What Does It Mean to Live in Grace?
Grace is:
1) God's attitude of favor toward his elect people (Romans 5:2);
2) God's action that enables our activity (1 Cor. 15:10).
"We consume the most grace by leading a holy life, in which we must be constantly upheld by grace, not by continuing to sin and being repeatedly forgiven... The greatest saints are not those who need less grace, but those who consume the most grace, who indeed are most in need of grace - those who are saturated by grace in every dimension of their being. Grace to them is like breath." - Dallas Willard
I like Willard's angle here. We usually think of grace as "God accepting me anyway, even when I mess up" (leaning heavily on definition 1 above). But Willard here helps us understand that grace is also what enables holy living (leaning more on definition 2). The greatest saints don't need less grace, but more...
This should remind you of our "gospel diagram": the cross gets BIGGER the further I grow in Christ, because I am more aware of my sinfulness and more aware of God's holiness. So I lean on Christ even more now than I did when I first believed.
Is this angle on grace a new realization for you? Or does it reinforce stuff you're already thinking?
1) God's attitude of favor toward his elect people (Romans 5:2);
2) God's action that enables our activity (1 Cor. 15:10).
"We consume the most grace by leading a holy life, in which we must be constantly upheld by grace, not by continuing to sin and being repeatedly forgiven... The greatest saints are not those who need less grace, but those who consume the most grace, who indeed are most in need of grace - those who are saturated by grace in every dimension of their being. Grace to them is like breath." - Dallas Willard
I like Willard's angle here. We usually think of grace as "God accepting me anyway, even when I mess up" (leaning heavily on definition 1 above). But Willard here helps us understand that grace is also what enables holy living (leaning more on definition 2). The greatest saints don't need less grace, but more...
This should remind you of our "gospel diagram": the cross gets BIGGER the further I grow in Christ, because I am more aware of my sinfulness and more aware of God's holiness. So I lean on Christ even more now than I did when I first believed.
Is this angle on grace a new realization for you? Or does it reinforce stuff you're already thinking?
posted by Bob | 1:50 PM
3 Comments:
Long live the cross chart and anything that points to it!
bob,
maybe a better way to ask the question is: What does it mean to live in grace as it pertains to education? :)
cody
long live the sweet intern who introduced me to it. d-white. our new college pastor who replaced Bob is leaving to be a senior pastor. you looking for a new job?
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