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Unit 4

Lesson 1

Perspective--Grace

Romans 5: 1-2 Luke 18:9-14 1 Corinthians 15: 10

Spiritual growth should do something to our self-image. It did something to Paul's. When he wrote to the Corinthians in about AD 59, Paul called himself "the least of the apostles" (1 Cor. 15:9). Four years later, he had grown to the point that he saw himself as "the least of the saints" (Eph. 3:8). A few years-and many tribulations--later, writing his last letters to the young- pastor Timothy, Paul declared himself to be the worst sinner in the world (1 Tim. 1:15).

As he matured and his intimacy with Jesus Christ deepened, Paul saw both God and himself more clearly. Instead of causing him to feel better about himself, growth opened Paul's eyes to the fact that his sin nature was worse than he had ever imagined; it was incorrigible. He saw with greater clarity every day the depth of his need for grace from God. And that was the secret of his greatness.

Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand. (Rom. 5:1-2)

We stand in grace or we do not stand at all. Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind on the basis of the work of Jesus Christ. It is a resource that can never be earned or deserved, but only received as a gift. We are saved by grace through faith; we grow in the Christian life by grace through faith.

Because grace can be initiated and sustained only by God, anything we try to do other than respond is worthless. Anything we try to do on our own takes us out of the sphere of grace and puts us into the sphere of "works" or "law." Paul explained this to the Romans when he said, "If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace" (Rom. 11:6)

No one can work his way to God or earn God's approval through human effort. Paul, the former Pharisee who had been found "blameless" by the strictest standard of righteousness that had ever been devised (Phil. 3:4-7), knew about trying to work his way to God. He understood how the legalistic mind sets itself against grace, refusing to accept the fact that in man there dwells no good thing (Rom. 7:18).

Most people can see that sin is a violation of the righteousness of God, so they understand why it had to be judged on the cross. But not very many people are reconciled to the fact that the good things man does on his own are abhorrent and are absolutely unacceptable to God.

In the Hebrew, Isaiah 64:6 is graphic in its description of the good that man can produce. " All our righteousness," it says, "is as the rag of a monstrous woman." Why would the Holy Spirit inspire Isaiah to use this particular analogy? Because the flow of blood in the menstrual cycle is evidence that there has been no conception. No conception means there will be no birth, and no birth means no life. Isaiah is saying that all human good is dead in God's sight.

That is exactly why human good is referred to as "dead works" in Hebrews 6:1-2. The author is not talking about sins here. Sins are never called "dead works" in the Bible. "Dead works" is a reference to man's attempts to work his way to God, to earn His approval. But he cannot do it. All our good is relative good; all our righteousness is relative righteousness. Compared to other men, we may appear good, righteous. But compared to the absolute goodness and righteousness of God we are less than nothing.

At every moment we have two choices: we can trust in ourselves--relying on our intellect and our strength and our goodness--or we can take a realistic look at ourselves and see that our only hope is to trust in God and rely on the riches of His grace. In Luke 18, the Lord has a story to tell about two men and who they chose to trust.

And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt ... (Luke 18:9)

The most natural thing in the world is for men to use one standard to measure themselves and another to judge everyone else. The men to whom Jesus directs this parable look at them selves from the stand point of all their virtues. They are preoccupied with all the wonderful things they do. But when they look at others, they minimize anything that might be worthwhile and magnify the flaws they see. They measure themselves by comparing their strengths to other men's weaknesses. Of course, by this kind of comparison they tower above others. So of course they look at others with contempt.

Exoutheneo means " to make of no account, to despise utterly. " This is the mental attitude sin of scornfulness--the basis of hatred, hostility, enmity. The word translated "others" is loipos. It means "the rest." As far as these men were concerned, everyone who was outside of their little sect was not worth spitting on.

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. (Luke 18:10)

The Pharisees were pillars of the community. They were respected and honored. The name "Pharisee" means "the separated ones." The Pharisees were, first of all, separatists. They stood apart, aloof. They wore special clothing to make sure that everyone would be properly impressed with who they were. They were legalists, preoccupied with keeping not just the Mosaic Law but the thousands of regulations that had been added to it through the years. Especially they liked to concern themselves with the externals like tithing and ritual purity. The g Pharisees thought they could meet God's standards by keeping all the outward rules. Like all legalists, they were very proud-of themselves, of their association, of their own righteousness. They expected to be looked up to.

