Grace Needed to "In Everything Give Thanks!"

" . . . in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Once again Thanksgiving Day has come and gone but God's Word tells us to "in everything give thanks!" Honestly, I can't do that on my own. Stuff happens and my thankful heart is gone. But by God's grace and His Spirit's work in me, He helps me realize that I am not thinking correctly once again. I confess the sin (1 John 1:9) and recover and God in His grace helps me to "in everything give thanks" again.

How is this possible? Lots and lots of reasons. But here are just a few. I know and claim the promises in God's Word. For example, "All things work together for good to those who love God . . ." (Romans 8:28). We love God because "He first loved us" (1 John 4:7-19). And His "commands are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3) because we know how much He loves us when we look to Jesus and renew our appreciation for what He went through for us. God always has our best interests in mind for us.

I have a fond memory of a teaching my father shared when I was just a kid. He pointed out that 1 Thessalonians 5:18 does not say "for everything give thanks." It says, "in everything give thanks." We can't and shouldn't give thanks for everything. We can't be thankful for such things like the lady that sprayed pepper spray in the eyes of others while shopping on black Friday because she did not want them to get what she wanted. (Ugh!) We cannot and should not be thankful for any evil deed brought upon others by sinners like ourselves. (Yes, I have been one of those sinners and have been guilty of hurting others. God, help me!) But in the midst of all that happens all around us we can have a heart of thankfulness because we know that there will be an end to all the evil that takes place. Jesus Christ's death won the victory over the devil and all the corruption that goes on and on (1 John 3:8b; Hebrews 2:14-15). But there will be a final end to it one glad day because Jesus has already won the victory as proven by His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15).

So keep trusting the Lord and and His Word and "in everything give thanks!" God will give you the grace to do so by His Spirit working through the new person in you that He created in the image of Christ (see earlier post, "God's Grace Operating Assets").

Got Anything Better to Do?

by Eldon DeBoer

Maybe you attempted to read through the passages given in my last post and found it mind boggling. Yes, there is a lot of information in those texts. But isn't it worth the effort? Got anything better to do than ponder what God's Word teaches about His grace?

Don't misunderstand. Our lives are filled with many activities that are important and I am not encouraging a monastery mentality. But may I encourage you to set aside some time every day to ponder God's grace message?

Think about the opening phrase in Titus 2:11. "The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men . . ." (NASB). God's grace appeared in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth when He stepped into history. Soon we will be celebrating His entrance to earth once again. The signs of Christmas are upon us.

What an awesome truth to contemplate. Somehow God united Himself with the flesh and bones and human spirit that He created. In doing so He set aside the full expression of who He is and what He does as God. And He did this so that He could serve us. He did this to serve the creatures He created. He did this so that one day He could suffer and die in our place and pay the penalty for our sin and thereby bring about our deliverance, our salvation from sin and death. He did this so one day all evil in our experience will come to an end and we will enjoy Him fully forever.

Ah, yes! "The grace of God has appeared!"

So I'll ask again. Got anything better to do than to pause and ponder the grace message?

The Grace Message

What matters is what the Text says!

Acts 20:32. And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word [logos, which may be translated “message”] of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified [set apart as holy].

Titus
2:11. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12. teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13. looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
14. who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
15. Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.

2 Corinthians
3:5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
6. who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,
8. how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?
9. For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

3:17. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

5:14. For the love of Christ constrains us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
15. and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
16. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
18. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
19. that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
21. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
6:1. We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

Galatians
2:20. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; 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.

2 Peter
17. You therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;
18. but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

1 John
7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
19. We love Him because He first loved us.

The Foundation and Good News of the Grace Message
The foundation of the grace message is the truth of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14-18). The good news of the grace message is that the Lord Jesus loved us so much that He chose to give His life on the cross of Calvary so that we could enjoy Him, His heaven and new earth forever, and have a meaningful personal relationship with Him now as well.

