Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host)
Series Code: GPL
Program Code: GPL000003S
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00:01 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn.
00:03 How are we born again as children of God? 00:06 What was the cost of grace? 00:09 Please join us today as we see what the Bible 00:13 has to say in answer to these questions. 00:36 Hello. Welcome to "The Grace pipeline." 00:39 This is a series that follows a Bible study 00:42 that I was privileged to share 00:44 by writing a book also titled "The Grace pipeline." 00:47 Today we will look at what the Bible says 00:50 is the process of being born again as a child of God 00:55 and we'll also consider the extreme cost of grace. 00:59 If you were following in the series companion book 01:02 we are beginning on page 26 of chapter 2. 01:06 Now during our last program 01:08 we defined grace as the unearned, 01:12 undeserved gifts bestowed by a God of infinite love 01:16 which provide his divine assistance 01:19 and supernatural power unto salvation. 01:22 And do you remember 01:24 what we identified or who we identified 01:26 as the three most important gifts? 01:28 Jesus Christ is God's greatest gift of grace 01:32 and we considered also the Bible 01:35 and the Holy Spirit as gifts of grace. 01:38 We also talked about Paul and Silas as they ministered 01:40 to the Philippine jailers household, 01:43 and Peter to the household of Cornelius telling them 01:46 to believe in Christ and they would be saved. 01:50 How does believing bring salvation? 01:54 Christ said he came to earth to seek and to save the lost. 01:58 And according to 1 John 3:8, 02:01 His mission was to destroy the works of the Devil 02:05 by redeeming mankind and giving us 02:08 victory over Satan's influence. 02:11 He accomplishes this through His grace 02:14 which He tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, 02:17 He says, "My grace is sufficient for you," 02:21 sufficient for the task of transforming the human heart. 02:24 And in fact, Christ promises 02:27 to perfect His power in our weakness. 02:30 When Paul and Silas and Peter ministered 02:34 the message to believe they were essentially saying, 02:38 "Have faith and place your confidence 02:40 in Christ and His ability. 02:43 Commit your life to Him, trusting Him and relying on Him 02:47 for salvation and deliverance from sin." 02:51 Here is what Jesus said in John 5:24. 02:55 "Most assuredly, I say to you, 02:58 he who hears My word and believes in Him 03:02 who has sent Me has everlasting life, 03:05 and shall not come into judgment, 03:08 but has passed from death into life." 03:14 There you have it, on the authority 03:16 of the word of Christ Himself. 03:18 Believing brings salvation. 03:21 But believing in Jesus as Savior is to be living in Jesus 03:28 and the power of His grace. 03:30 The heavenly promise is that His presence in your life 03:35 will mold your character into conformity of His likeness. 03:40 But it takes faith and confidence 03:43 that God is willing and able to perform this work in you. 03:47 Jesus asks a question 03:49 and made an incredible response in Mathew 9:28 and 29. 03:55 He said, "Do you believe that I am able to do this? 03:59 According to your faith let it be to you." 04:05 This was in response to the cries 04:07 of two believing blind men. 04:10 And these words spoken by Jesus restored their sight 04:13 by grace through the power of faith. 04:16 The Bible accounts that we previously reviewed 04:19 of the woman at the well and her fellow citizens, 04:22 the jailor and his family, and Cornelius household 04:26 proved the same faith principle applies to Spiritual blindness. 04:32 So how did all of those people 04:35 obtain faith to overcome Spiritual blindness? 04:38 Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing 04:43 and hearing by the word of God. 04:46 As the gift of his word was implanted in their hearts 04:51 it brought faith and power 04:53 which was able to save their souls. 04:55 The moment their conversion came 04:57 when they believed in and received Jesus as savior. 05:02 Through faith their hearts were changed and converted, 05:07 turned away from the power of sin to the power of God. 05:11 Listen to Christ's commission to Paul, 05:14 his messenger of grace, whom he sent out to lost 05:17 and suffering souls so that they might be converted. 05:20 This is one of my favorite scriptures 05:23 found in Acts 26:17 and 18. 