grace, part one

here's another handout in two parts from the files. i needed to re-read this one myself yesterday as i was being hard on myself for so many things. it doesn't get any better than "preach the gospel to yourself every day."

THE GOSPEL OF GRACE  

For my husband’s 40^th birthday (March 1994) I surprised him with a trip to Dallas, Texas for a conference on grace! People really knew what a weird couple we were by this manner of celebration and teased me, saying “What? Don’t you think he’d like a golfing trip or something other than a bible conference?”  I replied “Absolutely not!  He’ll love it!” And so he did.  It was a wonderful, memorable weekend.  We heard R. C. Sproul, Ravi Zacharias, Kay Arthur and Jerry Bridges. There were probably others, my memory fails me.

What we do distinctly remember is being encouraged by Jerry Bridges to “preach the gospel to ourselves every day.”  (He has written The Pursuit of Holiness, Transforming Grace,  The Discipline of Grace, among other books.) In the forward of The Discipline of Grace Bridges credits Dr. Jack Miller “from whom I acquired the expression ‘Preach the gospel to yourself every day.’”  At the conference, Bridges explained that though most Christians believe that they are saved by grace not by good works, after salvation they treat themselves and each other like they are back under the law.   He said we tend to 1) evaluate our own Christian life by works, 2) evaluate others’ lives on this basis as well, and 3) most significantly, we still believe and act as if God evaluates us on the basis of keeping the law, following a list of do’s and don’ts, and doing lots of good works while we’re at it.  Bridges pointed out the unbiblical-ness in this way of thinking and relating to self, others, and God.

We know we aren’t good enough to attain salvation but then we try to act as if we are good enough to please Him on a daily basis as we go throughout life.  Here’s a bit more of what Bridges says about this in The Discipline of Grace.  “Only perfect obedience is acceptable to God…Yet the average person walking around today, if he or she has thought about it at all, is confident God will accept him or her because he or she is generally a decent sort of person. As Christians, we know better.  We readily acknowledge that we can never through our own obedience attain a righteousness that is sufficient for salvation.  But then as believers we act as if we can live lives acceptable to God”  (p. 48).  “It is important to realize that our Lord Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the law of God, both in its requirements and its penalty.  He did what Adam failed to do – render perfect obedience to the law of God.  Then by His death He completely paid the penalty of a broken law.  So from the standpoint of obedience to the law and of paying the penalty for breaking the law, He perfectly fulfilled the law of God” (p. 49).

Of course, good works and obedient living are important for our daily lives.  But, says Bridges (p. 46), “we must pursue holiness or any other aspect of discipleship, in the atmosphere of the gospel.”  Martin Luther said  “God doesn’t need your good works, but your neighbor does.”  Living by biblical principles is imperative. In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul tells us: “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.”  James says “faith, if it has no works is dead, being by itself” (James 2:17.) And Paul warns us that just because grace abounds, we do not need to take advantage of it by sinning all the more.  Romans 6:15:  “What then?  Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?  May it never be!”

There was another very memorable moment at this conference on grace.   R.C. Sproul stood up in front of the packed auditorium and began his talk with the following statement and then an immediate pregnant pause:  “We are saved by works.”  There was a noticeable hush with a few spontaneous gasps rippling throughout the crowd as people responded to Sproul’s statement.  Then he said something like “The perfect works and life of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Righteousness is required for salvation  - His righteousness on our behalf.  The perfect, righteousness requirements of the law were met in Christ.”