Finding Balance: Navigating Grace and Law in Life

1. The lure of legalism Balancing grace and the law Week 3 40 Days of Grace Mike TaylorForest Community ChurchSunday 30 September 2018

2. Getting the right balance “Unless you find a balance, you will never feelfulfilled. You will always feel empty.” — Jeff Carter, Be The Best You.

3. Getting the right balance “Unless you find a balance, you will never feelfulfilled. You will always feel empty.” — Jeff Carter, Be The Best You. “Happiness is not a matter of intensity but ofbalance and order and rhythm and harmony.” — Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island.

4. Getting the right balance “Unless you find a balance, you will never feelfulfilled. You will always feel empty.” — Jeff Carter, Be The Best You. “Happiness is not a matter of intensity but ofbalance and order and rhythm and harmony.” — Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island. “Help me to balance myself as you hold and balance the Earth.” — Prayer from The Men Who Stare at Goats.

5. Getting the right balance “Unless you find a balance, you will never feelfulfilled. You will always feel empty.” — Jeff Carter, Be The Best You. “Happiness is not a matter of intensity but ofbalance and order and rhythm and harmony.” — Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island. “Help me to balance myself as you hold and balance the Earth.” — Prayer from The Men Who Stare at Goats. “We need to realize that life is all about balance.” — Catherine Pulsifer, Briefcase with an Engine.

6. Balance: the great virtue A big deal in the Christian Union.

7. So what does the Bible say about balance? The word occurs four times in the whole of the Bible (NIV):

8. So what does the Bible say about balance? • The word occurs four times in the whole of the Bible (NIV): • “He is to refund the balance.” — Leviticus 25:27.

9. So what does the Bible say about balance? • The word occurs four times in the whole of the Bible (NIV): • “He is to refund the balance.” — Leviticus 25:27. • “If weighed on a balance, they are nothing.” — Psalm 62:9.

10. So what does the Bible say about balance? • The word occurs four times in the whole of the Bible (NIV): • “He is to refund the balance.” — Leviticus 25:27. • “If weighed on a balance, they are nothing.” — Psalm 62:9. • “Honest scales and balances are from the Lord.” — Proverbs 16:11.

11. So what does the Bible say about balance? • The word occurs four times in the whole of the Bible (NIV): • “He is to refund the balance.” — Leviticus 25:27. • “If weighed on a balance, they are nothing.” — Psalm 62:9. • “Honest scales and balances are from the Lord.” — Proverbs 16:11. • “Who has weighed the hills in a balance?” — Isaiah 40:12.

12. So what does the Bible say about balance? The closest the Bible comes to talking about balance is in Revelation 3:16 — “since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”

13. So what does the Bible say about balance? The closest the Bible comes to talking about balance is in Revelation 3:16 — “since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” What is the balance between grace and law in our relationship with God?

14. So what does the Bible say about balance? The closest the Bible comes to talking about balance is in Revelation 3:16 — “since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” There is no balance between grace and law in our relationship with God.

15. We have been released from the law

16. Released from the law?

17. We have been released from the law “Now, dear brothers and sisters — you who are familiar with the law — don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive.”

18. We have been released from the law “But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.”

19. We have been released from the law “So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead.” — Romans 7:1-4a.

20. We have been released from the law By the way, note an interesting consequence: “As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.” — Romans 7:4b.

21. We have been released from the law Paul summarises: “Now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.” — Romans 7:6.

22. We have been released from the law Notice the order, spelled out as clear as day:first God forgives us; then we live to please him. A ⇒ B

23. What is the purpose of the law? Paul again: “It was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” — Romans 7:7.

24. What is the purpose of the law? Paul again: “It was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” — Romans 7:7. The law exists to bring us to grace.

25. We have been released from the law

26. Why do we slip into living by the law? Three reasons.

27. 1. Living by the law looks right Because a mature Christian lives in a way that pleases God,a life lived by the law looks superficially like maturity.

