When The Door Slams
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law but under grace. (Romans 6:11-14 NIV)
Man receives God grace at once and fully. Thus he is save. Good works do not need to come to his assistance but are to follow. It is precisely as if God were to produce a fresh green tree out of a dry log, which tree would then bear its natural fruit.
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
God grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a person must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is God grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is God grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and it justifies the sinner.
Think about this: A very great, strong, mighty, and active matter is the grace of God. It does not lie asleep in the soul, as visionary preachers fabrication; nor does it let itself be carried about as religious people carries their armor in the back pocket. No, none of that! God grace hears, it leads, it drives, it draws, it changes, it works all in man, and lets itself be distinctly felt and experienced. God grace is hidden, but its works are evident. Words and works show where it dwells, just as the fruit and the leaves of a tree indicate the kind and the character of the tree.
Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son...and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is God grace because God did not consider his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.
Petition: "This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-15 NIV)
Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.
Never Rest Ministries
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