Tag: grace

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“EARNED NOT GIVEN”?

I was waiting to pick up some pizzas yesterday afternoon and saw part of an interview with Lebron James. Having just won an NBA championship, he was wearing a shirt with the big, bold words that read: EARNED NOT GIVEN. For those who do not follow sports much, Jams is saying that the ring he won is not undermined because he won it after joining other superstars at the Miami Heat. He still can boast in his achievement since he doesn’t think it was just handed to him.

Earned, not given, is truly a desire of all men and women. We want to achieve and boast in what we do. But the reverse is true in what matters most of all. In Joshua we are going to see Israel receive a land that they have not earned. They should all put on shirts that say, GIVEN NOT EARNED, and wear them proudly. Moses had reminded them of this and looking back on their history they must know that to be true. The Promised Land is not a reward for their efforts, but a gracious gift of God.

Thousands of years later the story hasn’t changed. As we read another gospel and get into the letters in the New Testament, the truth is that God’s grace is given, not earned. What is most important in life is received. It is our relationship with God. We must be reconciled to him, and we could never do that by our own strength nor could never earn the love he gives us. If you ever see those EARNED NOT GIVEN shirts around, remember that when it really counts, the reverse is true. God’s grace is given, not earned.

(Maybe we should make shirts?)

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Story So Far, Week 5

In Exodus we see the way God has instructed the Israelites in how to be a people of his own, including how they should order their lives with law and how they should order worship. In Luke, Jesus called his disciples, continued teaching, and showed the people his great power, even power over death.

In Luke 7, a pharisee questions Jesus’ interactions with a sinful woman. Jesus responds with a story of forgiven debt, making the point that the one who has been forgiven much, loves much, and the one who has been forgiven little, loves little.

What we must remember is that we have all been forgiven much. We are all sinful and our debt is far more than we could ever repay. Left to our own ability and effort, we would be lost. But God has forgiven this debt–in fact he paid this debt for us himself in the work of Jesus Christ. If we daily remind ourselves of this, of how abundant God’s grace is, it will spur us on to love much. As forgiven sinners we cannot treat with disdain other sinners in this world. We all suffered under the weight of great debts. Therefore we should share love with others as recipients of grace.

Having this constant remember of grace is part of why I think God describes himself to his people in the beginning of the Ten Commandments with the words, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Whenever God describes himself in this way, he is reminding his people that they have been redeemed from slavery, they have been given abundant grace, and they have much to be thankful for.

When we recognize how much God loves us and how abundant is his grace, the more we will be propelled to love and forgive those who God places in our paths.

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Grace Precedes Law

We finally come to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, a codified law for God’s people. To many, the law characterizes the Old Testament and the old covenant, and given its prominence not only here, but throughout the many books of the Old Testament, it isn’t hard to understand that view. But do not forget the preceding chapters and stories in Exodus and Genesis.

God graciously created this world and placed us in it. God has provided for a people that he chose for himself, not based on their superiority as a people, but because of his grace. God called Abraham out to be the father of many nations, made a covenant with him, and while Abraham struggles in his faith, God remains ever faithful. He protects his people, provides for them, and in Exodus we see how God set them free from the oppression in Egypt.

God did not come to Moses and deliver two tablets of stone and say, “Moses, deliver these to the people. Gather all the elders and proclaim this law to them, and let it be known that whoever keeps it perfectly will be rewarded. In five years, I’ll be back, and if you were good, I’ll have a chat with Pharaoh about letting you go.”

Instead God hears the cries of his people and frees them from Egypt. He sets them free, parts waters, gives manna from Heaven, and also as an act of grace, he then gives them this law. Grace precedes the law. The Israelites were never a people who earned or deserved God’s favor. They did not merit it. God chose them for himself, and in his grace saves them. The law follows as a way to live as God’s people, and a way to live well.

Be careful when simplistically dividing the Old and New Testaments as though one were law and the other grace, as though grace were absent in the beginning. The Bible is a book that reveals to us who our God is, and we see he is and always has been a God of grace.

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What Do the Israelites Have to Do?

As I read this week this verse just jumped out to me:

“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Exodus 14

Moses is to lead God’s people out from slavery and Egypt, and here he explains the two roles in this plan. God’s role is to provide their salvation. What is left for the people to do? What must they do to aid in their exodus? What is their role?

“You have only to be silent.”

What a picture of grace. What have we to do? God has provided all we need in Jesus Christ. What is left for us? The faith we have is in a way an absence of our work. It is a recognition that our works cannot do it and our faith is complete trust in the work of God. We fully rely on what God has done for us to be enough.

When it comes to who we are and what we can do, we can only be silent. If anyone dares break the silence, if anyone believes they have something to say, they can only speak God’s Word, Jesus Christ. Therefore as it is written, if anyone boasts, boast in the Lord.