Living Grace

In his Bible study manual, Living by the Book, Hendricks suggests writing verses in your own words for further cement their meaning into your brains.  This week I am studying and memorizing...

Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Here's my version:

At the moment I placed my trust in Christ, I became a participant in His crucifixion with Him.  Therefore, I no longer strive for righteousness through my works, my puny efforts at pleasing God, but I accept the gift of righteousness offered by God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  Yes, my flesh is still at work, I still sin, but I am able to rest in the grace of God.  I trust that the sacrifice Christ made, the sacrifice that demonstrated His great love for me, is enough. 

"I am God who makes you holy"

Back in January I began reading through The Message/Remix, which is a one-year devotional using the paraphrase of Eugene Peterson.  I made a spiritual goal to actually read through the Bible this year, not just start and then give up around Numbers :)  Today's reading was from Leviticus 21-23 regarding the priests and festivals God ordained for his people.  Over and over again, God reminds the people that He is God and He is holy and He makes them holy.  It is easy to get bogged down in all the laws and regulations in Leviticus.  As a new convent believer, one who is no longer under the law, I begin to ask myself what relevance do all these laws have in my life.  Why read about them, why study them?  Well, I think today I received at least a preliminary answer:  it is impossible to miss the holiness of God as He gives His people His laws.  His standards are so far above ours, His laws barely touch on the holiness actually necessary to be in relationship with Him.  Interestingly, even then, it is God, not the law, which makes the people holy.

Another spiritual goal I have is to memorize scripture, to firmly implant God's Word into my brain.  I am using the Topical Memory System by Navigators.  While memorizing, I will also be practicing Bible study methods from Living by the Book by Howard Hendricks. 

This week I am memorizing 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, new things have come."  I spent the past couple days observing the context (2 Cor 5:14-21) around the verse, trying to glean all the information I could and looking up things I didn't understand using the NET Bible Study online tools.  This is what God taught me:

OLD vs NEW

1. Old Self's relationship to
1. God
1. lives for self (v15)
2. enemy (opposite of v 21)
2. People
1. judges other based on human outward appearance (v16)
2. compelled/controlled by love of self (opposite of v14)
2. New Self's relationship to
1. God
1. lives for Christ (v 15)
2. reconciled to God (v 18)
3. righteousness of God (v 21)
2. People
1. sees others with spiritual eyes, looking beyond outward appearances (v 16)
2. compelled/controlled by the love of Christ (v14)
3. ambassadors/promoters of God's word of reconciliation to the world ( v 18-19)

My application questions for myself today is :  Am I living like my old self, or my new self? The old has passed away, but am I dredging her up?  Do I look at people with spiritual eyes? Or do I see them through merely human eyes?  Do I allow Christ's love, demonstrated through His death, to control me, to motivate me in my relationship with others?  I have been given the ministry/word of reconciliation....am I keeping it to myself, or sharing it with others?  Am I presenting non-believers with the opportunity to be reconciled to God? 

It is God who has made me holy!  Nothing I have ever done, or ever will do can make me holy!  Only through His reconciling, His not counting my sins against me, did I become the righteousness of God.  And yet, I find myself taking pride in this holiness, puffing myself up as though my responding to God's call somehow makes me better than another who has not.  I am smarter, wiser, more "spiritual".  Wow!  My pride is amazing...and I don't mean in the wonderful sense. 

Father, I seek humility.  Press upon me the fullness of Your grace towards me.  Open my eyes to my weaknesses, so that I might realize my utter and complete need for you.  I praise You for Your holiness! Your standards are so high, higher than anything I could attain to.  Thank You for Your grace, Your desire to reconcile the world to Yourself.  May the love Christ showed on the cross control me, may it compel me to act as Your ambassador, to see people with spiritual eyes.