05:26 And he says to Paul, "I now send you to open their eyes, 05:31 in order to turn them from darkness to light, 05:34 and from the power of Satan to God, 05:37 that they may receive forgiveness of sins 05:40 and an inheritance among those 05:43 who are sanctified by faith in Me." 05:50 The word "converted" triggers memories of the two weeks 05:54 my precious mother spent in the intensive care unit. 05:57 It was as the result of a complete cardiac 06:00 and respiratory arrest from which she was revived. 06:03 And the hospital staff allowed me to stay with her 06:06 around the clock except for the occasions 06:09 that her heart went dangerously out of rhythm. 06:12 And the code blue team would send me scurrying from her room. 06:17 After applying the cardiac paddles 06:19 in to deliver an electric shock to her heart, 06:22 the doctor would come to the waiting area and tell me, 06:25 "Well, we've successfully converted her." 06:28 In other words, they had restored 06:30 a normal heart rhythm and she should live. 06:34 With the entrance of sin in the Garden of Eden, 06:38 the heart of humanity got out of rhythm. 06:41 We were out of rhythm with heaven 06:43 and sin severed mans spiritual life from God 06:47 resulting in spiritual death. 06:50 The great physician of love 06:52 reaches down from heaven to restore life to us. 06:56 He places His loving hands, like spiritual cardiac paddles, 07:01 on our heart and delivers the power stream 07:04 that causes it to beat 07:06 in a recreated rhythm as one with His. 07:10 of the Old Testament, 07:15 pictures this more like a heart transplant. 07:19 God promise us to put a new heart 07:21 and a new spirit within His people 07:23 and 'cause His people to be what he calls them to be. 07:28 Now in the New Testament in Hebrews 8:8-13. 07:32 He proclaims the new covenant, 07:35 heart conversion process, happens as a result of Him 07:39 putting His laws in our minds and writing them on our hearts. 07:44 We must be regenerated, reborn spiritually 07:48 to restore our relationship with God as our father. 07:52 And the good news is this happens 07:55 as a function of His grace. 07:58 Now in the natural realm, let me ask, 08:01 what role does any child perform in his conception? None. 08:05 The donor, seed or sperm brings life 08:09 and the child is conceived receiving the gift of life. 08:13 The same principle applies in the spiritual realm. 08:16 Luke 8:11, portrays the written word 08:21 as the seed of God with a small lowercase 's'. 08:26 And in Galatians 3:16, Paul identifies Christ 08:30 as the living word of God, as the covenant seed of Abraham 08:34 and he uses an uppercase 'S' for seed. 08:38 You see, we are born again spiritually 08:41 as we receive the seed of His written word. 08:45 And Jesus, the covenant seed, 08:47 enters our hearts through faith 08:49 to infuse us with new spiritual DNA. 08:54 Now I use that as an acronym for Divine Nature Acquired. 08:59 And what happens is working in concert 09:03 the Holy Spirit indwells us 09:05 and we are born of the spirit and of God. 09:09 Like a child of natural birth our only part 09:12 in the spiritual birth is to receive the gift of life. 09:17 God communicates new life to us 09:20 through the agencies of His grace through His son, 09:24 the Holy Spirit, and the word 09:26 and we are born from above and given a new beginning. 09:30 You know, God believes and gives all who believe in Christ 09:34 and receive Him as Savior the right to become His children 09:39 and share communion with Him. 09:42 This rebirth or regeneration 09:45 causes us to have a family resemblance 09:48 to the father of our spirits, our father of grace. 09:52 Let's review the scriptural evidence 09:55 of our new birth process. 09:57 And we are going to began with James 1:18. 10:03 Let me find that right here. 10:04 And in James 1:18, the Bible says 10:07 we were born again by God's will and His word. 10:09 Listen, "And it was of His own free will 10:13 that He gave us birth as sons by His word of Truth." 10:18 And 1 Peter 1:23 says we were born at the word. 10:22 "Having been born again, not of corruptible seed 10:25 but incorruptible, through the word of God." 10:29 Ephesians 2:4-5 says, "God, who is rich in mercy, 10:35 because of His great love with which He loved us, 10:38 even when we were dead in trespasses, 10:40 made us alive together with Christ 10:43 by grace you have been saved. 10:46 Ephesians 2:10 says, we are recreated in Christ. 10:50 I am reading this from the amplified and it says, 10:53 "For we are God's (own) handiwork (His workmanship), 10:57 recreated in Christ Jesus, (born anew) 11:01 that we may do those good works 11:03 which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us." 11:08 And then we must consider John 3:6, 11:11 where Jesus says we were born of the Spirit. 