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Bishop Mark Shaw
If you are to receive the truth about grace, you are going to have to remove any mind-sets that you may already have. I have talked to many people on this subject, and even though they don't disagree with what I am saying, they will not move under grace because of mind-sets. They are immovable in what they think, even when the truth is plainly in front of them. Folks, lets be teachable! The bible talks about us being as clay, yet some of us have dried up and hardened into bricks. They are unpliable, and unable to be taught. The word "grace" simply means unmerited favor. It is an act done to the one shown grace that is not due that person, but rather a kindness bestowed upon them based on the loving kindness of the Giver, not the receiver. Grace is misunderstood because it flies in the face of logic and reason without all the facts. Why would God overlook my sin? Especially since He is absolutely Holy and absolutely Just and no sin can even dwell in His presence. What about after I have received grace, is it perpetual in its application to my life, or is it situational, or is it just a one time thing that is applied to me and I have to live perfectly from then on? These are important considerations to answer because many of God's people are burdened by the law that they perceive themselves to be under. In addition, many of God's people are not walking in the freedom that Jesus purchased through willfully going to the cross to suffer in our place. He shed His Holy blood that you and I might not live under the threat of the death penalty that we so earnestly deserve. Either that act is a powerful force in our lives or it is not. Either it took care of my past sin but not my present and future sins, or it is perpetual in its application and covers all of my sin all of the time. There are a number of reasons why there is confusion surrounding this issue, one of which is the terminology used in the New Testament. For example Galatians, 5:19-21 describe the works of the flesh and the results of living like that. Then the same author says that all things are lawful unto him in 1 Corinthians 10:23. So how do we reconcile the differences? Well there are no differences at all; we just need to understand the context and the setting under which both statements were made. They do not disagree with each other, but rather both point to important principles that we need to apply to our lives. Is our salvation so unstable that a single sin will plunge us back into not being saved at all? First, we must understand the theological context of God's grace as it applies to each of our lives. Most Christians will agree that they are saved by their belief and acceptance of, and confession in Jesus, yet there are many opinions about what can remove that salvation, or if it can be removed at all. If we take a linear approach to this, we should be able to come to some conclusions concerning the application of God's grace. We know that God's law is good and that it is the standard for righteous living. We also know that it is unwavering and if broken in just one area, guilt is transferred to the breaker of the law and a sentence of eternal death is applied, thus they are guilty of the whole law. The problem arises in that we, as humans, are incapable of following that law unless we have some kind of outside help. And if we have some kind of outside help, then it is no longer us that can take credit for living according to God's law. Let's look at some scriptures that show us that we are incapable, by ourselves, of following God's law. Romans 3:9-18 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all; for I have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave, they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood, in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they do not know.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” This is the pre-salvation state of every human being that has ever, is now, or will ever live. We all lie guilty under the law of God that says that we deserve the sentence of death and separation from God. There is not one human being who can claim self-righteousness in accordance with God's law. This leaves every one of us in a quandary, and it propels us toward the question, "What must I do then to be saved?" Understanding the reality of where you are will also give you a picture of where you need to be. Once that understanding is present in a life, then they are able to find the answer that God so beautifully provided. Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. This is a very important scripture. It establishes that every human that will come into this world, does so under God's law so that every excuse can be stopped, and every human may be held accountable to God for his or her life. It also states that not a single human being will be justified by obedience to the law, because not a single human being is able to obey it to the letter. The very next statement shows us the problem. "since through the law comes the knowledge of sin." Remember the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. What was the name of the tree that they were not to partake of? It was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That tree was a representation of the law of God. Adam and Eve did not live under that tree; they lived under the tree of life. But when they partook of that tree they became responsible for sin because they now had the knowledge of sin through the law. That is what the Apostle was saying here. Now since this is so, does grace put us back under that tree of life and remove us from under the tree of the law? We will explore that shortly, but we must stay on our course so as to understand the work of Christ. We have established that we are all under the law and subject to its penalty. Now what is the cure for our dilemma? The answer to that is Jesus. Why is He the answer? Here is why. First, God's nature has to be retained for He cannot change. Since this is so, then He must judge all sin. That assures each one of us that we are