Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: GPL
Program Code: GPL000022
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00:01 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn.
00:02 Does the Bible say we can fall from grace? 00:04 Can a loving God keep our feet from slipping off 00:07 His straight and narrow path of salvation? 00:10 Join us now to learn what the Bible says 00:12 about holding on to God's hand so that we don't slip. 00:38 Welcome to "The Grace Pipeline." 00:40 On our last program, we looked 00:42 at what the Bible had to say about guarding grace. 00:46 And today we will examine Bible evidence. 00:49 Why it is important to do so? 00:51 As you may already know, 00:53 this series is following the journey through scripture, 00:56 found in the book by the same title "The Grace Pipeline," 00:59 which was my great privilege to write. 01:02 If you're following along in the companion book, 01:04 we're beginning on the last half of chapter 11 on page 182. 01:09 Today's study is important and should by the end of it 01:13 bring great peace to your heart. 01:16 So let's get started with this critical question. 01:20 Is it possible to fall from grace? 01:23 We will see in a moment. 01:25 But let me put your heart at rest right from the start. 01:28 We have a loving Heavenly Father who invites us to hold His hand, 01:33 promising He will help us to make it 01:36 through our often difficult journey. 01:39 We have learned it is His great love 01:41 that is a compelling force behind His great grace. 01:44 Salvation and every good and perfect gift 01:47 comes from our Lord of infinite love, 01:50 through His grace pipeline ride into our lives 01:53 if we accept them by faith. 01:55 And as we tap in by faith, 01:57 God pours out all of His blessings on His children. 02:00 God has delivered us from the dark power of sin 02:04 into His marvelous light. 02:06 Because of the hope we have from learning the truth 02:09 of His Gospel of Grace, we should stay in His light 02:13 that we maybe filled with the knowledge of His will 02:15 and walk worthy of our Lord. 02:18 He will strengthen us by the power 02:20 of the Holy Spirit and the Word. 02:23 And in this way, we will bring glory to Christ 02:27 who gives us access into this faith, 02:30 this grace by which we stand. 02:33 The source of the New Testament grace 02:35 is the same source of Old Testament grace. 02:39 And it includes the wonderful law of God 02:42 written not on stone, but in our hearts. 02:45 As He speaks to us in Hebrews 8:8-10, 02:50 the Lord says, "The days are coming, says the Lord, 02:55 when I will make a new covenant. 02:57 For this is the covenant that I will make, says the Lord. 02:59 I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts 03:04 and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." 03:10 When the Old Testament prophet Daniel 03:13 was praying in Daniel 9:4, he cried out, 03:17 "Oh, Lord, great and awesome God, 03:20 who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him 03:25 and with those who keep His commandments." 03:29 God keeps covenant with those who keep covenant with Him. 03:33 Everything that He asks of us, He first provides by grace. 03:38 He is faithful in His part of the agreement 03:41 and He expects us to be faithful in response. 03:45 The three greatest gifts of God's grace 03:48 which we have identified in this series 03:50 as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 03:53 the Holy Spirit, and the Word. 03:56 These three work in it-- within us 03:58 to cause our will to line up with God's will. 04:03 And further, these three great gifts 04:06 empower us to do His will. 04:08 Yoked with Christ, grace grants us 04:11 the supernatural power of salvation 04:14 and His divine assistance. 04:16 And Christ is the author of eternal salvation 04:20 for all who keep covenant with Him by obedience. 04:23 This is not my thought. 04:25 It is what scripture tells us in Hebrews 5:6-9. 04:30 "Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience 04:34 by the things which He suffered. 04:36 And having been perfected, 04:38 He became the author of eternal salvation 04:41 to all who obey Him." 04:44 You see, there are certain God ordained parameters 04:48 for the lives of His recreated children. 04:51 Obedience through the power of His grace 04:54 and by our faith is chief among these parameters. 04:58 Christ did not obey to become the Son of God. 05:02 He obeyed because He was the Son. 05:05 Likewise, we don't obey to become His children. 05:09 We should heed the warning 05:10 that if we attempt to be justified 05:13 by obedience to the law, 05:14 we are actually substituting our actions 05:18 for the sacrificial death of Christ. 