11:13 He says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, 11:17 and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." 11:20 And finally Titus 3:4-6 says we were regenerated 11:25 and renewed by the Holy Spirit. 11:27 And he writes, "When the kindness 11:30 and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 11:33 not by works of righteousness which we have done, 11:37 but according to His mercy He saved us, 11:40 through the washing of regeneration 11:43 and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 11:46 whom He poured out on us abundantly 11:49 through Jesus Christ our Savior." 11:52 What great promises. 11:54 That's why Paul could say in 2 Corinthians 5:17, 11:57 "Therefore if any one is in Christ, 12:00 he is a new creation. 12:02 Old things have passed away 12:04 and behold all things have become new." 12:07 Through the gift of Christ's overflowing life 12:11 and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and the word, 12:15 God recreates us in His image. 12:19 And now we have the hope 12:21 of attaining the character of Christ 12:24 as we grow in grace and mature in our Christian experience. 12:29 Paul pointed out in Colossians 1:27, 12:33 he said that it is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 12:38 Our personal experience of allowing Christ to dwell 12:42 within our hearts by faith is our only hope of salvation. 12:45 And as born again children of God, 12:48 we have a vital spiritual connection with our Lord. 12:51 Through faith we abide in Him 12:54 and He abides or continually dwells in us. 12:58 The promise to all who will believe in Him 13:01 is that the power of His Holy Spirit 13:03 will be poured out from on high. 13:06 And our frail human understanding 13:08 will be strengthened to know the love of God 13:12 that we may be filled with all of His fullness. 13:15 Let me read to you from Ephesians 3:14-19. 13:21 Paul writes to the Ephesians and he says, 13:24 "For this reason I bow my knees 13:27 to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." 13:30 Why? "That He would grant you, 13:32 according to the riches of His glory, 13:34 to be strengthened with might 13:37 through His Spirit in the inner man, 13:40 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" 13:43 So we see there, 13:45 it's through the Holy Spirit living in us 13:47 that Christ dwells in us by faith. 13:50 "That you, being rooted and grounded in love, 13:52 may be able to comprehend with all the saints 13:56 what is the width and length and depth and height, 13:59 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, 14:02 that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." 14:07 You know, Paul exclaimed, it's the grace of God 14:12 that brings salvation has appeared to all men 14:16 when Jesus came. 14:17 Hallelujah. 14:18 God's grace pipeline is provided for every man, 14:22 woman, and child on earth. 14:23 It encompasses the world in an embraces of his love. 14:28 tells us that God desires 14:31 that all would repent and none would perish. 14:35 His grace is for all. 14:37 Scripture is clear and confronting, 14:39 salvation belongs to God. 14:42 Both the Old and New Testaments 14:44 actually use that exact wording. 14:47 Don't believe for one minute that you are too bad 14:49 to qualify for God's saving grace, 14:51 denying His ability to save and exalting your opinion 14:56 above His recorded truth. 14:58 In a supreme display of His love 15:00 God sent His Son to die 15:02 for ungodly sinners like you and like me. 15:06 And don't suffer the prideful notion 15:08 that you can do anything to save yourselves 15:11 because then you would unwittingly 15:12 be setting yourself up as your own deity 15:15 and thereby practicing a form of idolatry. 15:18 Don't reject the idea either of your great need 15:22 for the Savior by considering yourself as inherently good. 15:27 For the Bible says that all have sinned 15:29 and fallen short of the glory of God. 15:31 We are all candidates for God's grace. 15:35 James tells us in 4:6 that God resists the proud, 15:41 but he gives grace to the humble. 15:44 To receive grace requires an act of humility 15:48 which explains the human tendency 15:51 of our hearts to reject it. 15:53 We must humbly accept but for the grace of God 15:57 we would be doomed to destruction. 16:00 Further we must believe that He loves the undeserving 16:05 and He is able to save us. 16:08 Romans 6:23 speaks to God's grace saying, 16:12 "For the wages of sin is death, 16:15 but the gift of God is eternal life 16:21 in Christ Jesus our Lord." 16:23 The Bible paints a portrait of an all loving, 16:27 all powerful, all Holy God. 16:30 And the perfect moral purity of God separates Him 16:35 from any possibility of wrong doing or injustice. 