Grace Revolution: Experience the Power to Live Above Defeat (4 page)

If repentance is returning to God’s grace, how can grace be a license or excuse to sin, as some claim? Grace is the power of God to overcome every sin. But if anyone who is living in sin claims that he is under grace, let me be the first to tell you that this person is not living under grace. The authority of God’s Word proclaims that “sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). No one can use God’s grace to justify his or her sin! It is contrary to God’s Word and contrary to the gospel of grace. True grace swallows up the destructive power of sin.

Some people have been using the word
grace
freely. They call themselves grace preachers, grace ministries, or grace churches. But I encourage you to be discerning and to test everything you hear. Just because they use the word
grace
in their teachings doesn’t mean they are accurately or truly representing the gospel of grace. Test everything! Be sure that their position against sin is clear.

Sin is destructive and brings with it a whole host of damaging consequences. The consequence of committing a sin is not God’s judgment or punishment, any more than placing your hand in the fire and getting burned is a punishment from God. The destructive and painful effects of your hand being burned aren’t from God. They are a consequence you face for using your free choice destructively. In the same way, if someone is deliberately dabbling in sin and living a sinful lifestyle, they will be burned by the destructive consequences that come with sin.

The only way to help precious people overcome the power of sin is to preach them into God’s amazing grace. Some ministers think that when there is sin, they need to preach stronger, harder, and harsher sermons on the law of Moses. I believe with all my heart that they are sincere. But the Word of God tells us that “the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56). Preaching more of the law is like adding more fuel to the fire. People don’t get liberated and transformed when we beat them down with the law of Moses. They get liberated and transformed when they encounter the love of their Savior!

I believe that truly born-again believers are not looking for an excuse to sin. How can they, if they have been impacted by Jesus’ love and sacrifice? I believe that they are looking for a way out of sin
and out of the prison of fear, guilt, and condemnation. And the more strongly I preach God’s amazing grace and unconditional love, the more my ministry office receives testimony after testimony from people who have been set free from all kinds of sins and addictions.

These accounts tell us that God’s people don’t want to sin and are overcoming sin by turning to the cross and returning to grace. We receive testimonies from people who have been liberated from pornography, alcoholism, drugs, and sexual immorality. Now
that’s
the power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Sin no longer dominates people and true repentance occurs when the gospel of grace is preached!

We have looked at the Hebrew word for repentance. Now let’s look at the Greek word for repentance—
metanoia
.
Meta
means “change,” while
noia
is from the word
nous
, which means “mind.” So
metanoia
or repentance means “a change of mind.”
⁵
Why is changing your mind important? Simply because right believing always leads to right living.

When you believe right about God’s grace, about your righteousness in Christ, and how you are called to be set apart for holiness, everything changes! His love touches you in the deepest recesses of your heart and you begin to experience transformation from the inside out. That’s the grace revolution in action. You begin to live above defeat and experience lasting breakthroughs because the power to fight off any temptation is not from without, but from within. It is not contingent upon your willpower; it is contingent upon the power of the Holy Spirit living mightily and actively in you, bearing witness to the gospel truths you believe.

Let me share with you a precious testimony I received from Robert, which bears out this point poignantly:

Robert, thank you for sharing your story and encouraging so many who are searching for the key to lasting victory!

My dear reader, no matter how long you may have struggled with a bad habit, I want you to know it is never too late to invite our Lord Jesus and His grace into your situation. It is never too late to return to His grace, the only power that can give you permanent inside-out transformation.

Perhaps you too have been trying to quit whatever has you in bondage but still find yourself unable to truly break free. I want you to pay
attention to how Robert found freedom and the power to stay on an
upward cycle of victory
. Notice how Robert said that in his desire to quit his addiction, he had “fought and fought” only to have to “quit and quit, over and over again.” Despite publicly committing to “cast off” his addiction before his congregation, he was back at it within a week. Robert, like many sincere believers, had gone down the “feel remorse and repent” route numerous times and still not found the victory he needed.

But real change for Robert happened when he discovered the truth of God’s grace, what the Lord Jesus has done for him on the cross, and how God still loves him and would help him despite his failings. And as he began to
focus
on these truths and
return
to these truths of God’s grace every time he felt an urge to return to his habit, he began to experience victory over his addiction.

This is what believing right—true repentance—did for Robert. It didn’t give him an excuse to continue in his sin or take sin lightly. No, it made him an overcomer. It made him a testimony of God’s amazing grace at work in the life of someone who chose to depend on that grace. Notice that the right living Robert wanted to experience became a reality not when he was trying to make it happen on his own, but when he discovered and then kept returning to grace whenever he was weak. This, dear reader, is the key to overcoming sin and every bondage in your life.

Today, if you’ve been trying to quit a habit, I encourage you to return to the truth of God’s grace—that what our Lord Jesus has done for you at the cross is so much greater than all your failings. That because of His perfect, finished work, you are still deeply loved, highly favored, and greatly blessed. When you let such a revelation of God’s grace wash over your heart again and again, you can’t help but deeply appreciate what the Lord has done for you and how His grace
has set you apart to shine for His glory. You won’t want to continue in sin. Instead you will find every sinful urge gradually leave until they all leave for good. You will embark on an upward cycle of lasting transformation!