While the grace message is found in the Old Testament, the grace message may be understood and grasped especially from the New Testament. The writings of the Bible were uniquely inspired by God and the New Testament was written by the apostles and prophets of Jesus Christ to churches and individuals in the first century A.D.

The Application of the Grace Message in a Christian’s Life
The grace message of Christ Jesus for the Christian grace-way of life is built on the truth of the gospel, which is that deliverance from sin and death and everlasting life is received only when an individual personally believes that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:30-31). Life with God forever is received as a gift from the Lord Jesus through faith in Him and by faith in Him alone. Good works do not earn the gift or retain it. Sinful thoughts or actions do not remove a believer from his relationship with or position in Christ. “Having been justified by faith we have peace with God,” and nothing and no one “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 5:1; 8:38). Therefore the believer is free to serve the Lord Jesus out of a heart of love and thankfulness for the truly free gifts that God has given because of His love and grace. He or she need not live in fear of losing her salvation or fear from thinking that maybe she did not receive life at all because of her struggle with bad behavior. The truth of the grace message should be set in sharp contrast to teachings that bring about slavery by focussing upon keeping a certain set of rules or traditions in order to retain an eternal relationship with God (Galatians 3:2-6; 5:1).

The application of the grace message of Christ Jesus is a life lived in response to His love and grace. Those who have believed in Jesus should please and honor Him out of gratitude for what He has done for them and in appreciation for what He continues to do and will do for them (Colossians 2:6-7). Believers in Christ Jesus are called to keep on growing “in the grace and knowledge” of their Savior (2 Peter 3:18).

The true grace message of God instructs and builds up the believer, liberating him to serve the Lord in the freedom of faith and love (Galatians 5:1-6). This message of grace should be set in contrast to the false teachings that tragically cause enslavement, fear, doubt and uncertainty in the life of the believer in Christ Jesus.

God's Grace Operating Assets

by Eldon DeBoer

God, by His grace, has provided all that you need to live out the truth in your life. He has provided grace operating assets. When you first believed in Christ Jesus, you received the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came to indwell you (2 Corinthians 1:21-22) so that you could understand and truly grasp His Word and so that you could apply it in your life (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). Application of God's Word is also by the Spirit in that He desires to fill you--powerfully influence you--so that you can live out the truth, walking in the light of His Word (Ephesians 5:8-21). You therefore have the responsibility to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16; NASB). So that you can make the very most of the time that the Lord gives you here on earth He makes available to you the grace operating assets of the Spirit.

There is another grace operating asset without which you could not get to first base in applying truth that will count for eternity. It is the gift of a new nature which you also received when you first believed in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). This new nature, or new “man” (anthropos) within you, was created by God in the likeness of Christ Himself. God tells us through the inspired hand of the Apostle Paul to “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness . . . who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of [Christ] who created him” (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10).

Within the contexts of Ephesian 4:24 and Colossians 3:10 is an explanation of how our old sin natures, the old “man” within us that we are born with (Ephesians 4:1-3), are in serious conflict with the Spirit's ministry and the function of the new man, the new person within that is like Christ. In our old sinful selves we cannot operate in the way God wants us to operate. Apart from the Spirit working through the new man we could not function spiritually in the way God wants us to function.

Study these passages carefully and ask God to give you understanding. Send me an email and ask specific questions about these Scriptures (eldondeboer@yahoo.com).

Thank God for His grace operating assets of the ministry of His Spirit and the new person created in the very likeness of Christ!

God's Grace in Forgiveness

by Eldon DeBoer

There are many things about the grace message that enthrall me. But there is a key application of the grace of God that I experience repeatedly that stands near the pinnacle of this awesome message. It is the application of the knowledge of God's grace in forgiveness.

We are forgiven forever when we first place our faith in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:7). Being forgiven forever is a part of our eternal standing in Christ. It is a part of being identified with Him in His death and resurrection (Romans 6:1-5). We are sealed in Christ when we believe in Him and this is a permanent seal accomplished by the Spirit of God that includes being forgiven in eternity (Ephesians 1:13-14).