05:21 Self-reliance has tragic results. 05:25 We actually sever our relationship with grace 05:28 and become alienated from the Savior. 05:31 Listen to Paul's words from Galatians 5:4. 05:35 He says, "You have become estranged from Christ, 05:40 you who attempt to be justified by law. 05:44 You have fallen from grace." 05:47 Christians are to obey out of respect and honor 05:52 for our Father because we are His children. 05:56 His grace gives us both the desire and the power 06:01 to obey His commandments. 06:03 Obedience is merely an expression of our love 06:06 for Him and our appreciation 06:09 of His indescribable gift, Christ Jesus. 06:13 How can we not follow 06:15 in Christ's footsteps of obedience 06:17 if we are submitted to His yoke and walking with Him? 06:23 You know, Jesus said to us in John 15:5, 6, 06:28 "I am the vine, you are the branches. 06:32 He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit, 06:36 for without Me you can do nothing. 06:39 If anyone does not abide in Me, 06:40 he is cast out as a branch and is withered. 06:43 And they gather them and throw them 06:45 into the fire and they are burned." 06:48 Living in Christ, we will obey, not by our power. 06:53 For apart from Him, we can do nothing. 06:57 But we will obey by grace. If we deny His power to obey, 07:04 we are no longer abiding in Him. 07:07 In Hebrews 12:14, 15, Paul provides 07:10 an imperative instruction for the child of God. 07:13 Verse 14 says, "Pursue peace with all people, 07:17 and pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." 07:22 And then verse 15 goes on to say. 07:24 "Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the glory of God, 07:29 lest any root of bitterness springing up 07:33 would cause trouble, and by this many become defiled." 07:38 Some Christians are not aware 07:40 that Jesus told us in Luke 13:24, 07:44 "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, 07:47 for many, I say to you, 07:49 will seek to enter and will not be able." 07:55 When you think about it, an athlete does not cross 07:59 the finish line without some striving. 08:02 Likewise, Jesus is saying here 08:04 that a halfhearted effort does not get us into heaven. 08:08 We must strive to enter through the narrow gate of salvation 08:12 by simply seeking to cooperate 08:15 with God's process of sanctifying us, 08:18 setting us apart from sin. 08:20 We must become sanctification seekers, 08:24 which means exactly the same 08:26 as being one who pursues holiness. 08:30 Sanctification and holiness are synonyms. 08:33 They mean exactly the same thing, 08:35 and that is simply to be set apart from sin. 08:40 Many sincere Christians are not aware 08:42 we need to guard against falling short of the grace of God. 08:47 Some tragically resist the idea of pursuing holiness 08:51 as a consequence of hearing an unbalanced teaching on grace. 08:55 They have been swayed by unstable teachers 08:59 who did not understand God's full plan of salvation, 09:03 who've twisted the scriptures, 09:05 presenting God's act of justification 09:08 as the only need for salvation. 09:11 Justification is the legal process 09:14 by which God pardons us of sin and it is by God's grace, 09:19 based on the merits of the imputed righteousness 09:22 of Jesus Christ, our substitute. 09:25 In God's act of justification, 09:28 He declares us innocent of our sins 09:30 when we confess and repent, 09:32 but justification is only the first stage 09:36 of the grace of salvation. 09:38 We need to tap into God's grace pipeline 09:42 for all that He makes available to us. 09:45 Don't be deceived into thinking sanctification or holiness, 09:50 being set apart from sin is not required by our holy God. 09:55 He continues the salvation process 09:58 by His work of sanctification. 10:00 And He expects our full cooperation with Him. 10:04 Beware of being led way from the living Lord 10:08 with the spiritually lethal error of believing, 10:12 once saved always saved. 10:14 Grace can be received in vain. 10:17 As Paul points out in 2 Corinthians 6:1, 10:22 where he says that there is no advancement. 10:26 If there's no advancement in the development 10:28 of a Christ-like character in our lives, 10:31 if we don't go beyond having our past sins forgiven, 10:36 then we have received the grace of God in vain. 10:40 Sin can cancel out God's grace. 10:44 Paul clearly points out 10:46 that obedience leads to righteousness, 10:48 but sin leads to death. 10:50 In Roman 6:16, listen to this. 10:54 He says, "Do you not know 10:56 that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, 10:59 you are that one's slaves whom you obey, 11:02 whether of sin leading to death, 11:05 or of obedience leading to righteousness?" 