Here are my notes from the conclusion of yesterday’s sermon:
You might say you believe in grace not law, in faith not works.
But does how you feel and think and live back up what you supposedly believe?
If you live by works – you tend to be hyper critical of those who do not work as much as you.
You tend to be hyper judgmental of those who do not work the same way that you do.
If you rely on works not grace – you are always insecure about you. Eventually you will be paralyzed by your own emotional ups and downs.
If you rely on works not grace – you struggle to really love God
And you really struggle to love unloving people
If you rely on grace through faith – you can love God with all of your heart because He did it all.
You can love your neighbors no matter what.
If you rely on works – you become overwhelmed by impatience toward people. You are constantly annoyed that nobody works the right way in the right amount at the right time.
If you rely on grace through faith – you are overwhelmed by how patient God is with you.
You are constantly humbled by how annoying you yourself are and how God loves you anyway.
If you rely on works – you will have great difficulty forgiving
If you rely on grace – you can forgive as you have been forgiven, freely and wholly and completely.
If you rely on works — It is all about behaviors. You judge with a laser beam focus on the externals.
If you rely on grace through faith – It is about affections that lead to actions, not just external behaviors. You can take the time and have the measured insight to care about the heart.
If you rely on works – your good works make you proud. And your bad works make you defensive and tempt you to lie, conceal and blame-shift
If you rely on grace through faith – your good works – all of them – are a response of worship to Christ. Your good works – all of them – are a response of thanks and praise and joy to Jesus who did all the work for you.