But what I am addressing in this article is being forgiven for sins we continue to commit that cause us to be in spiritual darkness in our experience with God here and now. While I am forgiven of all sins in Christ, God's Word teaches that I should confess my sins each and every time the Spirit makes me aware that I have missed a mark that He has set for me to live by.

“If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

God said He was looking for a leader, a king, who would be a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:22). In other words, God was looking for a man to lead His people who wanted to be like Himself more than anything else. You probably know who that man turned out to be. Yes, it was David; a shepherd boy who became king of Israel. Was David, the man after God's own heart, perfect? Far from it. He clearly understood how desperately he needed the grace of God in forgiveness. He emphasized this when he wrote Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 after he recovered from a sin that brought a great deal of pain into the lives of many people (2 Samuel 11 & 12). Yet, long after he had died, he was still remembered as someone whose heart was “devoted” to God (1 Kings 11:4; Acts 13:22). How encouraging it is to know that God forgives and that we can recover like David did and be useful to our Lord and Savior once again.

The truth that God forgives us again and again because of Jesus Christ's suffering in our place is a reality that should deeply grip our hearts when we pause to think about what it means. No matter how often we fall to a sinful weakness, be it a wrong thought or behavior, the Lord Jesus forgives us again. And again! Through confession we recover from being in spiritual darkness and re-enter the light and joy of fellowship with God.

“ . . . these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:4-7).

The Apostle Paul wrote of His struggle with sin after being a believer in Christ for a number of years and how he hated it (Romans 7:15-24). He found himself thinking and doing what he knew what was wrong over and over. But when He came to himself by the ministry of the Spirit in His life, He exclaimed,

“Oh wretched man that I am! who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:24-25).

Yes, Christ Jesus “sets us free” again and again from our spiritual deadness and uselessness to God when we sin as believers. It is thought that what Paul had in mind by the phrase “the body of this death” was the practice in his day of chaining a cadaver to a person who had been guilty of an offense that warranted the death penalty. Gangrene would set in and the guilty person would experience a horrible, drawn-out, painful death.

Who will release us from the horrible influence of our sins? Our spiritual deadness and uselessness to God while we are living in the dark because of sin? Christ Jesus sets us free from the “body of this death” again and again. He forgives us every time we admit that we have sinned against Him. And because of our appreciation for His suffering in our place to provide for this forgiveness, because of His love and grace, we should cry out to Him for His help to stop succumbing to the sin. But in our frailty when we fall to that weakness again, that sin that we hate, He forgives us again. And we then can enjoy fellowship with Him once more and live in His light and the light of His Word, the light of His teachings from the Bible.

Because of the work of Christ Jesus, God forgives us forever and He forgives us again and again when we confess our sin, when we simply admit to Him that we have done wrong. That's grace!!!

Enthralled by the Grace Message of Christ Jesus

by Eldon DeBoer

It has been said that our emotions are the responders of our souls. To narrow it down, when we ponder a particular truth, we may have an emotional response within our heart and soul. Should not all believers in Christ Jesus be enthralled by His grace message? Interestingly enough enthralled was formerly used of being held in slavery. It then came to mean to be held “spellbound” (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enthrall). We may become captivated and overwhelmed with emotion when we contemplate the truth of the grace of Christ Jesus. When we know Christ Jesus and the message of His grace we should be enthralled. When we read with understanding verses like 2 Corinthians 8:9, we should be enthralled:

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (NASB).

Think of it! In eternity past God the Son chose to set aside the exercise of His attributes as God in order to be united with true humanity in the Person of Jesus so that He could serve us. He “became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” This should enthrall us! Knowing that our great God chose to do this for us should captivate us.

