He's Sinning But Says He's Walking in Grace - Apples of Gold - September 17, 2008 -vi-

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for September 17, 2008

“He’s Sinning But Says He’s Walking In Grace”

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

“I’m relying on God’s grace regarding the sins in my life.”

“Uh, wait a minute.  You’re still sinning.”

“Well everyone sins.”

“Yeh, but you are proactively deciding to sin right now, yet you think it’s all cool with God because of His grace?  I don’t think you understand grace.”

“Sure I do.  It’s God’s unmerited favor.  No one is good in God’s eyes anyway, right?  I’m not saved by keeping the law or because I’m so good.  So I’m relying on God’s grace regarding the sins in my life.”

“Look.  God’s grace is not just some place to wipe your feet.  It’s not a spiritual stain stick.  Some people think of God’s grace as one single gift, the forgiveness of their sins.  But God’s grace is so much more than that.”

So let’s take a closer look at the gift of God’s grace.

Yes, it is true that we are saved by grace, as the Bible says repeatedly.  So this is one aspect of God’s grace, it provides for our salvation because we can’t provide it for ourselves.  We can’t earn it.  It comes only by God’s grace.

But now let’s look at another aspect of God’s grace.  Titus 2:12 says that God’s grace is a teacher. 

So God’s grace saves us, and God’s grace teaches us.  If I am truly walking in grace, then I am walking as a student, learning from grace.

Titus 2:12 says that God’s grace “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions…”

If I am walking in grace, it doesn’t mean God is saving me from my sins – and I keep on sinning.  It means He saves me, and He teaches me to quit sinning, to say “No” to sin.

It goes on to say that grace teaches us “…to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives…”

So those are two aspects of God’s grace, and we find them summed up in Titus 2:14.  First it says that Jesus came to “redeem us from all wickedness.”  Then it says that He came to “purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.”

Sometimes I run into people who are living in sin and say they are walking in grace.  But they are only thinking of one aspect of grace, the part that redeems them from all wickedness.  They are forgetting all about the part that is trying to teach them to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. 

The purpose of God’s grace is not just to save us from sin, but to purify for Himself a people that are eager to do good.

Now let’s look at a third aspect of God’s grace.  It includes gifts He gives us for His service.

Romans 12:6 says, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.”  Then it mentions prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading and showing mercy. 

Ephesians 4 says, “…to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”  In other words, He has divvied up His grace in the form of different gifts to different people.  Verse 11 says He gave “some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers…”

These are gifts of service, and they are portions of God’s grace. 

Second Corinthians 9:8 says, “…God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

See, that verse starts by talking about God’s grace, but it doesn’t end with a message of sins being wiped away.  It ends with a message of us receiving everything we need to abound in every good work.

This idea of walking in grace as a justification for sin is nothing new.  Paul addressed that in Romans 6:15 when he wrote, “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?  By no means!”

In Jude it says, “They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality…”

See, when you start to understand the many aspects of God’s grace, you will see that it is so much more than just the forgiveness of sin.  That’s just the start.

His grace saves us, then teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions.  And His grace supplies us with exactly what we need to serve God and His people. 

So God’s grace saves us, and teaches us, and enables us – all with the goal of making us a special people just for Himself who are eager to do good.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

  
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000
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