Lord’s Library contributor Kevin Smith offers a Bible study on resisting God’s grace, with key Scriptures and commentary. Check Kevin out preaching on a similar topic at his local church. Lord’s Library’s Ministry Leaders Series is a collection of contributed articles written by ministry leaders on key Christian topics.
Why do we lose our joy? Does it ever seem like your peace flees from you? Do you feel like your faith vanishes as soon as tribulation comes? It is human to suffer, to feel like you are never good enough. For some, it’s not sorrow that consumes them, but a need to rise and fight. For some people, it’s a melancholy that always comes back.
We all enter times of tribulation. It can happen when we decide to step forward in our service to God or just part of everyday life. The devil attacks us, God may test us. When it comes, it comes quickly. From the first day, it can begin to make our days evaporate. Tribulation makes everything harder. It makes the normal difficult, the joyful things of life sad. It makes the stable, unstable.
The things of God and living for Him become a chore. Everything can change at a moment’s notice, The impact of tribulation on our spiritual lives is tremendous; we begin to doubt, to be afraid, to argue, to fret. Things that were once strong, become weak. We begin to hear old voices and old thoughts. “I’m a broken person, God can’t use me,” “I’m not good enough.” We begin to resist God’s grace. There comes a time when we face a choice; to pray or to quit, to either curse God or cry out, to walk the narrow path or stumble to the broad way.
On Resisting God’s Grace
You don’t have to feel sorrow. See John 16:24: “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” You don’t have to fight on your own. See Exodus 14:14: “The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”
Do you thirst for things that are righteous? See Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Christ Himself thirsted as He was dying for you at Calvary because all righteousness was about to be fulfilled. There is a necessity of works following salvation. I would go as far as to call it a command.
To not thirst for God’s righteousness is to resist His grace. What then of the power of man’s free will to use or resist grace in our lives? Does the Holy Spirit groan inside you? It’s a necessity because grace will have its way either way, but we should choose to use the grace in our lives to stay thirsty for God. If we stay thirsty, we won’t resist God’s grace in our lives.
Don’t Turn Back; to Go Forward
Now read Galatians 4:8-9: “Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?”
See that serving yourself (or preferring the things of the world) after salvation is not what God wants for you. Before Christ, you were a slave to sin and the ways of the world, blind to its control over you. But now, you know Christ, and having known Him you are free. Why would you turn back to the things that didn’t profit you? Or those that kept you from Christ.
Obedience is a Choice
Living in the way of Christ; Christian living, the Mind of Christ: is an act of obedience. This personal choice is for His glory which can only be done because He performed the sacrifice. This sacrifice was so that we can serve Him as the Holy Spirit guides us. True Christian living, in any facet, is not possible unless one is a follower of Christ. His sacrifice made our obedience, thus our service, possible: “Once for all.”, “It is finished.” That’s the difference.
Obedience is greater than sacrifice because God can do more with you (in obedience) than you could ever do on your own. It’s recognizing the power of God in life your life, giving him your whole heart, and letting the Holy Spirit guide your life – then watch Him Go. It’s what the Christian life is all about, a greater experience and mystery than we could ever do on our own.
Don’t resist God’s grace, give him your whole heart, and hold nothing back. Do you know when tribulation begins to improve? When we quit resisting His grace, when we go into a private place of prayer, we weep and call on God for His Mercy. Things will then begin to change, then we need to seek clarity on how to move forward. We receive it when we pray whether it be alone, with friends, corporately at church, or together as husband and wife. Don’t resist the grace that’s in your life.
An old-time evangelist once said: “Once you get the victory, you need to keep victory.” There is no need to have sorrow and no need to fight, no need for your own works because the Lord your God will fight for you. He will strengthen you and He will never leave you.
The Solution
Don’t Resist
See 2 Corinthians 12:9-11: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.”
Be Bold
See Hebrews 4:16: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Have the Mind of Christ
See 1 Corinthians 2:16: “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Wear the Armor of God
See Ephesians 6:10-18: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
Daily Repentance & Confession of Sin
See 1 John 1:9 and James 4:8:
- 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
- James 4:8: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
Be in Him
See 2 Timothy 2:1-2: “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
Christ is in You
See Colossians 1:27: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”
Seek Those Things That are Higher, Nobler
See Colossians 3.
Stay Thirsty
See Isaiah 44:3: “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:”
Follow the Pattern
See 1 Chronicles 28:12: “And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things:”
We should strive not to resist the grace of God in our lives; especially from those who care enough to tell us the truth, our spouses, our pastors, etc. Knowing that all things have been accomplished, do you resist His grace in your life? The war we fight inside ourselves is the war of religion versus Grace. It’s the war of the self vs. selflessness. Your mind is the battleground. We are to serve Christ, we are to preach Christ; crucified and risen from the grave. Why would you continue to follow the things that put him on the cross? You are free to resist the grace of God in your life, but why would you?
Read Revelation 22:17 and consider our discussion: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
Let us not resist the grace of God in our lives. Let the Word of God have the last word, as you read and pray over Romans 8:12-15: “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
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- On Resisting God’s Grace with Key Bible Scriptures & Commentary - October 5, 2024
