Grace

Objective 1. To help the young Christian to understand grace in its full form 2. Teach them the value of confession 3. Focus on the two fruits of grace a) hard work for the gospel b) saying no to sin a. Understanding Grace in all its truth. - The word grace appears first in the book of Psalms. - Understanding grace with its right balance will help us to stay faithful to God - Since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. Colossians 1:6 ..that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. - Means we not only start our Christian life by grace but we need it even to complete it. b. Without Jesus there is no grace - Jonah 2:8 Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. - Romans 3:24 And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. - Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. c. Sin came through one man so does grace - If we all can fall by one man we all can stand also by a man - Romans 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. d. Now we need to continue in the grace - We came in to the Kingdom by the grace of God. - But now the key is we need to continue to remain in the grace of God - Talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God Acts 13:43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. - Whatever sin you commit as a Christian God forgives you completely / It may look not fair but that is the truth you cannot do any thing to go to heaven > just be humble when you mess up and accept the grace > keep moving. - Romans 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? - Of course not we have changed our master .How can we serve the old master the sin? We were freed! Romans 6:14-15 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! - So where is the line ? You pursue righteousness and on your run you will fall .God's grace is there to pick you up to continue your race towards righteousness. e. What does this grace makes you to do? - Makes you work harder 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-- yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. - Keeps you humble and not to boast about the good you did Rom 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. - Teaches us to say to unGodliness. Titus 2:11-12 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to unGodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and Godly lives in this present age, f. How can we miss this amazing grace? Yes we can ! That is the sad part. Some of them leave God and the church because they have failed to continue in the grace. 1. By not being open about our hurts. Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 2. By not being honest about our doubts about the church / Bible / God's plan for our life. Hebrews 13:9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace. 3. By not being humble to advise and directions. 1 Peter 5:5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 4. By taking grace for granted and not repenting. Jude 1:4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are Godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. 5. Unwilling to learn righteous ways. Isaiah 26:10 Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the LORD. God's grace is shown so we can learn righteousness not to remain as wicked evil people The grace of God is abundant yet we can miss it. If you look at all the above reasons for falling from the grace there is one thing in common i.e., Not being open about our life to others. So now we are going toi learn more about it. g. Confession - yadhah; homologeo : The radical meaning is "acknowledgment. - it is the expression of a conviction of the heart. - Auricular confession practiced in some of the churches is not Biblical . - In the Bible you will always see people telling openly not whispering in the ears. - Key scriptures: Matthew 3:6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. Confessed to John. Acts 19:18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. Openly confessed - Nehemiah 9:3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God. - 1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - Psalm 38:18 I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. - Who doesn't confess ? Only those who want to cover up ! - Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. - Do we need to be specific in what way we have committed sin? - Yes ofcourse.. Leviticus 5:5 When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned Numbers 5:5-7 5 The LORD said to Moses, 6 "Say to the Israelites: 'When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the LORD, that person is guilty 7 and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged. h. Why is it hard to be open? - What is openness? Being honest / unopen people are dishonest people - What makes a person not to be honest? - Wanting to look good - Fear of the consequences - Fear of rejection - Fear of rebuke - Not believing openness can help them - I can manage mentality - It is not that important - Lack of humility - Unwilling to give up the sin - Not understanding the available GRACE i. How to change? - 1 Timothy 4:7-8 God says train yourself to be Godly /one of the area is learning to be open about yr life 1 Timothy 4:7-8 7 Have nothing to do with Godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be Godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. - Psalm 139:23 Be open to God Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. He knows it any way - Delveloping a habit of daily openness / learn to share not just your sins but also your victories / what you learned from quiet time / your job etc; - Understand it is commanded by God for your benefit. James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. - Be humble - the primary enemy to practice the above scripture is pride. Luke 18:9-14 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." - Openness is the first step of repentance / if you don't repent you will perish. - You will get a solution for your sin John the Baptist gave answer for their problem Luke 3:10-14 10 "What should we do then?" the crowd asked. 11 John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?" 13 "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely--be content with your pay." - God can listen to your prayer Psalm 66:18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;