What Jesus Says to a Complacent Church

Robert Louis Stephenson said - "There's nothing but God's grace.  We walk on it.  We breathe it.  We live it, and we die by it.  It makes the nails and axles of the universe." 

Everything is by God's grace.  We wouldn't even have our own lives if it wasn't for God's grace.

So, we might say - "This sounds like a good deal.  I want to be saved, forgiven, sustained, healed, liberated, given talents, used, kept saved, transformed and matured.  We want to receive God’s grace in our lives to the fullest extent possible.

Then the question is - how do we get it?   How do we receive the grace of God?"

The Bible says it in three simple words:  by trusting Christ. 

John in his gospel says it this way - "The law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."  (John 1:17) 

We’ve all experienced them.  Let’s call them the ‘inevitables’ of life.  The ‘inevitables’ that happen to us. We don't have a choice over them.  

Paul, writing to the Philippian church says – "Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 2:5)  So, how can we have an attitude, an attitude like Jesus when we’re living with the ‘inevitables’ of life?  Only if we’re transformed by God's grace.

Scripture reminds us that God’s transformation occurs when –

we change the way we think,

we choose to focus on others,

we persevere through our difficulties, and

we determine to keep growing.

God’s grace, God’s awesome ‘goodness’ to us is at the heart, of the relationship we have with God.  Our relationship now, and our ‘forever’ relationship with God. The Bible describes that as ‘heaven’.

That relationship, which is put in place through Jesus, is like any other human relationship.  It has to be maintained.  Maybe, we’ve known Christians, who are no longer walking, with the Lord.  They've fallen away.  Maybe through over confidence, laziness, fear of disapproval or convenience.

The good news is that God offers us restoring grace.  When we blow it, when we walk away, when we stumble, when we fumble, God says - "you can come back to Me."  God does that because His love is unconditional, salvation isn’t based on our performance, Jesus has already dealt with our sin, Jesus understands our human weakness and God doesn’t hold grudges.

Isn’t that good news! 

Four words probably define grace, better than any other phrase – “God is for us”. 

God is not just ‘with’ us.  God is not just ‘by’ us.  If we’ve invited Jesus into our lives, He's not just ‘in’ us, but the Bible says He's ‘for’ us.  The Bible says that God didn't just intend for us to receive grace.  He wants us to pass it on. 

Forgiveness is at the heart of God’s grace to us.  If we’ve been blessed by God He wants us to bless others.  If we’ve been cared for by God He wants us to care for others.  If we’ve been forgiven by God He wants us to forgive others.  

Matthew 10:8 reminds us to - "Give as freely as you have received." 

Galatians 3:3 says – "You began your life in Christ by the Spirit. Now are you trying to make it complete, by your own power.  This is foolish."

If we understand how to relax in God's grace we’ll find a new level of joy in our lives, we’ll find a new level of freedom that we've probably never experienced before, except maybe when we first became a believer. 

None of us sails through life. We all have problems and hurts. We may have some hidden wounds and emotional scars that nobody else sees but they're there and they hurt.

The Bible says in Psalm 147:3 – "God heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds."
How does He do that?  By changing the way we think about ourselves.  By changing our minds. Romans 12 says - "Let God transform you into a new person, by changing the way you think."

God helps us to see ourselves in a new light.  We see that by His grace we’re acceptable, valuable, lovable, forgivable and capable. Healing Grace

The Bible tells us, that God always finishes what He starts.  Always.  In the first chapter of Philippians we read - "God, who began, the good work within you, will continue His work, until it is finally finished ..."  

God says - I will help you finish life’s race.  It’s God’s sustaining grace.  God sustains us when we’re tempted, when we’re tired and when we’re troubled.   1 Peter 5:11 says it this way - "My purpose in writing, is to encourage you, and assure you, that the grace of God is with you, no matter what happens."

We can access God’s grace by asking, filling our minds with God’s word, accepting support from other people and holding on to God’s promises. 

Let's admit it.  When it comes to guilt, the truth is all of us at some point in our lives have to honestly say - "I did it."  There are things, we've all struggled with.  We're all in the same boat.  James 2:10 says it this way - "The person who keeps every law of God, but makes one little slip, is just as guilty as the person, who has broken every law there is." The Psalm writer reminds us that guilt isn’t a good thing for us to carry around - "My guilt has overwhelmed me, like a burden too heavy to bear." (Psalm 38) When it comes to dealing with guilt we often resort to shame, hiding and blame.  They’re methods as old as humanity itself that we see in the Genesis account of the garden and Adam and Eve.  God’s way of dealing with our guilt is different.  It flows out of his “grace” towards us.   1 John 1:9 describes it like this -  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness." Isn’t God’s grace amazing?  

In the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he gives us five habits we can practice that will nurture our happiness –

• Every day: relax in God’s grace.
• Remember what matters most.
• Get to know Jesus better.
• Review where we need to grow.
• Forget what can’t be changed, and 

focus on the future.

Paul says - “For my determined purpose, is that I may know Christ – that I may progressively become, more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving, and recognising, and understanding Him more strongly and more clearly ...”  Philippians 3:10