Grace Revolution: Experience the Power to Live Above Defeat (15 page)

Let’s look at the two examples of good works that James gives: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?… Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?” (James 2:21, 25).

James cites Abraham’s offering of Isaac and Rahab’s assistance to
the two Israelite spies as their good works. Christians like to quote these examples and say, “So where are your good works? Don’t you know that faith without works is dead?” What they don’t realize is that between the justification of these two Bible characters and their good works is a
long
time!

Isaac was around seventeen years old when Abraham offered him on Mount Moriah. Some believe that he was older—around thirty years old. Even if we take the younger age, that’s still more than seventeen years between Abraham’s justification and the manifestation of his good work. And we expect new believers to exhibit good works overnight!

Abraham was justified by faith even before Isaac was born. In the book of Genesis, we see how God brought Abraham outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. So shall your descendants be.” Abraham believed the Lord and “He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:5–6). That’s when Abraham was justified. Isaac wasn’t even conceived in Sarah’s womb yet. And only after Isaac was born and grew up to be a young man did Abraham perform the good work of offering him to God. It didn’t happen overnight.

What about Rahab? Scripture tells us that she went to the spies she had hidden on her roof and told them, “I know the L
ORD
has given you this land…. We are all afraid of you…. For we have heard how the L
ORD
made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear!… For the L
ORD
your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below” (Josh. 2:9–11
NLT
).

Notice how Rahab used the term “L
ORD
” or
Yahweh
, and declared
to the spies that He was “the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.” She was already a believer in
Yahweh
. That’s why she was willing to help the Israelites and even begged them to spare her and her extended family when the Israelites came into Jericho (see Josh. 2:11–13
NLT
). She had no doubt that the same Lord Who had opened the Red Sea and defeated the two Amorite kings for them would also give them the land of Jericho. Rahab must have grown up hearing about how the Lord had dried up the Red Sea for the Israelites, and she’d believed then in the Lord, that He was surely the supreme God of heaven and earth. So if you think about it, as in the case of Abraham, there must have been a good many years between her believing God and her good work!

One last thought for those who love pointing to the two examples of good works that James gives: if you consider the acts that “justified” both Abraham and Rahab—attempted murder and lying, respectively—these are hardly moral acts or good examples of obeying the law. Clearly James was not talking about our justification before God, or the basis of our receiving blessings from Him.

Many of us, despite our best intentions, have made mistakes and bad decisions. And despite our failures, God in His grace continues to be patient with us.

There’s a beautiful Scripture that says, “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench” (Matt. 12:20). Reeds can be made into flutes that produce beautiful tunes. Flax is used as wicks in lamps. My friend, when you’ve lost your song, when the fire in you is dying, God is not going to break you or snuff you out and
throw you aside. No, He will not give up on you. He will love you back into wholeness so that there is a song in your heart once more. He will reignite your passion to live for Him and His glory as you see His love for you.

You will also find, like so many of the precious folks who write to my ministry, that when you know and believe you are justified by faith, it is a matter of time before you produce good works and live a life that glorifies Him. Just let your roots go deep into the healthy ground of His grace and stay in the bright sunshine of His love, and His glorious presence in your life will be evident to all!

F
ear is a destructive bondage. Fear paralyzes you and prevents you from fulfilling the amazing destiny that God has for you. Fear makes you feel inadequate and insecure, and comes with unhealthy side effects ranging from panic attacks to sleep disorders. Fear is irrational. Fear is a spiritual condition, which is why you can’t reason fear away. You can’t simply tell someone who is struggling with fear and gripped by panic attacks to just stop being fearful. A spiritual condition cannot be remedied naturally. Fear can be eradicated only by a personal encounter with the person of Jesus. The Word of God tells us, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment” (1 John 4:18).

Beloved, if what I just described about fear is all too familiar to you, I want you to know that it is not your heavenly Father’s heart for you to live tormented by fear. There is no fear in God’s love. His perfect love drives out all fears.

I don’t know if you have ever experienced God’s love, but my desire is that TODAY you will catch a revelation of His love for you in a deep and personal way. And as His love floods your heart, I pray that every fear that has you bound will forever be cast out of your life.

John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Oh, how clearly this verse proclaims that God SO loves you. And if you only knew how much He esteems and treasures His beloved Son, you would catch a glimpse of how much He loves you, because He gave up His Son for you. That is why I preach and write about the gospel of grace. The gospel of grace is all about unveiling God’s perfect love—a love whose length and depth and height were demonstrated at the cross. A love that gave up the Son of God as a sacrifice. A love that bore your sins and mine, so that we can receive His everlasting life and live free of any bondage.

How we see God is important, because a faulty perception of God can result in a lifetime of fear and bondage. Too many people have a wrong impression of God, because for generations people have portrayed Him as demanding and easily provoked to anger. They have made Him appear hard, angry, unfeeling, and condemning, just waiting for man to trip up. These portrayals of God cause many sincere people to have an unhealthy fear of God. And when they believe that God is against them and out to punish them, they find it impossible to break out of their sins, addictions, anxieties, and fears.

