What does it mean to walk in grace?
And, how does grace teach me to walk in godliness?
The Apostle Paul shows us in Romans 7 that the Law gives sin its power to tempt us to decide what’s good for us, and then in Titus 2, he declares that it’s grace that teaches us to say “NO” to ungodliness.
But, how does this really work?
Well, it’s God’s grace that brings redemption and reconciliation to those who humble themselves, acknowledge their sin and seek forgiveness through faith in the shed blood of Jesus.
But, grace doesn’t stop there.
Grace takes us out of Adam through our co-crucifixion and co-resurrection with Christ.
We are born again as saints into the family of Jesus.
As a result, we are given the mind of Christ.
But, what does that really mean?
Paul elaborates on this in Philippians 2 when he exhorts believers to maintain that attitude of Jesus.
This is an attitude of total surrender and submission to the Abba’s will.
Grace is not a free pass to sin.
Grace is what restores us to a love relationship with Abba where we can rest in the knowledge that He always works in our best interests.
So, with that in mind, we can learn to dialogue with the Holy Spirit as we seek to know Abba’s will instead of asserting our own.
Jesus told us that He did nothing apart from Abba; neither should we.
I’ve heard some believers say, “Well, now that I’m under grace, I just do what I think is best and trust that it’s God’s will too.”
I would agree with that approach if it wasn’t for our lingering flesh.
While sin’s power is broken in our lives, the flesh is still our default for when the stresses of life press in on us.
Remember flesh patterns are the ways that we’ve learned to keep negative emotions at bay while sucking in positive affirmations.
Walking in our flesh means walking in our own strength and deciding what’s good for us instead of resting in Abba’s love and sufficiency.
It is grace that teaches us to put off our ineffective flesh patterns and put on the mind of Christ.
As Jesus was led by the Spirit, so we too can learn to be led in every decision by the Spirit.
For example, the best diet I ever did was simply asking the Spirit to show me what He wanted me to eat and then how much was enough.
When I did that, He always led me to healthy choices and proper portions. He even let me have a piece of chocolate on occasion.
When I don’t engage the Spirit and just decide for myself, trust me, I go for the carbs and my portions are too big.
So, beloved, those who walk in God’s grace will walk in godliness simply because they are living in God’s love and in submission to the Spirit’s leading just like Jesus did.
Let’s choose moment by moment to rest in His love and allow the Holy Spirit lead us in our choices.
Blessings!
Robyn Henning