180 - The Life of Righteousness, the Life of Grace#
180 - The Life of Righteousness, the Life of Grace
(JP Text Group - Ren Wei Compilation)
Romans 5:12-21
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— 13 to be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let us first pray together:
Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise You. Thank You for preparing this opportunity for us to worship and praise You together, and for allowing us to share Your Word here. Please lead us during this time, so that each of us can look up to Jesus Christ and all that You have accomplished for us, and with Your strength, live a new week. Please help us, so that everyone’s heart can be opened and they can understand. We completely dedicate the following time to You. Holy Spirit, please personally guide each person’s heart and renew us. In the name of our Lord Jesus, we pray, Amen!
The topic we are sharing today is The Life of Righteousness, the Life of Grace.
This passage mentions two people: one is Adam, and the other is Christ. The life in Adam and the life in Christ are two completely different lives.
Sharing Point One: The Old Life of Adam, the Life of Sin.
Always remember: our life today is the result of our faith. What you believe determines what your life is like. If you are under Adam, your life is destined to be in sin; if your life is in Christ, the life you live is a life of grace. Where you are is important; your life determines your living.
What was our past life like? It was a sinful life, called a sinner. “For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,” because of the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man, and our final outcome is to live in sin and die in sin. This is the past life under Adam, and no one can escape this order. Who can say, “I was born and will not die”?
You are a life under Adam; whether you admit it or not, you are a descendant of Adam, always a descendant of Adam; whether you admit it or not, you have sinned; you will always sin; whether you admit it or not, you will die; ultimately, you will die. Because this is the old life in Adam, the old life is such a living, and the final outcome is death in sin. Verse 19 says, “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners,” our past identity, in God’s eyes, is the identity of a sinner; whether you are willing or not, this identity cannot be changed.
Ephesians 2:1-5
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
This is the characteristic of our past life. This verse tells us that this is our past life, the old life in Adam. Today, those who do not believe in Jesus still live such a corrupt life. They have no way out; they can only live like that, because there is no way out unless they come to know Jesus. Therefore, God says, “In the past, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.”
Although today these people seem to be alive and kicking, in God’s eyes, they are already dead. For example, if you look at a flower and it looks beautiful, and you pick one, is the flower in your hand alive or dead? It is dead; although it still smells fragrant and looks alive, in essence, it is already dead. If you buy a bouquet of roses for someone, no one thinks you gave them a bouquet of dead roses; people think it looks nice, it still has a fragrance, it looks beautiful, but in reality, the flower has been severed from its roots.
In the past, we were such a life; after Adam sinned, the life was severed from God. It seems that Adam was still alive, but he was already dying; in God’s eyes, he was already dead. So Adam lived for over nine hundred years and then died, just like a bouquet of flowers; although you hold it and it looks beautiful, it cannot last long. If you put it in the sun, it will die. The life has already been disconnected from its original essence.
Those in “Adam,” that is, those who have not accepted Jesus today, are like those who have left their original position and roots, and will eventually die. Some just die a little faster, some die a little slower; some flowers have more moisture and can last two or three days; some die the same day. In fact, in God’s eyes, they are already dead in their transgressions and sins.
Our past way of living: following the ways of this world. We lived as others lived; everyone lived like this. In the past, the life under Adam obeyed the ruler of the kingdom of the air. “The ruler of the kingdom of the air” refers to the devil. In the past, we all lived according to the devil, worshiping ancestors, making idols to worship; this is the lifestyle the devil wants people to live, and we all lived in this without a way out.
“The spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient,” always remember: those who have not accepted Jesus are controlled by evil spirits in their hearts; those who have accepted Jesus have the Holy Spirit living in them. There are only these two kinds of spirits in the world; you can choose either the evil spirit or the Holy Spirit. Those who have not accepted Jesus are in the old life in Adam, which is the evil spirit.
We all once lived among them, and such an evil spirit among us would indulge the desires of the flesh. The flesh does whatever it wants. Those who do not believe in Jesus do things that are driven by their inner desires. The following says, “following the desires of the flesh and of the mind,” meaning the flesh does whatever it wants; this is what people in the world want to do most, which is what those who have not accepted Jesus like to do: to do whatever they want. Why do so many people envy being an emperor? Because the emperor has privileges and can do whatever he wants; this is the greatest wish of all who have not accepted Jesus.