28. 1. Living by the law looks right Because a mature Christian lives in a way that pleases God,a life lived by the law looks superficially like maturity. Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: “I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.” — Luke 18:10-12.

29. 1. Living by the law looks right It's such a seductive idea thateven Bible translators fall for it.

30. 1. Living by the law looks right It's such a seductive idea that even Bible translators fall for it. “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” — Colossians 2:20-23 (NIV), emphasis mine.

31. 1. Living by the law looks right Then the section heading addedat the top of chapter 3: Rules for Holy Living

32. 1. Living by the law looks right Then the section heading addedat the top of chapter 3: Rules for Holy Living (In more recent editions, it's changed toLiving as Those Made Alive in Christ.)

33. 2. Living by law is simpler “A short distance away is the Village Morality, in which there lives a gentleman whose name is Legality. Now he is a very judicious man of the highest reputation, and as such he is well able to assist men with the removal of burdens from their shoulders such as you have.” — Mr. Worldly-Wiseman inThe Pilgrim's Progress(John Bunyan, translated by Barry E. Horner).

34. 2. Living by law is simpler “Worldly wisdom” here doesn't mean living without reference to God; but putting ourselves into the wrong relation with God.

35. 3. Living by the law appeals to our pride It makes us feel that we'reearning God's favour.

36. 3. Living by the law appeals to our pride Brant Hansen's story about unthinkingly putting petrol in a brand new diesel car, and wrecking it so badly it needed $7000 worth of repairs.

37. 3. Living by the law appeals to our pride “Then Volkswagen called, with the total cost, including towing, tax, everything: $0. Nothing. The service guy said the parent company was paying for it. It wasn’t a warranty thing. We couldn’t make them do it. They just did it, in hopes of winning long-term customers, I guess. Zero dollars.”

38. 3. Living by the law appeals to our pride “I was happy about this, but here’s where it gets weird: something in me wasn’t elated. There was a part of me — there’s still a part of me — that wanted me to pay a price for it. Yes, on one level, this makes no sense. Maybe you’ve never felt that way. Simultaneously thankful and … strangely helpless.”

39. 3. Living by the law appeals to our pride “Truth is, we find this very, very hard to accept, but we can’t redeem ourselves. Oh, we like to think we can, deep down, so it’s still about us. Carrying around guilt? Still about us. Feeling stupid? Still about us. Feeling like a failure? Still about us. Turning our guilt into seemingly productive energy so we’re doing the “right” things? Still about us. Seems so “righteous”, yet when we can’t take our eyes off ourselves to celebrate the win, it’s just plain about us. That’s pride.” — Brant Hansen, Unoffendable, 151-153.

40. What’s the big problem? Having been saved by God's grace,why shouldn't we then follow his laws? Is this just a matter of individual style?

41. Paul evidently thinksthis is important “Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? […] How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” — Galatians 3:1a, 3.

42. Paul evidently thinks this is important “I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.”

43. Paul evidently thinks this is important “I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: if anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.” — Galatians 1:6-9.

44. But why is this so important? Three reasons.

45. 1. You're saying God's grace isn't enough “If you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.” — Galatians 5:4.

46. 1. You're saying God's grace isn't enough “If you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.” — Galatians 5:4. If you have a perfect circle, drawingany addition makes it worse, not better.

47. 2. You're negotiating with God You put yourself on the same level of God,as though the two of you can strike a bargain.

48. 3. Faith becomes something that you do We may not be misled into thinking: “If I live a good life, God will let me into heaven.”

49. 3. Faith becomes something that you do We may not be misled into thinking: “If I live a good life, God will let me into heaven.” But we may still think: “If I repent just right,God will be obliged to forgive me.”

50. 3. Faith becomes something that you do We may not be misled into thinking: “If I live a good life, God will let me into heaven.” But we may still think: “If I repent just right,God will be obliged to forgive me.” This form of “repentance” isjust one more work.