Tax-collectors, on the other hand, expected nothing but contempt. They did, after all, work for the hated Roman conquerors. The Romans did not pay the tax collectors, but gave them total freedom in collecting taxes from their fellow Jews. Everything they could weasel out of people above what was owed to the Romans was theirs. So they became very adept at chiseling people out of their money. It was a lucrative business. They were considered traitors and were despised by almost everyone. Especially did the Pharisees look down on these "sinners," classing them with harlots and Gentiles.

The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, "God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get. " (Luke 18:11-12)

Notice that Jesus says that the Pharisee was praying to himself. It is no wonder, because in his mind he really was god. He was convinced that God was made in his image; he was convinced God held his standard.

The Pharisee said "thank you," but there was no thanksgiving here. He was thankful that he was not like other people, which of course was a bold-faced lie. He was exactly like other people.

He made no request of God. Why would he ask God for anything when he was unconscious of any need? He did not feel that he needed anything; he was very content with himself.

He had no praise for God. In the place of praise was self-exaltation. He congratulated himself first for all the things he did not do and for being such a fine individual. As he prayed, he looked around, because he had to look around at other people to remind himself of how wonderful he was. As his eyes fell on the tax-collector, he reminded himself how much better he was than all the others. Of course, he measured himself and others by the human standard of relative righteousness. He built himself up by beating others down. By zeroing in on the failures of others, he could make himself look pretty good. But not to God. Relative righteousness is despicable in God's sight.

Finally he began to list his good deeds, and everything he had to say was an expression of law and of the externals. Jesus cuts the account of the Pharisee's prayer at this point, but you can bet that his prayer went on and on and on, into all the details of how many good things he did and how wonderful he was.

This man had a system based on two things: what he did and what he did not do. But nowhere was there a place in his system for what he was. Everything he was concerned with was external; there was nothing inside--no relationship with God, no fellowship, no faith.

But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!" (Luke 18:13)

The tax-gatherer--hated, rejected, an outcast in his own nation--stood in the temple and uttered seven words. The fact that he felt he must stand apart from God, as well as from the Pharisee, indicates that he knew he was an outcast. He did not have any inflated ideas about being good enough for God.

The Pharisee acted as if he and God were old buddies; the publican had a reverent fear of God. It shows in his posture and in his refusal even to look up.

Beating his breast, he cried for mercy. Everything about this man said that he was defeated, ashamed, grieved. He saw how a great his need was, and he knew that nothing but God's mercy could sustain him.

Whereas the Pharisee chose to magnify his good points, this man focused on his flaws. The Pharisee saw himself as better than everyone else. ?'he tax-gatherer saw himself as worse than everyone else. He was so concerned about his sinfulness that he did not even have time to think about the Pharisee's flaws. He considered himself the sinner of sinners, the worst of all, and all he asked for was mercy.

God's mercy withholds from us what we deserve. Because God judged Jesus Christ on the cross for all our sins, He can offer us mercy He can also offer us grace. God's grace gives us what we do not deserve--the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the riches of His glory, inheritance, power, and much more. But the only people who can lay hold of grace are those who realize a their need for mercy.

What was Jesus' evaluation of these two men and their prayers?

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:14)

The word "justified" from Daikyo, means "declared righteous." No matter how proud and righteous the Pharisee felt when he walked out of that temple, he was not justified before God. "The sacrifices of God," David wrote in Psalm 51:17, "are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, 0 God, thou wilt not despise." We are not told how the tax collector fell when he left the temple, we only know how God saw him. A part of maturity is being able to see ourselves as God sees us--knowing absolutely when we are out of fellowship and displeasing to Him and just as absolutely when we are functioning in His grace and causing Him pleasure.

The Character of Grace

God set a regulation at the beginning of human history for how He would be worshipped (Ex. 20:24-25). Altars to Him were to be made of earth or uncut stones only. They were not to be improved or embellished in any way. There were to be no steps up to the altar.

The Lord wanted to make it absolutely clear to any who would approach Him that nothing man does or makes on his own can be pleasing to Him and that man cannot meet Him halfway. Human altars are always beautiful. But God does not want human beauty; He wants humility.

Grace is God’s policy in dealing with the human race. in grace God does all the work; there is no room for human works.

1. Grace and works are as mutually exclusive as light and dark.

2. Grace plus works is not grace.

3. Works involve many things, such as motive, intent, purpose.

4. The attitude behind works is always pride.

5. The attitude that accepts grace is always humility.

6. Grace plus humility equals power.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. (1 Cor. 15:10)

Grace is a resource that we choose whether or not to use. Every believer stands in the sphere of grace, in an encapsulated environment where all the riches of God are available to us. The same power, the same wisdom, the same historical impact, that was available to Paul is available to each of us.