Who once realized this wish? Solomon! Other kings really could not do it. Solomon truly did whatever he wanted, and he really accomplished it. He wanted gold and silver; every year a large amount of gold and silver was brought to him; he wanted to see beautiful women from various countries, and every year he married beautiful women, marrying princesses from various countries; only Solomon could marry a thousand wives, and he at least made friends with people from a thousand countries; he wanted to plant flowers and grass, and he tried it all. This is what people under Adam are like; the Bible says they are “children of wrath.”
When Solomon enjoyed all this, in his old age, he regretted it. He suddenly looked back and found that his whole life was meaningless because he had no God. Just like holding a rose, it smells good, but how long can it last? It has already been severed from its roots, and its life will eventually wither. This is the old life under Adam, a life of sin, ultimately living in sin and dying in sin.
Today, why talk about Adam? Because Adam’s sin is related to us. Adam sinned, and we were all condemned. Because of one man’s sin, many became sinners; because of one man’s trespass, many were condemned. Because Adam sinned, it is directly related to us, so we talk about him to tell you: our past life was like this; the current state of all humanity is like this; all descendants of Adam have become sinners.
Because they are sinners, they will continue to sin. Today, many people think, “Because you have sinned, you have become a sinner; when you do not sin, you are righteous.” This view is incorrect. God does not see things this way; God sees that “because you are a sinner, you will continue to sin, living in sin and dying in sin.”
Let me ask you a question: Do these sinners do good deeds? Do they do good things? In fact, sinners can also do good deeds and good things, but in God’s eyes, they are still sinners. Don’t you think that’s a pity? This is a very regrettable thing. People in the world who do not believe in Jesus can also do good things, build bridges, repair roads, help others… they can do these things, but in God’s eyes, they are still sinners, still living in sin and dying in sin.
Isaiah 64:6 We all have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
What does this mean? How does God see you? Because you are a sinner, even if you do righteous acts, in God’s eyes, that is also a filthy garment. Because the identity of a sinner has not changed, it is like a person who has killed someone; he is a murderer and has already become a sinner. Even if he helps others, donates money, repairs roads… this cannot change his identity as a sinner; it has already been fixed as a sinner.
In the past, we were like this in God’s eyes; we were sinners because Adam sinned, and all descendants of Adam are sinners. No matter how many good deeds you do, you are still a sinner. Even if you give your life for others, you are still a sinner. Even if you are nailed to the cross, you are still a sinner. All our righteousness, in God’s eyes, is like filthy rags. We are like that leaf, eventually withering away, and the final outcome is death.
But God does not want us to live in sin forever, so God wants to change all this. God has prepared salvation for humanity. If we have a way out, God lets us strive for it. We have no way out; no matter how hard we try, we cannot remove the identity of a sinner. So God, through Adam’s sin, prepared salvation for us.
Genesis 3:21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Brothers and sisters, why does the Bible mention this? Genesis is a very interesting book; it mentions many origins: the origin of humanity, the origin of the world, the origin of conflicts, the origin of sin, the origin of salvation… all these are in Genesis. Why does God mention this statement? Always remember: there is no word in the Bible that is unnecessary; God does not allow useless words to appear in the Bible. Since it is mentioned, it must be related to us.
We see such a life; after sinning, Adam’s intelligence also decreased. Today, do we make clothes out of fig leaves? Adam was such a smart person; after being severed from God’s life, his intelligence decreased, using fig leaves to make clothes. But God knew that this method could not cover his shame, could not cover his problem, so God used a more reliable method: God killed an animal, took its skin, and made clothes for them.
I personally believe that this skin should be lambskin because it is related to salvation. What does this symbolize? It symbolizes that originally this animal should not have died, but it died in place of you because you sinned, so this animal had to die in your place. This symbolizes Jesus Christ, who is to come, who will cover our shame and completely remove our sins.
At that time, Adam realized he was naked; how could he cover his shame? He needed to wear clothes. To this day, no one has broken this problem, right? To this day, the best clothes are still leather. Even though the times have passed for so many years, the best clothes are still leather. What God first gave to Adam was the best, but later people thought they were smarter and no longer used this method. However, upon returning, you still find that it is still with God. So the life of people in Adam was such a process; they had no way out and ultimately had to die, so God prepared salvation for them.
