The Temple

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Pete

I read about the construction of Solomon’s temple this morning (1Kings 6, 7). It took seven years. Seven years for Solomon to build a house for the Lord . . . a magnificent structure where the glory of God might dwell. The best cedars . . . the most carefully and accurately hewn stone . . . ornate designs . . . walls and furniture overlaid in gold . . . grand bronze structures. It was big . . . and it was beautiful. And what would it have been like to enter the Most Holy Place? . . . to lay eyes upon the golden cherubim that overshadowed the ark . . . to behold the massive, 15 foot high, hand crafted creatures depicting life from another place . . . to gaze up at their 15 foot wing spans touching wall to wall, overshadowing the place where glory dwells? Was the temple Impressive? I’m guessing. Costly to build? By any standard. Does it pale in significance to the temple being built today? Pretty much. I read about that one too, this morning . . .

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.    (Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV)

Solomon’s structure was built in seven years . . . today’s dwelling place has been a work-in-progress for over 2,000 years. Solomon used only the finest materials . . . the house being built now is being constructed out of “recycled” materials . . . people once dead in their sins now newly created as living stones (1Peter 2:5).

The facilities to enable sacrifice in Solomon’s structure were plenty . . . blood would flow . . . animal parts cleaned . . . sacrifices offered by fire . . . the sweet smelling aroma ascending toward heaven. Sacrifice is a little different in today’s temple. No more blood . . . the blood of God’s provided Lamb having atoned for sins once for all. Today the sacrifices are not those of lambs and goats but of praise and worship, the fruit of lips adoring their Savior . . . and of lives laid down as living offerings upon the altar of grace (Romans 12:1).

But the two temples are similar in this aspect . . . both built to be a dwelling place for God . . . both intended as a holy temple. Both constructed that God might dwell upon the earth. Both designed that they might be filled with the presence of Him who inhabits the throne of heaven. In the one, that glory evidenced by a descending cloud . . . the other, the glory known by His abiding Spirit.

One other difference . . . Solomon’s temple is gone . . . destroyed . . . razed . . . dust where once was glory. Though it was built with the best materials earth had to offer . . . though it was erected upon the strongest of foundations man could form . . . though it was overlaid with precious metals . . . it’s gone.

But the other temple . . . the temple still being built today . . . that temple is Jesus’ work. The Father is the designer . . . the Spirit is the active agency of construction . . . and the Son is the contractor and sub-contractor . . . having determined that He would build His church . . . and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). And its longevity is not because of the materials used . . . not because of their inherent properties of strength or that they’ve been covered in gold . . . but because they are being built upon Christ Jesus Himself, the cornerstone.

He is the beginning and end of the structure . . . He is the source of the tensile strength of the born again materials used in this dwelling place of God . . . He is the covering, His enveloping blood and His imputed righteousness, being better than gold . . . He is the image into which the building is being conformed.

To have seen the temple of Solomon’s day would have been amazing. But to be the Temple of God’s making today . . . well, that’s just awesome! Amen?

To Him be all glory . . .

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Body, Soul, and Spirit

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Pete

Hovering over a single declaration this morning. Two verses . . . one glorious declaration. A song, of sorts, which not only calls me to enter into the speaker’s experience . . . but a pronouncement that invites me to participate, as well . . . an assertion which connects me and prompts me to join the chorus. The singer? Mary . . . a young woman betrothed to Joseph . . . a virgin with child from the Holy Spirit . . . a lowly creature favored of the Creator . . . engaged in a mini worship meeting with her cousin, Elizabeth. The song? Referred to as The Magnificat. The theme? God my Savior. The instrument? Mary’s entire being . . . body, soul, and spirit.

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior . . .    (Luke 1:46-47 ESV)

It seems to me that Mary’s song is a model for worship in so many ways. The focus of her words is the Lord . . . His person . . . and His power. He is the “God my Savior” . . . able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to Him (Heb. 7:25). He is the one who sees the humble estate of His servants . . . He is mighty and He is holy . . . and He is merciful. He shows Himself strong . . . scattering the proud, bringing down the mighty from their thrones, sending away the rich empty . . . exalting those of lowly estate, filling the hungry, a present help to His people . . . all in faithful remembrance of His promises. (Luke 1:48-55)

And how do you attempt to worship such a God? With body, soul, and spirit.

