Character of God

Update 1/27/09 - I know this is turning into a long post.  It might be best to break it down into days, rather than reading it all at once.  I have highlighted all the day breaks.

This week I decided we should study the fact that God is gracious to balance our study of God's wrath last week.  To read our other studies about God's character, click here.

I had my son write two definitions of grace in his notebook - unmerited favor & the ability to do something you wouldn't be able to do.

I read two verses on day 1 -
Jonah 4:2b I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.
I wanted to emphasize with this verse that God is SLOW to anger, to balance our discussion from last week.

Then I discussed that we are saved by grace, it was unmerited, meaning undeserved.  There is NO way we could be good enough to save ourselves (all have sinned--Rom. 3:23).

Eph. 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace...

Then I realized that if we were talking about grace, we HAD to bring in the subject of faith!  (Eph. 2:8).   If we were saved by grace ALONE, then everyone in the world would be saved.  It is God's will that everyone be saved. (II Peter 3:9)  But we have to use our faith and this is an important thing to realize.

I used to say for years that I am where I am in life because of the grace of God, but that was only partially correct--I am where I am because of my FAITH in the grace of God! It's not that I am special that He would choose to use me and not some others around me, it is my faith working TOGETHER with His grace.

I heard the other day on my Chuck Missler Galatians commentary that faith and obedience are synonymous (operationally) in the New Testament. I typed that into my notes on that day, but then it came alive to me as I started this study of grace with my son.

On day 2 we read the story of Rahab in Joshua 2 and 6.   She was saved, by grace, from destruction.  But notice that it was her faith working together with grace. She showed faith in God Almighty and asked the spies to spare her life. (Josh. 2:9-13)  She is living in a pagan, idol-worshipping world, but see in verse 11 that she says when she heard of the God of Israel that she knew He was God in heaven and on earth (not just a great god, like a pagan person would say).  This shows her faith.  They then gave her instructions--but she had to take action (obey)! (2:17-20)  It was up to her, if she hung the scarlet cord out her window, her and her family would be saved, if not, they died.  So we see that she found favor (grace), used her faith and obeyed.

On day 3 we read the first 2 chapters of Ruth. Not much to discuss until the next day.

On day 4 we read the last 2 chapter of Ruth.  Ruth was saved by grace, but notice in Ruth 3, verses 3 and 4, Naomi gives Ruth instructions.   In verse 5, what does Ruth say? "I will DO all that you have asked me to do."  She obeyed.  First she had faith in Naomi's words and THEN she obeyed, a thing of action.  So just like Rahab, Ruth found favor with Boaz (grace), had faith in Naomi's words and acted on that faith with obedience.

Salvation is a gift from God, but we have to accept it by faith, we have to OPEN that gift.  I explained it to my son like this--If I wrapped up a cool Lego set and gave it to him, he would never experience the joy of that gift unless he opened it.  Likewise, if I wrap up a nice, big umbrella, raincoat, and galoshes and gave them to him, he wouldn't experience the protection from the rain UNLESS he opens the gift.   JOY and PROTECTION are just two of the many things we get to experience when we OPEN the gift of salvation.

On a side note - I noticed as we were reading this morning in Ruth 3, that Naomi asks Ruth if she could seek security for her.  This means to find her a husband.  But in the margin of my Bible, it says that the word security here literally means rest.  This is what we experience when we accept Christ, rest AND we as the church are called the Bride of Christ.   Interesting! (Read Hebrew 3 & 4)

I have had my son add these two examples, Rahab and Ruth to his notebook page and also copy Ephesians 1:7 into it, as well.

Update 1/23/09 -

Today is day 5 and I couldn't think of any more examples to read, so I thought I would just read a passage, Ephesians 2:1-10, and have a discussion.  I started asking my son questions about grace and I could tell he needed a bit more explanation, so I found myself using the example of the life of Paul.  So, we turned to read that story instead.  

I wanted to emphasize that we are saved by grace, it is undeserved, but also the work that we do for God is because of His grace.  The story of Paul illustrates this really well.

We first read about Paul in the end of Acts 7, then see some of his character in the beginning of Acts 8, and then read of his conversion in Acts 9.

The story of Paul is a good story to read if you are feeling unworthy.  If God could save Paul, He can save any of us!  Paul was killing and arresting and persecuting Christians.  If anyone deserved God's wrath, it was Paul.  But God gives everyone a chance (just like Ninevah, we'll probably read that story after this one).

So picking up in verse 3 of Acts 9, we see that Saul (Paul) was on his way to Damascus to arrest more Christians when he saw an incredible light.  From this light he heard a voice.  The voice said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"  And Saul asks, "Who are you?"  The voice answers, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."  (I'm paraphrasing, please read the entire story in Acts 9.)

This is God's grace.  He could very well have let Saul keep on his destructive path, he certainly didn't deserve God's favor.

What is Saul's response?

"Lord, what do you want me to do?"  Ah ha!  This shows Saul's faith.  Remember that faith has to work together with God's grace.  Saul could have ignored the voice, he could have walked away, he could have said, "this is ludicrous!"  But he didn't, he shows us with his statement that he believes the voice to be, in fact, that of Jesus.  We also see that he wants to know what TO DO.  This is very important.  Faith without obedience is dead.  (James 2:17)

Jesus gives him instructions--go into the city and you will be told what to do.  (Remember the instruction that Rahab and Ruth were given?  What has Jesus instructed you to do?)