11:08 And just as Paul pointed out in Galatians 5:4 11:11 that we can fall from grace by attempting 11:13 to be justified by the law, 11:16 we can, likewise, fall from grace 11:18 if we do not obey the righteous requirements of God's law. 11:22 Empowered by the Holy Spirit and by the word of God, 11:26 we are to walk in the footsteps of Christ. 11:29 As Paul tells us in Colossians 2:6-10, 11:33 where he says, "As you therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, 11:38 so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him 11:41 and established in the faith, as you have been taught, 11:45 abounding in it with thanksgiving. 11:47 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy 11:51 and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, 11:55 according to the basic principles of the world, 11:57 and not according to Christ. 11:59 For in Him dwells all the fullness 12:02 of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him." 12:09 The grace of God, those unearned, undeserved gifts 12:13 bestowed by our Heavenly Father of infinite love 12:16 which provide His divine assistance 12:18 and supernatural power of salvation, 12:21 teaches us to deny ungodly actions and worldly lusts. 12:27 In Titus 2:11-14, the Bible says, 12:32 "For the grace of God that brings salvation 12:36 has appeared to all men, teaching us that, 12:39 denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, 12:42 we should live soberly, righteously, 12:44 and godly in the present age, 12:47 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing 12:50 of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 12:53 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us 12:57 from every lawless deed and purify for Himself 13:01 His own special people, zealous for good works." 13:06 Our Savior came not only to redeem us, 13:10 but for the purpose of purifying us. 13:14 Christ painted a word picture of His second coming 13:17 through His Parable of the Ten Virgins 13:19 which we studied in an earlier program. 13:22 Tragically in today's Christian culture, 13:25 many can be compared to the five foolish virgins 13:29 who had an experience with the justification of grace 13:33 but refused the sanctification of grace. 13:37 They did not make it across the finish line. 13:41 How sad it is to think about anyone 13:43 who had once tasted the goodness of grace 13:47 and then just lazily drifted away, unaware. 13:51 It is all the more devastating 13:53 when someone has been deceived and their spiritual progress 13:56 has been hindered by a blind guide 13:59 who presents an unbalanced teaching on grace, 14:03 setting aside the word of God 14:05 like the religious rulers of Christ's day. 14:08 These unlearned teachers present vain arguments 14:12 that grace grants us liberty from obedience, 14:16 ignoring Christ's warning that every tree 14:19 that does not bear good fruit 14:21 will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 14:24 In the same passage of scripture 14:26 that I'm referring to, our Lord added His indictment 14:29 against disobedient Christians. 14:31 In Matthew 7:21-27, he says, 14:36 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' 14:39 shall enter the kingdom of heaven, 14:42 but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 14:47 Many will say to Me in that day, 14:49 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, 14:51 cast out demons in Your name, 14:53 and done many wonders in Your name?' 14:56 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. 15:01 Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" 15:07 You know, the Bible tells us in 1 John 3:4 15:11 that "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness," 15:15 saying that sin is lawlessness. 15:17 Of course, we know that Paul said in Roman 6:23 15:21 that "The wages of sin is death, 15:23 but the gift of God is eternal life 15:26 in Christ Jesus our Lord." 15:28 The wages of sin have always been eternal death. 15:32 As revealed in the Lord's word to Moses in Exodus 32:33 15:39 where he said, "Whoever has sinned against Me, 15:43 I will blot him out of My book." 15:47 This message is echoed by Christ 15:49 in the manner of a promise to keep us by His power. 15:54 And that is found in Revelation 3:5 where he says, 15:59 "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, 16:03 and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life, 16:08 but I will confess his name 16:10 before My Father and before His angels." 16:14 It is clear, sinners will not enter 16:16 the holy city foursquare. 