Page 1 of 9 *GROWING IN GRACE INTRODUCTION: ILL Have you ever seen one of those Extreme Home Make Over programs? The home was in such bad condition they bulldozed it. They cleared the deck and started fresh. Then they began to build a brand new home. What did they have the family do before they started anything? Go on vacation. The family had to let go of their old home and really trust the team and cooperate with the team so they could a build new home. What would have happened if the family had tried to tell the team what they could tear down and what they had to keep? The project would have ground to a halt. Did you know that God is in the process of doing an extreme makeover in your life and in mine? He is transforming each believer into a brand new creature. When a person puts their trust in Christ as their Savior and God, they are saved by the grace of God and they become a new creation in Christ. *Listen to 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! NIV So when you trust Christ as your Savior that is when the project begins. It starts when you say to Jesus, I am willing to let you transform me into your likeness. Then it continues as we grow in grace. TS Now
Page 2 of 9 *1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GROW IN GRACE? *(1.) When I grow in grace, I take on Christ's nature. *Look at 2 Pet 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. NIV The verb "grow" in 2 Peter 3:18 is a present imperative, which could be rendered "be continually growing." Our responsibility is to yield to God continually and not to resist the process. One facet of God s grace working in our lives is the manifestation of His transforming power, which changes the way we think, and act. He gives us a new nature. *Look at 2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. *4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. We are to take on the divine nature and to cast off our old nature. Our character is transformed by His divine power and grace. *2 Peter 1:5 gives us some of the characteristics of this divine nature that we participate in as believers. 2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. These are a few of the characteristics of this divine nature.
Page 3 of 9 *Another list of these character qualities is found in Galatians 5:22-23, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. NIV These are the characteristics of the believer s new nature. We are to make every effort to yield to our new nature and allow it to take the place of our old nature which is corrupted by evil desires. TS What does it mean to grow in grace? *(2.) When I grow in grace, the character qualities of Christ become more and more evident in my life. *Look at 2 Peter 1:8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. God wants these qualities to continually increase in your life and in mine so that we will be more effective and productive (in what?) leading people to faith in Christ. That is how you are productive in the Kingdom of God. Isn t it easy to see how a person with these qualities (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) will be so much more effective bringing people to Christ? This process of spiritual growth begins when you ask Christ to be your Savior. Without the initial experiential knowledge of Christ, there is no opportunity for growth. But it does not stop there. Once a person puts their faith in Christ, the growth process continues as long as the person is on earth.
Page 4 of 9 *Look at Ephesians 4:15 we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. NIV TS We grow in grace as the character of Christ becomes more evident in our life each day. That is what is means to grow in grace but *2. HOW DO I GROW IN GRACE? I know some people who've been Christians a long time but haven't grown much at all. They are not patient or kind. They are self-centered. They are more concerned about themselves than they are about those that need Christ. They are not productive in the Kingdom of God. Yet, there are others who have been Christians just a short time and demonstrate amazing growth in Christ-like character. Why do some grow and others seem to stand still in their Christian life? God has a process for transforming us into the likeness of Christ. It is called growing in grace. The more you cooperate with God in the process, the more progress you make and the more joy you have. The more you resist, the slower your progress and the more painful the process. *Ephesians Chapter 4 gives us a description of that process. Please turn to that passage in your Bible. Ephesians 4:22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. NIV TS The first part of the process is
Page 5 of 9 *(1.) Put off your old way of life. Your former way of life and old self refer to our sin nature. Let s look at some of the characteristics of that sin nature. *There is a list of them in Galatians Chapter 5. Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. NIV All of these are characteristics of our sinful nature and we are to put them off. How do we do that? We need to first recognize that the believer is set free from the power of sin. *Look at Romans 8:8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. 9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. NIV Some people try to justify their sin by saying, I was made this way. I cannot help but be this way. We were all born with a disposition toward sin. That is our sin nature. But if you have been born again by the Spirit of God you have a new nature created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. You have been set free from the power of sin and you have the power to live a life that is pleasing to God. So if you are involved in sexual immorality, adultery, homosexuality, sex before marriage and the like, put it off. If you are involved in drug abuse, put it off.
