This morning we continue our series entitled, “Power of Fellowship.” For the past couple of days I have been teaching you portions of a message I preached this past Sunday entitled, “From Slaves to Sons.” Today I will continue to flow in the same vein. I will drive home the point that when you attempt to please God by living under a Law-based mindset, you are not embracing the grace Jesus came to provide and will also be very difficult for you to be gracious towards others. For you to enjoy the fellowship and the relationship I have been teaching about in this series, you must all the grace of God to flow TO you and THROUGH you. Recipients of grace should also be conduits of grace.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. We are no longer under The Law, but under Grace. The Bible says, “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.” (Romans 6:14 NLT).
a) The purpose of the Law was not to make you right, but rather to show you how wrong you are. The Bible says, “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” (Romans 3:20).
b) The purpose of the Law was to prove to man that we were not good enough; that we needed a Savior. That Savior came and His name is Jesus!
c) When the Law was given, people became conscious of sin. The Bible says, “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.” (Romans 5:20 NLT). The Law is so perfect that you, as a human, cannot keep it fully. So the Law PROVES to humans that we are FLAWED and that we need a Savior. Jesus came! He ushered us INTO GRACE!
d) Thank God for grace! Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more! When you fully embrace this you can start living like A SON! You are NOT a SERVANT! You are NOT a SLAVE! You are a SON!!! As SON does not work to be a SON. He is simply a SON!
2. No one could ever be made right with God by attempting to keep The Law. The Bible says, “People who depend on following the law to make them right are under a curse. As the Scriptures say, “They must do everything that is written in the law. If they do not always obey, they are under a curse.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by the law…” (Galatians 3:10,11). The Bible also says, “The person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” (James 2:10)
a) Rules can’t make you right. Rules can only show you where you are wrong.
b) The Jewsish religious people Jesus ran into all the time were focused on rules. They had a hard time with Jesus because He was not focused on rules. He had a relationship with The Father. Whenever Jesus called God His Father, the people who were focused on rules called him blasphemous. They were so focused on rules that they did not think it was okay to have a personal and intimate relationship with God, as a loving heavenly Father.
c) The religious people Jesus ran into lived liked SLAVES and SERVANTS. Jesus was living like a SON. Not only that, but Jesus is our example. Jesus came so we could be SONS! SONSHIP is not based on rules! SONSHIP is based on relationship!
3. If you live your life based on RULES it will be hard for you to have true fellowship.
a) The point of this series is fellowship. For months we have been learning to have true fellowship with God and man. But if you judge your status in Christ on your performance, you will more than likely compare your performance to the performance of others. This is what the Pharisees and Sadduccees did. They were very judgmental. Judgmental people have a hard time with true relationships, because they are not gracious.
b) People are not perfect. God knows you are not perfect, so He extends you grace. If you want to have true fellowship with others, you are going to have to extend them grace as well. Recipients of grace should be conduits of grace. This is how the Father wants us to live.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for loving me enough to look past my faults, flaws and failures. I am Your Son. You will never cast me out. You are not moved by my performance. You are only moved by Your love for me. Your grace has come TO me and I declare that it shall flow THROUGH me. Since I am a recipient of grace, I shall also be a conduit of grace. I enter this day and I will be gracious towards others, because I am Your SON and I will act like it. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