16:18 For the message of Revelation 21:27 says, 16:22 "There shall be by no means enter in anything 16:27 that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, 16:30 but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." 16:36 My dear, brother and sister, how important it is 16:40 that we heed the message of Hebrews 2:1-3 which says, 16:46 "Therefore we must give the more earnest heed 16:50 to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 16:54 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, 16:59 and every transgression and disobedience 17:02 received a just reward, how shall we escape 17:07 if we neglect so great a salvation." 17:12 You know, just going with the flow 17:15 won't get us into heaven. 17:17 If we don't make an earnest effort to cooperate with God 17:21 in the process of our sanctification, 17:24 we will drift away from Him. 17:27 Do we think we stand? 17:29 Let us take heed that we don't fall. 17:32 Grace is the ink of Christ's blood 17:36 that writes your name in God's Book of Life. 17:39 To abuse a relationship of grace by disobedience 17:43 is to abuse our gentle Master. 17:46 Be watchful and guard the precious relationship 17:49 you have with the Lord. 17:51 Pray for grace, for God's divine assistance 17:54 and supernatural power and to salvation 17:57 to grow in Christian virtues. 18:00 Yes, it requires a personal effort, 18:03 but as we have studied, it is a spirit empowered effort. 18:08 Let us grow in grace. 18:10 Find our strength in grace. Stand in grace. 18:14 The Apostle Paul said, "That the night is far spent, 18:18 and the day is at hand. 18:19 Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, 18:22 and let us put on the armor of God." 18:25 God commanded light to shine out of darkness 18:29 and into our hearts by the knowledge of His glory 18:33 and the face of Jesus Christ. 18:35 We are brought into relationship with God through grace. 18:40 Accepting the yoke of relationship 18:43 our burden is eased. 18:45 Personal contact with Christ brings us perfect confidence. 18:50 He guides us to walk in the light of God's word, 18:54 showing us the path of life. 18:56 And in His presence we find joy and peace 19:00 and our hearts overflow with hope. 19:03 Paul instructs us in Colossians 3:2, 3. 19:08 He says, "Set your mind on things above, 19:11 not on things on the earth. 19:14 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." 19:21 Our security is that our lives are hidden with Christ in God. 19:27 And because He lives, we live also. 19:31 Now we are concealed with Christ, 19:35 clothed with His righteousness and encompassed by His love. 19:39 He is our hiding place and in Him 19:42 we live and move and have our being. 19:45 We have entered His rest of absolute dependence upon Him. 19:52 We are dead to the world. 19:54 Our old life was buried with Him in death, 19:57 but we are alive to God. 20:00 Our new life is resurrected with Him. 20:03 Look at the promise of 1 John 5:11, 12. 20:08 "This is the testimony that God has given us eternal life, 20:13 and this life is in His Son. 20:15 He who has the Son has life." 20:19 Our Savoir secures our eternal life. 20:22 As long as we remain in Him, 20:25 the treasure of our reward is stored in heaven with God. 20:29 Soon we will be revealed with Christ 20:33 when He returns for all those 20:35 who identified with God by relationship 20:39 and sanctified by Him who is faithful. 20:42 As the beautiful promise of 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24 20:47 assures us saying, "Now may the God of peace Himself." 20:51 Whose work is this? 20:53 "May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely 20:57 and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless 21:02 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21:05 He who calls you," that's God, 21:08 "is faithful, who will also do it." 21:12 Listen to the words of the Lord found in Isaiah 41:13, 21:17 where he says, "For I, the Lord, will hold your right hand, 21:23 saying to you, Fear not, I will help you." 21:27 May your heart sing at the thought of it 21:30 as did the temple musician and Psalmist Asaph 21:34 who said to the Lord in Psalms 73:23-28. 21:40 Asaph said, "I am continually with You. 21:44 You hold me by my right hand. 21:47 You will guide me with your counsel, 21:49 and afterward receive me to glory. 21:53 God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 21:58 I have put my trust in the Lord God." 22:04 You can like Asaph put your trust in the Lord. 22:09 You know, the mystery of God's unfailing love is unfathomable. 