7 19 09 HT Going Grace Series III – The Boundaries of Grace
Going Grace Series III – The Boundaries of Grace
7 19 09 HT AM
Ephesians 2:4-10 NKJV
A few weeks ago we began our Going Grace series, today we close it out with a practical look at applying grace in our daily situations and relationships.
Going Grace is NOT the dying words of a doormat, but rather words of strength and purpose for dealing with challenging people in your life.
Quick review, we have talked about;
1. Accepting Gods Grace
2. Extending Gods Grace
3. Boundaries of Grace
Ephesians 2:4 NKJV
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
Ephesians 2:5
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Ephesians 2:6
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 2:7
that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Ephesians 2:9
not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Grace is unlimited and free in Christ, grace is ultimately something God gives us freely that we extend to others.
The application of grace in our human relationships seemingly has two extremes –
Grace Extremes
1. Grace excluded
2. Grace exploited
God’s is our model of Grace and promises to make this free gift always available – however grace has never been or will never be an endless credit on sin and or wrong behavior.
Your Application of Going Grace –
1. U- turn from sin-
Romans 6:1 NKJV
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Romans 6:2
Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
The message of Grace is not an endorsement to stay the same, but a challenge to go to another level of living in your life.
Romans 2:4 NKJV
Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Second Chances do not encourage folly, but to empower your future. The message of Grace is a motivation to live higher.
2. U-turns allowed –
John 6:37 NKJV
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
You can turn around with confidence. Any life at any time may turn back toward Christ with the confidence that they will NOT be rejected or restricted…
The Bible presents unlimited examples of U-Turns made possible – Biblical U-Turns
· The Children of Israel
· The OT Story of Nineveh / The Prophet Jonah.
Nineveh – in this story we have a city that must turn and a prophet who will not obey.
God observed the wickedness of Ninevah and asked His prophet to go and alert them to repentance. Jonah did NOT want to do it, he did NOT want to see them turn, so he ran from the will/ instruction of God. A great storm arouse while he was sailing, the sailors dumped him trying to save themselves, rather than being swallowed by the sea, God created a fish to swallow Jonah, to preserve him until he would repent for his own stubbornness. We know that later while in the stomach of the fish, Jonah repented and the fish was relieved. We see our first account of prophetic reflux J Story summary – Jonah finally responds and goes, Nineveh repents and turns, both Nineveh and the prophet received grace..
I want to take us to a more applicable level of Going Grace, the human-to-human application. Here things can become a bit stickier. Here are struggles mount up.
Others Application of Grace ( Boundaries of Grace)
Today it seems that many people live daily at the expenses or exploitation of another. In attempting to be graceful they find themselves taken, run over, embarrassed and used as another spirals out of control. When is enough, enough, when can you say no more, when is the right time like God in Eden with the “Adam Family” to kick out, and lock out?
Luke 15/ Three Parables; lost sheep, lost coin and a lost son. In the first two parables you see the clear relentless pursuit of something valued lost and passionately pursued by the owner/shepherd. The third parable we have a lost son, a son who willfully rejected his family and his God, insulted his father and other blood kin, a story that reflects many scenerio parallels today. I believe this chapter gives us the balance of the Boundaries of Grace.
Luke 15:11 NKJV
Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.
Luke 15:12
And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.
Luke 15:13
And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
The Boundaries of Grace are placed on you the person giving it, not on the person needing it. A boundary is defined by something that keeps things out and keeps things in. Like a fence around your yard, it declares territory & expectation.
Three Boundaries of Grace
1. Grace stays out of the mess
Luke 15:17 NKJV
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luke 15:18
I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
Notice you do not see the father sitting next to the son in the pig pin/ mess of his life!
· Grace is about staying in the right position
2. Grace stays optimistic of their return
Luke 15:20 NKJV
“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
Luke 15:21
And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
Luke 15:22
“But the father said to his servants, ◙ ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
Luke 15:23
And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;
Luke 15:24
for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
· Grace is about keeping your heart pure
3. Grace stays open to the person
Luke 15:31 NKJV
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
Luke 15:32
It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”
Contrast here the father and the elder brother
· Grace is about seeing the big picture
Romans 5:6 NKJV
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:7
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Your life today, do you need boundaries in Grace?