The Power of Grace Have you ever made a New Year s resolution? Statistically 40 45% Americans make them. 8% succeed. Turning a new page has a certain draw to it, doesn t it? The tradition of New Year s resolutions dates all the way back to 153 B.C. January is named after Janus, a mythical god of early Rome. Janus had two faces one looking forward, one looking backward. This allowed him to look back on the past and forward toward the future. I am not advocating mythical Greek gods, but I do believe that to move forward we must look backwards. We are great about wanting to turn the page, start new habits and change our lives. But often, in our rush to move forward, we forget to reflect on the past. How would you describe your 2018? We probably all wish we could relive certain moments and certain decisions over again from 2018. If we are willing to honestly & humbly look back over this past year we most likely will experience some regret. Examples: Things we said. Things we thought. Desires. Didn t always make the best decisions. Not always loving & kind. Struggled to forgive. Free from anger, envy or a desire for pay back? Spoken the truth in love every time? Share about my personal example of failure coming home from vacation. Ouch. We can probably all look back and have a reason(s) for remorse and regret. What s Done is Done and Cannot be Redone. Once we have acted on a choice, we can t relive that moment again. Once you have behaved in a certain way at a certain time, you cannot ask for a redo. You and I don t have the option of reliving our past to try and do better. So, we are all left with the sadness of what s done is done and cannot be redone. Maybe you re carrying regret with you today. Or you ve been there before. Will possibly be there in the future. There is something so great about what I am going to share with you today! It is something we all desperately need and is readily available. Grace is a Gift God Keeps Giving.
We will never outgrow our need for God s grace. It doesn t matter how much you learn in the Bible, go to church or pray. It doesn t matter if you live to be 100 years old or how mature we mature, we will never outgrow our need for grace. Some thankful that grace is a gift God keeps giving. Bring up volunteers. Grace: God Choosing to Give Us Something Good We Don t Deserve. Phil 3:1 (NLT) Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. Another reminder to rejoice. He uses this word & theme throughout his letter. Phil 3:2 (NLT) 2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. Dogs False teachers who claimed that Salvation (being saved from the penalty of our sins) required both trust in Jesus AND following the Jewish Laws (circumcision). Jesus + Nothing = Everything You Need. Phil 3:3-4 (NLT) 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! Paul reminds the church that it isn t about physical circumcision but about a spiritual circumcision that God does on our hearts. Paul reminds the church that if anyone could be righteous on his own, he had the credentials to do it. But he reminds them that w/o without God s grace being the key that makes him righteous, it means nothing. Phil 3:5 (NLT) 5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 8 th day Prescribed day for a true Jew to be circumcised. Tribe of Benjamin second son of Rachel. One of the elite tribes of the 12 tribes of Israel. When the Kingdom split only Benjamin & Judah stayed true to the line of King David (formed Southern Kingdom).
Hebrew of Hebrews born to Hebrew parents. Maintained the Hebrew tradition & language even while living in a pagan city. Pharisee The legalistic sect of Judaism, whose zeal to apply the O.T. Scriptures led to a complex system of 600 + laws of do s & don ts. Phil 3:6 (NLT) 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. Translation: I checked every box, dotted every I & crossed every T in the law of religion category. Phil 3:7 (NLT) 7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. God s Grace Provides Forgiveness for our Past and Power in our Present. Phil 3:8-9 (NLT) 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. Righteousness means right w/god or in right relationship or right standing w/god. Paul is confessing that everything he did; growing up in the right family, being from the right side of the tracks (tribe), being a leading Pharisee, persecuting the church, obeying the 600 + Jewish laws w/o fault all that stuff didn t make him right with God! None of that stuff even mattered. It didn t make him right w/god even though, at one point, he thought it did and tried to argue that it did. We come up with arguments for our own righteousness all the time: That wasn t really lust. I m just a man who enjoys beauty. That wasn t really gossip. It was just a very detailed, personal prayer request. That wasn t really cheating on my taxes. The government takes way too much of our money. I wasn t being proud. I just thought somebody needed to take control and steer the conversation.
I wasn t angry at my kids and out of control. I was just administering some Biblical discipline. It wasn t really a lie. It was just a different way of retelling the facts. We all are tempted to think we are more righteous than we are. When we do that we don t reach out for the grace that can save us. We don t like to admit that what we need to be rescued from us! God s grace only forgives what we are willing to expose. If we deny that we need his forgiveness, if we try to cover up our past and our sin, we won t receive exactly what we so desperately need to move forward; God s grace. Permanent marker versus Erasable marker. Your past sin is not permanent. Attitudes. Pride. Lust. Gossip. Lies. Out of control anger. Cutting words. Grace is only attractive to those willing to admit their sin. We will receive the grace God offers only when we admit our great need for it. We can only celebrate the grace he freely gives us every day when we realize how much we need it. We don t have to rewrite our past, trying to make ourselves look more righteous than we ever really were. God already knows all about it and he is not surprised! God s Grace Provides Forgiveness for our Past and Power in our Present. Phil 3:10-11 (NLT) 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! When we are one with Jesus Christ by trusting in him, we begin to experience the power that raised him from the dead. It s that power that helps us live a life of righteousness or being in right relationship with God. In light of what Jesus has done for us; because his grace allows us to face our sin, we can own it and not shift the blame. What s that look like in my life? Own it. Confess it. Press On. No cover up. No shifting the blame. No justifying our behaviors. Phil 3:12 (NLT) 12 I don t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
When Paul says this, it reminds me of a song: He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be. It took him just a week to make the moon and stars, the sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient He must be, 'Cause He's still workin' on me. Phil 3:13-14 (NLT) 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Paul had reason to forget the past: split families, thrown parents in jail, held the coats of the men who stoned Stephen to death. I love that Paul is willing to own the fact that he doesn t have it all together, even after all that he has done as one of the main leaders in the early church; even after all the time has been following Jesus. That he is willing to confess that he is still on the journey, still in need of God s grace in his life. That he is still growing and willing to press on to reach exactly what God has in store for him. To not allow his past to paralyze him but to own it, confess and press on. He looks backwards, he reflects on it, owns it, confesses it and then presses on and moves forward. What an amazing example for us to follow! As the new year is upon us, as a new page is about to turn, are you paralyzed by your past? Have you owned it, confessed it and are pressing on? Grace is a Gift God Keeps Giving. That grace provides forgiveness for our past and power in our present. Are you stuck, or have you trusted in the grace of Jesus Christ to help you move forward? Have you looked to Jesus for that grace? How could your life be different a year from now if you own it, confess it and allow God s grace to help you press on?