Creflo Dollar - Living The Grace Life - Part 3
1 John 4:10 NLT. «This is real love-not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice as a propitiation to take away our sins.» Well, somebody said, well, people are still saying, please listen to me. What separated you from God was your sinful nature. That’s what separate you. Your sinful nature, okay? And God took care of that. Now, your sin and actions are gonna start lining up with your new creation. It’s a journey and you’re human and it’s a journey and you’re human. But he started to work. He’ll continue to work. He gonna finish the work, hallelujah. 1 John 2 and 2 in the King James and he says this, he says, «And he is the propitiation for our sins.»
Propitiation that would satisfy’s divine justice. Jesus was the sin offering. Jesus was the ransom that was paid for your sins so you can go free. And not for ours only get this but also for the sins of the whole world. Get it straight church folks. Jesus came for the whole world. He came for that drug addict. He came for that prostitute. He came for that adulterer. He came for that liar. Everything I’m preaching here. He came from all of all of the mess that an institutional church told you to despise. Jesus said, «I knew it before the beginning of the world and I came for them, the people you kick out.» He said, «I came for them.» Your enemies he said, «I came for them.»
What’s wrong with us? Why are we so judgmental against people who are in trauma and people are going through stuff? Jesus came for them. Church folks want to dump them to friend, they never. What is this? Grace people got to be gracious people or this doesn’t work. Apart from the death of Christ, God cannot deal with fallen man on any of their basis than the law and justice. But when Jesus died, the restraint, I suppose my mind, the restraint upon God’s love was removed and love was set free to act. God’s love is free to operate in grace. «Well, what about them Democrats?» What is the matter with us? «What about them Republicans?»
What is the matter with us? His grace has been set free to love Democrats. His grace has been set free to love Republicans. How come Republicans and Democrats can’t love one another when God’s love has been set free? And the party affiliation cannot restrain his law. So grace then is more than love. It is love operating righteously in view of the fact that the penalty for sin has been paid. Something was done, something was done for God on the cross. We just think something was done for us on the cross, but something was done for God on the cross. He removed our sins on the cross, but he removed the restriction. He became free to fully exercise his love without compromising his justice because Jesus has justified us.
Oh, so grace there, is therefore, it’s not a mirror expression of pity or compassion on the part of God. It is not the setting aside justice and passing over sin, which should be punished. But like some people think, «Well, you know, it was just passover sin.» Watch out for them grace people because they just wanna pass over sin. Don’t talk about grace too much because if you talk about grace too much, you will start living a loose life. Honey, grace is for your loose life, with your loose self, grace, with your loose life, sweet lips and sweet lips increase learning. Grace is not a forbearance or a tolerance of sin. It’s a forgiveness of sin because the full penalty has been paid by Jesus.
Book of Titus 10:11, 12. He says the grace of God has been made available to the whole world. So grace is available and ready for anybody who will sign for the package. You might not think they should be forgiven. It’s amazing to me. I’ll take some murderers that have been put in jail and they murdered 1,000 of people. And you have the mitigated gall to say, «Well, I know they, I know they’re in hell.» You know what people in hell? For rejecting Jesus not doing a bunch of s crazy stuff because God can deal with all that. But what he can’t deal with is unbelief and a person that refuses to accept Jesus. What he gonna do? But he says this grace for us, who will receive it, this grace for us, who will accept it, it’ll start teaching you. Grace will teach you.
Think of that grace teaches you. Somebody say, «When does grace teach you?» Honey, let me tell you something. The trials of your faith are excellent instructions and courses that God uses to mature you. Listen one thing we can all relate with pain and discomfort. And let me tell you something about pain and discomfort. Everybody got some? And let me tell you pain and discomfort may be your most powerful witnessing tool. Look how God has brought me out of this. Look at the work of grace in my life. I thought I was a goner but look at the work and there ain’t nothing like going through discomfort with God on your side, depending on him. Because when you come out of that rough patch, you’re gonna be closer to him like never before. You gotta have empathy like never before. You gotta be more sensitive than what people have gone through.
Some of y’all just need to, because it’s so easy for you to be critical in judgment of somebody else’s issue until that issue visits your house. So easy you to talk about how, «I don’t understand why they homeless. I mean, there are jobs everywhere.» That’s because you don’t have no empathy and you have no idea what that person went through, that landed them in the place where they are right now. You ought to be grateful and thankful to God. God if it weren’t for you, I would be in that same situation. If it wasn’t for you and then give me, give me the compassion to move on their behalf. Grace will teach you. Grace will teach you. It’s just not unmerited favor. Grace is a teacher. Remember we talking about a person. He will teach you. But this is amazing to me. He will teach you. Oh Lord, I know y’all. But I got to go with this. He’ll teach you how to live Godly lives.
Wait a minute, wait a minute before you shout because what you sound about. You are defining Godliness by its results and not by its nature and we define ungodliness by its results. Oh, they’re ungodly, look at the sin, look at this and look at this. No, no, no, no, no, no. To be ungodly is to have a disregard for God. So you might not have the results of ungodliness. But as a Christian, you’re still as ungodly because you disregard God. You no longer see it important to even get God to bless what you doing. And your disregard from God doesn’t even see it necessary to even get God’s attention on this thing.
