CURRENT SERIES
The Grace of God
March 18, 2018
LifeWay Moments
LifeNotes
— The Grace of God —
• Pride is when you think you have done something, confidence is when you know He did something. When you sit under the Word, you will have the confidence in Christ and will know from the inside what He did.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
— Ephesians 2:8 NLT
• Christ died on the cross for everybody but it doesn’t take effect until we believe.
• Grace happened when you believed.
• If we don’t have to boast about doing something or work to have grace, we don’t have to work to hold on to grace.
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
— Ephesians 2:9 NLT
For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
— Romans 3:20 NLT
• Watch yourself when you are getting upset with things — is it the thing itself you are getting upset with or is it something internal going on where you have missed it somewhere else? Chances are it is something else internal.
Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.
• It is easier to quote John 3:16 than to memorize the Ten Commandments because He said He came to fulfill the law.
• It’s hard to love people under law. It’s easy to love people under grace.
• If you love God, you won’t break His commandments. If you love your neighbor, you won’t be coveting or stealing their stuff.
The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.
— Galatians 4:23 NLT
• Don’t try to bring things about by your own effort. Let God open doors for you.
• However, we need to be in proximity of the door for God to open it for us. The definition of proximity is: Nearness in space, time or relationship.
• When we receive a promise from God, it doesn’t matter how tough it is, we can walk in it. We can only do it when we know it is Christ.
• There is not an unrealistic goal, but there is an unrealistic time frame. Don’t let an unrealistic time frame put something in place that God has already put into place.
These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law.
— Galatians 4:24-25 NLT
• Don’t let the law enslave you. Walk in grace.
• If you put anything in place as the prerequisite to receive the blessing, it is not going to profit you anything. Anything we put into place to produce a blessing in our life, or hold on to that rather than to Christ, it will produce nothing.
But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother.
— Galatians 4:26 NLT
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
— Galatians 5:1,2 NKJV
• When we enslave ourselves is when we put something in place that means more than Christ. Good works are not a way to God, but good works come out when we walk in Christ.
And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
— Galatians 5:3,4 NKJV
• When we hear the phrase ‘fall from grace” we think about sin. The scripture says to not try to be justified by what you did, but be justified by what God did
• The law says you have to do something; grace says you get to do something.
For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
— Galatians 5:5 NKJV
• Faith works through love, not law.
• God likes you, even when you don’t like yourself.
Life Lesson
We fall from grace when we walk in law. Don’t fall from grace; fall into it!