I’m sitting in a hotel room in Ft Worth, TX in the midst of the Free Grace Alliance International Conference… the theme this year is: What difference does it make? (Referring to a proper understanding and teaching of grace...)
I just finished putting together a few slides for a short presentation I am sharing tomorrow morning about InBounds Ministries… I was given 3-minutes, and right now many reading this are laughing hysterically as they know I would have trouble just giving my name in 3 minutes, as they know I would want to give some illustration about it… and after 20+ years of these weekly devos, would want it to have a sports twist… so for those that read this Monday night or Tuesday morning, lift a prayer for not only clarity but also brevity…
Yet the question that is the theme, is the foundational, FUNdaMENTAL core of what makes us not only a part of God’s team, but also what makes us effective players on God’s team! If we do not get the proper view of grace, we will start every “play” in the Christian life from the wrong place… and thus the “play” will break down! If we fail at the FUNdaMENTALs, no matter how good of athletes we are, we won’t be able to be successful in the game…
Imagine with me a guy that runs faster and jumps higher than everyone else, does that mean he will be the best basketball player? No way, what if he can’t dribble, pass, or shoot… what if he doesn’t understand how to play defense… or even more absurd, what if he has no clue which basket to shoot at…
Our confidence… our assurance… our motivation… our joy… our peace all rest in the GRACE and GOODNESS of our God. Getting on the team is not about our performance for Him, but His performance for us… not our obedience to Him, but His “obedience, to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8)… BY GRACE ALONE, THROUGH FAITH ALONE, IN CHRIST ALONE!
[Old hymn: My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”]
We not only get salvation by FAITH in the finished work of Christ that was because of His GRACE, but we also then live according to that same idea of trust (FAITH) in His goodness and GRACE!
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by FAITH in Jesus Christ… (Galatians 2:16a)
…and the life which 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 set aside the GRACE of God… (Galatians 2:20b-21a)
God’s GRACE makes all the difference in the world…
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