16:39 Now in striking contrast the Scripture portraits 16:43 the picture of fallen humanity as selfish, weak, 16:47 morally corrupt and hopelessly lost 16:50 unless we repent of our rebellion against God. 16:54 Man was created to be the image bearer of a Holy God. 16:58 And our creator set forth His righteous criteria, 17:02 His laws of love by which He would govern the world 17:06 to provide a protective barrier against sin. 17:09 But through an act of rebellion and opposition to God's plan, 17:13 Adam and Eve introduced 17:15 the consequences of sin into this world. 17:18 Sin ravaged the perfection of God's creation 17:21 and infected the entire human race 17:24 with through an inherited nature 17:26 that is inclined to surrender to sin's sway 17:31 rather than to the power of God. 17:33 Yeah, we are born with freewill, 17:35 the personal choice between right and wrong. 17:37 And scripture makes it very clear in Ezekiel 18:20. 17:44 It says we are individually responsible for own sins. 17:49 The sin experience of mankind is the disgrace of humanity. 17:54 That's what caused our decline 17:56 into a state of moral degradation 17:58 and separated us from our Holy God. 18:01 Suffering, torment, death 18:04 and these types of things are the toxic waste of sin. 18:08 As the consequence of His holiness 18:11 evil is an abomination to the Lord. 18:14 And His judgment is that those who practice sin deserve death. 18:19 The Bible describes- describes God's holy reaction 18:23 against the squalor of sin as His wrath. 18:27 Our God of love proclaims himself 18:30 to be merciful, gracious, slow to anger, 18:33 and abundant in loving kindness and truth. 18:36 Still we must understand that His love towards us 18:40 is not just a shower of sentimental feelings. 18:43 His love provides grace that is the offsetting power 18:47 to subdue the influence of the devil 18:50 and change our sin-sick state of mind. 18:55 Thank God for the assurance of Romans 5:20 which says, 19:01 "Where sin abounded grace abounded much more." 19:05 As we tap into God's grace pipeline by faith, 19:09 He will flood us with His grace 19:11 and wash away the Spiritual drought 19:14 that's caused by our sins. 19:16 His benevolent gifts are free to us, 19:19 but we must be careful not to propose 19:22 an idea of cheap grace 19:24 for the cost to God was incalculable. 19:28 If anyone appreciated the benefits of grace 19:30 it was the Apostle Paul, a Pharisee of Pharisees, 19:34 who at one time thought his pedigree 19:37 and his zealous religious practices 19:40 earned him favor with God. 19:42 But lacking the life and love of God within, 19:45 he failed to recognize that he was spiritually destitute 19:49 until the moment of his dramatic Damascus road conversion 19:54 when he encountered the master of grace. 19:58 Grace awakened in Paul, 20:00 an emotion that could not be expressed. 20:03 Nor could his gratitude for grace be suppressed. 20:07 He was writing a letter to the church at Corinth 20:10 offering instructions on sacrificial giving. 20:13 When suddenly in the midst 20:15 to providing the reasons for sacrificial giving 20:18 and the motives Paul's heart surged 20:21 with gratitude for God's grace. 20:23 And he penned the strong language 20:26 in Acts excuse me 2 Corinthians 9:15. 20:29 He said, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift." 20:35 Paul knew the supreme demonstration 20:37 of God's saving love was the glorious gift 20:41 of His only begotten Son. 20:43 He could find no other words adequate to define such charity. 20:49 The 85 Psalm says that "Mercy and Truth have met together, 20:54 righteousness and peace have kissed." 20:57 When is this talking about? 20:59 The gateway to salvation is the crucifixion of Christ. 21:03 Sinful men deserve destruction. 21:05 But in spite of our hostility and rebellion 21:08 God paid the unspeakable price to redeem us. 21:12 His holiness demanded justice but His love demanded grace. 21:18 Justice and Grace collided at Calvary's cross 21:23 evidencing both the holiness and the love of God. 21:27 The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 21:29 and being Himself God possessed the very nature of the Father. 21:34 He was worshiped and adored by heavenly beings 21:38 but yet He choose to humble Himself 21:40 and leave that glory and majesty in heaven 21:43 to come to earth and rescue His created beings. 21:47 He condescended to acquire the nature of man 21:51 through His incardination. 21:52 God's beloved became humanity's rejected. 21:56 The perfect sinless one became the willing sacrifice for sin 22:02 bearing the penalty of our sins. 22:04 Heaven's innocent became the condemned 22:08 and the author of life served as our substitute for death. 