So, while you’re walking around, keeping the laws and saying this is the way we go to church and I’m a Christian and Christian teachers and all that stuff. You’re not regarding God on anything because I’ve been a Christian for 30 years and in those 30 years I know how to shop. Hey, hiyah. Oh, I don’t need to talk to God about this, but it’s ungodly to disregard him and it is godly to regard him. So I’m sure most of you thought when I was talking about ungodliness, I was gonna talk about the sinners.
Now, I’m talking about the church folks, the grace folks, I’m talking about the, the faith grace folks, I’m saying, stop disregarding God and grace will teach you how to regard him. We just, we get to a point in our Christian life where we just do whatever we want to half check with God on something. When I prayed about it, it was like a second prayer and you say I prayed about us who appear to be spiritual in front of other people. But that’s all right. Grace will teach you how to be godly. And when grace finish with you, he gonna show you about your ungodliness. And when grace finished with you, you’re gonna be making sure God is regarded on everything. Go out there and get mad if you want to. Hilda, wake up the next morning and you ask Hilda to get you some coffee.
I said Hilda and he had to cuss you out with cussing words. You hadn’t even been privileged to hear and you say God he like, «Bro, you didn’t even think I needed to bless it. You didn’t regard me with none of this.» So you and Hilda gotta figure this thing out. I mean, y’all got here by yourself. You wasn’t talking to me then you didn’t bring it to my attention then Grace because it’s a relationship. This is a relationship. Grace will mature you in your everyday living. Not in your segregated, set aside time in a closet. Well, I got up this morning. I spent an hour and a half with the Lord in my closet… What, okay, whatever dude, whatever, whatever it is. But then what you don’t recognize is you spent your hour with him in the closet and I ain’t said nothing to him for the rest of the day.
Now, how does that work in a natural relationship? You speak to your wife just an hour and ain’t got nothing to say to her for the rest of the day. This thing ain’t gonna work. And yet it’s supposed to be adequate and sufficient in a relationship with the father. If we stop playing church, look at the prayers of Jesus. They wasn’t that long. Oh, you should pray an hour that day. Lord help me. I wasn’t looking forward to that and God was looking forward to it. You get up there trying to get that one hour in. Y’all remember, la la la la la la la… That’s basically saying the same thing over and over again. La la la la la la la. Look at the clock, see how much time gone by two minutes. God dog, God almighty.
Now you’re throwing everything in there, «Shaka Zulu, come outside in…» Remember that story about the neighbor waking up bammin' on the door trying to get his neighbor to let him borrow some bread because he had an unexpected visit to come in. And you know we took that whole thing. Knock, keep on knocking. Seek, keep on seeking. The whole moral of that story was Jesus was saying I’m not gonna be that kind of friend. You ain’t got to try to knock the door down to get me to come and do something for you just ask and knock one time and I’m gonna be there. There’s a battle of religion going on in the church. And we don’t have a relationship with God. We can’t even say it. But grace will teach you.
And he said, while grace is teaching you how to, how to live a godly life, while grace is trying to teach you how to be live righteous. Because when you get born again, you become a part of the stance that God has provided for you. The stance is this is who you are and this is what we’re gonna be working on your state is I just gotta saved I got up this morning and started cussing. I had to remind myself like I saved yesterday. But when you got saved, you got saved with God’s stance. You are righteous, you are redeemed, you are godly, you are perfect. You are all these things in Christ. Your stance is that’s what you get when you get saved. But God says, «I’m gonna start working on you.»
And grace will teach you. And while grace is teaching you, did you realize what he said in the next verse? He said, «While grace is teaching you, get your eyes on a return.» Start looking for Jesus because there’s something about eternal expectation that when you’re going through something and you’re trying to figure out how I’m gonna get out of this eternal expectation. So while grace is working on you and while you’re in discomfort and while you’re maturing and while you’re growing, get your affection set. Jesus is coming back, hallelujah. Focus on the stance. I am the righteousness of God. Focus on the eternal expectations right there. Grace has been made available for everybody. Grace will teach you if you receive it, grace will show you how to be all of these things.
And while you’re doing that, keep your hope and your expectation that Jesus is on his way back. Grace therefore, is not the mere expression like I said, of pity. It’s a forgiveness of sin because the full penalty has been paid by Jesus. Living the grace life, it’s a journey. But all of the things that God will do with us, he wants us to do with somebody else. 1 Corinthians says, «I will comfort you in all of your trouble so you can comfort somebody else.»
Okay, so let’s back up a little bit. Did you, did you see what he just said, 1 Corinthians 1? He said, «You’ll trouble every last one of them.» And you gonna have that, you know that you know that don’t you? In this world, you will have, come on. Tribulation then that God is yourself away, persecution, you gonna have them. But he says, I’m gonna be with you in all of your trouble. You know what we do? «God, turn the fire off, it’s hot.» You, know what he says? «No.» And that shocks you.
«I’m not gonna turn the fire off. I’m not gonna take you out of the fire. This is an opportunity, this is a growth opportunity. This is a maturity opportunity. I’m not gonna take you out of the fire. But what I will do is I’m gonna get in the fire with you so that in the fire, if you need something while you’re in the fire, I’m gonna provide for you in the fire. I’m gonna comfort you in the fire. I’m gonna make sure your clothes ain’t smelling like smoke in the fire. And I’m gonna make sure I bring you out in the fire. I’m not taking away the fire, but I will comfort you in the fire.»