PRACTICAL GRACE. Thoughts on Death to Self.

Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age,

The Word of God Fashions His Sons !

For the past couple of weeks, we have been discovering Grace. There has been an emphasis on the FACT that the Word of God is the primary means of fashioning the sons of God, that is making them/us the image and likeness of God so that we can be always functional- Appropriate and relevant to His purpose. We have learned that the reason we gather here is to worship the LORD and to be fed with knowledge and understanding. The entrance of God’s word brings knowledge and understanding to the simple, we want the Word of God to enter us and if there be anything that will prevent that entrance of illumination, we renounce it and separate ourselves from it now in the mighty Name of Jesus. Let the Word enter, let it flow into every area of our beings and produce a harvest of righteousness for God. We have also defined understanding as the God given perception of the nature and meaning of things resulting in sound judgement and decision making. We are receiving the ability to discern spiritual truth and apply it to our thoughts, attitudes, speech, and behavior. The Word of God reveals how to live our new identity as sons of God here on earth.

The new birth introduces us to grace!

We started by discovering through the scriptures in John chapter one that our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ is the Source of Grace, and not only that He is full of grace and truth – so Grace is the material that constitutes God! In the book of Titus as Sister Lilly reminded me a week ago in chapter 2 verses 11 and 12, we are told that the GRACE OF GOD HAS APPEARED. 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age,

The one that appeared on earth bringing salvation to all men was and still is Jesus Christ’s Son of the living God who is a firstborn among many sons. We have also discovered that Grace is many sided among many other awesome truths that are freeing us and changing us as we yield to being made by God His sons indeed! THE NEW BIRTH introduces us to Grace but that is not where our journey with Grace ends.

Ephesians 2:7-10 NKJV That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, [9] not of works, lest anyone should boast. [10] For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Clearly from this scripture we do not get saved to live for ourselves but for God. The good works we discover and do in Christ were prepared beforehand by God so that we can walk in them. In the past few months, we have also found out that Grace is the foundation of our sonship. We are the children of God by Grace. He has given birth to us, and the implication of this new birth is that we no longer judge or regard one another according to the flesh. Christ becomes our thinking system telling us what kind of attitude we should have, thoughts, behaviors, and actions. We are not only saved by grace but live by grace every single day of our believing lives.

we refuse to evaluate people merely by their outward appearances !

Beautiful scripture here 2 Corinthians 5:9 So whether we live or die we make it our life’s passion to live our lives pleasing to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:14-16 For it is Christ’s love that fuels our passion and holds us tightly, because we are convinced that he has given his life for all of us. This means all died with him, 15 so that those who live should no longer live self-absorbed lives but lives that are poured out for him—the one who died for us and now lives again. 16 So, from now on, we refuse to evaluate people merely by their outward appearances. For that’s how we once viewed the Anointed One, but no longer do we see him with limited human insight.

Love is what fuels us, love for God and love for others.
We have an expanded view! (We feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill our thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm.)
We have come into a new definition and identity and purpose.
Refusing to do something is an active choice- Grace has appeared to teach you to say no to ungodliness and evaluating people or situations by outward appearance is no longer an option for us in this new life.
In this new life our lives are for Him alone. Our faith is not me, myself and I kind of faith, we are members of the household of God and what pleases God and does not cause our brothers to stumble should be our default position.
The scriptures show us that our positional Grace in Ephesians 2 must find expression in our practical lives here on earth. In the traffic, at the store, my relationships so we can say with Paul that I am what I am by Grace.

bE tRANSFORMED AS YOU EMBRACE THE GLORIOUS CHRIST!

Ephesians 4: 20-25 But this is not the way of life that Christ has unfolded within you. 21 If you have really experienced the Anointed One, and heard his truth, it will be seen in your life; for we know that the ultimate reality is embodied in Jesus! 22 And he has taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, the old self-life, which was corrupted by sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions. 23 Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you. 24 And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life and live in union with him! For God has re-created you all over again in his perfect righteousness, and you now belong to him in the realm of true holiness. 25 So discard every form of dishonesty and lying so that you will be known as one who always speaks the truth, for we all belong to one another.

What do we see from the scriptures above? Each of us has been given the key by the Grace and Power of Christ to be triumphant in our believing lives. That key is death to self. Let us face this truth squarely and not hide in religion. To receive Jesus is to identify with Him in His death and resurrection. Christ will only be LORD and MASTER to the extent that you or I surrender or yield to Him.

Our Father and our God we lay hold of the reality of Your kingdom, invisible but real to us. We plant our feet where You planted us in Christ when He was slain before the foundation of the world. You are our home, and Your desire is our original desire before there was any corruption, we come back into the innocence of sonship and the purity of Your Fathers love to us. Let Your kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven through our yielded vessels in the Name of Jesus. LET THE WAY OF LIFE THAT CHRIST UNFOLDS WITHIN US BE TOUCHABLE! AMEN!