Oct 17th | How To Live

I mentioned at mikes3cents last week that I’m willing to go to the mat for only three things in my life: Family, the Church potential (your unique and unmatched value and purpose to the world), and not until just recently, three, faith in the reality and power of God’s forgiving grace. This third idea, I suppose, is best understood contrasted with our over-estimated capacity to help change another person’s heart. Greg Boyd (an author with whom I don’t fully share a theology, but do agree with here), puts it this way…and I’m paraphrasing, “…we trust our own power of judgment/fixing rather than the power of Christ.” Meaning that we put greater confidence in our speaking “the truth in love” to a person than we do in the changing power of encountering Jesus.

The key to our own and others’ sanctification (maturing in Christ) is discovering how to live in such a way that Christ live in us and the love of Christ flow through us. A way other than a process or equation…a code, as we have been referring to it in the current series. Instead, we need to learn how to live according to the gospel. We’ll talk more about that this Sunday, but we started the ball rolling last Sunday with a look at John 8 and Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery.  We learned three things: One, Jesus levels the playing field…we are all sinners in need of his forgiving grace; Two, Jesus does not condemn us; Three, in Jesus we are released to leave our life of sin.

Ask yourself and discuss these questions:

Does Jesus condemn you (declare you guilty)? Who condemns you? Do you condemn you?

Who do you feel needs to be confronted in their sin? Why? (Don’t say their name! We’re not trying to prepare a list of sinners here…)
Does Matthew 7:4 change  you inclination to confront?  Why/Why not?

Look at ways Jesus loved, and think through specific situations and ways you could love this way.
What are your expectations of this approach?