My wife Wendy and I have met so many women—wives and mothers—who’ve come to us and shared how right believing in God’s amazing grace has set them free of daily struggles in their relationships with their spouses and children. They told us how entrenched mind-sets that used to trip them up and bring tension into their family life just began to inexorably dissolve when they let the grace of God wash over them and began to believe in His goodness. Things they had tried for years to change on their own, like an explosive temper or perpetual anxiety over their performance as a parent, just disappeared effortlessly. Many also expressed how, as they tasted and rested in their heavenly Father’s love for them, the guilt and frustration that came with the stress of daily parenting simply gave way to peace, to a permanent sense of God’s joy, and subsequently to healthier relationships with their husbands and children.

My dear reader, whether you’re trying to quit an addiction or want to be a more loving and forgiving spouse or parent, your answer is found in the person of grace and in returning to His grace every time you feel weak or fail. That’s what true repentance is all about. When you’ve made a mistake, remember and receive afresh the forgiveness and righteousness that Jesus has provided for you at the cross. Believe He is still with you, loving you, and working
in you to walk in His victorious and abundant life. This is how you practice returning to His grace. The Lord’s amazing grace will bring deliverance, a fresh start, and new ways of living and loving that will radically transform your life, your marriage, and your parenting for His glory.

T
rembling at the thought of discovery, the man with leprosy crouched beneath a stone slab—one of the many that dotted the slopes of the picturesque hills that framed the Sea of Galilee. He had come to see the man they called Jesus, Who he had heard was a healer. The man’s name had been on everyone’s lips, and how He traveled with His band of disciples, teaching in synagogues and open spaces, was well known.

But mostly the people had talked about how Jesus healed—how everyone who had gone to Him for healing, whether from the Decapolis, Galilee, Jerusalem, or east of the Jordan River, received their healing. He turned none away. Whatever their conditions—fevers, paralyses, deaf ears, or demonic oppression—He healed them all.

All
. That little word gave him hope that perhaps even he might be
made whole. And so he had listened for where he might find Jesus. And that was how he had heard that Jesus was heading to the hills surrounding the Sea of Galilee.

By the time this man reached the hills, a large multitude had gathered on the slopes to listen to Jesus teach. Desperate to be healed of his terrible condition, yet terrified of being seen and stoned by the crowds, he had decided to hide himself.

This poor diseased man couldn’t see Jesus from where he was hiding in fear, a safe distance from the crowds. But because of the unique acoustics of the hills, he could hear every word that Jesus was speaking to the multitudes:

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?” (Matt. 6:25–26
NLT
).

He listened attentively—the timbre of Jesus’ voice and every word He spoke carried an immeasurable depth of understanding and empathy for his everyday fears. Embers of hope that he had thought long dead suddenly flared to life, fanned by the authority of Jesus’ words. Whereas he had initially trembled from fear of being exposed, now he began trembling with a different emotion that made him listen even more fervently to Jesus’ next words:

“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet
Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you” (Matt. 6:28–30
NLT
).

As the meaning of Jesus’ words sank in, the man with leprosy began to weep. For the first time in years, he wondered,
Is this possible? That God wants to be a Father to me? A heavenly Father Who would clothe me much better than the lilies, which are better clothed than Solomon in all his glory—if I put my trust in Him? Is it possible that God is reaching out to me with kindness, acceptance, and love, and inviting me to taste and receive His goodness?
After all the years of being rejected and living as an outcast, something deep within his heart broke at these new thoughts and brought on a fresh flood of tears.

Galvanized by the unmistakable compassion in Jesus’ voice that caused hope to race along every still-intact nerve in his body, the man crawled out of his makeshift shelter the moment Jesus finished speaking. All thoughts of staying hidden were gone. All he wanted to do was to go to Jesus and ask Him to take his disease away.

As he began to make his way to Jesus, he heard footfalls and movement just ahead of where he was. There, coming down the hill, a man walking slightly ahead of a few others caught his eye. He realized it was Jesus, coming straight toward him. Instead of having gone straight down to the crowds after preaching to them, the Lord had turned another way to go toward the lone, afflicted man, as if He already knew all about the man’s need and where he was. Unable to hold back his feelings, the man fell at Jesus’ feet and worshiped Him.

In a voice still choked with tears, he whispered, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Without hesitation, as if that was exactly why He was there, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am
willing,” He said, with the same compassion and warmth the man had heard earlier in His voice. “Be cleansed” (see Matt. 8:2–3).

As he felt the touch of Jesus’ warm hands, the man closed his eyes involuntarily and his body shuddered under that touch. It had been
so
long since he had felt the touch of another human being, let alone a warm and loving touch. Then he opened his eyes to look at Jesus, and found Him smiling at him with love in His eyes. Sensing that something was different about his body, the man looked down at his hands, which a moment ago had been covered with open sores and had ended in stubs for fingers. His eyes beheld healthy hands with fingers fully formed and skin completely whole. Like one in a dream, he began lifting the sleeves and hem of his robe and watched in amazement as the cloth rolled upward to reveal smooth, unblemished skin covering his arms, legs, and feet. He was cleansed! The power of Jesus had, in an instant, swallowed up his uncleanness.

He looked up into the face of the One Who had made him whole, overcome with gratitude. Even as he turned to go, the man knew he would never forget the compassion and encouragement he had seen in our Lord Jesus’ face, nor His warm and affirming touch.

He has not just healed and cleansed me
, the elated man thought as he walked away in wonder.
He has given me back my life!