Mary speaks the words. Her body engages . . . her jaws move . . . her mouth forms words . . . her vocal chords are activated. I imagine she lifts her eyes (or maybe even her hands!) . . . or, perhaps, she bows her head. Her lungs take in air . . . her diaphragm works to expel it . . . becoming the fuel behind the sounds of thanksgiving. That which she tries to comprehend in her brain, can’t help but be expressed through her body.

And it is with her soul that she magnifies the Lord. The essence of who she is . . . her feelings, desires, affections, fears, are awakened and intent on one thing . . . to make great her God. Not that God’s greatness is somehow dependent on her . . . but that it is declared . . . it is lauded . . . it is celebrated . . . it is brought into focus through her expression of gratitude, awe, and wonder. All that is within her focused on one thing . . . to bring Him into greater focus . . . to ascribe glory and praise to her God of wonders.

Finally, with her spirit she rejoices in her Savior. That which enlivens the soul . . . that which sets eternity within the hearts of men and women . . . that which connects with the Spirit of God . . . that which takes the things of faith and makes them the objects of joy and exaltation. With her spirit she is exceedingly glad as it bears witness to the inner testimony of a reality beyond her reality.

I’m not doing any justice done in trying to describe it . . . but for any who have experienced it . . . the inner moving of one’s spirit in response to the things of God . . . the welling up of soul as the fountains of living water fill it . . . the “joyful noise” created by a body desiring to call out to Him who formed it from the dust of the earth. It’s . . . it’s . . . well, it’s magnificent!

O’ the privilege to be able to magnify our God . . . to feebly attempt to extol His Name . . . to earnestly desire to declare the wonder of His works . . . to do so with body, soul, and spirit.

By His grace . . . for His glory!

Amen?

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His Glorious Inheritance

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Pete

It’s a list I take note of every time I’m in Ephesians 1. Three things that Paul prayed the Ephesians would know . . . really know . . . fully get . . . comprehend at the deepest level of their beings. Three things that I always pause over, meditate on, wanting to “get it”, too. But this morning, thanks to a note in my study Bible, one of these things has taken on another facet of meaning. This morning the awe factor is multiplied as I consider His glorious inheritance.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe . . .                (Ephesians 1:16-19 ESV)

That God would give us the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation . . . that the eyes of our hearts would be enlightened . . . that we might know, perceive, discern . . . three things. The hope . . . the riches . . . the power. And I’ve always viewed these as three things which are the graced possession of the believers. The hope of our calling . . . the riches of our inheritance . . . the power made available to us. But a note in my Bible “upset my apple cart” on one of these this morning. That perhaps what the apostle wants the children of God to know is not so much about their inheritance but about His glorious inheritance.

To be sure there is a rich inheritance stored up for all who are called to be saints. Paul has already said that “in Him we have obtained an inheritance” (Eph. 1:11) . . . and that the believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit who is “the guarantee of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14). Peter reminds us, also, that we have been “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you . . . ” (1Peter 1:3-4). That we have an inheritance is clear . . . that it should be part of what helps set our eyes on “things above” is evident.

But the other way to understand this is that Paul wants us to fathom that we are, in fact, the inheritance being spoken of . . . a rich, glorious inheritance . . . God’s rich and glorious inheritance . . . an inheritance which He possesses “in the saints.”

That the mercy and grace of God would move the Father to redeem His lost creation at the cost of His beloved Son is more than enough to evoke awe and wonder. But to then think that He would so delight in redeemed ones as to view them as the riches of a glorious inheritance . . . well, that kind of takes your breath away.

What wonder in considering that God would view us as His glorious inheritance . . . that He would count those bought by the blood of the Lamb as “a people for His own possession” (1Peter 2:9) . . . that He looks forward to us being with Him as much as we do . . . that we, in some manner, are His prize. Unreal!