22:14 I don't know how to explain divine love 22:18 because I yet have come to totally understand it. 22:22 But I hope that like me your heart cry will be, 22:27 "Lord, I want more of You. 22:29 I want to understand Your love better." 22:34 Because as we understand His love, 22:37 it is the natural heart response that we will love Him in return. 22:43 I do know one thing. 22:45 The overflowing riches of His grace constantly amaze me. 22:51 Please recognize you can depend upon Him. 22:54 If you keep your hand in His 22:57 and walk in relationship with Him daily, 23:00 yoked to Christ, trust Him, 23:03 His grace will give you the victory. 23:07 The Lord promises that he will perfect that which concerns you. 23:13 And I hope that in this series 23:16 as we have considered the three most important gifts 23:20 through which God manifests His grace, 23:23 our Savior, the Holy Spirit, and the Word, 23:26 I hope that this journey through scripture 23:29 has magnified the sense of grace in your heart. 23:33 I hope that your mind is more settled in understanding 23:37 and having a well-balanced understanding on grace. 23:41 Through the blood of the everlasting covenant 23:44 and His gifts of grace, God will make you complete 23:48 in every good work to do His will. 23:50 Working in you what is well pleasing 23:53 in His sight through Jesus Christ. 23:57 There remain so many more gifts to be explored 24:02 in the continued study of God's awe inspiring grace. 24:07 All of God's promises are yours if you're abiding in Christ. 24:11 I hope you will invest time 24:14 to learn all that your loving Heavenly Father 24:16 wants to give to you. 24:18 The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of grace 24:21 with its immeasurable riches and power. 24:25 God is the giver of every good and perfect gift 24:29 which flow to you freely from the Father of lights 24:33 through His grace pipeline. 24:35 Indeed, the love of God is the compelling force 24:39 behind the grace of God. 24:41 And the greater our understanding 24:43 of God's love for us, 24:45 the greater our love will be for Him. 24:48 We love Him because He first loved us. 24:51 The greater our love, the more intimate 24:54 our relationship will become with Him. 24:57 And the more intimate that our relationship is, 25:01 the greater our trust will be in our Heavenly Father. 25:05 We'll lean not on our own understanding, 25:08 but we'll lean on what His word says. 25:11 And the greater our trust, 25:12 the more persistent our prayer of faith will become. 25:17 The more persistent that prayer is, 25:20 the greater our actions of faith will develop. 25:23 And the greater our faith, the more we will tap 25:26 into the various area of God's grace. 25:30 And as we do, as we access God's grace pipeline, 25:35 the greater blessings will flow. 25:39 God's streams of grace flow from His heavenly pipeline 25:44 without any shortage of supply, and will turn our dry and dusty 25:48 life experiences into a spiritual oasis. 25:53 You can triumph in and by God's sustaining grace. 25:57 Will you tap into His grace pipeline by faith? 26:01 Let's pray. 26:02 Our loving Father, we thank you for this opportunity. 26:06 Lord, to have spent time in Your word. 26:10 And, Father, we come in the name of Jesus Christ, 26:14 approaching your throne boldly. 26:17 And I pray, Lord, that every person 26:19 within the range of my voice, every person, Father, 26:24 who is struggling and wondering 26:28 about their relationship for You--with You, 26:31 I ask in the name of Jesus, Father, 26:34 that even now by the power of Your Holy Spirit, 26:38 You would touch their hearts, 26:40 convict and convince them, Father. 26:43 Convict them of their sin 26:45 and convince them of Your great love. 26:47 I ask in the name of Jesus, Father, 26:50 that You would grant them repentance, 26:53 that they would turn around 26:55 and turn full faced to You, Father. 26:59 That they might receive the abundant life 27:03 that Jesus Christ came to give them. 27:07 I pray that You will break us free 27:10 from the chains that bind us. 27:13 And I ask in the name of Jesus, Father, 27:16 that for my brothers and my sisters 27:19 that today will be the day that they recognize 27:24 You are the God of new beginnings. 27:26 And, Father, that they will put their hand into Your right hand, 27:31 and that You will guide them in that walk, 27:35 Lord, that joy, the experience of salvation 27:40 along the narrow path. 27:42 Father, You are our God and our love. 27:48 And we thank You. 27:50 We ask these things in the name of Jesus 27:52 and receive them in the name of Jesus. 27:55 Amen. 27:56 Now grow in grace and in the knowledge 27:59 of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17