Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel Wholly by Grace Communicated Truthfully & Lovingly

Author:Metzger, Will [Metzger, Will]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2012-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

Our Re-creating God

We’ve looked at four lives: a dutiful older son, a wealthy young woman, a runaway son and a religious leader. Two of them surrendered to the pursuing love of Jesus. These two seem so different—a wild son and a zealous churchman. One traveled the road of sinful pleasure and self-centered living. The other traveled a road of legalism and hatred for those whom he considered irreligious. So different on the exterior; so similar on the interior.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved . . . through faith—and this [faith for salvation] not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:4-5, 8-9, emphasis added). Thank God for the but—that attaining forgiveness and righteousness doesn’t depend on our own efforts. God’s sovereign, saving grace is what empowers the dead will of sinners and gives them a new heart too—a total spiritual rebirth. Will, mind and affections are renewed. With a heart aflame with the love of Christ, the will now desires to return this with love for Christ. Now enabled to choose right, the newly born spiritual baby does the work God requires, which is “to believe in the one [Jesus] he has sent” (Jn 6:29). God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us” (Rom 8:3-4, emphasis added). What God requires, he supplies.

In Bible terminology God’s fulfillment for us of the requirements of the law is the new covenant, God’s way of ensuring the success of his human reclamation spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel: “I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. . . . You will be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezek 36:25-28). Finally, a God-given empowerment for right living and faithful loving. Thomas Chalmers, a godly Puritan, spoke of a strong new affection giving an expulsive power to drive out the love of sin.

We see that grace is an active power (1 Cor 15:10; 2 Cor 12:9). Long ago, Augustine used the term prevenient grace to describe grace that enables the will to choose good. It is portrayed in a brief vignette during the ministry of Paul: “We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.

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