"God Makes It Work"
October 17, 2004

The Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 81: 1 - 6
The New Testament Lesson: Romans 5: 15 - 21

To convince people that their responsibility is to submit themselves to the power of God’s Grace.

I.  The extent of the work of sanctification is enough to make us run!
   A. Have you ever been involved in cleaning a really filthy house?
        1. I have!  And I didn’t enjoy it one bit.
            a. upon entering the house, the fumes made me choke.
            b. The house was filled with animal feces.
            c. There was dirt and muck everywhere.  It turned my stomach.
        2. The first thing we had to do was open windows
            a. That let out some of the stench.
            b. But the air started to kick up some of the debris.
        3. We wore rubber gloves and tried to pick through the stuff carefully.
        4. We soon discovered that the task was too much for us.  We ran.
   B. The same can be true for a person’s life
        1. Last week I described the doctrine of justification by faith alone.
            a. We come to Christ by believing in him as Lord and Savior.
            b. We do not have to earn our way into reconciliation with God.
            c. God forgives us and receives us based on what Jesus has done.
            d. Then God declares us free from sin.
        2. Thank God that’s not the end of God’s work in our lives!
            a. Once we are justified by faith, God wants to clean up our lives.
            b. God wants to take away the actual sin so that we can be like Christ.
            c. That process is called “sanctification.”
            d. In justification, we are declared holy.  In sanctification we are made holy!
        3. Unfortunately, we are prone to the same error in sanctification.
   C. Many people think it is their responsibility to clean up their own lives.
        1. They say, “now that I’m a Christian, I’ve got to live like one.”
        2. That means different things to different people.
            a. To some that means avoiding “bad behaviors.”
            b. They have to stop cursing, drinking and running around.
        3. I grew up in a conservative church that emphasized that.
            a. The preacher constantly reminded us what all the bad things were.
            b. If felt like he was looking into my teenage life for material.
            c. I lived thinking I was a horrible person.  I was burdened with guilt.
            d. I was not a good example of a joy-filled believer.
        4. Others are more positive:
            a. we must be loving and kind at all times.
            b. We must show patience and tolerance.
            c. We must care for the sick, poor and needy.
            d. Better, but I know many who are still burdened by this approach.
            e. They don’t measure up!

II.  The reality is that we are as incapable of making ourselves holy as we are of saving ourselves.
   A. God has not called us to clean ourselves up, but to let him do it!
        1. That is the doctrine of Grace Alone.
        2. It is not up to us to transform our lives.
            a. It may be true that we want our lives to display God’s presence
            b. We take Jesus as Savior and we try to live like he’s Lord.
            c. But in our own power, we fail miserably at this.
        3. It is by Grace.  God makes us holy through Spirit power!
            a. When we come to Christ is faith, we are given an amazing gift.
            b. The Spirit of God takes us residence inside us.
            c. Even the desire to act differently is a result of the Spirit’s work.
            d. God is already at work to change us.
   B. Many Christians either never hear this or have forgotten it.
        1. At the very beginning we might accept our need for God.
        2. Shortly, we turn to Jesus and say, “Thanks God, I’ll take it from here.
        3. I remember working in the yard with Peter when he was 7
            a. Gotten a load of soil and was moving it with a wheelbarrow.
            b. Peter felt important, because at 7 I was letting him help push.
            c. He got the wrong impression from having his hands on the handles.
                i. thought he could do it by himself.
                ii. I explained it was too heavy, but he insisted.
                iii. he grunted and strained—managed to move it about 6 inches.
        4. Without the Spirit, we wouldn’t even do that well

III.  How do we access Grace?
   A. Like going to the bank.  You have to go to where the resources are!
        1. God has unlimited riches of grace for us.
        2. But we have to stop long enough to make a withdrawal.
        3. God does not force grace on us.
            a. doesn’t fill us up while we’re not looking.
            b. Waits for us to make contact—real contact!
   B. There are branch offices all over for us.
        1. One avenue is what we’re doing right now: worship
            a. When we gather to honor God and express our love.
            b. as we sing together and praise together
            c. God is able to give us grace.
        2. When we take time in study and meditation
            a. we are hearing the message of God to us.
            b. We are growing in our knowledge of Jesus
            c. God is able to give us grace.
        3. Prayer is like the ATM of Grace.
            a. No matter where we are, this avenue is open—24/7
            b. In spiritual conversation, we enter God’s presence.
            c. Even the doctrine of separation of church and state can’t stop it.
            d. God is able to give us grace.
   C. And as we allow Grace to flood us, we are changed.
        1. We gain new power for life and living.
        2. We are never the same again, for God makes us holy.
        3. But we didn’t make the change, we simply let God do it!

Now, doesn’t that sound like good news?  We don’t earn our salvation, we receive it as a gift.  We don’t struggle to do good—we merely make ourselves available to the operation of the Spirit  and God makes the changes by grace.  I ran into this wonderful quote, “If the world could have been saved by good bookkeeping, it would have been saved by Moses, not Jesus.”  But in fact, all the Law can do is show us our weakness.  It is by the grace of God that we are transformed into God'’ children.

And as you go from this place, may you walk in the way of Christ Jesus and May God always find you faithful!