The Call of Grace

By Michael Perkins

Salvation cannot be earned. It is the free gift of grace from God through Christ. There is a great pressure release for Christians when they finally understand its not about performance. Interestingly, though, we also know that 1 John 5:3 says, In fact, this is love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not burdensome ... It is noteworthy that this verse points out that obedience is one of the principal ways to show love for God. So, to obey is to love.

That truth changes everything because in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says outrageous things about how He expects disciples to act and obey. He says impossible things like, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect and love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. So what is to be done with those verses? Too often, the page is just turned to something that feels more comfortable. But why did Jesus say these things unless He meant them? Maybe He expects uncommonly committed obedience? Maybe if the Spirit is allowed to work, that power to obey on a different level can be unlocked.

The Call of Grace considers what it would look like if the words of Jesuss greatest sermon were taken to heart and the Holy Spirit was allowed to grow in us an obedience never known before. Certainly we will never be perfect, but when God looks at sinful people and sees the blood of Jesus, the perfection of Christ takes their place. And when He looks at them, perhaps He sees children who long to obey out of love for Him. The Call of Grace calls for consideration of what it means to obey wildly and out of sincere thankfulness for grace. For this is love for God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512712131

Michael Perkins

Michael Perkins is a physical therapist and Bible teacher in College Station, Texas. He has a passion for the Word and a passion for encouraging believers and unbelievers to know God more fully. He wants the whole world to come to know of the wonderful gift of grace available through Christ Jesus, God’s Son. He has a wife, Denise, and four beautiful children. Michael feels humbled by God’s eternal kindness toward him.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The Call of Grace

Grace!

Relax, take a deep breath, and smile. Let life’s worries and cares get lost in the lavishing of God’s love in this moment. Feel your soul slip into a deep, abiding restfulness as your blood pressure drops and you sink down into your seat. Let the peace of God clear your mind. Yearn for more moments like this when the refreshment of grace becomes real. Oh, that we would live with this thought ever on our minds.

It is difficult to comprehend the vastness of God’s love for humanity. Though we cannot fully understand it, this undeniable fact remains: Because of His great love for us, God rescued our souls through the grace expressed in Christ. This is a truth that Satan cannot steal. It is a truth that can never be overturned. It is a truth that will forever guard our hearts and lead us triumphantly into eternity. The empty tomb is evidence that our God is the Victor. As His children, all we can do is stand in awe, realize our eternal indebtedness and say thank you. Thank you, Lord, for grace.

Personally, I say thank the Lord for my special dose of grace. You see, if you readers only knew me, you would know my need for grace. From cheating in chemistry (high school and college), to lusting over girls in the swimsuit issue (and worse), from getting way too angry way too fast at my kids, to (and worst of all) being self righteous, my list of sins goes on and on and litter the pages of my life. So, I guess I feel comfortable commenting on grace. For without it, I would be hopeless.

So with that said, a significant question arises for me and for all of us. Ask yourself: Do I thank Jesus for grace in the way that I live? Let me explain…In 2 Corinthians 4:15, Paul says, "All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God." So let me consider…Is thanksgiving overflowing from my life? How about you? And in the same breath, another question follows. What does a life that is wholly indebted to the grace of Christ look like?

This book will try to help us figure out the answers to these fundamental questions. Again, the questions linger…do I thank Jesus for grace in the way that I live and what does a life wholly indebted to the grace of Christ look like? We will look to the scriptures to help us discern these answers; and I think, in the process, we will unlock a deeper joy than we’ve ever known. You know, thankfulness seems to always lead to joy. It’s funny how that works.

While most of the text will come from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, let us first begin with the book of Titus.

Titus 2:11-14 says…

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Wait a second. Read the passage again, slowly this time.

In these verses God, through the apostle Paul, opens our eyes to something essential about grace. This passage tells us that grace asks something of us. This is an important concept for Christians to understand but be honest, have you ever thought about grace requesting something from you? Isn’t grace just supposed to be this warm, snuggly feeling? Maybe there is a deeper truth awaiting us in the rich, cleansing waters of grace.

