Human failure is our reality. God’s forgiveness and restoration is our greater reality!! At the last supper the disciples argued who was the greatest. Jesus told them he would be arrested and they would all abandon him. Peter said, “not me.” Jesus told him he would deny Christ 3 times before dawn. Yet, in the middle of all this, Jesus assured the disciples that their reward in heaven would be great. These verses teach us that God’s grace is infinitely greater than our sin.
00:00 Jesus gives the disciples grace
2:53 Grace is Grater than Human Failure
3:45 Satan wants to sift you like wheat
4:07 All men fail God
4:22 The Blood of Jesus is greater than our failures (Romans 3:22-25)
4:53 Made righteous not by what we do but by what we believe
5:24 Human love is conditional; God’s love is not.
5:52 Angry Christians
6:37 jesus is our Righteousness (Romans 8:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21)
7:16 Saving Faith (Faith working in love, Galatians 5:6)
8:15 Grace that is greater than our sin
8:25 What God sees when he looks at you
9:08 When we return to the Lord, He restores us
9:30 ACTIVATION
Jesus was having a last meal with the disciples he loved, when they began to squabble about who was the greatest among them. At the same meal, Jesus told them they would all abandon him. Peter said, “Not me.” Jesus told Peter he would deny knowing Jesus 3 times before dawn.
In the middle of all this human failure by the disciples, Jesus assured them that their reward in heaven would be great!!
Luke 22:28-30 NKJV
“But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
All men fail God. Repeatedly. Every single one of us. In our lives we are sifted by struggles, problems and brokenness. We fail. We run away from God. We sin. We fall short of what God requires. And the blood of Jesus covers and removes our sin, our flaws and our failures.
Romans 3:22-25 NKJV
We are made righteous not by what we do but by what we believe.
God’s love: agape - the love without hooks or conditions or limitations. God loves us because of who he is; not because of who we are. His very nature is to love. He can’t help it. He loves. It’s who He is.
Angry Christians
In the last few weeks, I've received comments from Christians who insist that our performance determines our righteousness. We must do x or y. We must not sin. Our righteousness depends on what we do.
Dear friends, this argument denies the cross. If we by our own actions could be righteous, we would not have needed Jesus to die for our sins. Your performance, my performance will NEVER be good enough. We are fatally flawed.
So God sent Jesus to take our place. Jesus came to make us righteous. When God looks at us, he sees our lives united with Christ’s. He sees us “in Christ.” He sees not our flawed lives, but Jesus’ perfect life.
Romans 8:1 AMP
Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior].
2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
There is a heart component to salvation.
Saving Faith works in love.
Faith that saves and makes us righteous and holy is faith (believing and trusting Jesus and Father God) because we know they love us. And we love them back.
Galatians 5:6 NASB
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.
The Galatians had fallen into the trap of trying to obey the requirements of the law to sustain their salvation. Paul corrected them. It’s not your performance that makes you righteous, he is saying. It is your faith flowing from your love.
We must come to a point in our lives that we truly believe that grace (the favor we have from God because he loves us and for no other reason) is greater than our sin.
We must come to a place where we accept the amazing truth that when God looks at us he doesn't see our performance (what we think, say or do) and our many failures and flaws. No, God sees every born-again believer as being "in Christ." When God looks at us, He sees Jesus' perfect life of love and sacrifice. We are "In Christ." Our lives are no longer our own. We have accepted Jesus' offer to join, to unite our lives with His.
And just like the disciples, God knows that our flawed humanity will cause us to fail Him. We will sin. We may even turn our back on God for a season. But he reminds us that there are great rewards for us in heaven. And, like Peter, God restores us.
Peter, who had denied Jesus three times, was the apostle who spoke to the crowd on the day of Pentecost and led 3,000 people to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Peter had been restored to his true identity.