A CRITICAL BALANCE - Ralph Howe Ministries

In John’s Gospel we saw last week that Jesus was a safe person….

Someone whom people were drawn to

Someone whom people trusted

Someone who invited others into His life

Someone who listened and understood when others shared

Someone who accepted others regardless

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

We saw three main features of a “safe person” from this verse

1> He dwelt among us – connected with people, embraced, engaged

2> He was full of grace – treated people with dignity and respect regardless

3> He was established and rooted in God’s truth – speaking truth in love

We saw that this is what the Lord wants of us … that we become “safe people”

People who build safe relationships where spiritual conversations can be real and relevant

We established that a “safe person” in our life would, like Jesus:

1> Draw us closer to God

2> Draw us closer to others

3> Help us become the real person God created us to be

This would then fulfill The Greatest Commandment and The Great Commandment

Matthew 22:37-38 “‘Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you.’ This is the great and supreme commandment. And the second is like it in importance: ‘You must love your friend in the same way you love yourself.’ Contained within these commandments to love you will find all the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.” (The Passion Translation)

But, let’s go to the foundation upon which this is all built – LOVE

The Christian faith is all about relationships

The Bible teaches us that God is love (1 John 4:8)

And, that He wanted to have a love relationship with His creation – the human race

Thus He created and related to Adam and Eve each and every day in the cool of the evening

But then, as we know, Adam and Eve sinned and broke that relationship

Sin separates (Isaiah 59:1-2)

So, even while we were separated from Him by our sin He still loved us and looked for a way to reestablish that relationship

Romans 5:8 “But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly!” (The Passion Translation)

God wanted to share Himself with others who would chose of their free will to love Him in return – relationship

When we experience our “conversion to Christ” He gives us the supernatural ability to have this relationship

Romans 6:23b “…the gift of God is eternal life”

John 17:3 “This is eternal life, that you may know God the Father and Jesus Christ whom He sent.”

So, the Christian faith is all about relationships…

Our relationship with God who is love

And we can love Him because He first loved us

1 John 4:19 “We love because He first loved us…”

Our relationship with each other as believers

1 John 4:11 “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…”

This is not an option – but a sign that you have truly been born again and come into a relationship with the Living God

1 John 4:20-21 “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

The Passion Translation: “Anyone can say, “I love God,” yet have hatred toward another believer. This makes him a phoney, because if you don’t love a brother or sister, whom you can see, how can you truly love God, whom you can’t see? For he has given us this command: whoever loves God must also demonstrate love to others.”

This love is also our motivation to “go into all the world” and share the Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 28:19-20)

“If you love Me you will obey Me” (John 14:15)

“And may the Lord make your love to grow and overflow to each other (believer to believer) and the everyone else (believer to non-believer)… (Philippians 1:9 Living Bible)

So, love is the basic ingredient of the Christian faith – the foundation of every thing else we believe

God is love (1 John 4:8)

God loved us so much He sent His Son to die for us (John 3:16)

We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19)

He commands us to then love each other as believers (1 John 4:20)

And this love overflows to those who do not know Him (Philippians 1:9)

This love forms the foundation upon which everything else is built.

“God loved us so much that He sent His Son…” (Romans 5:8)

Jesus came and “dwelt” among us (John 1:14)

He came in love to relate to us – build relationships

He became one of us so He could relate to us

He connected with people

He was present with people … focused on that person

Focused on what they were saying and needing

Saw past the words and saw past the needs – saw someone God loved

He encountered people

He related to them

He engaged with people

He embraced them and their life situation (circumstances)

He responded to people

Responded to what was said as He listened with His heart

Didn’t switch to His Gospel message – He was living it

Didn’t switch to His own situation

Didn’t fix people or chase people

Didn’t quote the Bible when dealing one-on-one

This is what love does…

He connected

He engaged

He embraced

He responded

He released / shared love – people knew they were loved

So, Jesus dwelling among us…

His presence

He belonged

He connected

He identified

For the people He encountered and who received Him … they received love

Because Jesus is God and God is love

Then their task was to release that love so others would be impacted by it … reach the lost

And they / we are to do this by “dwelling” – – connecting, engaging, embracing, responding

Then the Law and the Prophets will be fulfilled

Loving God with our whole heart (because He first loved us)

Loving ourself – because God loves us and is helping us become…

Loving others – sharing the love

Let me repeat: a “safe person” in our life would:

1> Draw us closer to God

2> Draw us closer to others

3> Help us become the real person God created us to be

Jesus was this safe person – and we are called to be ‘safe people’ for others

Those who are already believers and part of the assembly

Those who have yet to encounter and embrace His love

1 Corinthians 13:13-14:1a “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Pursue love …”

THE KEY:

We need to encounter Him and His love and become born again

We need to experience His love regularly

We need to receive His love – embrace it, engage with it, walk in it

We then need to release His love

“Walk in love and give it away”