Let me clarify. Perhaps you have heard it said, Grace is a free gift. While that is true, we also understand that grace wasn’t free for Jesus as He laid down His life for us. Grace cost our Lord His life. Let that thought sink in a moment. Now, because of the weightiness of that reality we must listen to the request grace makes of us in this passage. Let us examine further just what that request is.

In these verses Paul says that grace teaches us to say No to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. So does saying No to ungodliness, living self-controlled, upright and godly lives describe the common Christian’s response to grace? Do Christians have such a deep and abiding love and indebtedness toward God that they want with all their being to thank Him for grace in the way they live? Do we understand how our lives should be changed by grace? Are we willing to be broken bread and poured out wine for Him? This passage tells us that the realization of our eternal indebtedness to Christ should motivate us to love Him in a way that leads us to holy living. Grace, then, calls us to strive for righteousness out of a consuming love and thankfulness to God.

The calling in Titus 2 is not the only time we see grace calling us to holiness. Examine also Paul’s message to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:8-10: "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, Who has saved us and called us to a holy life -- not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, Who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

Obviously Paul enjoyed championing grace’s call as he also mentions it twice in the first chapter of Galatians (verses 6 and 15). In Galatians 1:15, Paul says that God set him apart and called him by His grace. We see Paul’s references to the call all over, and they are a precious and constant theme of his writing. But what about us? God didn’t just call Paul. His eternal call into His will is for you and me as well. God is still alive and is actively calling today as much as He ever has.

So now let us turn our attention to the powerful message of Jesus’ call to us all in the Sermon on the Mount. In the sermon, He lovingly but firmly raises the bar on the standard to which He expects all Christians to live. Jesus challenges His followers to live a life that honors God. This life is characterized by good fruit produced from the soil of a right heart. He even goes as far in Matthew 5:48 to say, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. So does this hunger for holiness describe today’s Christian? Does this thirst for perfection or maturity in Christ describe you? Has grace truly taught us to say No to the ungodliness and worldly passions of the flesh and say Yes to the self controlled, upright and godly life of the Spirit?

Let us examine our lives to find out. Let us take a completely honest look at ourselves. Read on cautiously, this may hurt a little but I think it is a necessary spiritual gut check. We go to church, we read the scriptures most days, and we pray before meals. Despite these things our lives in Christ are stale. We’re not as in love with Jesus as we want to be and we wonder why. Now let us continue our honesty and look deeper. Let us hear Peter in Acts 2 tell us, yes you and me, how our sins put our Savior on the cross. We curse some. We laugh at and tell coarse jokes. We want so badly to be accepted by others. We watch whatever television shows we want, including late-night cable and raunchy soaps. We love sports and yes love is the right word. We gossip about co-workers and clients. We are greedy. We worry. We are anxious about today. We are even more anxious about tomorrow. As evidence of this, we financially plan ourselves right out of a faith that says God will provide. We want stuff and a lot of it. We want to drive the nicest cars and have the prettiest mates. And we’re envious when we don’t have these things and our friends do. We harbor this envy because of a spirit of discontent.

We want power at work, and sometimes to get what we want we cannot be completely honest. We cheat a little on our taxes. When someone sues us, we counter sue. We badmouth the politicians we didn’t vote for. Our kids choose athletes over Christ as role models…just look at the posters on their walls. We do not pay much attention to the ratings of the movies we see. We gripe at our waitress when our food isn’t cooked just right. We yell in frustration at the little league umpire when we do not agree with his call. We speed, but so does everyone else. We look different in Sunday morning church than we do on Saturday night. After all, we feel we need to perform well to meet the religious standards we think people expect to see from us. Amidst all of this we claim to be followers of Christ. Yet, when we examine this snapshot of our lives, what does it look like we’re following…the standard of Christ or the standard of the world?

