Verse of the Day 2/9

Verse of the Day 2/9

John 1:17    For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.    English Standard Version (ESV)

Part of John Piper's definition of grace is  "pardon with power"; the pardon part is offering forgiveness; the power part is to turn, to change directions, the power not to continue in sins.  Jesus life embodied this.  He offered forgiveness but he also challenged "to sin no more".  The Pharisee's promoted legalism but not forgiveness, there was no grace in them.

Andy Stanley writes, "The odd thing is that when you read the New Testament, the only thing Jesus stood against consistently was graceless religion.  The only group He attacked relentlessly was graceless religious leaders. So we should not be surprised when we get to the end of the Gospels and discover that the people who crucified Him were those who claimed to know God but knew little of grace. In doing so, they confirmed everything He said about them.....Grace didn't begin with Jesus. But it was certainly personified by Him. John tells us that He was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14; emphasis added). Not the balance between, but the embodiment of. John speaks of "the fullness of his grace" (John 1:16), the idea being that in Jesus we get as clear and as close a look as we will ever get of what grace looks like in an otherwise graceless world."

We need more grace, more forgiveness, we need to show more mercy and compassion. Between legalism and grace, grace wins, not in the opinion of this world, but according to Jesus and how he lived and put it on display.    But in the shadow of that shame  Beat down by all the blame  I hear You call my name saying it's not over   And my heart starts to beat so loud now   Drowning out the doubt  I'm down, but I'm not out     There's a war between guilt and grace   And they're fighting for a sacred space   But I'm living proof   Grace wins every time  No more lying down in death's defeat   Now I'm rising up in victory   Singing, hallelujah  Grace wins every time   ("Grace Wins" - Matthew West)   

As Matthew West reminds us, there is a war between guilt (legalism) and grace.  May we, like Jesus, be proof that grace, and truth, win every time.

Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift and power of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon.  John Piper

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

John 1:14-18 The Message (MSG)

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

¹⁵ John pointed him out and called, "This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word."

^16-18 We all live off his generous bounty,
        gift after gift after gift.
    We got the basics from Moses,
        and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
    This endless knowing and understanding—
        all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
    No one has ever seen God,
        not so much as a glimpse.
    This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
        who exists at the very heart of the Father,
        has made him plain as day.