Why then do some believers seem to be blessed and prospered while others are not? Maybe it is because some work harder. Paul took the resources of God's grace and he worked and sweat and did without sleep and went without all kinds of comforts so he could accomplish the plan of God for his life. He labored past physical and mental exhaustion, because he knew that he would never understand divine power until he had pushed past Paul's strengths and abilities. God honored that, and it was all grace, because on Paul's part it was all faith.

A German proverb says, "God gave us nuts, but He didn't crack them." O. A. Baptiste said, "God gave us wheat, but we must bake the bread. He gives us cotton, but we must make the clothes; He gives us trees, but we must make our homes. He provides raw materials, we must make the finished product." This is the principle of grace at work.

The Royal Code

As members of the royal family of God, we are called to live by a royal code of conduct, a code that sets a divine standard. We will never be able to attain the standard unless we choose to put grace to work every day of our lives.

1. The Law of Life

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Rom. 8:1-2)

As believers, we have been set free from death, from sin, and from Satan. We have passed out of death into life (John 5:24). In Christ we have been made incredibly rich, endowed with everything we need to live an abundant life (John 10:10; Eph. 1). As we learn to walk according to the Spirit and to conduct ourselves as those who are alive to God (Rom. 6:11-13, 8:1-4), we will begin to experience that abundance.

2. The Law of Liberty

It was for freedom that Christ set us free, therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1)

Jesus Christ wants us to enjoy the freedom He died for. He has given us the right and the responsibility to choose how we will live our lives. He loves for us to make decisions, and He loves for us to be different from each other. Anything the Bible does not forbid is spiritually neutral, and is, therefore, an area in which we individually must choose what we will and will not do. There are many uncertain things in the Christian life, and we need discernment every step we take. We also need to remember that God intends for each of us to be free, that each of us will answer directly to God for how we use our freedom, and that it is never acceptable to try to force another believer to make the choices we think he should make or to judge and malign him for the choices he has made. The judgmental believer is always a weak believer. Our freedom in Christ can never be taken from us, but it can be forfeited.

3. The Law of Love

Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. (Rom. 15.1)

The law of love is higher than the law of liberty. Liberty justifiably says, "I have the right to do anything that is not forbidden in the Word." But love says, "Though I may do anything, there are certain allowable things I will not do if they will cause others to stumble." The law of love recognizes that while we have freedom we are bounded in its exercise by the weakness of others; we are our brother’s keeper (1 Cor. 8). So, for the sake of weak believers we restrain certain activities that are good and proper in themselves, lest we become a stumbling block. Again, we have to remember how precious is our individual freedom in the sight of God: He will not force us to live by the law of love, and He does not look with pleasure on our trying to force anyone else to live by it.

4. The Law of Self-denial

All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor ... just as I also please a!! men in all things, not seeking my own profit. but the profit of the many, that they may be saved. (1 Cot. 10:23-24, 33)

Under the law of self-denial we restrict ourselves for the sake of unbelievers. We remember that we are ambassadors of Christ and that how we live may be a more forceful declaration of the Gospel than what we say (2 Cor. 3:2-3). We are willing to deny ourselves for the sake of being an effective witness in the place where God has put us. Every believer’s sphere of influence is different, therefore every believer’s self-imposed restrictions will be different. All of us have to decide for ourselves where we will draw lines in our lives—what we will do and not do for the sake of manifesting Christ to our world.

5. The Law of Supreme Sacrifice

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Cor. 8:9)

This is a law that only heroes live by. The law of supreme sacrifice best illustrates the passion of the love of Jesus Christ. He who is the center of the universe considered others as more important than Himself and humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross (Phil. 2:3-8) so that we might have life. He is the personification of self-sacrifice and self-denial. To live under the law of supreme sacrifice means that we are willing to become selfless, to admit that we are not the center of the universe, to consider the plan of God as more important than ourselves, to consider the weak believer and the unbeliever as more important than ourselves. Those who give up everything to enter into this love of Christ find that all they sacrifice is no sacrifice at all compared to the joy of the fellowship of His sufferings.

MEMORY VERSE: Romans 5:1-2

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

REVIEW

Unit 4, Lesson 1

1.  Describe (with Biblical references) the development of Paul’s "self-image" as he matured.

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