The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 7th December 2008 by Robin Hawkins
- To be able to resist temptation.
- To know what is right and to do it. To live holy lives.
- To not allow circumstances to get us down.
- To love in the face of hatred.
- To do the works of faith God's prepared for us.
- To be at peace in the midst of the storm
"Changed By Grace (Sanctification)"
Reading: Romans 5:20-6:4
Last week we looked at the enormous scope of God's grace - His undeserved kindness - to us. We saw how he took condemned humanity, paid the death penalty for our wrongdoing, delivered us from Hell, set us free from Satan's control, adopted us into his family as sons, raised us even to the highest place in Heaven, seating us with Christ in the heavenly realms, far above all rule, authority and dominion.." Ephesians 2:7 told us that he did it, not because we in any way deserved it, but "..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." In other words, in order to show his creation throughout the ages, just how kind he could be, he took some real sinners and made them into people who would rule this universe with Jesus.
So you might be thinking, "Well, we're really glad we're not going to hell now, but look, if our sinfulness gives you the opportunity to show more grace, let's go on sinning, and you can be even more gracious, and you'll get even more glory!" Put it another way, if I am saved by the grace of God no matter what I do, then, I can live how I like and still be saved!
You would be RIGHT - and WRONG! - and you wouldn't be the first to say this. Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones said that if our gospel never provokes the question, "Shall we carry on sinning then?" we are probably not preaching the gospel at all. John Groves describes this as the logical conclusion from the gospel of grace. Technically this position is right and accurate.
However.. the other side of the coin is that if we are truly saved, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. We have come to love Jesus, and as we have responded to his grace, find that want to follow him. Moreover, something else has changed inside us. We used to find that we could sin and think nothing of it. In fact sin came very naturally, and we were slaves to it. We couldn't help ourselves. Now, however, we've changed. Now we're very much aware of it when we sin. We know it's wrong and we feel bad about it. There's something in us now that is pulling us towards righteousness, and as Paul says, we have become slaves of righteousness.
So a person, who has had this change inside them, simply would not calculate to live as sinfully as they could - just because they had now got a ticket to heaven in their pocket! Such an attitude would show that actually they didn't know Jesus at all. You see, the grace of God changes us. And unlike the law, it also gives us the ability to live in victory over sin in a way the law never could.
Let me tell you how Paul explains this change. Turn with me to Romans 7:1-6 where he gives us this very helpful illustration. Before we became Christians we were like a woman locked into a loveless marriage to Mr. Law. This husband was unloving, very demanding, always right, and never offered to help. Then a death occurred. It was as though Mr Law died, but actually it was us who died, and were then reborn. We died to the Law through Christ's death on the cross, and we celebrated that in baptism. We can now be married to a new husband, Jesus, who loves us and we love him. We want to please him, and his approach is to help us to do what pleases him.
His goal for us is to be those who are reigning in life. Romans 5:17 says: "For if, by the trespass of the one man (Adam), death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and (of) the gift of righteousness, reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ."
What do you think it means to "reign in life"?
This is the goal of God's abundant provision of grace. It comes to us in the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and hence the vital importance of being baptised in the Holy Spirit and constantly being refilled with him. The Holy Spirit is God's undeserved grace gift to us. This is an enormous privilege, and one that we should treasure dearly. So when we talk about the grace of God IN us, we're talking about the Holy Spirit. He causes us to live in a different way as he renews our minds and directs our lives.
The grace of God through the Holy Spirit has brought us into a living, loving relationship with Jesus. It's the Holy Spirit who enables that love for Jesus to grow inside us. It's a miracle because we've never seen him, yet we love him.
So how does this work out in practice? Let's read Titus 2:11-12. There is something about God's grace that not only teaches us what is right and wrong - which figures when we realise that's the Holy Spirit doing it - but also enables us to say "No" to ungodliness. This is directly opposed to Legalism, which is going back to a life of rules and regulations, is one of the biggest causes of deadness among Christians. When this happens, it means that human effort is taking the place of the power of the Holy Spirit and we are back under law. Let me give you an example: As Believers, we need times with God in prayer and the Word to keep our relationship with Him alive. If we're doing it only because we feel we ought to, and because we'll feel guilty if we don't, something's wrong. Better to ask him to show you what's gone wrong than to keep doing it out of a sense of obligation.
On the other hand, the healthy Christian will want to have that time with God, but we're aware that so much keeps getting in the way. This is where self-discipline comes in. The basic desire is there, as it should be, but we need to take control of our day such that we can say, that space is for God, and I'm going to protect it. Get on your own, agree with your spouse to keep the children at bay, turn your mobile and the TV off - and go and have that time with God. That's not legalism, that's self-discipline. We do need to know the difference.
However, the difference can be subtle and it's possible to start out trusting in the grace of God. But then gradually allow rules to take over - either rules we impose on our selves or rules imposed by others. E.G. "Mustn't go shopping on Sundays." "Ought to eat fish on Fridays." "Must stand up to sing in the meeting." "Must dress in a certain way." The Galatians had fallen into this trap and in Galatians 3:1-5. Paul challenges the Galatians them about this. He asks them "Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the Law, or by faith?" Did they earn him, or was he a gift? Assuming they would have given him the right answer, he goes on. Having begun in grace, or in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become holy through your own human effort - the observing of rules and regulations, or the pressures and expectations put on us by others? There must be a balance here: a well-meant exhortation from one person may be seen as a pressure or expectation put on us by another!
Paul is absolutely clear that we're saved by grace; and that work of making us holy like Jesus - a work that will continue for the rest of our lives on earth - is also a work accomplished by our trusting in God's grace.
However, be careful! The NT is full of encouragements and instructions about how we are to live, and we can't just brush them aside, saying we're under grace, so we don't have to take any notice of them. We're back to the person who is truly born again will want to know how he or she can please the Lord. The Holy Spirit makes this Book come alive to us, and gives us the power to do what it says.
So grace makes us more like Jesus - more holy than the Law ever could. It's like the High Jump bar I was talking about a few weeks ago when I was speaking about the Ten Commandments. Now, through the Holy Spirit within us, we are living to a much higher standard quite naturally. Now the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, so we naturally love God above all others. We love our parents, and want to honour them. We love our wives or husbands, and don't want to be unfaithful to them. We love others and would rather give to them than steal from them. We delight in the truth. We're glad when they're blessed in some way rather wanting to take their blessing from them.
John Bunyan wrote this: "Run John and live!" - the law demands,
But gives me neither legs nor arms.
Better news the gospel brings,
Bids me fly and gives me wings."
