Grace Plus Nothing

Chapter 1 – Our Righteousness Can’t Do It

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

How do I move this from my mouth and head to my heart?

This statement says it all – anything other than Jesus’ righteousness is “less”, making it ineffective. I am making no progress if I try to do things in my own righteousness.

All of us are motivated by what we see as success.

In Christianity success is completely opposite of what it is in the world. In the world, success comes from our own accomplishments. All the praise belongs to and goes to us. Perhaps that’s why we love our own successes so much…

But in Jesus Christ our failure means our true success – eternal success. I go back to my post on Why We Fail. We want to know that our lives count – that what we do in life matters to someone.

Without everything being filtered through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ – through His righteousness lived through us – we will have NO SUCCESS.

Our lives only matter to the degree we hide ourselves in Him.

We hide – He shines.

We are unknown – He is known.

We are less – He is more.

Romans 3:21-24 Apart from the law… our righteousness comes by our faith in Jesus Christ… our faith in Jesus Christ is a gift to us from Him…

Romans 5:1 We only have peace with God when we accept His gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ.

Do you lack peace?

Chapter 2 – Imprisoned For Mercy

Our Savior didn’t create this prison of sin out of spite. He created the sin prison so that He could show us mercy. He WANTS to show us mercy!

We are trapped by sin and death, and our only “door” out is to accept the gift of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That gift is accepted by a faith that He gives us.

We are being hemmed in, boxed in, unable to escape sin and death. Our only “escape” is Jesus Christ. There is no other way to get out of this feeling on guilt and condemnation. If we want freedom of heart and mind, we must allow Jesus Christ ALL credit for what is done in our lives. WE HAVE DONE NOTHING. We can do nothing – EVER! Nothing that we try will ever, ever, ever “work” to free us from this guilty feeling.

If works righteousness is dead, DEAD… we are wasting our time trying to be righteous. We are getting NOWHERE. We are chasing a path that will not matter – a life that will not matter. Again, do you want your life to matter? Then EVERYTHING must come through Jesus Christ. Nothing that I’ve done will remain – only what I do in Him. The things I do are wood, hay, and stubble and will be burned in the end. The things HE does through me are gold and precious metals. Those are the things that will be reward to me – the things HE has done through me.

How can sin still have power over me if Jesus has defeated sin and death? Sin will only have power over me as I try to live in my own righteousness. Righteousness by works cannot eliminate sin, because it is human based. Sin is eliminated only through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. If I want to walk free from sin, I must walk in His righteousness and not my own. This “works” because He was without sin – sin does not affect Him. Only when I am hidden in Him will I be “unaffected” by sin.

Chapter 3 – Imputed Righteousness

Romans 4:1-5 We do not work to gain righteousness. We must believe in Him to gain righteousness.

This takes all the pressure off us to perform. Again, all we have to do is hide ourselves in Him – hide our lives in Him. That’s it! How hard can that be – to hide under the shadow of the Almighty One! If I will but hide myself in Him, I will have what I need – peace, faith, righteousness – everything.

God made a promise to Abraham, and all Abraham had to “do” was believe. That’s it – just believe.

This must be why doubt and unbelief are so crippling in a believer’s life! Faith is the foundational element to “success” in our lives. That must be why the devil tries so hard to get us to doubt God – to doubt His word – to doubt His finished word – to try to do things on our own. If we doubt and do things on our own – our lives do not matter. We are failing. And we do not want to fail!

“The Lord has promised right standing (righteousness) before him to anyone who will put his faith in the finished work of Christ for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Therefore, like Abraham, when we simply believe this promise of God, the Lord reckons righteousness to us.”

Faith is key! Belief is key!

Romans 5:17 Much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

SUCCESS! This is the path to my life making a difference. The path is THROUGH Jesus Christ!

Why We Fail

Everyone is afraid of failure. I mean really afraid. It’s probably one of our biggest fears (along with the fear of being rejected).

I mean, think about it, we live our everyday lives wanting to make a difference. No one wants to walk through life just marking time. Even the lost man wants to know that his life has mattered. We want to be remembered for the things we did to impact society.

But what types of things matter? What types of deeds and actions will make that longed for impact?

From a Christian perspective, only things that are eternal really matter. And what things are those? Those are the “things” that Jesus died for.

Jesus’ life mattered. He knew His call. He knew His mission. He knew that He was called to die so that we in generations following would be able to live; to truly LIVE.

Temporary life?

No, eternal life.

Life here on earth?

No, life with Jesus Christ; both here and after our earthly death.

Jesus’ life mattered.

How can we make our lives matter when comparing them to the life of Jesus?

There is really only one way.

We must, MUST, impact the lives of those around us for the Kingdom of God.

WE MUST.

But we within ourselves can impact no one.

Without the life of Jesus Christ being lived in and through us, our lives will not “matter”. What we do will not “remain”.

My son, My son, why are you striving You can't add one thing to what's been done for you I did it all while I was dying Rest in your faith, my peace will come to you For when I hear the praises start I want to rain upon you Blessings that will fill your heart I see no stain upon you Because you are my child and you know me To Me you're only holy Nothing that you've done remains Only what you do for Me My child, My child, why are you weeping You will not have to wait forever That day and that hour is in My keeping The day I'll bring you into Heaven For when I hear the praises start My child, I want to rain upon you Blessing that will fill your heart I see no stain upon you Because you are My child and you know me To me you're only holy Nothing that you've done remains Only what you do in Me My precious bride, the day is nearing When I'll take you in My arms and hold you I know there are so many things that you've been hearing But you just hold on to what I have told you For when I hear the praises start My bride, I want to rain upon you Blessings that will fill your heart I see no stain upon you Because you are My child, and you know Me To me you're only holy Nothing that you've done will remain Only what you do for me Keith Green, “When I Hear The Praises Start”

Do You Hear the Sound?

I am hearing a sound in the Spirit

The sound is the sound of faith rising up among the believers

It is the sound of those who know that Jesus Christ is Lord of all

It is a hopeful sound

It is a sound that says a time of great miracles and harvest is coming

There are souls waiting to be born again

I love that term - born again

It is a term that I don't hear as often as I once did

But that is what we hope for in those we love - new birth in Jesus Christ

I've been re-reading a book - No Compromise by Melody Green

It is the life story of her late husband, Keith Green

I have cried, I have longed...

The cry of my heart has been awakened once again

SALVATION

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'

The wind blows wherever it pleases.

You here its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Lord, I long to see salvation in this world

Bring life to those who are in darkness...