doomed and lost without hope under the law. But, what if God came into this world as a human, lived a perfect life under the law, allowed His blood to be shed and then died? You see, the penalty for sin is death. So if Jesus was sinless, then His death was unjust for He had not sinned. But wait, His life was not taken from Him, the bible says that He gave it up. That means that He lived a perfect life and then gave His life up willfully. Since there was a death of an adult human body in which there was no sin ever committed in that body, God was able to apply His judgment for all the sin of the whole world to that perfect life. Now God's nature is unchanged in that He did punish one Man for all the sins of the whole world and there is provided a Way for anyone who wants to escape the punishment of their sins. Romans 5:15-19 But God’s free gift is not like Adam’s sin. Many people died because of the sin of that one man. But the grace from God was much greater; many people received God’s gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. After Adam sinned once, he was judged guilty. But the gift of God is different. God’s free gift came after many sins, and it makes people right with God. One man sinned, and so death ruled all people because of that one man. But now those people who accept God’s full grace and the great gift of being made right with him will surely have true life and rule through the one man, Jesus Christ. So as one sin of Adam brought the punishment of death to all people, one good act that Christ did makes all people right with God. And that brings true life for all. One man disobeyed God, and many became sinners. In the same way, one man obeyed God, and many will be made right. We must understand that if this man, Jesus, was sinless and was only a human like you or me, then He would not be able to become our sacrifice for sin. Why? Because if he were like us then He would only be the example of how we all are capable of living sinless as well, but if He were God in the flesh and greater than us, then we are able to take this great gift offered to all of mankind Remember, it only takes one sin for me to be separated from God for eternity. If one of us regular humans can live perfectly, then any of us can. On the other hand, if God was indwelling the body of Jesus, now that perfect life and death can be our substitution rather then our example because He is greater then we are. Jesus gave up His life willfully so that His death would be a substitute for our death. But in order to partake of this wonderful gift of life it requires that we believe that God did this for us so that we could be spared the death penalty. It does one no good, if they do not believe this happened, for they cannot willfully apply it to their life. That is why the Word says: Romans 10:9-13 because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. For, “every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” Since Jesus became the substitutionary life that received the punishment for my sins, what is my status with God now? We need to understand, that in order to cleanse anyone from a sin, there must be the shedding of the blood of an innocent. That is why in the Old Testament, they brought a lamb without spot or wrinkle. This was to be an example of perfection and sinlessness. By shedding innocent blood and applying that punishment to my sin, I am then cleansed from my sin. In essence, somebody else suffers in my place. This is the only way for my sin to be erased because there is only one penalty for sin and it is death. There has to be death wherever there is sin because God is perfectly holy and no sin can dwell in His presence. Okay, so by accepting the death of Jesus who was sinless, my sin has been erased. It has been placed upon Jesus who willfully died in my place. Now what? What happens when I sin after I have applied this blood of Jesus to my sin? There are only three options. Either Jesus has to keep coming to die for my sins, or I am lost forever without any sacrifice left for sin, or the sacrifice of Jesus is perpetual and unendingly applied to my life. Romans 6:10 The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. Hebrews 7:26-28 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself. Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever. From those two scriptures, we see that Jesus will only offer Himself once. Do you think that He would do this if we could lose that sacrifice through another sin after having applied it to our lives? If you think that, then you must also think that all of mankind is still lost for we have all sinned after we received the gift of salvation. If you really think that, then His sacrifice was in vain and He has saved no one . No, the sacrifice of Jesus is perpetual in the life of the one who believes in Him. He came to move us out from under the law to be again under the tree of life. Jesus said that He was the Bread of Life! Hebrews 9:11-14 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
The conscience of man is purified when under the blood of Jesus. What is the importance of this? Think about the state of Adam and Eve when they were living under the tree of life. Their conscience was pure. They were living their life in liberty with their motives being pure and directed toward God. This is what God wants us to experience again. Having our conscience purified by God causes us to only want to do good, if we are living under that tree of life. We get into trouble when we start resurrecting the law in our lives. You see the law says "I have to," but grace says "I want to." If you try to replace the "want to" with "should," you will also resurrect you bad conscience. Look, you could not, by your own power, live for God before you got saved, what makes you think you can, by your own power, live for God afterwards? The only way I can live for God is to allow Him to live His life in me. I must resign myself to the failure of my own efforts and surrender my whole life to the efforts of Christ in me. The evidence is there. Jesus said, "Without Me, you can do nothing." We must abide in Jesus from