My friend, if you’ve been shown a God of judgment and anger all your life, let the Scriptures reveal to you His true nature:

This is our God! Our God is love! He is slow to anger, gracious, and patient. He is full of forgiveness, lovingkindness, and tender mercies. This is the very opposite of how the world (and even Hollywood movies) likes to portray God. Thank God we can go to the Holy Word for the truth!

If you want to further understand the true nature of God, just look at Jesus. He said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father…. The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:9–10). Have you ever seen Jesus provoked and angry with sinners? Was He ever mad at the prostitutes or tax collectors? Did He berate the woman at the well who
had five husbands, or the woman who was caught in adultery? Now, He was at times angry with the self-righteous, hardhearted, grace-resisting scribes and Pharisees, but He was always kind and loving toward the sinners and outcasts of society. That’s the nature of your heavenly Father!

Jesus demonstrated such graciousness that His haters sarcastically labeled Him “a friend of sinners” to cast aspersions on His integrity (see Matt. 11:19). The same type of accusation is hurled against my ministry today when I preach about God’s grace and His fatherly heart of love. People call me all kinds of horrible names. I have been accused of condoning sin, giving people a license to sin, and even giving people an excuse to leave their wives to marry their secretaries! This cannot be further from the truth. If you have been reading this book and my other books, you know my position on sin. Sin brings destructive consequences and I am 100 percent against sin. But carrying the heart of our Lord Jesus, I love the sinner and I love every believer even if they are struggling with sin.

Those who hated Jesus called Him a friend of sinners. But what was intended to be a derogatory label is really a beautiful picture of His grace. Grace doesn’t shun the sinner; grace
pursues
the sinner. Grace doesn’t picket against those who fall short; grace embraces them into wholeness and brings about real inward transformation for them. Grace does not condemn those struggling against sin; grace produces holiness in them.

Like my Lord Jesus, I want to be known as a friend of sinners. Sinners found only despair, judgment, and condemnation in the law, but they found hope, joy, and liberty in Jesus. He showed them His grace and His grace transformed them from living a life of sin to living a life of holiness. He never condoned their sins. A thousand times no. How could He, when He gave His life to save them from their sins!

We see an example of our Lord’s love for sinners when He befriended the corrupt tax collector Zacchaeus. He invited Himself over to Zacchaeus’s home, loved him, and showed him grace. Before the night was over, Zacchaeus stood in the presence of all his dinner guests and said to Jesus, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold” (Luke 19:8). That’s the power of grace! Grace changes people’s lives from the inside out. Jesus gave Zacchaeus no commandments, no condemnation, no laws… just grace, grace, and more grace. And Zacchaeus’s heart was forever transformed. Grace produces true holiness.

In the chapter before this story, we read about a rich young ruler who came to Jesus saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life?” (Luke 18:18). Now listen closely to how Jesus replied: “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God” (Luke 18:19). Jesus knew that this rich young ruler didn’t see Him as God but only as a “teacher.” Isn’t that still true of the world we live in today? There are many people who see Jesus as a great man, a great philosopher, and a great historical figure, but they don’t see Him as their Lord and Savior.

Unfortunately, there are also believers who are saved, washed by the blood of Jesus, and made righteous by faith, but who now relate to Jesus only as a teacher and not their Savior. They believe that after they have been saved by grace, they are to be justified by their works through their keeping of the Ten Commandments. They forget that how God makes us right in His sight is “accomplished from start to finish by faith” (Rom. 1:17
NLT
).

When we were born again in Christ, we were justified by faith. Until the day we see Jesus, we will continue to be justified by faith and not our works. Our justification is from faith to faith, not faith to works. The good news is that those who are justified by faith will produce good works and bear fruits of holiness. And not only will you find them obeying God’s commandments unconsciously, but you will also find them exceeding outward fulfillment with inward motivation!

However, for those who, like the rich young ruler, think that they can be justified by works and do something to inherit eternal life, our Lord Jesus will point them back to the law to bring them to the end of themselves. Jesus said to the rich young ruler, “You know the
commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” The young ruler (perhaps with a smirk) replied, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” On hearing this, Jesus said, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” When the rich young ruler heard this, he walked away sorrowful (see Luke 18:20–23).

When you come to the Lord to be justified by your works, He will point you to the law! No matter how perfectly you think you have kept the Ten Commandments, like the young ruler, you will be found lacking in one thing. For the young ruler, it was in the area of money. The very first commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exod. 20:3). Yet money was his god—he walked away sorrowful when the Lord asked him to sell all that he had.

Beloved, no man can meet the demands of the law and be justified. We can be justified only by faith in the blood of the Lamb. If you are not anchored in this truth and if your conscience is not washed by the Lamb’s blood, you will always be fearful.