Page 6 of 9 If you have hatred for someone, put it off. If you struggle with jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, envy or drunkenness, put it off. Call these things sin and forsake them. Do not cover them up or try to justify them. Don t say that is just the way I am. Because if you are a believer, you have a new nature. If you fall into one of these, confess it to God as sin and ask for His cleansing and deliverance. Confess it as sin to the other people involved and ask for their forgiveness. Seek help from brothers and sisters in the faith. One of the best places to find that help is in a small Bible study group. In that group, you can find accountability and encouragement. Every believer needs other believers around them that they are in close fellowship with. We need that help to put off the old. Remember that putting off the old sinful nature is done in the power of the Holy Spirit, not by our willpower. To have that power in our life, we must have a close daily relationship with Christ. Only He can enable us to put off the old and to put on the new. TS The next part of God s transformation process is *(2.) Put on the new way of life. The characteristics of that new way of life are found in Galatians 5:22. *Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control NIV
Page 7 of 9 Notice that they are called the fruit of the Spirit. These Christ like character qualities come from the Holy Spirit who lives in the believer. They are not produced by our willpower. They are not produced by following a list of rules. They are not produced by religious rituals like repeating a prayer over and over or visiting a shrine, or doing penance. These all represent human effort and amount to nothing. These Christ-like character qualities are made manifest only through the grace of God and the power of the Spirit as we yield to the Spirit and trust him to work through us. When we are saved by the grace of God, we receive our new nature through the indwelling presence of the Spirit. Then the process of putting off and putting on begins. Ill It is like this. Suppose you were living in an old dilapidated home. The roof leaks when it rains. There is toxic mold in the basement. The cold wind blows through the holes in the walls. The whole thing is unsafe and dangerous. It needs to be condemned and demolished. So the Extreme Home Make Over team builds you a new home next to the old one. But then you do something very strange. Instead of moving into the new home and living there, you continue to live in the old one. How dumb would that be? Before you become a believer in Christ, you don't have the power to live a Christ-like life. But once you become a believer you have the power to make a choice. You have a new nature. But you must choose to move out of the old and into the new. The process of putting off the old and putting on the new occurs as you yield to the Spirit.
Page 8 of 9 *Look at Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. NIV When someone gets drunk on wine, the alcohol influences the whole person. His mind and body are affected by the alcohol. The influences of the alcohol are quite evident. In the same way, when you yield to the Spirit, your mind and body are influenced by the Spirit and the character of Christ is manifested in your life. A drunk does not have to try to act like he is drunk. The alcohol does it for him. In the same way, a person yielded to the Spirit is influenced by the Spirit and doesn t have to try to act like Christ. When the Spirt is in control, the believer has a desire to do what is pleasing to God. When a believer yields to the Spirit, he puts off the old and puts on the new nature. He is patient when others are rude. He is kind to those that are hateful. He has love for those that are far from God. He looks into their eyes and has compassion for them and is willing to do whatever it takes to bring them to Christ. He does not do these things because they are rules and commands he must follow but because it is the desire of his heart. These qualities are just part of his new nature. He desires to do what is pleasing to God as much as a bee desires the nectar of flowers. ILL What if you could look like anyone you wanted to? Who would you choose? (Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie) What if you could look like anyone you wanted on the inside, in your heart and in your character? Who would you choose?
Page 9 of 9 Wouldn t you want to look like Jesus Christ in your heart and in your character? That is what growing in grace is all about. It's a slow process, it doesn't come in a day or a year. As you and I yield to the Spirit and put off the old nature and put on the new nature of Christ, slowly but surely, God changes us. We begin to think like Jesus and talk like Jesus and act like Jesus. The way Jesus dealt with people becomes more and more the way you and I deal with people. That s what it means to grow in grace. *Are you growing in grace?