Christmas ABF Fellowship

Knowing God Ch. 13 - The Grace of God

The Grace of God

“God’s riches at Christ’s Expense.”

No Grasp of Grace

1. The moral ill-desert of man.

-“For modern men and women are convinced that, despite all their little peccadilloes-drinking, gambling, reckless driving, sexual laxity, black and white lies, sharp practice in trading, dirty reading, and what have you-they are at heart good Christian folks.”

Young Life

-You can’t be a slave to two masters!

-Fail to realize that are image is tarnished in the fail.

-Doctrine of original sin…our hearts are evil from the beginning.

2. The retributive justice of God.

-God must punish sin (Gen 18:25).

-Many simply want to cast themselves on the character of God, thinking that God is a God of love, but he has to be a God of justice as well.

-Morality? Where does that come from? Have you ever had a discussion about ethics without Scripture?

3. The spiritual impotence of man.

-Rom 3:20 – “No one will be declared righteous in his sight observing the law.”

-We strive in this place where we think our actions will please our savior!

-You can’t please him by your actions.

-Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.”

4. The sovereign freedom of God.

-We think we are the good guys. And God is obliged to love us and take care of us.

-God is perfectly free and is not served by human hands. He doesn’t need you on His time. But you should desire to be on His team.

Not Earned or Deserved

-Grace and salvation go together hand and hand (Eph 2:8-9).

-Rom. 5:8 – God paid the highest price for us.

-Lemon Lot – God buys you. But that’s not the incredible thing…he pays top price.

1. Grace is seen as the source of the pardon of sin.

-Change from a condemned criminal to a joint-heir.

-Free to us, but costly to God.

-Eph 1.7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will…”

2. Grace is the motive of the plan of salvation.

-God planned redemption before the earth was created. Because God gets glory when his grace is praised. (Eph 1)

3. Grace as the guarantee of the preservation of the saints.

-1 Peter 1:5 “who by god’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

The Marks of a True Christian

This is GraceAnna :-)

For those interested, I posted a link to Grant's recent sermon from MY BLOG.

Grant started another training cycle on Parris Island, but hopefully he will be able to update his class notes soon.

Merry Christmas!