It brought to mind an old hymn that I have not sung in long, long while. A hymn based on the KJV rendering of a verse in Malachi.

“They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels.”    (Malachi 3:17 NKJV)

We are His jewels . . . His riches . . . His precious treasure. In the saints, He who is All in All, has found His glorious inheritance. To Him be all glory and praise!

When He cometh, when He cometh,
To make up His jewels,
All His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

Refrain:
Like the stars of the morning,
His bright crown adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty,
Bright gems for His crown.

He will gather, He will gather
The gems for His kingdom,
All the pure ones, all the bright ones,
His loved and His own.

Little children, little children,
Who love their Redeemer,
Are the jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

(William O. Cushing, 1856, Public Domain)

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The Lord Is My Song

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Pete

Not much wiggle room. The songwriter doesn’t really provide a pass for anyone of the household of faith.

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”. Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”. Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1-4. ESV)

God is good . . . fact! His steadfast love endures forever . . . fact! Let those who fear the Lord say so . . . let the redeemed proclaim it . . . let the recipients of abundant, overflowing, all-sufficient grace declare it to be true. No wiggle room . . . no saying, “Not today, don’t feel like it.” It’s not about how we feel . . . not about our circumstances . . . but about His unchanging character. God is good.

And what grabs me this morning in this psalm is that He provides all the “material” I need to say so.

The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous . . . (Psalm 118:14-15a. ESV)

The LORD is my song! In Him is the melody . . . the chord progressions . . . the lyrics . . . the chorus . . . the bridge. His Spirit within me is the band . . . leading me in worship . . . providing the accompaniment . . . connecting the praise of earth to the throne of heaven. Glad songs are in my tent . . . by His grace . . . for His glory.

What a glorious thought . . . He is my song.

I’ll let another, far more eloquent than I, take it from here . . .

“The Lord … is my song,” says Isaiah (12:2). That is to say, the Lord is the giver of our songs. He breathes the music into the hearts of His people; He is the Creator of their joy. The Lord is also the subject of their songs. They sing of Him and of all that He does on their behalf. The Lord is, moreover, the object of their song; they sing to the Lord. Their praise is meant for Him alone. They do not make melody for human ears, but to the Lord. “The Lord … is my song.” Then I ought always to sing. And if I sing my loudest, I can never reach the height of this great argument, nor come to the end of it. This song never changes. If I live by faith my song is always the same, for “the Lord … is my song.” Our song to God is God Himself. He alone can express our intensest joy. O God, You are my exceeding joy. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are my hymn of everlasting delight.               — Spurgeon

The LORD is good . . . His steadfast love endures forever . . . let those who fear the LORD say so . . . let them sing so . . . He is our song! Amen?

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So Amazing!

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Pete

We’ve been on vacation the past couple of weeks . . . hanging out with some good friends . . . enjoying the blessings of our great God. Yesterday they had to head home . . . we head back in a couple of days. Before dropping them off for their flight home, we stopped at a museum near the airport. As we got out of the car, a large jet passed over head as it approached the runway. Sue looked up and commented something like, “I’m amazed at how planes fly.” We all looked up . . . said, “Yeah” . . . and carried on. Certainly we were all amazed . . . but not really amazed. Pretty commonplace . . . our friends would be boarding one soon . . . mostly kind of amazed . . . for a moment.

And as I’m reading the last part of Galatians 5 this morning . . . as Paul fights against a heresy that claims the Christian life is somehow performance based . . . as he reveals something of the “aero dynamic” of the Holy Spirit’s active agency . . . I wonder how often I am “kind of amazed” at the Spirit’s person and work . . . when I should be jaw-dropping, really amazed!

