Today is part 3 of 3 of Walkking by Grace

Where does your faith come from? (Walking by grace part 3 of 3)

The grace and faith to both believe and to live or walk daily in the Christian life come from Jesus! “Looking unto Jesus the author, or founder and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). Faith is a perfect gift that is incorruptible and that allows us to believe unto righteousness. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). What is “it”? ‘It’ is faith that is given to us by the grace of God so that when God draws us we can believe. “No man can come to me, except the Father who has sent me draws him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44)

When we believed unto righteousness, “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10),  we receive the benefit of Jesus completed work. Jesus took our sin on Himself on the cross and paid for it in full and when we believe we are given His righteousness. “For what says the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3). You are now perfect, not in your behavior, but in your relationship to God and your eternal condition is sealed at that moment. You are raised up with Christ, being in Him, and already seated in Him in Heaven. “And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).

We have His righteousness; His perfection and will one day at death or the rapture enter fully into glorification and Heaven. If we were not already made perfect as far as sin is concerned, we could not enter Heaven. “and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life” (Revelation 21:27).

However, we are definitely not perfect in our day to day behavior and that is where the Sanctification part, the day to day growing and being set apart into God and the daily changing and growth spiritually happens as long as we are alive on this planet. We are daily being perfected by Jesus the “author and finisher” of our faith as we learn to walk in the Spirit, to walk by grace. We are filled and overflowing with the Holy Spirit; “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled (under the influence and control of) with the Spirit,” (Ephesians 5:18).

This is grace, not keeping rules, not ignoring the Law, not trying to do your best, but in freedom seeing how truly disgusting a sinner incapable of keeping even a part of the Law you are; realizing you are not capable of doing anything to get God to love you more or any less than He does. So, in love with a grateful heart, you obey Him because you now can; then He can and will use you and work in and through you. You join with Him in doing the works He has prepared already for you to walk in (Eph 2:10). God did not give you a dead faith but a living faith that produces good deeds. Learn to trust Him no matter what the circumstances because you know Him and have and are experiencing His love. True grace does not lead to more sin but the freedom to obey. You can after your “wanter” is changed “do anything I want” because your “anything” is now God’s will being done in and through your life. It is “no longer I, but Christ who lives in me” and the life that you live now in Grace, “you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you” instead of burying yourself under rules.

Live by faith, experiencing God working in your life, changing you and through you serving others; all with no pressure to produce or perform since it is God’s power and since the results are up to Him. God is in control! You are by faith obeying in love and serving with joy as a true disciple of Jesus and can disciple others.

Jesus has taken care of sin, secured your here and now, and secured your future so you are free to obey with no concern for the results. If you ‘die to self’ and allow Him to live through you that puts the responsibility for getting up and obeying on you, but all the responsibility for the results is on God. This understanding frees you from the exhaustion, fretting, trying to control things and people, and other things that cause burn out in the Christians who hold on to the performance state of mind – the “do it for God”. Learn and practice walking full of joy and peace in the works that God has prepared for you. It takes a choice and practice and help from others and study, but the result is worth the effort. Remember Paul comparing it to an athlete being in training so choose to let God ‘train’ you.

“Serve the Lord with Gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.” Psalm 100:2
Enjoy your time now with God and prepare for our time with Him in the New Heaven & the New Earth as God lives with us forever. (2 Peter 3:13)
Quit living exhausted, but instead learn to live in loving obedience!
Quit fretting about the results and trust God to do His part!
Love Jesus and you will obey (your part) and leave the rest up to God and trust Him no matter the circumstances or results. Trust Him enough to “in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Walk the same way you were saved – by Grace thru Faith; “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6).