Giving More Grace

God has given every human being a unique personality and perspective.  Because patience is a fruit of the Spirit of God, it follows not one of us is naturally patient like God is.  There are likely many things that cause us to quickly run out of patience, grow frustrated, or we refuse to tolerate.  A person can be very patient towards a stray dog that lashes out when being fed but will not extend grace to their own spouse or child because they should know better.  We can be more gracious to unbelievers in rebellion against God than a sinning brother or sister in Christ because we expect them to do better.  Whether we are quick to run out of patience or are able to endure for a long season, our patience has an end.

We are blessed God is good and gracious, that He is always longsuffering and kind.  He is not at all like us, full of limitations, and our kindness is more of an exception rather than an unalterable rule.  James wrote of God's grace to believers in in James 4:4-6:  "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? ⁶ But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  Married couples who desire a monogamous relationship are not pleased or tolerant with their spouse committing adultery.  To willingly enter into the covenant of marriage and then seek other lovers would rightly be seen as unacceptable.  In a very direct way, James rebuked believers for their quarrels, lusts and love of the world that brought conflict in their relationships with one another and also provoked God to jealousy for their misguided affections and desires.

Jesus taught adultery is a matter of the heart the Law of Moses could not fully address.  It must have shocked Jewish hearers of Jesus who were versed in the Law when He said even looking at a woman with lust was as sinful as sleeping with her!  In God's eyes, adultery with the woman had already been committed because of the wayward heart.  If we were to apply this principle with friendship of the world--the love of money, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life--it is apparent we have been guilty of spiritual adultery because we have not always valued or loved God as much as what we can see, obtain and experience.  Yet what was God's response all those times?  "But He gives more grace."  Though God is righteous and jealous for our love, trust and obedience, even after knowing this we have not always responded by faithfulness to Him.  We have put our trust in ourselves, in others and looked for hope in things other than God--even as an unfaithful spouse casts a wistful glance or seeks attention from others they find attractive.

God gives more grace, and He continues to be gracious despite our proclivity to unfaithfulness.  Like a good shepherd cares for the sheep of his flock, God convicts of us sin, pursues us, speaks gently to us and accepts us despite our foolishness.  It is important we realise grace is undeserved favour from God the humble are enabled by God to receive.  God resists the proud, and this resistance is also a revelation of God's grace.  God could destroy the proud without remedy in a moment, but He resists them so they might see their need for Him.  He gives grace to the humble--not because they are worthy or have earned the right to such grace--but out of His goodness and kindness demonstrated to all people.  Rather than being those who withhold grace from others until they show themselves worthy, let us be as God who gives more grace.  And when we have given grace, let us give more grace we humbly receive by faith from the inexhaustible stores of our Father in heaven.

Divine Pardon

I have noticed news coverage of presidential pardons over the years, but none in recent memory have been as high profile as President Biden pardoning his son Hunter after he plead guilty in federal court earlier this year.  President Biden concluded his formal statement concerning granting clemency with this:  "I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision."  Lady Justice is blind, but apparently some presidents and fathers are not.  Though Biden went on the record many times saying he would not pardon his son, his actions show he had a change of mind--which everyone has a God-given right to do.  Whether the decision is right in the eyes of Americans or politically expedient is another matter that will be determined in the days ahead.

Concerning pardoning sinners, God said to His people in Isaiah 55:6-7:  "Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."  God's desire is to redeem and restore sinners to fellowship with Himself, yet there are conditions to be met by those who will receive a pardon.  God required His people to seek the LORD, repent of their sin, and return to God to receive mercy.  God did not pardon the children of Israel because they were His chosen people He brought of out Egypt, because He was obligated to help them as their father, but out of His goodness and grace He extends to all sinners.

God had given His people the Law of Moses, and the Law outlined the sacrifices and offerings required to provide atonement for sin.  Whenever there was a violation of the Law, a payment was required before God and man.  God required the blood of animals for sacrifice, and the guilty were required to pay restitution to those wronged and even submit to being their servant for years to clear debts.  Jesus came as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world, to pay the price required for every sinner to be washed clean of sin and be pardoned forever.  God sent His only begotten Son to be crucified and die on the cross as a sacrifice for sin so the justice of God would be fully satisfied.

What God has done in offering a pardon and everlasting life through the Gospel is infinitely more amazing than a presidential pardon of a family member:  while we were sinners, Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8).  God did not offer us the Gospel to let us off the hook for our sin, for Jesus paid it all with His shed blood.  In receiving Christ by faith we are adopted into the family of God to have fellowship with Him forever.  We were like orphaned street urchins who picked the pocket of a wealthy man who, when we stood to be hauled before the judge and sentenced to a life of hard labour, intervened to pay our debts and adopt us as his own children to live with him.  It is not God but we who need a change of mind, to repent of our sins, knowing we are guilty and deserving of eternal wrath.  1 John 1:9 says concerning born again Christians:  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

There are requirements God has established to be pardoned:  we must humble ourselves to seek the LORD, confess our sin, and by faith in God ask for forgiveness.  Asking is the law of God's kingdom, even under the new covenant.  What Jesus taught in Luke 11:9-10 can be applied to forgiveness, salvation and being baptised with the Holy Spirit:  "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."  No one deserves to be pardoned by God, but He freely offers to pardon sinners out of His love for us.  God himself has paid the debt our sin justly deserved, and our gratitude for His sacrifice ought to be demonstrated in living righteously by faith in Him today.