Many believers intellectually know that they are loved – the Bible tells them they are

Many believers have not encountered or experienced His love / are not encountering

Many believers then are unable to love God, themselves, or others because they have not “been loved”

You cannot give what you do not have…

LISTEN CAREFULLY:

You can enter a room – let’s call the room “worship”

People are singing

People are raising their hands

But just because you are there does not mean you have worshipped

You have to embrace the worship

You have to engage in the worship

You have to respond to the words from your heart

You need to connect to the Lord with your heart and head

You need to join the others who are worshipping

Let me say that using a different example

You might say that you are friends with this certain person

So, you have entered the room marked “friendship”

But have you engaged the friendship

Have you embraced the friendship

Are you there for the person – present / dwelling?

Are you listening with your heart?

Is this friend the focus or are you your focus?

Do you respond to what is being shared?

Are you investing in this relationship / friendship?

Just because you are in the “room” does not a friend make!

Just because you are a Christian does not mean you are encountering and experiencing His love

You can encounter and experience His love but it is not automatic

You need to open up and let Him love you on His terms

You need to receive His love

You need to engage with His love

You need to embrace His love

You need to respond to His love

You need to walk in His love

You need to give this love away by loving others

Out of your encounter and experience of His love you can then walk in “grace” and “truth” as Jesus did

Love is the foundation

Grace and Truth are then built upon love as the foundation

GRACE:

Jesus was “full of grace…”

We receive ‘grace’ just as we receive ‘love’

It is a gift that we don’t deserve but we need to receive

Yes, you received grace when you were born again

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Grace means you are:

Loved unconditionally

Accepted just as you are

Forgiven totally

None of which you deserve or earned

We are to receive grace every day

Never experiencing “guilt” or “condemnation”

Not having to prove yourself to Him or to others

Comfortable in who you are and where you are at

Not earning His acceptance or love by what you are doing

Performance religion… read you Bible, pray, pray in tongues, worship

Earning His love – then you do not understand grace

Then, when we are ‘living by grace’- then and only then can we live “graciously”

Only then can we relate to others with grace

Accepting them as they are

Forgiving them when they hurt you

Being there for them when they need you – supportive, loyal

Treating others with dignity and respect regardless

Grace is very practical and can be seen and experienced by others through you

But, you cannot give away what you do not have

So, we need to be continually receiving and embracing His grace

Most born again believers, if they were to examine their life, would come to realize they are not walking in His grace

They hold to a performance-based religion / works religion

2 Timothy 3:5 “ …having the appearance of godliness, but denying its (life-changing) power”

Jesus lived “grace” – He knew He was loved unconditionally by the Father

Jesus treated every person with grace … they knew they were loved, accepted, forgiven

TRUTH:

Jesus was “full of grace and truth”

We need both grace and truth in our lives

All grace means no standards and no boundaries – sloppy agape

A powerless love which is really not love at all – They don’t “speak the truth in love”

All truth means we become legalistic and live by rules – legalism

Often self-imposed rules and traditions

We need to balance out grace and truth in our lives just as Jesus did

But, to state the obvious, to live by the Truth we need to be in the truth

The Word of God is the truth … “My Words are truth” (John 17:17)

To live by the Truth we need to have the truth in us

That means being in God’s Word and letting His Word be in us

That means letting the Word speak to us and minister to us

Not looking for proof texts to back up your latest ideas

Not looking for ways to justify your life style and interpersonal behaviour

Not looking for the next promise to receive and claim

Not looking for God to back up your latest “God said…”

This means reading the Word without a personal agenda so it can do its work in us

Letting the Word enter your heart and bring changes to your life from the inside out

Many believers do not really believe the Word of God

It is used to justify our own choices and lifestyle

It is known fact that:

We only truly believe the truth that we apply (received and embraced)

And only the “applied truth” changes us and transforms us from the inside out

So, most believers are not changing, growing, maturing…

“… Always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7)

And, as a result, when they are relating to others (believers and non-believers) they are unable to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15)

So, like love and grace we need to experience God’s Word which is “spirit and life” (John 6:63)

We need to embrace it

We need to engage with it

We need to apply it

We need to live it

We need to do more than read it and know it

And, then we can share the Word (Truth) with others ‘in love’ and they will believe it because they will see it active in your every day life.

CONCLUSION:

GRACE and TRUTH can only become the “norm” in our lives as we relate to other people and receive feedback and input from them – truth spoken in love

Grace and Truth become a vital part of us as we share together in Christian fellowship

And, as we apply grace and truth in our fellowship we will experience the love of God

As a result of God working with us in our fellowship together with Him and each other…

We are better prepared to “dwell” with people – engaging and embracing them and their life situations

Then we can treat them with grace – being gracious in our interactions with them