Genesis 3:14-15
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
This is salvation. It is salvation prepared by God for Adam and also for Adam’s descendants. The scripture mentions “I will put enmity between you and the woman’s offspring,” “the woman’s offspring” is singular, referring to one person, and this one person refers to Jesus Christ.
Genesis has already foreshadowed Jesus Christ; it just did not mention the name “Jesus.” The offspring of the serpent and the offspring of the woman will be enemies; the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent’s head, and the serpent’s offspring will strike his heel. This has already been accomplished on the cross; indeed, Jesus’ heel was struck, and at that moment, the head of the devil was crushed by Jesus. At that moment, the devil was completely defeated.
So Adam sinned and was condemned, and we all fell under condemnation. But condemnation is not God’s intention; our death is not God’s intention; this is the old life, a life that cannot be changed. God does not want us to die; God wants us to live and receive His eternal life.
The scripture says, “The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.” How does grace come? Verse 16 says, “The gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.” In other words, if we had no trespasses, we would not need to be justified. It is precisely because we have many trespasses that we need God’s grace. A person who understands that their past life was like this, a life in Adam that cannot be overcome by themselves, needs God’s grace. They realize that no matter what they do, they cannot satisfy God, and God says, “Stop trying; I have accomplished everything and freely give it to you.”
Justification is through many trespasses. So today, do not get the focus wrong; do not always say, “I have many trespasses, I have many trespasses…” We should emphasize the life of righteousness; we should say, “I indeed have many trespasses, but I believe in God’s grace, which has justified me.” This is our focus.
If there were no trespasses, there would be no talk of “justification,” because we are sinners, so we need God to let us be “justified.” Because of God’s grace, through Jesus Christ and all that He accomplished on the cross, we have been justified. All who are justified must first acknowledge, “The past me was in a life like Adam; I could not overcome it, so I need the grace of Jesus to help me.”
How does Jesus help us to be justified? As mentioned earlier, no matter how hard we try in the past, we are living in sin and dying in sin. To change such a life, we must rely on Jesus on the cross, who has paid the price for all our sins, so that we can be justified, and our identity can be changed. The righteousness of the law must be fulfilled for us to change our identity. Therefore, justification is a passive verb for us. What is a passive verb? It means we cannot do anything; we can only accept. Just as we were born as sinners, what can we change? Nothing can be changed; we can only passively accept this identity. Now it is different; Jesus went to the cross for us, and we are now passive recipients. As long as we believe that Jesus died for us on the cross, we simply believe and are justified, and God places this “righteous” identity upon us.
When God placed the identity of “sinner” upon us, we could not break free, but now there is a way. By faith in Jesus on the cross, who shed His blood for our sins, God places the identity of “righteous” upon us. In this situation, we cannot do anything; we can only believe. When we believe, we are justified.
What does it mean to be justified? When God holds you in His hand and says, “You now belong to Me.” Do we believe that God holds us tightly? If you do not believe in God, and you think today you are justified, but tomorrow, because you sin, God will let go of you, if you believe this about Jesus’ cross, then you indeed have no certainty.
But what are we like today? Today we are like Noah and his family. Noah’s family of eight entered the ark; the ark symbolizes our Jesus Christ. After Noah’s family entered, imagine this: if one day Noah got angry and hit his child, he sinned, would God throw him into the water because of his sin?
If old Noah fell to the ground one day and said, “I’m done; I’ve fallen into the water,” would this situation occur? Even if Noah fell, he was still in the ark; even if he behaved poorly, he was still in the ark. This is the stability of God. It is God who saves us; it is God who justifies us; we cannot change this, and the devil cannot change this fact. The stability of salvation is in this.
So we are all “justified” people; this is God’s grace. If we were not “justified” and relied on our efforts, we would indeed be in danger because we would have to keep trying to do our best to maintain this identity. But we are “justified”; this is what Jesus has done, and it is stable and permanently effective, so there is assurance. The past life in Adam, we indeed could not change, but because of Jesus, it has changed. “Because of one man’s sin, death reigned,” today we are not in this category; because of the cross of Jesus Christ, we have been delivered from death and entered into Christ. Now we are in Christ; to put it seriously: if I sin today, I am still in Christ, it is absolutely impossible to return to Adam; this is the life of those who are “justified.”
