Jesus Gave What We Don't Deserve

Jon: When I think about when Jesus says, “No greater demonstration of love is this…” Do you know what he describes next? Grace. “...that a man should lay down his life.” Justin: Take his friend's place. Jon: That's right. Jesus gave what we don't deserve - that's grace. And then what does first John say? Justin: We love because he first loved us. Jon: Right. He gave the demonstration of grace. He loved us. Grace is our means of salvation, and grace is our means of motivation. We are motivated by grace to live this life each and every day. And it's really hard when you have a steady diet and you've been told your entire life that you must do these things to validate yourself. That's not grace, dear child. Jon: That is not grace. You are not walking by faith. You are walking by faithfulness. Your eyes are on you. They're not on Jesus. Your hope is in your capacity. It's not in your identity. And so, we're here just to say as loud and as long as we possibly can, “Look unto Jesus. He started your faith. He will complete it.” Jon: He is perfect, and he's never failed. And every time you fail, with absolute boldness, you can run into the presence of your father and say, “Father, I have failed once again. Will you please give me mercy? I need grace so that I may trust in this amazing gospel that you have given me.” And so, as believers, as Hebrew says, we need to consider daily how to take these truths and build each other up so that we are not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Jon: Dear child, we are not giving you the freedom to go and enslave yourself in sin. We're giving you every reason to trust in the grace of God to fight your sin because it is there you find hope and joy. Justin: Amen. If I can add one other brief thing. I think just an encouragement to us and maybe another way to expose what we're talking about. Justin: You said something that made me think about this. I think in the church landscape today, most people in trying to respond to the objection that Paul responds to at the beginning of Roman six, “Should we go on sinning that grace may abound?” I think the answer of many today would be, “By no means, because if you're legit, you will do these things, and you won't do these things.” Justin: That's how I think most would respond. Jon: That's good. Justin: Whereas, how does Paul respond? Should we go on sinning that grace may abound? By no means. Why? Because you've been united to Christ. You've been baptized into Jesus. You've been set free from the tyranny of sin. And you become obedient from the heart. Justin: Like that's his answer, and that's what you just said. Jon: That's right. Everyday Grace 013