Ah! Grace! by Keith Green March, 1979 Here I am, someone who is not known for his emphasis upon this worthy subject, feeling led of Jesus to write on the most important gift of God: Grace… without which, no man shall stand before the throne of God justified (righteous). Our beloved brother Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by Grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourself, it is a Gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The reason Jesus has been emphasizing Grace in my life lately, is because He has been showing me how I look to Him, in the light of His Holiness! Completely ugly!! Full of spots and stains and faults! Oh, it’s true, I am “seated in the heavenliness with Christ” and all my sins are washed away. But there’s still a daily process of proving this to the world (and to myself), by living the life of a Christ-like believer… by Grace… (of course!) You know, there is such an emphasis on Grace in the Church today, and I’m afraid it’s for the wrong reason. It seems to me that people are talking about the Grace of God so much, because they want to sluff-off in their responsibility to live the Gospel by doing the things that Jesus commands. For we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works… that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10) It is incredible to me how many times I have heard Eph. 2 verses 8 & 9 preached upon and brought out in sermon after sermon… while I can’t remember one sermon on Verse 10! Swirl - yellow greenIt appears that modern-day preachers (and Christians) want the Grace of God “which is freely supplied”, yet they don’t want the responsibility of being a believer… the Cross, the Commandments, the Conditions: “Without Holiness, no man shall see the Lord!” (Hebrews 12:14) Yes, it’s true that Jesus sets us free from the bondage of sin and death, but warns us “only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13) These are the points of the Gospel that I believed the Lord had me bring out to the front in my concerts and in the newsletters, only because I saw this as the "missing part" of the Gospel being preached today. Repentance - On occasion, I have been warned that I am not preaching the “whole Gospel”. Since I sincerely believed that the other parts were being presented everywhere at any given time, I had taken it for granted that most of my hearers and readers had an overbalance of “Grace-teaching”. The Lord sharply rebuked me recently in a way that truly brought His point home. As I said earlier, He showed me myself! The same thing seems to have happened to the prophet Isaiah in Chapter 6, verse 5, when after seeing the Lord, he says, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts!” When Isaiah saw the Lord, he saw himself in the Light of God’s Holiness and cried “Woe is me!” (This is after five chapters full of “Woe is you-s”.) Well, Jesus has opened my eyes too, and I repent of not giving Grace its rightful place in my preaching. Oh, (don’t worry) I won’t stop preaching the things that I feel are being swept under the rug, but I have promised Jesus that I will give Grace (and Mercy, and Love) their rightful place as “the weightier provisions of the Law”. (Matthew 23:23) The Lord has taught me an invaluable lesson… ‘When God tells you to point out the missing part of a whole, don’t throw-out (or neglect) the rest of it, to make your point.’ Hallelujah Lord Jesus!! Thank You for Your wonderful Grace!! “Oh, wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24, 25) I love… because (and only because) of Him… Your brother (because of Grace), Keith Green
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 03:46:47 +0000
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