We must understand such a life, and then we can live a different life. In Adam, death reigns; in Christ, grace reigns. Two completely different lives. Death reigned through sin. In other words, if humanity had not sinned, death would not have appeared because it is impossible to die. Because humans sinned, death reigned. Similarly, grace reigns through righteousness; if there were no righteousness of Jesus Christ, we would have no grace. God’s grace would not apply to us; we could not obtain it.
Sharing Point Two: Through the Righteousness of Jesus Christ, We Can Live a Life of Grace.
Today, too many people say they understand grace and accept grace, but they do not live a life of grace. This is because they do not understand God’s righteousness. Without a clear understanding of grace, one cannot live a life of grace. Verse 17 says, “For just as through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” This one man refers to Jesus; because of Jesus’ obedience, Jesus completely obeyed God, fulfilled God’s law for us, and the many became righteous.
Here, “the many” refers to those who believe in Jesus Christ, not everyone. The “universal salvation theory” is based on this statement; they believe that because of one man’s obedience, all people become righteous, and everyone automatically becomes righteous. This is incorrect. Only those who believe in Jesus are righteous. You must believe that Jesus died for your sins, died on the cross, and shed His precious blood to cleanse your sins; you must believe this to have your sins forgiven. If you believe incorrectly, it is actually nonexistent.
How can we obtain the righteousness of Jesus Christ? By believing, always remember: it starts with believing. Today, many people say, “How can I live a victorious life, a life of grace?” Start with believing. Many people say after believing in Jesus, “We believe in the Lord; what should we do?” They always want to do something. You tell them: start with faith, then listen to the Word, listen to the Word, listen to the Word…
Do not rush to do anything; if you really want to do something, start by believing in God! In fact, the process of believing is also a relatively difficult process because we have many thoughts that need to be renewed, and we must continually understand God’s Word, allowing God’s Word to renew ourselves. This is a very difficult process, but we know this is what we need to do, to believe in Jesus through renewal, believing in all that Jesus has done for us on the cross.
Romans 5:1-2
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
The Bible says that after we are justified by faith, we can stand in this grace. The Bible does not say that after you believe, you immediately return to the law. What is grace? It is all that Jesus has accomplished for us. We live by this. Our life has already been obtained; at the moment we believed in Jesus, we already had life. Now what we lack is how to live in the world like Jesus Christ and be an example for others. Never say, “Since God has forgiven me today, I can live however I want.” If you live worse than the world, your life is terrible.
I often like to use the example of Abraham and Lot. Both of them were saved and justified by God. Would you want to live like Lot? Lot was initially very wealthy, but in the end, you will find that his later life was very tragic. This was not caused by God; it was his own choice to live a life completely different from Abraham. Today’s Christians also have these two kinds of lives: either the life of Abraham or the life of Lot. You cannot say, “I want the blessings of Abraham, but I also want to live in Sodom like Lot.” This is impossible. You cannot live in sin and still expect God’s blessings. Lot chose to live in sin; many blessings were not withheld by God; he threw them away himself; he did not live a blessed life. Abraham stood in God’s grace; he relied on God in everything, and Abraham was indeed a wealthy and blessed man. In fact, Lot could have received this too; he just made the wrong choice; he chose to live with sinful people.
Today, even if you understand grace, it does not mean you can indulge. A few days ago, someone shared with me that after a person believed in the Lord, she said she finally understood that Jesus had forgiven all her sins, so she started being a mistress, breaking up other people’s families, seducing other people’s husbands. She said, “After all, God has already forgiven me.” What will happen to her life? If the original wife finds someone to beat her up, she cannot say, “Lord, why are You treating me this way?” Choosing this kind of life means you have to bear the consequences.
Grace absolutely does not allow indulgence unless the person does not understand what grace is. A person who believes in Jesus will absolutely not indulge unless they have not correctly believed in Jesus. Some people also believe in Jesus, but they live worse than the world. Remember: there must be something wrong with what they believe; perhaps they do not understand what Jesus is at all. Many people also say “justification by faith,” and this term has been shouted for many years, but very few truly understand it.
