Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Welcome to your daily Grace by Timothy Wilder Grace on trial week 3 identity concerns accusation 14 isn't grace too easy? Part 2 last time we explored why grace often feels suspicious. Many of us instinctively believe valuable things should be earned. But I have come to believe there is an even deeper reason people struggle with grace.
[00:00:28] Grace costs our pride.
[00:00:31] Looking back, I no longer think my struggle with grace was primarily theological.
[00:00:38] I certainly had questions about Scripture.
[00:00:41] But beneath those questions was something deeper. I had spent much of my life taking pride in hard work, responsibility, and self reliance.
[00:00:51] I believed in doing things well, taking ownership, and earning results. Those habits served me well in many areas of life. The problem was that I carried those same instincts instincts into my faith. I suspect many believers do the same thing. We are taught from an early age that if something matters, we should work for it. If something is valuable, we should earn it. If we want success, we should take ownership and make it happen.
[00:01:22] Those principles can be useful in life, but they become a problem when we bring them into the gospel. When I first encountered grace centered teaching, I argued with pastors, debated friends, and pushed back in my men's group.
[00:01:40] At the time, I thought I was defending sound doctrine. Looking back, I can see something else was happening.
[00:01:47] Every time grace removed my contribution, I resisted. Every time grace pointed to Christ's finished work, I found myself looking for a role I could still play. I wanted faith to be a partnership. I wanted God to do his part while I did mine. Grace kept insisting that Christ had already done what I never could. That is why Paul's testimony in Philippians is so powerful. Few people had a stronger religious resume than Paul.
[00:02:19] Yet after encountering Christ, he wrote that he counted those things as loss desiring to be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ.
[00:02:34] Philippians 3:9 NKV notice what Paul surrendered. He was not merely abandoning sin he was abandoning confidence in himself.
[00:02:44] The same issue appears in Romans 10.
[00:02:48] Speaking of Israel, Paul says they were seeking to establish their own righteousness. Romans 10:3 NKJV they desired righteousness, but they were looking in the wrong place. They wanted a righteousness they could achieve rather than one they could receive.
[00:03:09] Challenges that same instinct in all of us.
[00:03:12] It tells us that our acceptance before God is not built upon our spiritual discipline, consistency, knowledge, or performance. It rests entirely upon Christ.
[00:03:25] That can be uncomfortable. We would often prefer at least a small share of the credit. Yet Paul reaches a remarkable conclusion in Galatians. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.
[00:03:42] Galatians 2:20 NKJ grace shifts the focus away from self and toward Christ. It redirects our confidence from what we have done to what he has done Eventually I realized that grace was not threatening my faith, it was threatening my pride. What I once viewed as a weakness of grace was actually one of its greatest strengths.
[00:04:07] Grace leaves no room for boasting because it leaves all the glory where it belongs.
[00:04:13] The real scandal of grace is not that it costs nothing. The real scandal is that it leaves us with nothing to brag about.
[00:04:22] What is harder for you to surrender your failures or the accomplishments you secretly hope make you more acceptable to God?
[00:04:32] Thank you for being part of our community. If these posts are helping you grow in your understanding of God's grace, we invite you to follow this page and engage with the content. Your likes, comments and shares help bring these biblical truths to others who may be searching for the same encouragement.
