Product & Process

There have been many times in my life where the concept of accepting who I am has been a struggle.  Sometimes, the problems and struggles I face take my eyes off of the truth that should be the central fact that never leaves my mind.

I have been told by multiple people in my life that know me very, very well and have mentored me over the years that I am the only person they have ever met that has the distinct ability to give grace, but cannot accept grace.

The truth is, well, that it is indeed true.  And that is exactly why I have to try so hard each day to remind myself of what my mother always told me growing up.  It also happens to be the central fact that I was talking about – that because I chose to acknowledge the prevenient Grace I wrote about last week, then the saving and justifying Grace that follows has made me a CHILD OF GOD!

But that is just it – that is what we need to uncover – why the struggle for that happens and what we can do about it.  Thus…

Point One:

            THE PROBLEM

Funny thing, it’s not just a problem – it is the situation we have put ourselves in because of our sinful human nature.  It is found in Romans:

Romans 3:23 

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 

We are all separated from God and nothing that we can do – nothing can be done by our power to make it right.  Because of what we know as “Original Sin” – the fall of man based on the choice made by Adam and Eve – we are doomed.  There is no peace offering to be brought to God to make it all better.  There is no band-aid we can put on a cut and cover it up.

The PROBLEM – we are incapable of saving ourselves.  We are lost.  The only way to survive, to beat this is by accepting what God provides – what He has that He will give to us… 

GRACE

That Grace is what we need in order to find…

Point Two:

            THE SOLUTION 

God must be allowed to come to our rescue.  We are helpless on our own.

Due to God’s love – his desire to complete us – the prevenient Grace that has, does and will exist, once accepted by faith becomes a SAVING a.k.a. JUSTIFYING Grace.  A relational change begins to occur.

The justification process based on faith and the knowledge of prevenient grace leads us to this next step that can make us right with God and become NEW!  Thus the solution – we must become NEW!  Look at 2 Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 5:17 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has
passed away; behold, the new has come.” 

By making this choice – by becoming a new creation in Christ bring an immediate justification or salvation.  But don’t misunderstand.  We may have a problem and we may have found a solution, but the process still remains.  This is not just fire insurance.  The Problem and the Solution are the Product – but any product requires Process in order to be refined and made to work in the way it is intended to.

It’s like the potter and the clay.  The clay is just a lump of nothing that cannot form or function.  But when the potter puts his hands to the clay, that lump of nothing begins to take shape and become something not only beautiful, but USEFUL!  This is our life with Jesus! 

Point Three:

            THE PROCESS

Process requires action – not just the action of God’s pursuit of us, but an action on our part when we choose to accept the knowledge of prevenient grace as a fact!  That action is what we call: 

REPENTANCE

Repentance is our acknowledgement of what we cannot do to save ourselves and that we need something more to rescue us.  It is a product of faith that we had to have in the beginning in order to make the choice we did.

Let me break it down this way:

Faith comes out of the prevenient grace that we acknowledge based on our willingness to repent which is the acceptance of that grace and that allows that faith to be the basis on which our salvation occurs.

Faith the reason for salvation and repentance the reason for faith.

Truthfully, we could say that it is not the saving grace – but SAVING FAITH!

Like I said, this is not just fire insurance.  There are major changes that occur and major choices that continue to be made and those specifics are the final piece – with a process in place it leads to…

Point Four:

            THE RESULTS 

Salvation is so much more than an instant gift – three steps begin to take place:

1. A heart given to Jesus = JUSTIFIED

This first step is to be rejoiced over!  By nothing that we did, only by the grace of God do

we receive justification.  Not us, but God did it – Jesus sacrificed himself for us and simply because we choose to acknowledge that we are justified.  The funny part about that is even we ourselves are not the supplier – like I said, nothing we did – it’s like last week…BUT GOD…

Romans 3:26

“It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he
might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

He did this so that He could be the one who justifies us!  He desired to be the one who allowed the process to take place – for His glory – His justice to be known.

Being justified by God we get the joy of being accepted into the favor of God – not by our works but on the basis of our faith in Jesus, His death and His resurrection.  But then there has to be a result from the pardon we have received…

2. Being born again = Being made new

Being justified is what God has done FOR US but being born again – being made new is

what God does IN US by the Holy Spirit.  This is that part of the solution that we talked about when we looked at what Paul said in 2 Corinthians.

Justification may bring about a change in our relationship with God, but what He does when He makes us new brings about a change in who WE ARE…our NATURE.  This is the CONVERSION – which is THE CHANGE!  I love the words to the song “The Change” by Steven Curtis Chapman:

“What about the change? What about the difference? What about the grace? What about forgiveness? What about the life that’s showing I’m undergoing the change?”

Again, this is not a change that you or I can bring about – it is something inside us – something based on a moral change within the heart that is only brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit working through us!

So we are saved which is our justification – we are born again which makes us a new creation – but the result that follows that is…

3. Adoption by Jesus = Heirs of His Promise

Adoption is our being received into the family of God!  God is now CLAIMING us!!

But it is not just belonging – it gives us back the rights and privileges that were stolen by our life when we lived in sin.

Adoption removes the alienation that we had and puts us back into our place as heirs to the promise of God and the inheritance that we will receive when Christ returns and brings us home to be with Him forever!

ADOPTION is the ultimate result that brings the truth we can accept!

I AM A CHILD OF GOD

So how do we know this truth to be relevant?  How do we know this pursuit – this product results from this process?

Scripture speaks truth – we believe that – so we believe that we know this because of the witness of the Holy Spirit…

Romans 8:16

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

We can also take assurance that this testimony of the Spirit is true based on Paul’s words later in chapter 8 of his letter to the Romans…

Romans 8:35-39

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or
sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the
day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For
I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor
things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We must stand as conquerors.  We can’t just sit around, but we can also be confident that God’s truth through His grace is indeed that – the truth.  He desires us, He pursues us, He has done everything that He can to bring us to Him!

Today and moving forward – don’t question this truth.  If you don’t know and you are questioning – talk with someone, even contact me – let’s look at more of God’s truth in His word.

If you already made the choice – then seek to apply the truth you have already accepted.

And whether you are seeking the choice or have made the choice – don’t leave this truth hanging – don’t live without knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are a CHILD OF GOD!