After being justified by faith, it allows you to stand in God’s grace and rejoice in the hope of God’s glory; His goal is to live for God’s glory. He stands in grace and lives out a life of grace. The Bible tells us: If a Christian wants to live a victorious life, they must first understand that they already have a justified life, a life completely changed by Jesus. Many Christians today still live in failure because they think: I am saved by believing in Jesus, but I want to be victorious, so I must rely on my own efforts. This is the thinking of most people.
Today we are under grace; we believe and are saved; we are victorious in life, still relying on God’s grace. Relying on ourselves still does not work; relying on ourselves still leads to failure. The way of the world is to rely on one’s own efforts: I work hard, I wake up early and work late, and I can receive some blessings. This is the way of life for the world, but we are not like this. Can waking up early and working hard earn God’s blessings? God’s principles are not like this.
In other words, if God does not grant blessings, what use is your effort? Today, humans can land on the moon; if you are taken to the moon to live and asked to grow potatoes, build houses… can you survive there? The temperature difference is so great that it is not suitable for survival at all. Although people try various ways to live there, living there is very difficult; you have to carry various oxygen tanks and bring various things from Earth.
If you remove the things from Earth, can people live there for even a second? So that place is not suitable for us because God does not want us to live there; God wants us to live on this Earth. Living on Earth is easy; you do not have to carry an oxygen tank every day; getting up, sleeping, and basic living are things we can easily do. This is God’s grace.
If God does not grant grace, starting tomorrow, if air starts charging by the second, how many seconds can we live? If tomorrow the sun does not rise, if the sunlight goes out, in just one second, all people on Earth will die. Because once the sun stops shining, the entire Earth will freeze, and humanity cannot survive at all.
How many people can see that this is God’s grace? Many people say, “I want to strive to overcome the world, strive to overcome myself.” If it were not for God’s grace, who could overcome? Humanity really has nothing to boast about; we stand in this place, and we are not even as big as a tile; we lie in that place, and it is just a small piece of land, right? People boast, “How I… how I…” If God does not grant grace, you have no chance of victory; no matter how hard you try, it is in vain.
So we must first see that we are already in the life of justification; God allows us to live a life of grace. This life of grace is not done by our own efforts; rather, we should continuously receive. We must understand what Jesus can give us, what He is willing to give us, and live with a grateful heart. We can discover what God has given you today; facing life with this heart, we will find that we can easily overcome, no longer relying on ourselves, but relying on the grace God has continually given us.
God’s methods are different from human methods. The way of the world is to rely on one’s own efforts, while today we must learn to rely on God’s grace and His righteousness to live a victorious and blessed life. We have been emphasizing: a victorious life is not obtained by one’s own efforts; you cannot obtain God’s blessings through performance.
God’s blessings come entirely from His grace, and this grace is something we do not deserve, not something we earn; it is freely given because Jesus changed all this. If Jesus had not gone to the cross to give us the identity of “righteous,” you could not possibly have the life of the righteous. Everyone would be like Adam, born and dying shortly after; this is our outcome. But now it is different; after Jesus turned everything around, we no longer live to die; we no longer live for our own families; we live to glorify Jesus.
In the future, we are not going to die but to live, to live forever; we have already separated from the world. When Jesus said “It is finished” over two thousand years ago, this “It is finished” includes two aspects: First, He accomplished everything needed for our salvation; second, He also accomplished everything for us to be victorious in life. We must not underestimate the power of Jesus.
Today, many people think that believing in Jesus means going to heaven after death. Many insurance salespeople do not understand this situation and say, “Jesus is in charge of what happens after death; let us take care of things while we are alive!” It is not that easy! Who can stop the accidents that happen in this world? Only Jesus can! It is not that insurance is bad; insurance is a good thing, absolutely a good thing, but remember: insurance can only provide some protection after a problem arises; it cannot prevent problems from occurring.
Only Jesus can block problems for us; only Jesus can completely solve problems. When you really have a disease and take the reimbursement form to get reimbursed, do you think your heart will feel good? There is only one thing that makes you happy: thank and praise the Lord! God has given us His health today; this is what is worth rejoicing about. We call this: a victorious life. And all this, what do you think you can obtain it by? You say: “Lord, I performed well today; please don’t let me get sick?” Can it work? Receiving from God is receiving from Jesus.