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. . . . But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. . . . If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16, 18, 25 ESV)

I read a book this week (“Delighting in the Trinity” by Michael Reeves . . . recommend it . . . check it out) that portrayed how the Spirit wires us into the fellowship that exists between, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit . . . how He engages us in the depths of understanding of the Father’s love for the Son . . . and His desire to extend it to those His Son has redeemed as His own. As we come to know and enjoy the Spirit, we come to know and enjoy the fellowship He has with the Father and Son . . . having given us new life, the Spirit doesn’t then move on, but takes up residence within us to make that life blossom and grow.

Thus the believer can “walk by the Spirit” . . . we can be “led by the Spirit” . . . we can “live by the Spirit” . . . and, we can “keep in step with the Spirit.” Kind of amazing? . . . or really, try and wrap your head around that, type of amazing.

But, like watching an airplane land, how easy it is to just say, “Yeah, amazing” . . . and then carry on?

O’, how I want to know Him. To, more and more, recognize His voice . . . to be led by Him . . . to walk in Him . . . to keep in step with Him . . . to live in Him . . . that I might know the Son as He does . . . that I might love the Father as the Son does . . . that I might experience, to some degree, the fullness of fellowship my Triune God knows . . .

. . . that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1John 1:3. ESV)

Kind of amazing? . . . or so amazing!?!

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What Do You Do Then?

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Pete

So, . . . what do you do then? . . . after you’ve counted them? . . . what then, are you supposed to do? The old hymn encourages us to “Count your blessings, name them one by one . . . count your blessings, see what God has done.” Then what? Is the exercise to be like that of a miser who pulls out his treasures from underneath his bed and lets each coin slip through his fingers as he reminds himself of all the wealth he has accumulated . . . all the money that is his? Guessin’ not. So what’s a blessed man, a blessed woman, to do with all that God has done on their behalf? I’m liking the psalmist’s suggestion . . .

What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, . . . I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 116:12-13, 17-19 ESV)

After counting the blessings, I need to respond to the Blessor. I need to lift that cup of salvation which has been graced to me . . . I need to prepare offerings of thanksgiving, the “fruit” of counting my blessings . . . and I need to call on the name of the LORD.

Lift the Name high . . . give glory to all that He is . . . the Father who loves us with an everlasting love . . . the Son who paid the once for all price that He might count us as brothers and sisters . . . the Spirit, sent from heaven itself, who has taken up residence within us, leading us, making it all so real.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

And where do I raise the cup? Where do I “through Him continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name” (Heb. 13:15)? In the presence of His people, that’s where . . . in the courts of the house of the Lord . . . in the place where His presence dwells and His glory abides.

If God’s people are counting their blessings during the week, then, when we gather on the Lord’s day, why would we expect anything less than a Praise Fest? Why should the singing be lack luster . . . why shouldn’t there be “amens”, “hallelujahs”, and “preach it brothers” from a congregation holding up their cups of salvation and ready to bring their offerings of thanksgiving? Just sayin . . .

How easy might it be for me to gather with the living temple of God, Sunday after Sunday, and have nothing to offer? . . . because I didn’t count them . . . or, having counted those many blessings, I thought they were just for me . . . or, I just didn’t come prepared to offer Him the worship He is due.

O’ that God’s people would count them . . . and then know what to do then.

Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly! (Psalm 149:1)

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Response of the Graced

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Pete

It’s an interesting epilogue. A final chapter in a story that could have stood alone without it . . . but a chapter determined to be written by the Author and penned through the Spirit. It’s the story of King David’s reunion with Mephibosheth, after David’s return from exile during Absalom’s rebellion. And in this final chapter of the story, I’m taken by the response of the graced.

Mephibosheth is the graced. The lame-in-both-feet son of the deceased Jonathan . . . the grandson of the deceased King Saul . . . the “other” heir to the throne . . . the natural enemy of David . . . the man to whom King David shows abundant favor “for the sake of another.” Recipient of a great inheritance . . . invitee to sit each day at the king’s table . . . a member of the royal court . . . full access to the royal provision . . . granted intimate fellowship with the king.

But David is forced to flee, and Mephibosheth is not there. Mephibosheth’s servant, Ziba, tells David it is because Mephibosheth hopes to make a play for the throne . . . untrue. So when David returns, Mephibosheth makes his way into the king’s presence . . .

