limited to studying the Word of God, prayer, fellowship, mentorship, and serving. Other disciplines include worship, celebration, solitude, simplicity, secrecy, fasting, etc. What disciplines have you found most helpful in your spiritual life?
Are there any ways God is calling you to be more disciplined? The implication of this is that we must persevere until it is complete. Why is perseverance in working out our salvation important? Perseverance in working out our salvation is important because of temptations toward complacent, apathetic Christianity. In this process of following Christ there will be temptations to give up the pursuit and just become spiritually comfortable and lethargic. Christ said this to the church:. These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. This church was of no use to God—they were lukewarm. The church is full of Christians like this.
Practically, they are of no use—fit only to be disciplined by God. This is a temptation for all Christians. We must persevere in our work of being sanctified. We must fight against lethargy. We all have this responsibility to persevere in our pursuit of holiness and fight against apathetic, lukewarm Christianity. Perseverance in working out our salvation is important because of temptations to fall away from God all together.
Paul confronts this reality commonly in his teachings. In Colossians, he said this:. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. Paul writes to this church that was being attacked by a Gnostic cult who denied the deity of Christ and thus the gospel and said that they must continue in the faith—in the gospel.
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The church is constantly confronted with threats that cause many to fall away. Some fall away because of discord or moral failure in the church. Some fall away because of liberal—secular thinking—that challenges the exclusivity of the gospel. Some fall away into cults, and others fall away because of persecution the church encounters. Christ talks about some of these realities in Matthew At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. Christ talked about how persecution, false teachers, and increased sin and wickedness in the end times will cause many to not persevere in the faith. They will simply fall away. He says that those who persevere are the ones who are really saved. Perseverance is a proof of genuine salvation cf.
Perseverance in working out our salvation is necessary because it is the ground where character is developed. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Paul said we rejoice in suffering because it creates perseverance and perseverance creates character. Perseverance in trials, perseverance in doing good and serving others is where character is developed.
Are you a Christian that commonly gives up? You start serving a ministry but quit. You quit a relationship when it gets hard.
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You leave a church when there is a conflict or a problem. Listen, perseverance is necessary. Perseverance is important in working out our salvation because of tendencies toward apathetic Christianity which plague the church, threats to falling totally away from the faith, and because it is only through perseverance—bearing up under a heavy weight—that we develop character. In what ways has God been challenging you to not give up—to persevere—in order to grow spiritually?
His descent continued as he was obedient unto death—even death on a cross. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. As we study this text, we will learn steps to work out our salvation—our sanctification. Walking the Romans Road. It is focusing on our model—Jesus Christ. This happens in various ways.
How can we find encouragement when we want to give up? Paul says that another aspect of sanctification is developing a healthy fear. What type of fear and trembling is Paul talking about? This means we must see and know the awesomeness of God. When one truly realizes the awesomeness of God, he will not give up intimacy with him for other things.
Many pursue school, work, family, or hobbies over God. Consider what David said about God: See how awesome our God is.
How can we choose the created over the Creator? Taste and see how good he is.
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When one really knows how good he is—when one truly reverences God—it will be a motivation towards holiness. In fact, look at the context in which David wrote this:. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. He says there is protection and deliverance for those who revere God v. He says those who fear him will lack nothing—there are provisions for those who fear him v. The benefits are too good. You must revere God. Give up your games, hobbies, and small ambitions. Make the reverence of the Lord your greatest pursuit. The benefits are glorious. Do you revere God? Is God truly awesome to you? We must have a reverence of God in order to pursue him and our sanctification. The writer of Hebrews said this: He says every child of God is disciplined.
God will not allow us to ignore him. He will not allow us to ignore his Word, and he will not allow us to live in sin. When we try, we will be disciplined. Jonah ignored God, and God brought a terrible storm in his life that almost killed him and others associated with him. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. Consider what God said through Isaiah: Sadly, many Christians ignore it; they sleep during the preaching of it.
God says he looks with esteem on the one who trembles at his Word. This is necessary for us to grow in our sanctification. We will allow the Bible to collect dust on our shelf. Do you reverence it? If you reverence it, you will pursue understanding of it. If you reverence it, you will obey it because you realize God speaks through it. It is not a pastor or a parent speaking; it is God speaking, and he is worthy to be revered. If we are going to be sanctified, we must reverence God, fear his discipline, and revere his Word.
Christians should minister with a holy fear and trembling of the one they serve. Consider how Paul described his ministry to the Corinthian church: Paul was a man who lived in a reverential fear of God.
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One could tell by the way he spoke and served. Do you feel like you have a healthy fear of God and his Word? Why or why not? How do we grow in the fear of God? How do we know if we have an unhealthy fear of God? As he focused on the necessity of our labor in sanctification, you can imagine how some felt discouraged over their sins, failures, and lack of discipline.
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
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For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. He is working in us; therefore, we must work as well. Jesus said this about the work of the Holy Spirit in the world: This happens in various ways. In what ways does God work in us to give us his will or desires?
Some have called this a holy discontent. Consider how Isaiah responded when he saw God: By seeing God it revealed to Isaiah how sinful he and his people were. Similarly, Paul said this: The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin—enabling us to hate it and to desire to get rid of it. He gives us a holy discontent. God gives us holy aspirations—desires to be more like him or to fulfill his will. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
One of the ways he works in us to will is by the Holy Spirit reminding us of the coming judgment—the second coming of Christ. We as believers will not be condemned for our sins, but we will be rewarded or lose rewards based on our works. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.