From now on, I wish everyone to understand that this is the life of grace. Every day, tell yourself: “Because of all that Jesus Christ accomplished for me on the cross, I know that everything I have today is given to me by Jesus; health, wealth, joy, and peace are given to me by Jesus; I refuse to accept any bad things coming upon me.” This is received; when we pray to God, what can we do? We can only believe and look up to Him, receiving grace from Jesus, receiving abundant grace. Hallelujah!
Jesus has completed everything; we should not do it again because we cannot do it. Verse 21 says, “Just as sin reigned in death,” in the past, the life under Adam, sin reigned, and the outcome for people was death. Continuously sinning and then dying. But it immediately says, “So also grace reigns through righteousness,” today we can receive God’s grace because we are righteous. If there were no righteous identity, on what basis could you say you can have the grace of Jesus Christ? But we are justified by faith; since we have the identity of the righteous, you can begin to believe: the life of grace begins with you. If you are not sure of your identity as a righteous person, you will not dare to ask God for grace because you do not have the courage.
Verse 20 says, “The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” This tells us the method of victory in life. We see our sins; we should ask God’s grace to come upon us, and we can overcome it. So we must focus on God’s grace, not on trespasses, not on sin; this method does not work because sin reigning leads to death.
If a Christian constantly says, “What sins have I committed… what sins have I committed…,” you can be sure that their life will not be good; if a Christian often says, “The grace of Jesus Christ, the grace of Jesus Christ…,” then peace, health, joy, and wealth will come upon them. This is two different lives.
We must choose the second life: the life of righteousness, and then live out a life of grace. This way will allow us to overcome some evils and keep us away from some evils. It does not mean we will not sin; it means we do not want to, which is true freedom.
Earlier, we talked about: people yearn for a life of freedom, wanting to do whatever they want, but the true freedom in grace is “I do not want to do anything, so I can choose not to do anything.” This is freedom; do you understand? For me, I have the freedom to smoke; I have the freedom to drink, but I have the right to choose not to smoke or drink. For some people, they cannot overcome their sins.
Those who are addicted to smoking, do you think telling them not to smoke will work? For those who are addicted to drinking, do you think telling them not to drink will work? They cannot overcome this; they are already bound. But in Jesus Christ, we can easily say: I have this freedom; this is given to us by God. This is grace reigning through righteousness. Many people, after understanding the righteousness of Jesus Christ, easily quit drinking and smoking; this is the reason! Because God’s grace has come upon them, their focus is no longer on how to strive for victory but on God’s grace.
What did Jesus come to do?
John 10:10… I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Jesus Christ came to give us His grace, allowing us to live a life of abundant life. Jesus lets us receive His righteousness, first obtaining the life of justification, and then living out a life of grace. Always remember: God is our benefactor; He allows us to enjoy His abundance and health, enjoying a victorious life.
Let us describe what a life of grace looks like.
First, a life of grace is not a stingy life; it is a life willing to give. Abraham was a person who was happy to give. Abraham believed that all nations would be blessed through him, so for Abraham, he considered himself an extremely wealthy person, and he was willing to give; this is the lifestyle of a person living under grace.
He saw others in difficulty, and he was willing to help others because he believed that God’s supply was abundant; he was not worried. This is the lifestyle under grace. People under the law always worry about their lack, always feel they have problems, always feel it is not enough. Do you see the two different lifestyles? Most people in the world live under the law; they say, “Why should I help him? This is my hard-earned money; why should I give it to him?”
They always feel they are lacking. People living under grace believe, “If I give today, God will give me more.” This is the lifestyle under grace. They are willing to help others without expecting anything in return; they say, “Do not repay me; I am happy to let God repay me.” To say a selfish word, when God repays us, it is not according to how people repay. Today, if I give you a gift, a few days later, you give me one back, and that’s it.
But today, when I help you and do not expect you to repay, what God gives is not the same as what I gave you; God gives thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold. Never calculate with God because no matter how you calculate, we are all unworthy and undeserving; we call this “God’s grace.”
A person living under grace can truly live out the lifestyle of “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” You will find that this person, besides being willing to help others, often has joy and peace on their face. When others speak ill of him, he remains unfazed. When he turns to God in prayer, “God, help me overcome; others have attacked me, and I feel bad inside.”
