Taught by Grace

Christ has formed His body so that the members are reliant upon one another. Every believer has been gifted with a spiritual gift, but no believers have been gifted with all spiritual gifts. Every believer must rely upon other believers. In other words, the Christian life is one of interdependence. You need other believers.

What does true Christian living look like? Foundationally, true Christian living involves complete surrender, radical transformation, and a satisfied will. Simply, it is a life of being all in. 

This week, we begin our study through Romans 12 by examining the truths detailed in verses one and two. This passage is one of the greatest transitions from doctrine to practice in God's Word. The truths of the Gospel of Christ compel us to live a life that is all in for God's glory!

The chief purpose of the Christian life is to glorify God. Romans 12 is the bridge between the doctrinal truths of the Gospel and the practical implications of the Gospel. 

Romans 11:36 describes how God does everything for His glory. The saving work that Paul described in Romans 1-11 is for the glory of God. Now, the Christian's response to everything that He has done is to bring Him glory in the way that we live. He has lavished His grace upon us in Christ, therefore, we must serve Him in all that we do.

The theme of the Christian's life is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It details the beginning, middle, and ending. In episodes 48 and 49, we looked at the doctrinal truths of justification and sanctification. We are justified in Christ before God at justification. We are being conformed to the image of Christ in sanctification. We were justified in the past and we are being sanctified in the present, but there is a third aspect to the Christian's life, glorification. 

In glorification, we are promised that God will finish the work He began. We will be like Jesus. We will receive glorified bodies. The best is truly yet to come!

The Christian life is the progressive work of God to conform you to the likeness of Jesus Christ. You are under construction, but God will finish the work. During this work, however, we have a responsibility to take our role and engage with God in the sanctification process.

The Christian's life occurs in three stages: justification, sanctification, and glorification. This week, we examine justification. It is the act of God whereby He declares a sinner to be righteous based upon the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. He is not merely pardoned or paroled, but he is set free without any chance of the charges being brought up against him again. His sin debt has been removed and the perfect righteousness of Christ has been applied to him.

A follower of Jesus never graduates from the gospel. The truths of Christ's finished work encompass the entirety of your life as a Christian. You need it for justification, sanctification, and glorification. Throughout the New Testament, we are given the commands of God concerning how we live as Christians, but these commands are always rooted in the grace of God and what He has done for us. 

In this episode, we see three truths, from God's Word, about how the Gospel connects to our lives as Christians

The Gospel inextricably links salvation and sanctification: Ephesians 2:8-10.

The Gospel teaches us to live a Christ-honoring life: Titus 2:11-14

The Gospel motivates our lives as Christians: Romans 12-16

You need the message of Christ's finished work to be saved and to live as one of His own. We couldn't be saved in our own strength, neither can we live the Christian life in our strength. We need the message of Jesus' finished work!

The gospel of Jesus is the message that radically transforms our past, present, and future. Its facts are that He died, was buried, and rose again, however, we must not stop at these facts. What difference do these facts make? These lead us to the ramifications of the gospel. Since Jesus died, was buried, and rose again our justification, sanctification, and glorification are secured. His finished work is not just the message we need to be saved, but it is the message that we need every day of our lives. 

The glory of the gospel is that we were dead, but are now alive through Christ. 

The glory of the gospel is that we are now able to live for God's glory through Christ. 

The glory of the gospel is that we will one day be like Jesus through His work. 

There is no greater message and there is no more powerful work. For there is no greater person than the Lord Jesus Christ!

There are only two paths. The way of the godly and the way of the ungodly. 

In recent weeks, we have seen that the godly separate from the influence of the world by delighting and dwelling in the Word of God. Now, we see what the result of that lifestyle is. His life is greatly contrasted to the life of the ungodly. They are headed for destruction because they are not righteous in God. They may prosper in this life, but they will one day perish apart from God's grace. 

Which path are you walking?