The Gospel of Distorted Grace
Session 1: The True Grace of God
I. Introduction:
In order for us to love God with all our hearts we must first encounter His great love for us (1Jn. 4:19); it transforms us, emboldens us to reach for Him and it strengthens us at our weakest point. He is calling us into an active love as our response to His lavish love poured out on us.
A. Greatest Enemy to the Greatest Commandment:
There is perhaps no greater enemy to the Greatest Commandment in our day than a popular teaching that is growing within the Church, which distorts God’s grace and turns it into a license to sin. This distorted message gives people permission to compromise and to live in spiritual dullness.
B. Being Redundant:
A major part of this series is to root us in lots of Bible verses that describe the true version of grace so that we can always give an answer to loved ones and those we encounter who have bought into distorted versions of grace and Christianity. Because we are aiming to familiarize ourselves with many passages on the same subject matter things may be a bit redundant and that’s okay; we need to get this in us.
C. Overall Purpose:
In this series we will look at the subtle lies being told and point us to what the Word of God has to say about the true grace of God. It is essential that we all get to a point where we can quickly spot the false to save ourselves from it’s influence and to help others see the truth so that they will not continue on a path that will lead many to Hell.
“Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh (Ju. 1:22-23).”
II. Paul’s Definition of the True Grace Message:
The issue Paul is addressing here is that many were claiming that the grace of God gave people permission to sin and live sloppy lives because of the finished work of the cross; the false teachers were saying that meant that sin was done with and so our actions no longer mattered. He answers this teaching with an emphatic definition of what the grace that equates to salvation actually is. He is therefore making a distinction between the false gospel and the only version of grace that equals salvation for the believer.
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (Ti. 2:11-14).”
A. Teaches Us to Say No to Ungodliness:
The grace of God is to empower us to reject false teaching that says that it is okay to sin.
B. Teaches Us to Say No to Worldly Passions:
The grace of God is to keep us from worldliness, from the desire of ease of life, and from selfishness.
C. Teaches Us to Live Self-Controlled Lives:
The grace of God is to empower us to live disciplined lives and to be intention with our time and energy.
D. Teaches Us to Live Upright and Godly Lives:
The grace of God is the power to live holy, no longer a slave to sin but now more than a conqueror, one who overcomes ungodly desires and peruses Christ and a blameless life.
E. Teaches Us to Wait for the Blessed Hope:
The grace of God is said to empower our hearts to give real attention to the second coming of Christ, to set our hope on His return. This means thinking about our lives in light of His coming and what He will see about us when He comes, will He find us living wholeheartedly or in compromise and lethargy.
F. Teaches Us to be Eager to Do What is Good:
The grace of God is to empower us to do good works. His grace in us should cause us to want to do more for Him, to help Him build His Kingdom and to serve along side Him in His purposes for us. It is fuel to work hard on His behalf.
III. Real Grace Abounding:
The New Testament speaks about true grace often; and it always calls people to actions of service, pressing into love and deeper levels of obedience to God. The concepts below are well founded realities in the First Century Church and historic Christianity.
A. Grace to Testify:
God releases grace to testify on His behalf, that is He empowers believers with strength to do the actual work of ministry. This power isn’t limited to preaching only but it is given so that weak people can serve God in might ways to make impact for the Kingdom of God.
"With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all (Ac. 4:33)."
B. Grace to Turn and Remain True to the Lord:
When Antioch received the Word of the Lord it says that the Lord’s hand was with them, He was helping them. This help from God (grace) looked like repentance and obedience to the truth. Barnabas was sent to investigate and he saw that god was empowering them in this was and he encouraged them to make all effort to remain true to God; that is to live in holiness and obedience.
"The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts (Ac. 11:21-23)."
C. Grace to Work Until Completion:
Here we see the grace of God being described as the power to persevere until a ministry assignment is complete. Again we see grace as the power to do good, to overcome difficulty and to press on to see the work of the Lord go forward.
"From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed (Ac. 14:26)."
D. Grace to Suffer for Christ:
Paul describes the grace we have been given as the power to endure suffering and persecution. It is strength from the Holy Spirit to stay true under pressure and even power released into our physical frame to sustain our bodies in the trial.
