Bryan Chapell - The Promises of Grace: Living in the Grip of Gods Love

1992, 2001 by Bryan Chapell

Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-3160-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Names of individuals and occasional specifics are changed in some personal accounts appearing in this book to respect the concerns and wishes of those involved. My debt is great to those who have taught me the gospel of grace with the testimony of their lives.

Contents

I NTRODUCTION

The Promises of Grace

C OME S EE L IVE P HEASANT ! C OME P ET B ABY P IGS ! C OME S EE L IVE B UFFALO ! The series of billboards beckoned us to veer off the highway to get our gas and a meal at Cowboy Bobs Circus of Fun.

Somehow Cowboy Bob seemed to know that it would take more than cheap gasoline prices and a hamburger to get vacationers off the interstate. So, as we neared his exit, each billboard made bigger and more exotic promises. Not only could we pet baby pigs, but soon, we learned, we could Feed Live Rattlesnakes (we hoped not with the baby pigs). But the best attractions were yet to come. Come see the five-legged cow, the next billboard advertised. And if that were not tantalizing enough, then the six-legged steer touted on the next sign was sure to allure. Yet to come, however, was the promise of all promisesthe biggest and best, saved for last. Lest we even think about driving by Cowboy Bobs without a visit, the final billboard promised we could see T HE W ORLDS L ARGEST A RMADILLO . Who could resist a promise like that?

Promises have power. It is the reason we want to use them. Promises have the power to persuade, to assure, and to attract. Promises have so much power that we are tempted to use bigger and better promises to manipulate others. As a result, promises tend to get out of hand. A rundown store in central Kansas attracts customers with billboard promises of New and Old Antiquesa questionable promise, to say the least, but no more questionable than the promises Christians sometimes make to attract others to God.

Christians so much want others to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are tempted to sell Jesus on the billboard of the big promise: Accept Jesus as your Savior, and God will grant you business success; Trust in Jesus, and you will never get sick again; Turn your life over to Jesus, and all your problems will disappear. The promises are not always so bold, not always so self-serving, but all of us recognize their allure.

We want to be able to tell others that when Jesus enters their lives, fantastic things happen. We tell them that salvation is free, but somehow we know they will not accept it simply because it is cheap. We want to be able to promise something wonderful.

But what does God promise? If the godly are supposed to be wealthy, then why was Jesus poor? If holiness assures health, then why did all the apostles die? If being in Gods family wipes away all problems, then why did Mary and Martha argue?

Whenever we try to define Gods promises in terms of this worlds benefits, faith seems foolish. The reason is God does not promise us the benefits of this world. God says he has chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith (James 2:5). Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Because of these truths you may think Gods promises are of no earthly good. Or you can believe a wonderful alternative: God makes bigger and better promises that are out of this world (although they may be experienced here).

What does God really promise? Over four hundred years ago some courageous saints of the English Reformation tried to answer that question for believers who would suffer great loss and persecution. A great temptation then was to promote the Christianity of the big promise, to offer assurances of easier times and more prosperous futures. But these Reformers knew that Jesus had urged his followers not to put their hopes in treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal (Matt. 6:19).

Jesus taught that what is really important and assures joy and peace in a world corrupted by sin is not found in physical prosperity but in spiritual security: God promised grace. The benefits of Gods grace are so overwhelming, so sure, and so powerful that they defy the ability of the troubles of this world to dampen our faith or spoil our joy.

The Reformers wrote what they believed about Gods goodness in covenants, confessions, catechisms, and other documents. In these they frequently divided Gods present work of grace into three categories: justification, adoption, and sanctification. Often Christians still use these categories to describe Gods grace. Justification is Gods gracious forgiving of believers sins solely because Jesus suffered and died for them (1 Peter 2:2325). Adoption is Gods gracious act of making believers in Christ part of his family, because they are now clothed in the righteousness of his Son (John 1:1213). Sanctification is Gods gracious work of making believers more like Jesus Christ by the work of his Holy Spirit in their lives (Rom. 8:911). Each of these aspects of Gods grace flows into the life of every true believer. They are like fountains of blessing that pour out the benefits God guarantees.

The classic expressions of these benefits now may seem somewhat archaic and are unfamiliar to many, but they capture the beauty of Gods grace with an endearing simplicity from which we can still learn. What are the wonderful things God promises believers? The writers of the Westminster Catechism answered this way:

The benefits which in this life accompany or flow from

justification, adoption and sanctification include:

assurance of Gods love,

peace of conscience,

joy in the Holy Ghost,

increase of grace,

and perseverance therein to the end.

These five beautiful benefits are the real promises of God for believers lives today, and they undergird the thoughts in this book. The wording of these authors may not be perfect in every respect, but it focuses believers expectations on the promises they really can expect God to fulfill in this life.

God does not promise every believer more money and fewer headaches. God promises confidence of our relationship with him. If God wanted to promise us easy street, he would not have commanded us to take up our crosses daily. Oh sure, God may grant material blessings, long lives, and united families. Sometimes we pray for such blessings, and God answers in the way he knows is best. But the real benefits of grace are not a new Lexus, skin that does not wrinkle, and a family that never gets out of sorts. If these were the benefits all Christians were to expect, most of us would consider ourselves shortchanged. The benefits God promises to all believers are not that worldly and not that fragile.

Christians whose joy is full have discovered happiness in what this world cannot offer and cannot deny. The promises of grace are not recorded in a bankbook, they do not rely on a doctors diagnosis, and difficulty cannot erase them. This book is devoted to reminding everyone to cherish the real promises of grace. By focusing on the genuine benefits of grace, Christians can rediscover the promises God designed to make their lives more satisfying and less selfish, more fulfilling and less driven, more peaceful and less guilt ridden.