In 1 Peter 3:18, Peter specifically instructs all who have put their faith in Jesus to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of (who they are in) the Lord Jesus Christ“. In recent times, the Lord has helped me understand God’s Grace as “that which God has done in me, to me and for me in Jesus in order to bless me, without any contribution for me“. In other words, growing in God’s literally means growing in who I really am in Jesus; growing into that person who God has made me to be in Jesus. No wonder Paul says in  1 Corinthians 15 that “I am who I am, by his grace”! Alleluia! As a result, I would like to share with you, 3 ways I have now determined to live my life in other to grow in grace – in order to become more and more who I am in Jesus, not because of what I have done, but because of all God has done:

 

1. I have determined to live like someone who no longer has a sin problem: because in Jesus, God has dealt with all of my sins – past, present and future – yes even the sin I will commit tomorrow! I know it can be hard to comprehend that even my future sins have been forgiven. But the question we need to ask is this: when exactly did God forgive us our sins. Was it the day we accepted Jesus and put our faith in Him? Is it whenever we ask Him for forgiveness that He forgives us? The answer is no! Paul says in Ephesians 1:3 – 6 that God ordained and commanded all our sins forgiven in Christ before the foundation of the world. And that 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ showed up as the Lamb of God to physically die on the cross to execute the Divine command. All of this happened before I was even born, with all my sins still yet to be committed, including the sin I will commit tomorrow! All I am really doing now  – the day I put my faith in Jesus and anytime after that whenever I sin  –  is to come to him and confess i.e. agree with God about my sin (1 John 1:9). And what do I agree with God? That my sin, though, many and as red as scarlet, have all been paid for and that I am now as white as snow. I come to receive the forgiveness that has been offered.  Therefore, I no longer have a sin problem! All my sins have been paid for and done away with! I do not have to ever fear or worry if I may or may not be forgiven. God has not only forgiven all my past sins; He has in the past forgiven all my sins! So how do I grow in grace –  change my mind about sin and learn to live like someone who no longer has a sin problem.

 

2. I have determined to live like someone who now has a new identity: In Jesus, not only do I no longer have a sin problem, I now have a new identity. What that means is that, in Jesus, the old nature in me with a proclivity to sin is dead and buried. And now I am risen in Jesus with a brand new being – a new nature – that loves God, that hates sin, that desires to do good. I am a brand new person. The old is gone; the new has come! I no longer have a proclivity for sin. I now have a proclivity to be holy and righteous. It is time to start living who I am  – a saint with a brand new life! I am someone who does not lie, cheat, lust or fornicate. I love, I pray, I serve others and I care for the poor. That is who I am. I will grow in it. This is what it means to grow in grace. It means to grow in who I am, as a result of what God has done in me. Alleluia.

 

3. I have determined to quit asking what I can do for God and to ask instead what God has done for me: because there is nothing I can do to earn his love, his acceptance or his blessing. Rather, He has done everything to make sure that I am in His love, I am always accepted by Him and I am always blessed by Him. Now all I have to do is learn to cooperate with Him; learn to respond correctly to all He has done. I have come to realize that any area of my life where I am struggling, it is always because I need to grow deeper in appreciating, understanding, knowing and responding to what God has done for me in that area. So if I am struggling in a particular sin, I should not be asking myself what to do to make God do something in that area of my life. Rather I should seek to know what God has done in that area of my life and position myself accordingly! The correct question is not “shall I continue to sin that grace may abound (i.e. since through grace, God has done everything for me)” (Romans 6:1). Rather the question I should ask myself is “how shall I continue to sin when grace abounds (i.e. since, through grace, God has done everything for me)” (Romans 6:3 – 17).  The principle applies with sickness, poverty, sorrow, pain, death and all the effects of the old Adamic nature in our lives. If there is any area of my life where I am not seeing or experiencing all that God has done for me in Christ, the answer is not to seek to grow in what I can do for the Lord; but to grow in grace – to grow in what God has done for me, in me and through me, without contribution from me. And so I have decided to quit asking what I can do for God but to ask instead what God has done for me –  and let the answer to that question melt my heart, build my faith, lift me up and spur me up to experience more than I am experiencing right now.

 

To grow in grace means to become more and more aware how different we now are because of God’s grace – what God has done in us, to us and for us, without any contribution from us.  That is the Grace Life! That is what we have committed ourselves to pursue here at Grace Life Center Church. And this is why beginning Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015, we are beginning “Growing Together In Grace”  –  a 49 Day campaign to become more of who and what God has made us in Christ. During the 7 weeks following Easter, we will team up with each other to go through the bible together by phone, email, conversations, discussions, home fellowships, visitations etc – exploring what God has done for us in Christ. At the end of the 49-Day Campaign –  on Pentecost Weekend, we will have a one-day retreat – a Weekend of Encounter that we are trusting God will transform all our lives. We will also have baptisms – both water baptism and Holy Ghost baptism.