And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”. He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said to him, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself,that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ For your servant is lame. He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you. For all my father’s house were but men doomed to death before my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I, then, to cry to the king?” (2Samuel 19:25-28)

And there’s the response of the graced that grabbed me . . . ” . . . do therefore what seems good to you . . . What further right have I, then, to cry to the king?”

How easy is it for the graced (aka me) to presume to bring a list of what we think we now need before the King? How prone am I to devise the plan and then deliver it to the Sovereign? Perhaps, too easy . . . too prone.

Instead, having been abundantly graced . . . having been amazingly graced . . . having been called of the King and seated at His table, . . . maybe I should relinquish any right I think I have to inform the King of how my life should play out, the life that is not my own, anyway, because it has been redeemed with a price (1Cor. 6:19-20) . . . maybe I should trust Him to do what seems good to Him.

While, in His grace, He invites me to make my petitions known . . . though, as a Father, He delights to hear His children ask . . . at the end of the day, when all is said and done, I just need to trust in the wisdom and goodness of my King . . . I need to be content that, should the streams of overflowing grace cease (though they won’t), I will be content in simply being at the King’s table . . . that the grace I’ve experienced is more than sufficient . . . that His mercies, are more than enough.

The response of the graced? I’m thinkin’ . . .

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Making It Real

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Pete

There’s living in the theoretical . . . and then there’s living in the experiential. We can know that things are true because we are told they are true . . . and then we can KNOW that things are true because we get up close and personal with the truth. And I’m thinking that, while knowing something, can be pretty cool, that KNOWING something, can be life transforming. So, while the Bible helps me know the truth, and that can be pretty amazing . . . it is the Spirit of God who enables me to KNOW the truth . . . and that’s when the “jazz factor” kicks in . . . that’s making it real!

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:4-6. ESV)

The truth is that when we come to Christ by faith we are adopted as sons and daughters. God sent His Son to provide the means of redemption so that the lost might be found . . . that enemies might be reconciled . . . that those separated from God might be brought into His forever family. That’s the theory . . . that is the glorious truth of God’s freely offered salvation.

For those of us who have been around Christianity for awhile, we know that to be true. But God desires that we also KNOW it to be real!

Cue the active agency of the Holy Spirit of God . . . given to us as a seal, guaranteeing our inheritance (Eph. 1:13-14) . . . Who takes the head knowledge of sonship and turns it into a heartfelt cry of “Abba! Father!”

The Father doesn’t want me to just know I am His child, He wants me to KNOW I am His child. He places His Spirit, Deity Himself, within me in such a way that it connects with my spirit . . . integrates at the deepest levels of my soul . . . so that I KNOW experientially, at the deepest of my innermost being, that I am a child of God . . . and that I have been graced with the privilege of addressing the God of Creation as Father . . . as Abba, or “Daddy”, Father.

If it were only left to my ability to reason, then I might say, “No way!” . . . not me interacting with Him in such a familiar and familial way. But the Spirit of the Son, interacting with my Spirit, cries out, “Yes way!!” . . . Jesus says, I have always KNOWN the reality of the love of the Father . . . and through My Spirit you can KNOW it too.

Too much for my brain to handle, perhaps . . . but my heart KNOWs it . . . as it hears the Spirit crying, “Abba Father!”

One of those things that’s easier felt than tell’t. But I know it’s true . . . and I KNOW it’s true.

By His grace . . . through His Spirit . . . for His glory. Amen?

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He Knows

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Pete

It’s a short reading in my plan this morning . . . just 7 verses . . . 7 familiar verses . . . 7 kinda repetitive verses . . . something I might normally do a “read and go” with. But not this morning . . . this morning something (or, Someone?) caused me to pause . . . prompted me to hover. And what hits me this morning . . . as I read of Peter’s epic failure . . . is that He knows.