22:13 It is written in 1 Peter 1:18-19. 22:17 "You were not redeemed with corruptible things, 22:20 like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct 22:23 received by tradition from your fathers, 22:26 but with the precious blood of Jesus, 22:30 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 22:35 Stand at the foot of Calvary's cruel cross 22:38 and you will begin to comprehend the cost of God's grace. 22:42 See His Son hanging naked, lacerated by the whip, 22:46 pierced by the rough iron nails through his hands and feet, 22:50 and bruised by the fist of his tormentors 22:53 with men's spittle dried to his wounded and blooded head 22:57 that was topped then with a crown of thrones. 23:00 If we see the suffocating savior gasping for air 23:05 and grimacing in pain and witness the inward grief 23:09 that engulfed Him as God made Him 23:11 who knew no sin to be sin for us, 23:15 that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 23:18 Now in contrast to the mocking crowd, 23:22 hear the heart of mercy of Jesus crying out, 23:26 "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." 23:30 To contemplate the scene of our Savior's death is to understand 23:34 why Paul did not propagate a cheap grace. 23:38 He describes it in Galatians 5:11 23:42 as the offence of the cross Jesus gave Himself willingly. 23:47 In Hebrews 12:2 says, 23:49 "For the joy that was set before Him, 23:52 He endured the cross despising the shame." 23:55 Let me ask, what was his joy? 23:58 He knew that through His death 24:00 God was reconciling the world to Himself 24:04 and not counting our sins against us. 24:07 Through Christ's sacrifice He would destroy 24:10 the power of the Devil and deliver us 24:13 from this present evil age according to God's perfect will. 24:20 Titus 2:14 tells us that it was God's joy to redeem us 24:27 from every lawless deed and purify for Himself 24:31 His own spiritual people, 24:33 people that were zealous for good works 24:37 because of the effects of grace 24:40 and because of this His glorious grace will strengthen us 24:44 with the power to conduct ourselves 24:47 in a manner worthy of the Lord's great hearted gift of love. 24:52 God's indescribable gift Jesus Christ, 24:56 was a demonstration of His perfect love towards sinners, 25:00 a love that would drive the fear of His wrath from our hearts. 25:04 A true understanding of God's grace conquers our fears 25:09 and it stirs a longing within us to walk in His path 25:14 and holds our hope for our future. 25:19 Only by grace can our fallen human nature be subdued 25:25 and the unholy heart of humanity be restored 25:28 to the image of our creator. 25:30 The fullness of grace stored in our Lord Jesus 25:35 streams down from Him into us providing the divine assistance 25:40 and the supernatural salvation 25:43 as we walk in daily fellowship with Him. 25:47 It is written in 1 John 5:11-13, 25:53 "This is the testimony. 25:56 God given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 26:01 He who has the Son has life, 26:05 he who does not have the Son of God 26:10 does not have life. 26:12 These things I have written to you 26:13 who believe in the name of the Son of God, 26:16 that you may know that you have eternal life, 26:21 and that you may continue to believe 26:24 in the name of the Son of God." 26:27 Give thanks to God for His indescribable gift Jesus Christ, 26:32 the revelation of His great love for you. 26:35 Rejoice, you were worth nothing less than the price 26:39 He paid to redeem you with His own precious blood. 26:44 Christ paid ransom for your release from sins bondage 26:49 to set you free from its horrors. 26:52 My advice is- for you, for me 26:55 that we need to rivet our eyes on our redeemer 27:00 and if we are in Christ we can rest 27:03 in the assurance of salvation by grace. 27:06 That's what we just read in 1 John 5:11-13. 27:10 And I just want to read it one more time. 27:12 "This is the testimony. 27:14 That God given us eternal life and the life is in His Son. 27:19 He who has the Son-" Do you have the Son of God? 27:24 If you've accepted Christ as your Savior 27:27 and you are living in Him then it says, 27:31 that He has written these things 27:34 that you may know that you have eternal life. 27:39 I don't know what your circumstances are? 27:42 But there is someone in heaven who does. 27:44 And I know He loves you. 27:46 And if you will cry out to him He is eager 27:49 and ready to come to your rescue. 27:54 God loves you and He wants you 27:57 to be born again and saved by grace. |
Revised 2024-06-04