Jesus reminds us in John 17:14 that His followers are not of the world. Why, then, do we look so worldly? Let me ask that again.

Why do we look so worldly?

That question is hanging there in the air and demands an answer. Maybe it is because we don’t realize how sin-sick we are. The only people that came to Jesus to be healed were the people who realized they were sick. David didn’t comprehend the magnitude of his sin with Bathsheba until Nathan admonished him (2 Samuel 12:1-14). John the Baptist called the people of his time to repent, and they responded with a baptism of repentance (Matthew 3:1-6). On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, Peter let the crowd know that they were the ones who crucified Jesus. We need to hear the same message. Our sins hung Jesus on the cross. The gavel has been dropped. We’re guilty. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and we’re no different. Consider the conviction you feel as you examine your shortcomings. The Spirit is crying out for your attention. Why? Because He wants to change you. Here is the good news. Jesus is on our side, and our search for His heart will be fruitful.

This is a book about Jesus’ call in the Sermon on the Mount to righteousness in the everyday events of life. This is not an idealistic or unrealistic call, but it is a call to the countless Christians out there who are settling for less than the abundance He has promised. It is a call to people who profess Christianity, but don’t walk in the steps of Christ. It is a call to the stale. It is a call to the anxious. It is a call to the mediocre. It is a call to sinners of which we all feel chief at times. It is the call of our Savior on relevant topics such as purity, adultery, greed, worry, and many more issues that each of us stare in the face every day.

There is a wonderful and necessary place for deep study of the scriptures, Greek root words, and the historical context of passages. However, those studies, as well as any Bible study we undertake, should have the goal of helping us find answers to the tough questions we are dealing with right now. In the sermon, Jesus teaches us how to handle a myriad of these issues with a heart that honors God. The common phrase of this day is What would Jesus do? The good news is that the Bible gives us answers. The bad news is that in many instances we are not living those answers of righteousness, holiness, and perfection. This is a heavy calling no doubt. Now you can see why the first concept introduced in the book is grace. Boy, do we need it!

So as you read on be comforted in knowing that grace will guide us through. For without grace we immediately feel defeated and are left with guilt too heavy to bear. But the beauty of grace is this: Though we’ve all memorized Romans 3:23 where God reminds us that we’ve all sinned and fallen short of His glory, that isn’t the end of the story. We should, instead, memorize the next verse (24) as well because in this verse God seems to smile, and puts His almighty arm around us. He gives us, in one verse, the message of the entire Bible. Despite our falling short, and although we’ve sinned, we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Yes, a beautiful thing about grace is that following its call to righteousness, it is there to rescue us when we don’t measure up. It is truly a win-win proposition for us. That is why the gospel of Jesus is called the good news. The grace of Jesus is just the oasis of refreshment that we need.

So let us rest as we read. As you sit there at this moment, let God love you with a love specifically designed to be given to you…a dose of love with your name on it. Drink deeply and abide freely in this love as you enjoy plunging deeper into the adventure that is grace. As we journey together, let us be willing to examine ourselves wholly and determine what response to grace would please Jesus. Let us be blessed with a new understanding and appreciation for grace that spurs us on to holy living. Let us learn to love more fully our Father, the Giver of that grace, yearning for a closer relationship with Him that will lead to a life that yields the fruit of righteousness. Let us seek the heart of Jesus and align our motives with His. Christ has raised the standard and has called us boldly into a life that mirrors His own. Let us hear His call and gladly answer…His call of grace.

Please join me in this prayer…

"Father, as we examine honestly our lives, we mostly see our failures. Even if we could perform well at times, we can never perform well enough. We’re reminded that in Isaiah you tell us that our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. So as we come to You now, we give you our hearts to do with as You will. For we are not our own. We were bought at a price, with the blood of Christ. And because of that blood we not only stand a chance, but we will stand. So while on this earth, may we stand with honor and thankfulness and all the while find joy in the glory that is Your grace.