Grace Killers Eat Our Lunch

Imperative: Do Not Be Grace Killers!

Tim 2:1 You, therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (HCSB)

Gal 2:20-21 (HCSB)
20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh,j I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

1) Legalism- Grace Denied
2) LICENCE - Grace Mis-Used
3) LIBERTY - Grace Appropraited

The Lovers of Grace include those:

Gal 5:1 -stand firm in the freedom of Christ
- free from oneself...sin's hold
- free from guilt and shame
- free from the tryanny of other people's opinion
- free to obey, to love, to forgive others and ourselves
-free to live beyond human limitations...to live in and for Christ

Grace Lovers are balanced...
-guard against extremes
-treat grace as an undeserved, unmerritted priviledge...because it is
-always remember grace is NOT CHEAP Jesus died for GRACE...

Walvoord’s Notes: In Gal 2:20 Paul enlarged on the meaning of verse 19. He "died to the Law" because he was crucified with Christ; he was able "to live for God" because Christ lived in him. Basic to an understanding of this verse is the meaning of union with Christ. This doctrine is based on such passages as Ro 6:1-6 and 1Co 12:13, which explain that believers have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ and into the church, the body of all true believers. Having been thus united to Christ, believers share in His death, burial, and resurrection. Paul could therefore write, I have been "crucified with Christ" (lit., "I have been and am now crucified with Christ"). This brought death to the Law. It also brought a change in regard to one's self: and I no longer live. The self-righteous, self-centered Saul died. Further, death with Christ ended Paul's enthronement of self; he yielded the throne of his life to Another, to Christ. But it was not in his own strength that Paul was able to live the Christian life; the living Christ Himself took up His abode in Paul's heart: Christ lives in me. Yet Christ does not operate automatically in a believer's life; it is a matter of living the new life by faith in the Son of God. It is then faith and not works or legal obedience that releases divine power to live a Christian life. This faith, stated Paul, builds on the sacrifice of Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us. In essence Paul affirmed, "If He loved me enough to give Himself for me, then He loves me enough to live out His life in me."

2:21. Summing up his case against Peter, Paul declared, I do not set aside the grace of God. The clear implication is that Peter and the others who followed him were setting aside God's grace. The essence of grace is for God to give people what they have not worked for (cf. Ro 4:4). To insist on justification or sanctification by works is to nullify the grace of God. Further, such insistence on legal obedience also means Christ died for nothing. If righteousness comes by keeping the Law, the Cross was a futile gesture, the biggest mistake in the universe.

Contextual Notes:

The legalistic approach to Christian experience is doomed to fail Legalistic Christians can always be spotted: angry, bitter, envious of those who choose to live joyously. For extreme cases Paul warns Christ’s death was needless for them because if you are far enough outside of grace you are outside of salvation.


Application Questions:
For any who have ever felt burdened in his or her Christian life, or felt weighed down by "oughts" and "shoulds," these next chapters contain the charter deed to personal freedom and to joy within safe limits.

Q: what did Paul mean in v21 when he said “I do not set aside the grace of God?”
A: this is Paul’s concluding remark in his proposition. This is a strong argument against those who opposed Paul and his message about the power of grace.

Q: can we learn anything from Paul's Greek grammar in this setting?
A: I do not nullify avqete,w atheteo avqetw/ verb ind pres act 1st per sing this ongoing present grammar defines a religious life outside of grace [UBS] This is meant to define the energy we use as Christians to live above the law in the ongoing present.

Q: why does Paul associate this remarkable life with Jesus crucifixion v.20?
A: Paul used the perfect tense of the verb which evidences firmly how an action done once in the past has an eternal effect for those in faith.
A: this defines our new life with Amazing Grace!!!
A: this energy is unique we cannot fake it.

Q: why did Paul climax this section by saying “Christ died for nothing” v21 if we do not stay purely attached to Grace.
A: living by grace alone is impossible. We must choose to set aside our self, flesh, the world and the devil to live in grace today.
A: A: Paul used a reductio ad absurdum to win his argument. Christ’s death is the central proclamation point of the gospel if this lacks power then we all hope in vain. Paul’s closing argument rested on the understanding that his audience believed in the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning death on the cross. Paul used this arguement to put to death all hopes that anyone could become righteous by obeying the Law. Law and faith are later used in opposition.

