There is a saying which goes, 'there is no such thing as a free lunch'. The implication of this is that if you are having a lunch for which there is no need to pay (money) there will be something that someone wants from you as a result. And so, in one form or another, we end up paying.
The word 'grace' flies in the face of this mentality - God's gift of forgiveness and a new life, is just that - a gift. And yet we find this really hard to believe. Instead we think that God only loves those people who are good enough. Or that there are things that we have to do to earn merit points with God. But no, it's all gift.
And then if we follow this line of thinking we soon get into the grace v works debate which is picked up on in James 2 in the NT. Today, in our series in Philippians we got to 2:12-30. Paul begins by encouraging his readers to 'work out your salvation in fear and trembling' (2:12). It is important to note that it is 'work out' and not 'work for your salvation...'. We are not working in order to earn anything, rather it is a similar line of thinking to 1:27 ... live in a manner worthy of your calling as a follower of Jesus. If you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sin, if you've asked for God's forgiveness, if you proclaim 'Jesus is Lord', if you believe that Jesus is coming again - if you really believe these things - then you will live in a certain way.
And although this work is very much God's work (1:6, 2:13) we need to co-operate. God will not force His will on us. We need to listen and obey to the promptings of God. If we want to go our own way, God will let us. One of the ways we listen to God is to prayerfully read the Bible: both regularly as an individual, but also corporately within the church community. Scripture Union is just one organisation who produce daily Bible reading notes to help us understand and apply God's Word. We had some copies of their different publications on display at the church today - visit the Scripture Union website to find out more.
Scripture Union also do an online Bible reading resource called Word Live.
To listen to this message click here
