Today I have a special message from the Lord for you all. This is a topic that has been speaking to my heart deeply over the last few months, and for all of you who are open to hearing the Lord’s voice, I truly believe that He will speak to your heart in the same way today.
To start us off, I’d like for us to read a passage in scripture: John 8: 7-11
This is a very famous passage, we see Jesus being challenged by the religious leaders in the matters of the law. They bring a woman to Him that had been caught in adultery.
And as He was being queried Jesus responds in this way:
John 8: 7-11
7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
If we are to analyse the words of Jesus, we can observe a few things.
- First Observation: Remember that at Jesus’s time there was no gospel yet, At this time, the laws the governed religion and politics were the laws of Moses.
And by the law of Moses, the woman caught in adultery had to die! – clear reference to consequences of sin.
- Second observation: Based on what Jesus said in verse 7, there was only one person in the crowd that could enact the law. Who was it? Jesus! Himself.
Why? Because out of everyone present there, the only one with no sin was Jesus!
Yet He chose to show Mercy and Grace.
- Third observation: While Jesus shows mercy and grace, He gives her a command in verse 11, that a lot of us would struggle with. He says, “Go and sin no more”.
So now, these three observations will act as the backbone to what I’ll be preaching today, so take note of them.
Let’s continue, last time I preached here, I spoke about “The Path to Total Obedience”. And the focus of that message was that we would only be able to obey Jesus’s commandment when we reach a deep level of Love for Him.
But the question for us now is, once we have entered this path of total obedience, this path of deep love for Jesus, how then do we remain in it?
For as you know, our bodies haven’t been glorified yet, therefore we still battle with sin every day!
John 1:8-10
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
And complete obedience to Christ is what? It’s a state where we don’t sin! Yet we will always struggle with sin. What now, who will defend us?
Is the love that we feel for Jesus truly enough?
That is why the title of today’s message is: A Grace that Changes everything!
Naturally, if I was to say here, we all need some Grace, how many of you would agree with me?
Yes, you’ve guessed it, Grace is the essential ingredient we need to remain in the path of Total obedience. But before we speak about grace we need to speak about sin!
Sin is humanities biggest problem, why?
Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.
The first problem according to Isaiah, God has no communion with sin. Your sin has the ability to separate you from God, when nothing else in the world can.
Consequently, many of God’s provisions may not be available to you because of sin. Therefore, we need to treat sin as a disease/poison, that needs to be removed from our lives! Don’t treat it lightly.
Second problem, sin has consequences.
Illustration: Imagine a small crack in a dam. It might seem harmless at first, a ‘small thing’, a ‘little sin’, but if ignored, it can lead to a devastating flood, to ‘death
Roman 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Because of this verse, it is said in Christian circles:
There is no such thing as “small sin” and “big sin”. Not that there aren’t varying degrees of consequences. But the consequence of every sin is Death.
This the reason why in the Old Testament, for the forgiveness of sin an animal would need to die in the place of the sinner.
It is also the reason why Jesus had to die in the cross. Because the wages of your sin, and my sin, is death!
And the third problem with sin is: It imprisons us!
John 8:34
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
What does it mean to be a slave? It’s to have no control over your life, a slave doesn’t decide when they will eat, where or when they will work or even where to walk. They are slaves.
A slave of sin is someone, who is controlled by their desire to sin!
And because of this imprisonment, they are suffering the consequences of sin (many areas in their lives are dying) and they have no communion with God.
But there is yet another aspect of sin that we need to understand, which will lead us into our discussion on Grace.
1 Corinthian 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Amen, the force that drives us to sin (Temptations) will never be superior to your ability to resist it.
And now what Jesus said to that woman caught in adultery starts to make a lot of sense.
John 8:11 “go and sin no more”
So, it is possible to obey Jesus’s commandment, for we are not tempted beyond what is common to us.
The playing field is even.
But more than being even, we have a further provision of Grace. And that changes everything!
Following from that, our next big question is:
What is Grace?
The traditional definition of grace is that it is an “Unmerited Favour”
And this definition is very true. The bible says.
Romans 11.6
6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise, grace is no longer grace.
By definition, grace isn’t something we can earn.
Ephesians 2: 8-9 – states that our salvation is by grace through faith.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
Again, an unmerited favour, or as the verse describes, it a gift from God!
It is also important for us to note that grace is only available to us through Jesus’s work on the cross.
John 1:17
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ
Paul when he concludes his second letter to the people of Corinthians, establishes this even more clearly.
2 Corinthians 13:14
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
So, Grace is an undeserving gift that Jesus give us.
So, now that we have established that, my follow-on question is, and this is where a lot of Cristians get confused.
If it’s an unmerited favour, given to us despite our deeds or works. Then what is stopping us from living life in whichever way we please?
If grace can’t be earned, then I have it irrespective of how I live my life, right? No!
Jude speaks about this.
Jude 1:4
4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Beloved, let me be clear. If you sin, if you live your life in whichever way you please and your justification is that through God’s grace there is no condemnation, or even that Jesus’s loves everyone so there is mercy for me.
If this is your justification for sin, you have turned the Lord’s grace into lewdness, and you are denying Jesus.
How can a God that has no communion with sin, save you just so that you can continue to sin?
That is absurd!
Paul writes to the Romans;
Romans 6:1
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Beloved it is true that through grace we can find mercy, salvation, reconciliation, forgiveness – and this is all unmerited favour.
But more than that, grace is also a power from God to enable you to live a life without sin.
Titus 2: 11-13
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ,
The true manifestation of grace will also teach us to turn away from sin and ungodly things. How then can we listen to a theology that justifies sin?
Not that we may be listening to preachings that support these ideas (although these preachings do exist), but a lot of time in our own minds we are giving way to these kinds of notions.
And it is the reason why many of us struggle with obedience and continue to sin.
Hebrews 4:16
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
What is this “Help in time of need”? – vs 14 and 15 the writer was speaking about how Jesus sympathises with our weakness (what weakness is this? Sin/temptation). So, then what is this help in a time of need?
It is the strength to overcome sin!
2 Timothy 2:1
You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Again, grace can manifest as strength to overcome!
Amen!
Remember what I said that the scales are even when it came to sin. For there is no sin that is not common to man.
So, on one hand we have sin which is natural, whilst in the other we now have grace, which is a gift from God, or in other words, supernatural.
Who do you think wins?
Grace of course! The playing field is no longer even beloved. No, your strength to overcome sin by grace is now much greater than the power of sin in your life.
That is why Jesus said, “go and sin no more” – because, thanks to Grace, the odds are forever in your favour! He comes with provision to strengthen you in your hour of need!
Grace changes everything! Amen!
I’d like to conclude now.
I hope that you’ve been encouraged by this message, knowing that the grace of our Lord is enough!
But maybe some of you are looking for a clearer direction.
How can we ensure grace is always operating? Is there a power I need to feel, a tingling, or is there a tap somewhere that can fill a few buckets of grace and throw them over our heads to help me overcome sin?
And the answer is: Of course there is!
Know that if lately you’ve been feeling like you’re lacking in grace, it’s not because of something He has done. The more obvious conclusion is that it is most likely due to something we are not doing on our side.
Ephesians 1:3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ
Beloved, everything that God could have done for you and me, Jesus did on the cross! When He cried out: it is finished, it was in fact done!
For that reason, I want to bring your attention to the spiritual disciplines.
Prayer, fasting, partaking in church gatherings, reading of the word, meditating.
How faithful have we been to these practices? Ask yourself this question.
Grace is always flowing out, beloved ones, but how many of us are picking up the buckets?
To finish up, I’d like to emphasis that out of all the spiritual disciplines, fasting is by far the most effective, in my point of view.
It’s interesting, because while all the others are most Christians consider “mandatory”, fasting is the only one that is “expected” but it is optional.
Fasting is for those who are looking further, who want more!
If today, as you are listening to me you are encouraged to live this life of total obedience, if you want to leave here and in fact “sin no more”; Then my advice for you is, stay faithful to the spiritual disciplines, develop a habit of fasting, start with once a month then introduce the habit with more frequency.
This will change your life, and His grace will abound in you!