Grace Week 2

We need to unlearn submission to the law and learn submission to Jesus Christ through grace and the Holy Spirit.

Abraham believed God and was counted as righteous by God. He was declared righteous, not by works but by faith.

How we see grace will affect the way we view God, others, and ourselves.

Legalism = Perfectionism. For those submitted to the law, God's standard is not goodness but perfection.

Jesus alone was able to fulfill the perfect requirements of the law once and for all. Only He could live the perfect life.

We commit more sins by omission than commission. There are an unlimited number of good works we could be doing that we don't do because we're just living our own lives. Thank God for grace!

As we become more mature in our faith, we have to avoid the temptation of judging others who do not do as much for the Lord as we do.

Righteousness - are we righteous because we do righteous things, or do we do righteous things out of gratitude to God for the grace he has given us?

We have no righteousness on our own. Our best works are as filthy rags to God. Our faith in God allows Him to declare us righteous, just as he did Abraham, not because of what we've done.

We are not capable of doing enough good works to earn salvation. We are given salvation when God declares us righteous due to our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Salvation is a gift to be received and not a goal to be achieved.

Jesus said the only work that God wants from us is to "believe in the one He sent", which is Jesus.

Abraham was the beginning of the Jewish people and faith. He believed God and "it was credited to his account" as righteousness. The same is true of us today. We put our faith in the Lord and He redeems us.

The Father deposits the righteousness of Jesus into our "account" when we believe in Him and the redemption that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.