Be At Peace

The Bible is filled with life situations that provide encouraging illustrations for God's people who trust in Him.  In this way God's word is living and powerful to provide guidance that shifts our focus from troubles to the LORD, from what is unknown to God who knows us, and from what is totally out of our control to submit to the sovereign God who does everything.  During our lives we regularly arrive at the crossroads of needing to choose if we will lean on our own understanding or rely upon the LORD for all things.

I was recently struck by an important decision of King Jehoshaphat after he became king.  Prior to him, his fathers made building cities and fortifying them a high priority.  Rehoboam, Abijah, and Asa were involved in extensive efforts to capture cities and they constructed walls, towers and secure gates.  These building projects were wise and circumspect, good stewardship of resources to provide security for the people.  Jehoshaphat did not neglect the security of the land, for he added garrisons of armed soldiers in all the cities.  Yet Jehoshaphat took steps to address the spiritual insecurity and waywardness of the people--something walls, towers, gates and armed soldiers could not address.

In the third year of Jehoshaphat's reign, he sent leaders and priests throughout the region to teach his subjects the Law of God.  2 Chronicles 17:9-11 says, "So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the LORD with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people."  See what happened after the people were taught of their God in 2 Chronicles 17:10-11:  "And the fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver as tribute; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred male goats."  When Jehoshaphat made teaching of God's word a priority with an aim to obey it, God was an infinitely greater defence and refuge for His people than walls and gates.  The fear of God on neighbouring countries was so great they did not dare attack, and some even brought gifts!  Walls, gates and armies did not deter or prevent attacks like God did.

God's people are wise to look to Him rather than relying on themselves or resources for strength and security.  We must decide if we are going to invest our efforts in fortifying earthly security that can be bypassed, ignored or prove inadequate or if we will build our lives on the rock-solid foundation of Jesus Christ and His word.  The words of Solomon in Proverbs 3:5-6 are timeless truth for all God's people to heed:  "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."  When we are walking in step with God like Jehoshaphat, we will see the principle held forth in Proverbs 16:7 fulfilled:  "When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him."  Even when troubles arise, we need not be troubled because our God is with us--the Prince of Peace.

The Wise and Foolish Exam

"Better a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more."

Ecclesiastes 4:13

It is said that with age comes wisdom, and this certainly can be true.  It is also true that a good and wise king can make foolish decisions and be unwilling to be instructed or corrected.  A king is in a position of great power and influence, yet life experience and political savvy is no substitute for wisdom that only comes from God.  Only those who maintain a humble posture in faith before the LORD will be divinely enabled to walk in wisdom.

A wise youth and a foolish king both at times need to be admonished, for there is no man who does not sin.  It is not primarily the absence of sin that marks the wise or foolish person but their response to instruction and correction reveals their hearts truly.  Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."  Fools are revealed in their disdain to be instructed or corrected, for it is an affront to their pride and conceit.  As Proverbs 12:15 tells us, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise."  Unlike a fool, the wise will receive rebuke and repent of sin as it is written in Proverbs 17:10:  "Rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a hundred blows on a fool."  When disciplinary action is ineffective to address behaviour, it is not the discipline that is the problem but the person who stubbornly refuses to amend their ways.

Consider the difference between the ways scoffers (who fall into the foolish category) and the wise and how they respond to correction, rebuke and instruction in Proverbs 9:7-9 says, "He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, and he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. ⁸ Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. ⁹ Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning."  It is good for us to ask ourselves:  when admonished or rebuked, does our love for that person increase or do we hate them?  Our hatred is exposed when we realise hatred means to love less, to be more apt to avoid and ignore a person rather than include them and have an inclination toward helping them.

Solomon's proverb suggests there was a time when a king would accept correction and be admonished, but a day came when he became lifted up with pride, was full of himself and indignation:  he was king!  How dare anyone speak to him in this manner?  Was he so inept and foolish he needed instruction?  If his thoughts were along these lines, a wise man would experience conviction of the Holy Spirit and identify the foolish plague of pride in his own heart that must be confessed and repented of as sin.  God can use a foolish youth to rebuke and correct a wise old king.  Let us not miss the message God speaks to us because of the brashness or folly of His messenger.  Believers, as we grow older may we remain as that poor and wise youth, for God promises the poor in spirit the kingdom of God.