Partner with God's Grace

Before we jump into this week's post, we want to ask you to consider being a contributor to this blog in the month of October. We are looking for four writers who will share about hardship they have faced in life, and yet have become thankful for the way they grew through the hardship. So if you have faced hardship in your family, childhood, at work, or even in your faith, and are willing to share about it, send us an email.

In case you are the type of person who pays zero attention to sports, let me catch you up: it's football season. All around our great nation, fanatics are donning their favorite team's jersey while buying tickets or spending all day Saturday and/or Sunday glued to their television sets watching eleven grown men trying to tackle whoever carries a little brown oval-shaped ball.

But imagine for a moment one team decides their linebacker is so fast, strong, and talented, they decide to send him out only on defense to face the eleven guys on the opposing offense. That would be utterly foolish, wouldn't it? It doesn't matter how fast or strong the LB is - there is no way he could stop the offense from scoring all by himself.

Yet, this is similar to how many people approach their spiritual walk. They may not have the foolish bravado of a coach sending out only one guy onto the field, but they still try to grow spiritually completely on their own. But if Christ-followers are to "be holy because [God] is holy," (1 Peter 1:16), they will HAVE to partner up with some teammates to accomplish this win.

Teammate #1: Grace

Last week, we kicked off a series here on the blog about How to Be Holy. As we saw a week ago, God doesn't desire for you to simply be a nicer person, or just go to Sunday services more often, or only memorize more Bible verses. God desires for you to reflect the character of Jesus, or to put it another way, to be holy.

Over the next several weeks, we'll consider some of the "partners" Christ-followers need to grow toward Christlike holiness. The first partner I want you to consider is that of God's grace.

Many people define grace as "unmerited favor." In other words, you didn't do anything to deserve or earn the kindness, gentleness, love, or forgiveness bestowed upon you. It was "unmerited." This is why the Greek word charis, often translated as "grace," can also be translated as "gift."

But in Colossians 2:6, we are told that

"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him," (Colossians 2:6, ESV)

Let's break that verse down: How did you "receive" Jesus? Through God's grace. (Ephesians 2:8). So how should you continue to "walk" with Jesus? Through God's grace!

You see, if you follow Jesus, you know your sin was forgiven by the work of Christ through the cross and empty tomb. So the way to continue growing spiritually is to continue growing in your understanding of how the gospel applies to every area of your life and guides you through it. In other words, you need to grow in your understanding of grace as it is God's grace that will help you continue to grow into Christlike holiness.

We hear this in the Apostle John's first letter, where he instructs Christ-followers...

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, ESV)

Confessing sin acknowledges our need for grace. And because God desires for us to be righteous and holy, He is eager to give us that grace, knowing it will make us more like Jesus: holy.

So if you follow Jesus, don't try to go it alone spiritually. Rather, ask God today to help you partner with His grace, readily confessing your sin so you might "walk in Him."