“But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God…This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time (2Ti. 1:8-9)”
E. Grace to Live Holy:
He also speaks about grace as power from Heaven for us to live out our calling; to live holy lives in the midst of wickedness all around us. Grace is God helping us with conviction, resolve, perspective and power in our inner man to love God and live blameless.
“(He) called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ (2Ti. 1:8-9)”
IV. Setting Our Eyes on the Truth:
After looking at all the foolishness that is being presented it is important that we gain perspective once again about what we are to set our eyes on. The Gospel of Jesus is our hope and the man at the center is our supreme focus. We want to live lives that rightly pursue Him and honor Him.
A. Practicing the Sermon on the Mount:
The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ most succinct teaching on what it means to follow him. In this most helpful sermon He includes many activities and practices that He will empower us to live out. We will spend more time on this in our next session.
B. Permission to Run Hard After God:
Grace gives us permission and power to run after God with all our might. It is freedom to live abandoned for God, freedom to live wholeheartedly and pure before God. Grace is released to strengthen our hearts to say yes to God’s commands and to pursue Him fully. The same grace that came to us in our lost state and revealed Christ to us can come again and again and in increased measure to empower us to love Him even more. This is the grace that we have in Christ, to know Him and to increase in our knowledge and obedience to Him that we might experience the fullness of God in this age.
C. Refuse Teaching Permits Compromise:
The distorted grace message minimizes the impact and inherent dangers of sin, speaking of it in a very lighthearted way making it dismissible. It tells us that our sins are already forgiven therefore we don’t need to focus on repentance and since sin is already forgiven we don’t need to concern ourselves with it. Essentially, it tells us that compromise with things that Bible tells us is sinful is really okay because Christ already took care of it. This is total error; we do not ever want to yield to sin, we want to war against sin in every area of life for as long as that particular issue is a temptation to us. Instead of giving in we want to pray for more strength from the God to withstand sin so we can live godly lives for Christ.
“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul (1Pe. 2:11).”
“May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes (1Th. 3:13)”
V. Embracing the Sermon on the Mount Lifestyle:
The Holy Spirit is highlighting the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7) in our generation as the answer to what real Christianity looks like. In these three chapters Jesus presents teachings on many of the foundational topics of Christianity covering a wide variety of subjects of what it means to follow Christ. The practices and heart postures that Jesus lays out are to be normal expressions of life; they are not for the super saint (of which there is no such thing), they are for every believer. As those pursuing the true grace to God we want to embrace the teachings of Christ and this lifestyle that He lays out.
A. Prayer:
Jesus talked about prayer as a very normal part of what it means to be member of the Kingdom of God. He brought this point to center stage because of the effect our prayer life has on every other aspect of our walk with God. Prayer is the way we communicate with God and the way He communicates with us. We need to be intentional to develop this discipline in our lives and search out all that the Lord has for us regarding cultivating an active prayer life.
B. Fasting:
In the Bible fasting always has to do with food; that is specifically not eating food in some prescribed way for a period of time. While there are many types of fasts mentioned in the scriptures they all specify foregoing food. Fasting is designed specifically to make the human frame weak through lack of nutrients. Many see this as unnecessary or an outdated practice; Jesus however spoke about is as normal life for the believer.
C. Giving:
Giving away our money should not be a burden but a part of our joyful walk of faith with the Father. In our culture however money is power and it seems unthinkable that we would lay down hard earned dollars. Jesus repeatedly spoke about the issue of money and a giving heart in the Sermon on the Mount because it holds so much sway over the human heart. Becoming a generous giver is the call on every single saint in the Kingdom.
D. Servant Heartedness:
Jesus calls us to be salt and light in this world; which means serving others with the attitude that He had and the motives He carried. It is important that we find ways to actively serve His Kingdom purposes.
E. Forgiveness:
The Sermon on the Mount speaks heavily about the issue of forgiveness (Mt. 5:23-24, 6:12, 14-15), but the ultimate call is to go a step forward and to bless those who mistreat us. We must constantly guard ourselves from offense.
F. Living Holy:
Over and over Jesus uses illustrations in this sermon to call His disciples to follow Him down the path of holiness. He raises the bar regarding what it means to live a righteous life, it is raised so high in fact that the only way we can stay in fellowship with Him is to repent often of our sins. He demands that we walk blamelessly and makes a way for us to do so through His continual offer of forgiveness for those who rent.
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:48).”
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