which comes the power to live our lives for God. When I believe in Jesus and what He accomplished for me, I move out from under the law. This is important to note because the bible says that law entices us to sin. I call it the cookie jar syndrome. I remember being told not to take any cookies from the cookie jar as a child. That became the hardest thing to resist after being told. We had this ceramic cookie jar that made a lot of noise when you took the lid off of it, and when you tried to replace it. So, if I were going to be successful sneaking cookies, I would have to master removing the lid without making noise. So, when no one was around, I would practice taking the lid off and putting it back without making any sound. The jar would be empty at this time, but I was practicing for a time when a treasure of cookies would be waiting for my expert ability to remove that lid and replace it without being heard. The point I am trying to make is that the law, which stated that I was not allowed to get a cookie without permission, enticed me to do just that. Romans 7:5 While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. So, are we still under the law now that Jesus has come into our lives? Romans 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. There it is! We are not under the law, but under grace. We are not under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but we are under the tree of life. Jesus said, "Satan comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. But I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly." You might be asking, "If I am not under the law, what is going to stop me from sinning?" First, because I am not under the law, I am not being aroused to sin by the law. Secondly, I now have help from the Spirit that will guide and direct my life. Third, my nature has been changed to include a desire to live without sin. That is why the Apostle Paul was able to say, "all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable." So, what happens to our sin when we do sin after we have accepted Jesus as our Lord? Since we are not under the law, we cannot come under the punishment of the law, which is death. Our sin is still dealt with and we still suffer in this life when we sin whether we are saved or not. But there is a difference between the sin of the unsaved and the sin of the saved. The unsaved are still under the sentence of death because they are under the law. The saved are not under the punishment of death because they are not under the law. There is another element to this though. Because you are a child of God, God will treat you as a Father and He will discipline you when you do wrong. Hebrews 12:7-11 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Contrast this with what we often hear. We are told that God has provided a free gift of salvation to all that will believe. There are no conditions other then just believing. Then, when we accept this gift we are often told that we have to do things to keep this gift. The logic of that does not compute. I can only receive it by believing, but then I am told that I can lose it by only doing wrong? Either I do good to get it, and I do wrong to lose it, or I believe to get it and I don't believe to lose it. We find so many folks are bound by the belief that they will be rejected by Jesus because of something they have done wrong as a Christian. We will be spanked by God for doing something wrong, but we will not lose our relationship of son and daughter. That is, I don't cease to be His son because of what I did wrong. God will deal with me however for those things that I do wrong. Just as I did not cease to be my earthly father's son when I did wrong, I just was disciplined for it. Therefore, we must believe to be saved and we must believe to stay saved. How can we ever be effective in the kingdom of God if we are always worried about our own salvation? We must be assured in whom we believe and let that be the driving force in our lives. Galatians 2:19 For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. The sacrifice of Jesus must be continuous to the one who believes. The bible says time and time again that the just shall live by faith. I am not justified at any time in my life by what I do. I am only justified by what I believe. Since I am saved by my faith in Christ, then to be unsaved after that means that I must come to a place where I no longer believe in my heart that Jesus came in the flesh. You see if I am saved by faith, then I can only be unsaved by having no faith. What I do is only a product of what I believe. If you see me with a raincoat in my hand then you can assume that I believe it is going to rain. And so it is in the life of the Christian. If they truly believe in Jesus, they will never justify their sin and if they have a proper understanding of the grace of God, they will always turn from their sins and live for God. The Apostle Paul developed this understanding for us in the seventh chapter of Romans. Paul, a Christian, was giving an example of his own life as a Christian and how that there are two natures at work in us, and why. Let's take a look at what he says. Romans 7:14-25 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is no doubt in my mind that, like myself, you too have struggled with sin, and you have wondered, "Why am I doing the things I do not want to do?" Let me assure you that we all have had to deal with this and are still dealing with it. The importance of this section of scripture cannot be underscored. There is the picture of a man that is a Christian, and he has the desire to do what is good, but finds that he fails at doing good. So the conclusion that Paul realizes is that if he is doing something that he does not want to do, then it is not he (and by "he" I mean his spirit) that is doing it, but rather sin that dwells in him. Moreover, he very well cries for us all, "Oh what a wretched man that I am!" What shall we say then, shall we just give up and let the sin that dwells in us drive us to do wrong? NO! How can we, when our inner man is screaming NO!! DON'T DO IT!! Paul delivers the