The great God who created all things and is the King of kings became poor for us so that He could serve us. And by serving us in His death He defeated the devil and, therefore, we need no longer fear death (Hebrews 2:14-15). This should enthrall us! Christ Jesus took the sting out of death! (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
And so we serve Him and make Him Lord of our life (1 Peter 3:15), deciding to please Him again and again because of what He has done for us. We “love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We are enthralled with who He is and what He has done for us and so we keep on choosing to honor Him. While we often fail to do this as we should, by the Lord's grace and by His strength (John 15:5), we can recover and be forgiven (1 John 1:9) and renew our commitment to Him over and over again.

Fix your eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-3) and become more and more enthralled with Him!

Puzzled by the “Ho-Hum” (yawn) Response to the Grace Message

by Eldon DeBoer

I must say that I just don't get it. What I don't get is the “Ho-Hum” response to the grace message from those who say they believe in deliverance from sin and death through faith in Christ Jesus alone but appear to be less than enthusiastic about what they have received. Personally, I continue to remain enthralled by the grace message whenever I pause and contemplate what it means to me and my relationship with my Savior. It's all about what God has done for me through Christ by His grace! Maybe “Ho-Hum” believers (and I certainly am not doubting their salvation) have forgotten the great price the Lord paid in the horrors of His suffering and death to make their glorious eternal life and forgiveness of sins possible (2 Peter 1:9). And deliverance from sin and eternal separation from God is received by faith free of charge to us. But maybe “Ho-Hum” believers have not really grasped what the grace message is about. So here's another explanation of what I understand to be at the heart of this glorious message of God's grace in Christ Jesus.

What Is the Message of God's Grace

and

the Christian Grace-Way of Life?

“And now I commit you to God and to the message of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32 from the Holman Christian Standard Bible). These are some crucially important departing words from the Apostle Paul to a group of church leaders. The Apostle Paul was entrusting these people to God and to the message of God's grace.

The message of God's grace is all about Jesus Christ, what He has done for you and what He continues to do for you. It is about the free gifts of eternal life and righteousness that are required to enter God's presence and that are received by believing in Christ Jesus plus nothing more (John 6:47; 20:30-31; Romans 3:23 – 5:1). Yes, that's right! Believe in Christ plus nothing more! Since Jesus did all the work for you on the Cross of Calvary by dying in your place to pay the penalty for your sins, there is nothing more that needs to be done. All He asks you to do is believe in Him and receive the many gifts He freely gives because He gave His life for you (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Your works cannot add anything to the work of Christ Jesus. But aren't good works important? Yes. But your good works do not and cannot save you from your sins. Only Christ can do that. And Christ has done that! What's more, your good works do not keep you saved and should not be done in an effort to prove that you have been saved from sin and death. Study the Apostle Paul's letter to the Galatians to gain a grasp of this awesome truth.

Yes, good works are very important. But only good works done in the strength of Christ Jesus that are carried out in thankfulness and appreciation for His free gifts are acceptable to Him. This is what Jesus taught when He declared, “. . . for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5) Apart from depending on Christ and His strength and living life in a loving response to His love and grace, our lives will be a waste (2 Corinthians 5:10-17). God's grace message therefore also includes what God has freely provided so that you can live a life that is pleasing to Him. This may be called the Christian grace-way of life. When you know that you have eternal life because Jesus promised it to all who believe in Him, you are truly free to please Him from a heart of love to Him. No worries. Through faith in Christ Jesus and through faith in Him alone God has given to you His righteousness that has made you fit for heaven.

From what the Apostle Paul and the other apostles of Christ Jesus wrote throughout the New Testament, it should be understood that this message of God's grace is the only message, the only teaching, that truly builds up believers. Believers in Christ are the “sanctified,” that is, they are set apart as holy and righteous before God because of their faith in Christ. This message of God's grace is the teaching from God that, when applied, results in being rewarded for good works, “an inheritance,” which will be received to the glory of the Savior.

If a believer truly grasps what the grace message is about how can he or she have a “Ho-Hum” attitude about it. Since it is the teaching that truly builds up believers, are not “Ho-Hum” believers in danger of not being built up in the faith?