Creflo Dollar - Living The Grace Life - Part 2
Look at Romans 11 and 6 in the NLT. Romans 11 and 6 in the NLT. And then Romans 4 and 4 in NLT. Now watch this in NLT. «And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is-free and undeserved.» And look at Romans 4 and 4, «When people work, their wages are not a gift.» And when you work, somebody need to pay you. He says, «But it’s something they have earned.» And even with this explanation, we’re still trying to bring something to the table so we can say, «Look at what I did.» «Oh, that happened because I did this. Oh, that happened because I did this. Y’all don’t understand. I prayed all night. That’s why that happened.»
Don’t do that man. Because then you put, then you’re putting condemnation on other people to say, «Unless you pray all night, then that won’t happen for you,» okay? Well, you don’t understand. You know, I did this, I did that and I did that and then that’s how God showed up. And so now everybody think, well, am I am I gonna have to do all of those things and for under God, it just, it produces condemnation because it’s based in self confidence and self effort, okay? Alright, therefore works as a means of obtaining God’s favor and grace are completely excluded. You can’t do something to obtain his favor and grace or it wouldn’t be favor God’s grace always acts first on behalf of man before man can act on behalf of God. In other words, God is acting first to empower you to be able to do what you can’t do.
So, God is doing something first, is where love is concerned. For so long we’re like, I love God, I love God, I love God. And you didn’t even understand, you couldn’t love God until he first loved you empowering you to be able to love him, okay? But we still somehow think, «Well, I need to do this first and then God will be able to…» No, no God is enabling. That’s the word I’m looking for. He’s enabling us first so that we can do second. So we can now act on God’s behalf because of his enablement. Don’t get it twisted. You’re able to do these things because he has enabled you to do it. You following me? God is more than just unmerited favor. Grace is more than just unmerited favor. It is favor towards those who don’t even deserve it. That means the enemy’s in the people you don’t like. No matter how you feel about them, God is still ready to favor them.
Look at Romans 5 and 8 NLT, Romans 5 and 10 NLT. It’s more than just unmerited favor, but it’s favor towards those who don’t deserve it. And the church is really quick to judge people outside of our operation and say they don’t deserve it and they don’t deserve it and they don’t deserve it. All because they voted this way, they don’t deserve it. All because they’re struggling with this, they don’t deserve it. In order for you to do that, you got to see yourself as perfect with no flaws at all. And we know that ain’t true with your secrets and hidden issues, okay? Romans 5 and 8: «But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us,» when? «While we were sinners.»
See if you think, «Oh, look at this, look at me. I am flawless. I am perfect. And now this is why God is blessing me.» No, it’s not. He’s not blessing you because you’re flawless and you’re perfect and you do this and you do that. Oh, you just need to be thanking God for his grace. Lord, thank you for your grace. Thank you for your grace Lord, hallelujah. Somebody said, «Where would we be without the grace of God?» Somebody else said, «I don’t wanna know.» Verse 10. He says, «For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies.» I know it’s hard for you to look at it, but you were God’s enemy. There was enmity between you and God because of sin.
Most people think, «Well, you know, we’re under the grace of God and you know, ignore sin.» No, no, no. It’s just, it’s like taking an exam. I mean, you flunked the exam and you still flunked it and there are information you need to learn or you’re not gonna be able to do certain thing you flunked the exam. I just decided not to count it against you. We have this attitude of grace is just, oh this, oh sin. Let’s move it away. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The sin can still put you in slavery and it can still have consequences. But Jesus has decided with all of your sins since he’s already taken it on his body that it won’t be counted against you. Yeah, well, that means you still gonna have, yeah, you’re going to have them but you know you’re gonna be a maybe a tad behind but Jesus will take care of that because God will take all of the crap you went through and he’ll use it to make you. I know preachers got a problem with that but there is purpose and discomfort. You cannot grow being comfortable all the time. Alright, let me leave that alone.
Now, let’s look at grace being this unrestrained operation of love. All right now follow me carefully on this one and I maybe I don’t fall a lot on this one, but this is my favorite part of this teaching. The unrestrained. You know, when something’s unrestrained, there’s nothing that can restrain it. The unrestrained operation of love. Now, while it is true that sin cannot limit God’s infinite love. There was at one time something which also was infinite and it was something that completely restrained God’s love. At one time, his love was restrained. Before this new covenant, before Jesus, God’s love was restrained. This restraining force was the infinite justice of God and the justice of God, it demands that sin must be punished according to the holy law.
Now listen to me carefully. So there’s the infinite justice of God. It was infinite. But at one time, his love was not infinite. His love was restrained because of his justice. So because of this, God wasn’t free to do for sinners, all that his love desired. You do understand what I’m preaching. I’m preaching to sinners too, right? In order that love might operate freely and without restraint, something first had to be done to satisfy every demand of God’s justice. If God’s justice were to be satisfied by the sinner, he must lose his life. If the justice was gonna be satisfied according to the law, he’s got to lose his life to meet the demands. The sinner must die. What is it?
Romans 6 and 23. «For the wages of sin,» watch this, «Is death.» And that was the only way at that time to satisfy God’s justice. But if the sinner be put to death, then there’s no opportunity that remains for the love of God to operate, in his behalf. So, it’s clear that if God’s justice was to be satisfied and love left free to operate, that God himself had to supply that which was needed. Yeah, I don’t hear amen. That God himself would have to supply what was needed to operate on this thing. Wow, that’s exactly what happened on the cross. God’s love. God’s love found a way to satisfy his own justice and thereby set love free to operate with no restraints. Do you understand that? Nothing can restrain the love that God has for you. His justice has been satisfied.
All of your sins and all of my sins have been placed on the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you say that sin is greater than God’s grace, you’re saying you don’t believe that his justice was satisfied. You’re saying that Jesus wasn’t enough to satisfy his justice. And I am saying that Jesus is enough to satisfy God’s justice and his love is free to operate without restraints. I dare you say that somebody is living so bad that God can’t love them. How dare you talk about somebody’s lifestyle is so messed up that God can’t love them? There are no restraints to his love. His justice has been satisfied. 1 John 14 NLT, 1 John 14 NLT. «This is real love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice as a propitiation to take away our sins.»
Well, somebody said, well, people are still saying, please listen to me, what separated you from God was your sinful nature. That’s what separated you. Your sinful nature, okay? And God took care of that. Now, your sin and actions are gonna start lining up with your new creation. It’s a journey and you’re human and it’s a journey and you’re human. But he started to work. He’ll continue to work. He gonna finish the work, hallelujah. 1 John 2 and 2 in the King James and he says this. He says, «And he is the propitiation for our sins.» Propitiation that would satisfy’s divine justice. Jesus was the sin offering. Jesus was the ransom that was paid for your sins. So you can go free. «And not for ours only,» get this, «But also for the sins of the whole world.»
Get it straight church folks. Jesus came for the whole world. He came for that drug addict. He came for that prostitute. He came for that adulterer. He came for that liar. Everything I’m preaching here. He came from all of the mess that an institutional church told you to despise. Jesus said, «I knew it before the beginning of the world and I came for them.» The people you kick out. He said, «I came for them.» Your enemies. He said, «I came for them.» What’s wrong with us? Why are we so judgmental against people who are in trauma and people are going through stuff? Jesus came for them. Church folks want to dump them to friend, they don’t. What is this? Graced people got to be gracious people.
Oh, does that work. Apart from the death of Christ, God cannot deal with fallen man on any of their basis than the law and justice. But when Jesus died, the restraint, I suppose my man, the restraint upon God’s love was removed and love was set free to act. God’s love is free to operate in grace. «Well, what about them Democrats?» What is the matter with us? «What about them Republicans?» What is the matter with us? His grace has been set free to love Democrats. His grace has been set free to love Republicans. How come Republicans and Democrats can’t love one another when God’s love has been set free and the party affiliation cannot restrain his law. So grace then is more than love. It is love operating righteously in view of the fact that the penalty for sin has been paid.
Something was done, something was done for God on the cross. We just think something was done for us on the cross, but something was done for God on the cross. He removed our sins on the cross, but he removed the restriction. Oh, he became free to fully exercise his love without compromising his justice because Jesus has justified us. Oh, so grace there is therefore, it’s not a mirror expression of pity or compassion on the part of God. It is not the setting aside justice and passing over sin, which should be punished. But like some people think, «Well, you know, it was just pass over sin. Watch out for them grace people because they just wanna pass over sin. Don’t talk about grace too much because if you talk about grace too much, you will start living a loose life.»
Honey, grace is for your loose life. With your loose self, grace with your loose life. Sweet lips and sweet lips, increase learning. Grace is not a forbearance or tolerance of sin. It’s a forgiveness of sin because the full penalty has been paid by Jesus. Book of Titus 10, 11, 12. He says the grace of God has been made available to the whole world. So grace is available and ready for anybody who will sign for the package. You might not think they should be forgiven. It’s amazing to me. I’ll take some murderers that have been put in jail and they murdered thousands of people and you have the mitigated gall to say, «Well, I know they’re in hell.»
You know what people in hell? For rejecting Jesus not doing a bunch of sinful, crazy stuff because God can deal with all that. But what he can’t deal with is unbelief and a person that refuses to accept Jesus. What he gonna do? But he says, «This grace for us, who will receive it, this grace for us, who will accept it, it’ll start teaching you.» Grace will teach you. Think of that. Grace teaches you. Somebody say, «When does grace teach you?» Honey, let me tell you something. The trials of your faith are excellent instructions and courses that God uses to mature you. Listen, one thing we can all relate with pain and discomfort. And let me tell you something about pain and discomfort. Everybody got some.
And let me tell you pain and discomfort may be your most powerful witnessing tool. Look how God has brought me out of this. Look at the work of grace in my life. I thought I was a goner, but look at the work. And there ain’t nothing like going through discomfort with God on your side, depending on him. Because when you come out of that rough patch, you’re gonna be closer to him like never before. You gonna have empathy like never before. You gotta be more sensitive than what people have gone through. Some of y’all just need to… because it’s so easy for you to be critical in judgment of somebody else’s issue until that issue visits your house.
So easy of you to talk about how I don’t understand why they homeless. I mean, there are jobs everywhere. That’s because you don’t have no empathy and you have no idea what that person went through, that landed them in the place where they are right now. You ought to be grateful and thankful to God. God, if it weren’t for you, I would be in that same situation. If it wasn’t for you. And then give me, give me the compassion to move on their behalf. Grace will teach you grace will teach us just not unmerited favor. Grace is a teacher. Remember we talking about a person, he will teach you, but this is amazing to me. He will teach you. Oh Lord, I know y’all but I got to go with this. He’ll teach you how to live godly lives.