question, "Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" It is important to take note that Paul is laying the blame of his sin upon the body or flesh. The answer is Jesus. He will deliver us from this body of death, or this mortal body. It is when we finally put on those bodies of immortality that we will no longer struggle with sin. Until then, however we are in a war. Galatians 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. There you have it, we are in a war within. Notice that when Paul mentioned that Jesus was the One that would set us free from the body of death, his meaning was not to be taken to mean now, but rather our total deliverance from sin will only be accomplished by the changing of our mortal flesh, (body of death) into immortal flesh. That has yet to be accomplished and therefore Paul's statement after his declaration of victory through Christ was, "So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." In this statement, Paul states that he recognizes that he will still contend with the flesh as long as that flesh is mortal. It is interesting to note that in the next chapter Paul reveals this in a more detailed fashion. Romans 8:20-23 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Our physical bodies have not received the manifestation of redemption yet. Our spirits have, but our bodies eagerly await their redemption. When that takes place, sin will be eradicated from our beings forever. So, by understanding this, does this not offer a better picture of the sacrifice of Christ and it's ability to perpetually cover my sins? Can we now go on and do the work of God without always worrying that we are no longer saved because of our weaknesses. We are called to freedom! We have within us, as Christians, the safety mechanism that keeps us from just sinning to our body's content. That safety mechanism is a regenerated spirit that desires to do the will of God. When I, in my body of death, do something that is against God's law, my spirit cries out to stop and repent from doing that, and will do so relentlessly without stopping. That is why Paul said "all things are lawful for me but not all things are profitable." That is why Paul tells us that if we live after the spirit, we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. What then shall we do with the sin that dwells in each of our bodies? This is where the differences between true Christianity and casual Christianity are defined. Those that are serious about their relationship with God will not be satisfied in this life until all sin is eradicated from their beings. There is a distinct difference between the doing of sin and the will to sin. The true Christian no longer has the will to sin, yet they still sin as we just read in Romans chapter seven. However, as Paul stated, he was a wretched man because he found himself doing that which he did not want to do. He was not satisfied just wanting to do good in the inner man, he wanted to perform it with the body as well. That is where we find the break down; it is in the ability to perform what is good at all times that we find it difficult to accomplish. Again, it is because we have a changed spirit living in an unchanged body, which produces a war for supremacy in the mind of man. So, we, as Christians, will to live after the law of God but find it hard to perform it in every instant. We are not alone in our fight however. We have the Holy Spirit that will empower us to live holy. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Not of our own self wills, not of our own self-desire, not even by our own good works. No, we overcome by the blood of the Lamb. That blood that was shed is my exoneration from the death sentence due me eternally. How can we say that we are saved today and lost tomorrow? God is greater than that! He is able to keep each one and no one is able to pluck us out of His mighty hand. Let us therefore not proclaim ourselves as holy by our own ability. Rather proclaim yourself holy by the blood of Jesus, which makes you holy apart from your works. Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. 1 Peter 2:16 Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God. From these two verses, we get the idea of the freedom that we have been called to. Notice that both Paul and Peter are calling us not to use our freedom to do sin, but to do love. In other words, our salvation is sure and unwavering. We must get this in our minds so that we will be in the right frame of mind to do the work that God has called us to. If we are always about being perfect, we will feel inadequate to perform that work. The issue of sin has been answered by the blood of Christ. As He said on the cross, "It is finished!!" It is done and we must understand who we are in Christ that we might be even more effective in being the light that God called you to be. Not men and women that have a pretense of piousness or holiness, but rather having a pretense of wretched sinners saved by the blood of Christ. With that attitude, you will be able to win the lost, but if you project yourself as without sin, then you make yourself a liar in their sight and they will only see hypocrisy. Therefore, beloved, live in the faith that you were called too; having full assurance that you are in right standing with God. Present your bodies to do the will of God and live in the awesome freedom and wonderful love of God. My prayer for you is that you see yourself as God sees you. He sees you as a son and daughter, do you see yourself that way, or do you see yourself as an outsider? If you have faith in the blood of Christ, He has set you free. So live as freemen, doing good to your neighbor, and being honest with yourself, others, and God about your weaknesses; that you do not bring reproach upon the blood of Christ. We cannot go on looking at what we have done right, or what we have done wrong as a means of getting or losing our salvation. God is not saving you determined on that basis; rather He is looking to see if you have faith in the sacrifice of Christ. If you do, then you are saved!
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