God immediately gives him peace, and he overcomes. But look at the world: “Oh, who offended me today? I’m so angry.” He cannot eat. This is the life under the law, the lifestyle in Adam. So today, we are willing to live out a life of grace. Abraham lived in grace because he believed that God had prepared abundant blessings for him, so after receiving, he was willing to give.
Always remember: The life in Adam is a “grasping” life; the life in grace is a “giving” life. In a person, these two lives are both reflected; this person is Jacob, who later had his name changed to Israel. Jacob particularly liked to “grasp”; in today’s words, “What is mine is mine; what is yours is still mine.” He wanted to grasp everything for himself. After God turned his life around, he understood God’s grace, and he began to bless Pharaoh; his life became one that brought blessings to others.
I wish our lives would also undergo such a change. In the past, we lived in Adam’s life, always calculating. When we understand the life of righteousness, we can live out a life of grace. God does not want you to live in poverty and failure; God does not want you to have nothing; God wants us to “be the head and not the tail.”
If you are in business, God hopes your business will thrive. But you must know that there is a very important principle in business: as a boss, if you are truly willing to give more, your business will definitely do well. For example, if you are selling things and open a store, if someone brings a child to buy something and you give that child a piece of candy, although it is a small thing, this action will make your business grow larger; that seller who always cheats people, shortchanging them, will find that their business will get worse and worse. This is called “the law of grace.” Those who are willing to give will see their business grow.
So no matter what you do, if you are willing to give, God will make you increasingly wealthy; this is the life brought about by a life of righteousness under grace. If you are a student, God hopes your grades in all subjects are excellent, not the worst, at the bottom; if you are an office worker, God also hopes your work is the most outstanding, not always being mentioned as the worst performer. God hopes you can do well in any field, relying on Him. You really cannot do it by yourself; you can live out a life of grace by relying on Jesus.
No matter what profession you are currently engaged in, God wants you to be a victorious person in life. The reason is simple: Jesus is a victorious person, and you already have the life of a victor within you. If we still live a life of failure, we need to adjust our “faith”; do not ask, “Lord, what did I do wrong?” We should ask, “Lord, where did I believe incorrectly?”
We need to adjust our “faith” rather than our life. As long as you believe correctly, your life will definitely be correct. Jesus is in our lives; think about it, how powerful is Jesus’ life? It overcomes all dark powers! Jesus’ life overcomes depression, overcomes poverty, overcomes all curses and diseases; such a life is within us, but we just do not know how to use it. If we understand how to use it, realizing that you have a life of justification by faith, you can live out a life of grace. In other words, what Jesus did, we can also do today.
Remember: Jesus never sinned; Jesus never calculated others. If you use your cleverness to calculate others, God will not listen to your prayers. Unless you think about how to bless others and help others. Jesus did such things; you can be assured that you can also do it. Therefore, we must become channels of blessing, channels of grace, and let the life of Jesus Christ’s righteousness flow in our lives, living out this life of grace, and wherever we go, people will rejoice in you.
The Bible has a story called the Unjust Steward. This person was a steward, but the master planned to dismiss him. He quickly gathered those who owed the master money and wrote down the debt of one hundred as fifty. Why did this person plan this? He used his master’s wealth to bring forgiveness to others; he gave this grace to others. So when the master really dismissed this person, a large number of people came to help him; this is the life of grace. If you truly understand God’s grace, which is given freely to you, and you are also willing to give it freely, the more you give, the more prosperous your life will become. No matter what problems you encounter, there will always be a large number of people willing to help you; this is the life of grace.
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise You! Thank You today for Your Word, which has allowed us to understand that we are justified by faith, no longer living the old life in Adam. The life in Adam is one of continuous sin, living in sin, and dying in sin; we are no longer such a life. Because of the redemption of Jesus Christ, we live in Your righteousness.
Grace reigns through righteousness; we are in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and grace is upon us. We are willing to look up to the grace of Jesus Christ every day and live, allowing Your grace to fill us, making us channels of grace, bringing the blessings and grace of Jesus Christ to others, so that people can see what Jesus Christ has done in us.
We believe that this week, we can live a victorious life through You because Your grace is already upon us. Grace reigns through righteousness; in Jesus Christ, there is eternal life. We are in Your abundant blessings. Hallelujah! Thank You and praise the Lord! This week is a different week, a victorious week, a blessed week. Everything we do will see God’s grace. All glory be to our Father in heaven. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen!