02.16.20 Grace: Justifying Grace - Rev. Dr. Justin Gilreath

So we are going to talk about the word Grace. It’s one word but it encapsulates so much about who we are as Christians, especially in the United Methodist Church. It’s much more than just a little girl’s name. It actually embodies so much about how we come to know Jesus, how Jesus draws us, and how we continue in a relationship with Christ until the day that we die. We have said that in the United Methodist Church we describe grace in really 3 different ways. It’s not 3 types of grace, rather, its 3 ways that we describe grace. John Wesley uses the analogy of a house. Prevenient grace is like when you come and stand on the porch. You are standing on the porch of someone’s house and you’re not sure if you want to go into it. You are standing on your father’s porch, father God’s porch, and you’re not sure you want to enter, but something is drawing you into that house. She said that prevenient grace is standing there and somethings drawing you in but you hadn’t opened the door yet. Justifying grace is the door in to God’s house, that’s what we’re taking about today. And that is by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. God has been drawing you and you fill the pull through prevenient grace, but your decision to open the door and to step into a relationship with him is what we call justifying grace. Next week we will talk about the actual rooms of what Wesley said were the rooms of the house which is sanctifying grace which is once you get into the house then give gives you discernment to navigate your life. This is a Wesleyan analogy, the house of grace. It’s important because it’s really crucial that you and I can articulate to someone how it is that they can come to know Jesus. Can you ask Jesus to come into your life and confess his name? Sure, that works too. But there’s so much more to the story. More to tell about how God first loved them and prevenient grace pulling him to you and how you respond to him and how you continue this journey with him until you step into the kingdom of heaven. Us, as Christians, we have to own the fact that we are sinners. We carry the weight of sin on our shoulders. Nobody stands before us if we don’t have Jesus. The Old Testament, we were so guilty. Moses going to the mountain to meet God and Gold told him not to touch the foot of the mountain because they don’t deserve to come near me. I was reading in the new Testament about the splitting of the veil when Jesus died, when it was torn it was symbolic that the barrier between God and us being removed and we can come into the presence of God. The fact we don’t deserve it but he went to the cross to died for us so we could be forgiven and it’s really about the freedom. Another scripture from Romans chapter 3 verse 21 “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known.” All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness. In his forbearance he had left sins committed beforehand unpunished. God is the God for everyone but we have to believe in him. God has been working in our lives for a very long time, but our salvation requires our faith and our belief that it all happened. What’s so beautiful about it is it’s a free gift. Jesus Christ went and he paid the price, it’s free to us. Eternal life with him was given to us freely. Often times we are on the other side of the cross and we take it for granted because we are on this side of the cross. That hasn’t always been the case. Our debt has been paid. 90% of us in here believe and confess. 90% of the world doesn’t understand the debt has been paid and God loves them and he is already drawing them in or understand that hunger that could be fulfilled only by Christ. He has sent us to share the good news with them. I repeat this every week because God wants us to share it. He paid all of our debt. If you’re debt raise your hand (don’t). Some of you owe on your mortgage, tuition, car, etc. Jesus Christ came through and paid for it all. Covered your credit cards, mortgage, tuition, car. Wouldn’t you be excited? You’d probably be doing backflips down the aisle. The church would be packed. Jesus covered all your debts, but you are going to have to worry about your salvation. We need to celebrate that we have been set free! It is a beautiful word if you understand the bondage of slavery. We have been set free. We are free indeed. If we can learn to live that and share that despite the all the horrible things that have happened to us in this life that we understand that we have been set free. If we can allow our hands to reach for the God who set us free then it would change us dramatically. It’s justifying grace! You didn’t deserve it, earn it, unmerited, but he went, stood on your behalf, in front of God, and spoke for you.