And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. (Mark 14:70-72 ESV)

Peter blew it . . . big time! Not once . . . not twice . . . but three times . . . three times he denies any association with the Master! And you sense it’s not just a sheepish, whispered, “Uh, don’t think I recollect every coming across Him” . . . but a pound your chest, call upon heaven to bear witness, “I never knew Him!” Like I said . . . epic fail! Three X’s from the judges . . . you don’t go on to the next round . . . the sort of stuff that I might consider worthy of disqualification.

But as I chew on it, I recall that Jesus knew it was going to happen . . .

Peter said to Him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” (Mark 14:29-30 ESV)

And it’s not like Jesus knew just then . . . only 40 verses before it would happen. But Jesus knew when He called Peter to follow Him . . . He knew when He commended Peter for Peter’s declaration that Jesus is the Christ . . . He knew when He took Peter up the mount and permitted Peter to behold the Christ in His transfigured glory . . . He knew Peter would blow it when He entrusted to Peter the things of the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus, God incarnate, knew . . . and yet He still chose Him. He yet determined to reveal HImself as Christ to this rough fisherman . . . He didn’t alter from His plan to have impetuous Peter there with Him on the mount with Moses and Elijah . . . He didn’t waver from purposing to use this servant to gather to Himself His bride.

And as I noodle on the fact that He knew . . . I know He knows. He knows my epic fails . . . my less then best . . . my trip ups and crash-‘n-burns. He’s always known. And yet, He still called me . . . has patiently been conforming me . . . has graciously made provision for my “learning curve” with the ever-atoning, ever-cleansing blood of Christ.

And I think I get Peter breaking down and weeping . . . no minimizing the reality of transgressing against the Savior we love. But being reminded that He knew, and always knew . . . that He knows and yet still calls me to keep on keepin’ on . . . that if I confess my epic fails, that the blood is sufficient, that He is faithful and just to forgive my sin (1John 1:9) . . . to know that He knows, makes all the difference.

O’ the grace of God . . . to call such a one as I . . . knowing all He knows about me . . . and yet He desires to adopt me as His son . . . to use me as His servant . . . to determine, that despite my worst, and despite the feebleness of my best, His purposes will be accomplished in and through me. He knows . . . and He has always known. O’ what a Savior!

For His glory alone . . .

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Hamstringing Grace

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Pete

I look up the word and then wonder over the phrase. “To do away with . . . to disregard . . . to make void . . . to set aside . . . to frustrate” or, as the ESV translates it, to “nullify.” And I wonder at the possibility of any man or woman being able to “nullify” any of God’s great woks. But such is the nature of grace.

For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.   (Galatians 2:19-21. ESV)

The problem with the Galatians was that they were buying into “another gospel” which really wasn’t “good news” at all (Gal. 1:7) . . . “good news” that what had been begun by the Spirit was to be perfected in the flesh. Or to rewrite the hymn, though grace might “save a wretch like me,” it would take something more, like my adherence to law, “to lead me home.”

And, if I’m understanding what Paul’s saying, once I kick into self-propelled mode, I nullify . . . frustrate . . . disregard . . . make void . . . hamstring the grace of God.

Not that I become unsaved . . . not that I diminish the self-sacrificing, unconditional love of God . . . but that I put a stick in the spokes of the wheel of the agency of God’s abundant grace. Relying on my efforts to get this Christianity thing down pat doesn’t undo saving grace . . . but it hamstrings sanctifying grace . . . and erects barriers to sustaining grace.

If the life I now live I live by confidence in my discipline . . . if I think that righteousness can be realized by my efforts . . .if it is still me who lives in me . . . if somehow I think I can take it from here . . . then grace is nullified. The amazing, abundant grace of God can be stymied by puny little me. That’s frightening!

But when I believe that the salvation that begun by faith will mature by faith . . . when I trust that the work that began by the Spirit of God will be completed through the Spirit of God . . . when I count myself as crucified with Christ, that I no longer live, but embrace that He lives in me, and that the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God . . . then watch out! Grace abounds . . . the work of grace is effectual . . . the fruit of grace becomes evident . . . and the glory of grace is directed entirely to Him who is the source of grace.

By faith alone . . . in grace alone.

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