Grace

I watched this video this morning for my quiet time.  I have to say, this is hands down the best message I think I've ever heard.  It was one of those messages that just resonates with you, and it's a mix of goose bumps, tears, and shouting "YES!"  Take 30 minutes and watch it.  Good stuff.

Here's my sketchy summary.  Most of this is paraphrasing what he said from notes I jotted down, and it's not super well organized...but I don't have three hours to perfect this, so here y'are.  =)

Hebrews 12:15, NIV says "See to it that no one misses the grace of God..."

As Mr. Idleman put it, (I'm paraphrasing) "When grace is removed or replaced, things become toxic."
Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."  All means all, and that's all all means.  We've all sinned, period.  Sure, it's easy to compare.  "Oh, I'm so much better than so-and-so."  Bad news is, though, when we do that, we're sinning. :P  Yup, we're in deep yogurt.
So the diagnosis is, we have sin.  The prognosis is, "the wages of sin is death."  But here's the good news: there's an antidote!  It's called GRACE.  Romans 5:15 says: "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!"  Sin is great, but God's grace is greater.  This is how it looks:

Grace > sin, regrets, secrets, etc.

Grace is greater than.

Romans 5:16-18: "Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the 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 lifethrough the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." God's grace makes us right with Him.  God's grace gives us a second chance. God's grace gives us a relationship with him.  

Talking about God and leaving out grace is called religion.  Mr. Idleman put it brilliantly: "Religion is what we are left with when we take grace out of the equation."  And religion?  It's not greater than my sin.  It won't save me.  Religion is man's attempt to earn God's favor by adhering to rules and regulations.  Religion says "I can be good enough to balance out the scales." 

Religion vs. Grace

Keyword - Religion: DO  Grace: DONE

Religion is about what we can do, Grace is about what He has done.

Focus - Religion: OUTWARD  Grace: INWARD

Jesus said of the "religious" people, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."  Grace focuses inward, focuses on the heart.

Foundation - Religion: RULES  Grace: RELATIONSHIP

Religion imposes rules that are man-made...aka, legalism.  Grace says our relationship with God isn't up in the air every time we make a mistake.  

Motivation - Religion: SHAME  Grace: GRATITUDE

Religion motivates by making you feel guilty, we are motivated through grace because of our gratitude for what Jesus did, this motivates our holiness.

Feeling - Religion: FEAR/FRUSTRATION  Grace: FREEDOM

Religion causes us to feel condemnation, trying to be good enough but never measuring up.  Grace gives a very freeing freedom, we are free from the pressure to measure up, this was already taken care of on the cross.  As if we could do anything in our own strength to measure up to perfection.  Of course we are growing in Christ and our goal is to live like Him, but we can't earn anything through our works.

Outcome - Religion: PRIDE or GUILT  Grace: LOVE

The outcome of religion is either pride or guilt.  "Look at what I've done" or "I can't do enough".  However when our focus is on God's grace, the outcome and outpouring is love.

RELIGION < GRACE

Mr. Idleman also pointed out that grace is not understood by explanation as much as experience.  The power of grace has to be experienced, which is why the gospels are full of stories of God's grace.  

Mr. Idleman told the story of the adulterous woman.  She was caught in the act of adultery, dragged before Jesus.  It was the worst day of her life, her deepest secrets were shoved into the light.  "But the worst day of her life became the best day of her life, because in her brokeness, she meets Jesus." 

GRACE > SECRETS

GRACE > SHAME

Oftentimes, we receive grace, but we don't live in it, in the freedom and joy that it brings.  Our sins are removed as far as the East is from the West.  Jesus has set us free, not only from sin, but from the guilt of sin.  The whole gospel is about Jesus making things new.  It's called grace.