Yesterday we discovered through Mephibosheth’s example how grace, not law, causes us to fall down in surrender before God. As I mentioned yesterday, there are a lot of people who are afraid of grace because they believe that if you embrace grace you will live a life of license, not holiness. The problem is the holiness that the law produces is not true holiness, but a phoniness that is all about outward performance while there is no inner change. True holiness comes from the inside out that flows from love not guilt and fear. Titus tells us that it is grace that teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live righteous lives in this world.Titus 2:11-2 ,”For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, …” You see it is the remarkable, and unconditional love of God that causes us to so love Him back that we want to give Him all that we have in utter abandonment to His will. The law creates outward performance that’s unsustainable, while grace produces inward passion which becomes perpetually holy behavior. The Lord wants an obedience of love, not guilt. Let me give you an example. If you are trying to cook a meal for someone who constantly criticizes, and condemns your every error, it will eventually cause you to just give up because it’s not worth the effort, but what if the one you are cooking for encourages you in all your efforts, and praises you even in your errors. That second person is the one you want to give your all to from a heart of reciprocated affections. The holiness of love and gratitude, or the outward behavior of guilt. When you live under law you try to get away with everything you can without crossing the line. As a matter of fact, you end up usually redefining the lines so you don’t have to call your behavior sin. Under the grace of God, you don’t even want to get close to the lines because you love him so much that you don’t want to get close to hurting His heart.
Have a great day being in love with Jesus.