WHERE ARE YOU AT THREE CHOICES:

Legalist - denier of Grace
One who takes Licence - mis-used Grace
Lover of The Grace of God - Free in HIS LIBERTY

Grace Killers: Gal 2:1-7 There are some in the church spying on the us looking to enslave us to their best methods of human success. What is living in grace? We choose to live forgiving lives. We choose not to be energized by hate, anger, or spite. We are not trying to get even with someone at church. Christ commands us to never judge others but forgive. There are different ways to show grace to fish or sheep. But we are commanded to even forgive our enemies. Living grace filled lives is impossible. But the moment we get tired and backslide from grace we only have two major ways to go from our freedom in Christ: license or legalism. There are billions of ways they may vary but all fall under these two methods of falling from grace. The power of grace is the only way to live the Christian life. Jesus plus nothing, grace plus nothing is the only safe way to find new life based in God’s truth. When we lean on grace in Christ alone we find the energy to live free from slavery to sin. It doesn’t make us sinfree this side of death as Paul testifies.

Fate of Grace Killers Mt 18:34 All believers and especially leaders who pay a price to live for God will receive a crown. Jesus is called KING of kings: Rv 17:14 These will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those with Him are called and elect and faithful." (HCSB) The Bible reminds us of the way we who pay a price now will be given thrones around God’s throne room Rev 2:10 Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crowne of life. (HCSB) Jesus is using figurative language here to warn all grace killers not to expect a crown but instead to be delivered over to torture Mt 18:34.

Mt 18:21-35 Parable of the Unforgiving “King” in Torture Chamber

21 Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 22 "I tell you, not as many as seven," Jesus said to him, "but 70 times seven. 23 For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him. 25 Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. 26 "At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!' 27 Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
28 "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii. t He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, 'Pay what you owe!'
29 "At this, his fellow slave fell down and began begging him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' 30 But he wasn't willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. 31 When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. 32 "Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?' 34 And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay everything that was owed. 35 So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart."

Walvoord’s Notes: 18:21-22. Peter then asked Jesus... Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Peter was being generous here, for the traditional Rabbinic teaching was that an offended person needed to forgive a brother only three times. Jesus" reply was that forgiveness needs to be exercised to a much greater extent. Not just 7 times, but "70 times 7" (NIV marg.), that is, 490 times. Jesus meant that no limits should be set. Then to complete the idea, He told a parable.
18:23-35. Jesus told about a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. One servant owed a large amount, 10,000 talents. This probably equaled several million dollars, for a talent was probably a measure of gold, between 58 and 80 pounds. When he could not... pay, the master ordered that the servant and his wife... children, and possessions be sold so he could repay as much of the debt as possible. The servant pleaded with his master, begging for time to repay his master. The master took pity on the servant, canceled the debt, and set him free.
But shortly thereafter this servant went out and found another servant who owed him a much smaller amount, 100 denarii. A denarius was a Roman silver coin, worth about 16 cents; it represented a laborer's daily wages. The first servant demanded payment and refused to show mercy toward his debtor. In fact he had the second servant thrown into prison until he paid the debt. The other servants, aware of all that had happened... were greatly distressed (‎elypethesan‎, "grieved or sad to the point of distress"; cf. 14:9; 19:22) by this turn of events and told their master what had transpired. The master called back the first servant and jailed him for failing to show mercy to a fellow servant when he had been forgiven a much greater debt.
The Lord was teaching that forgiveness ought to be in direct proportion to the amount forgiven. The first servant had been forgiven all, and he in turn should have forgiven all. A child of God has had all his sins forgiven by faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore when someone sins against him, he ought to be willing to forgive... from the heart no matter how many times the act occurs (cf. 18:21-22; Eph 4:32).

Application Questions: The great contrasts of the *parable are humorous and effective in relaxing the ancient listener's guard, but the horrifying details of debt slavery, torture and so forth bring home the point forcefully. This story would have grabbed the ancient hearer.

Q: what is Jesus saying using figurative language in this setting?
A: Paul agreed 2 Tim 2:1 You, therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (HCSB)

Q: what was Peter looking for from Jesus about the way we dispense grace?
A: he was looking for a legalistic response from Christ that would put him in alignment with rabbinal traditions about the limits of forgiveness.
A: Peter might have thought his offer of seven times was generous. How do we view this action in our personal lives, church lives etc.?
A: many in the church today do not forgive even once. Churches today are filled with grace killers. Why they seek churches as a place to devote their lives is a mystery. Why not join a club, lodge or get involved in political action groups. Grace killers are drawn to church by Satan who loves to stop hard working Christians from what God called and equipped them for.

Q: what value v24 have that was forgiven?
A: In one period, the silver talent represented six thousand drachmas, or six thousand days' wages for an average Palestinian worker; ten thousand talents would thus be roughly sixty million days' wages (in another period, 100 million).

Q: what was this torture in v34?
A: Jewish law did not permit torture, but Jewish people knew that *Gentile kings (as well as Herod) practiced it. Because this servant had fallen from political favor, he would have no allies who would dare come to his aid; and even if he had, given the sum he owed, his situation would have remained hopeless. He would never be released.