Paul has a choice, as we all do.  He could have run back home to Jerusalem, but he didn't.  He went into Damascus and he was saved.  He was saved by grace, AFTER he showed that he had faith by his obedience!

We will read more of Paul's story on Monday.  He tells us in Ephesians 2:8 that we are saved by God's grace, but also in Ephesians 3:8 that the work that we do is only by God's grace, as well.  Paul should not have been able to preach to anyone, since everyone knew of his past, but by the grace of God (AND Paul's faith working with it), he was able.  Hence, the dual definition I have taught my son--unmerited favor AND the ability to do things we wouldn't be able to do.

Update 1/27/09 - 

On Monday, day 6 of this study, we read from Acts 9:26-30 and Acts 11:25.  We see that Paul tries to preach, but everyone is afraid of him, they don't trust him because of who he used to be.  He goes away for a time and we pick up in verse 25 of chapter 11 and see that BY GOD'S GRACE, he is able to start a preaching ministry.  He tells us himself in Ephesians 3:8 that his preaching is BY GOD'S GRACE.

Today is Tuesday, day 7, and I can tell that my son is having a hard time wrapping his brain around the definition of grace.  If you recall from day 1, I taught him the definition of unmerited favor.  I decided to look up favor in the dictionary.  One of the definitions was help or aid.  This was a better word to use for my son.  So I had him write in his notebook that, "grace = favor = help", and, "unmerited = undeserved", and underneath that, "grace is the undeserved help of God."  I think this helped it click in his brain.  We cannot save ourselves, we need God's help.  Paul couldn't preach to anyone without God's help.

I started reading the story of Ninevah in the book of Jonah today.  We will conclude it tomorrow.  I also had my son copy Ephesians 2:8 into his notebook.

Update 1/29/09 - 

Yesterday, Wednesday, was day 8 on this study.  We read the last two chapters of Jonah.  We see that Jonah went to Ninevah and simply said that in 40 days the city would be destroyed.  (Jonah 3:4)  He didn't even mention the word repent!  Verse 5 tells us that the people believed.  Did they go around telling everyone they believed?  Did they shout to God that they believed?  Let's read on.  We see that they took action--they fasted and mourned (wearing sackcloth).  News got to the king and he declared that everyone should repent!  In verse 9 we see that the king has hope that, if they repent, God will relent from His wrath.  And He did.  God is giving everyone a chance.  He gave Jonah a chance, (even after he disobeyed!)  He gave Ninevah a chance, and He's giving you a chance!  The verse that we read in Nahum a couple weeks ago about how God hates sin and will one day pour out his wrath is now put in context.  This was 150 years AFTER Jonah had preached in Ninevah.  Nahum was a prophet that was sent to Ninevah to preach to a city that had heard the truth and had now REJECTED it!  That is important to understand.

Today is day 9 and we started out by reading II Peter 3, I wanted to highlight verse 18, but sometimes it's good to get some background and context.  Wow!  This was a good chapter!  The basic summary is that we should live holy and pure lives, looking forward to the return of Christ (that could happen as a thief in the night--at any moment).  I especially like verse 9, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.", and verse 18, "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." This verse is why I picked this passage.  We are saved by grace, but we also need to grow in grace.

I asked my son, "How do we grow in grace?"

He said, "Accept Jesus into your heart."  (He's 9.)

I said, "That is the new birth, your spirit is born again.  Do physical babies grow after they are born?"  (This got a laugh.  The answer was, "Of course!")  I continue, "So how does your spirit man grow up?"

My son thought for a minute, but couldn't come up with an answer.

I explain, "The same way you are saved--by grace, through faith."

Remember that grace works together with faith.  And how do we SHOW our faith?  Through obedience.  We turned to James 2:14-26.  This passage contains an excellent concrete example that children can understand.  The example of a friend that has no food, absolutely nothing to eat.  If you go to them and say, "God loves you!  Have a nice day!", it doesn't do them a BIT of good!!!  You need to DO something for them--bless them with some food, show them God's love with a gift!  It is your actions WITH your words that will mean something to them.  It is the same with God, we cannot simply say we have faith in Him, we must DO something--obey His Word!  Afterall, God showed you His love for you by His actions--He SENT His only Son to DIE on a cross to pay for YOUR sins and to take your sickness and sorrow!  God wants more than lip service.  It's more than simply saying you believe, EVEN the demons believe (James 2:19).

So we see that we are saved by grace, but we ALSO live everyday by grace.  We are only able to grow spiritually by His grace and do the work (Eph. 2:10) He has called us to, by His grace.  This is a day-by-day thing, using your faith and obeying.

Now it is very important to remember that we are NOT saved by works (Eph. 2:8).  Don't fall into the trap of doing good works to get on God's good side.  If you do, you won't have peace.  It is when you have received instruction from the Lord and His Word and are obeying out of faith, that He gives His grace, and remember one of the definitions means help.  It is easy to do, because He is helping you.  Jesus said, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  (Matt. 11:30)

Remember that Rahab, Ruth, and Paul all received instruction.  We must go to the Word to receive our instructions (II Tim. 3:16).  This makes for a nice segue into a study of specific instructions in God's Word.  I think we will spend the next few weeks on that.  I will have to do some research.

Tomorrow we will read the story of Abraham offering Isaac (spurred by James 2:21) to finish this topic.

Note to parents:  After reading this, I feel that there may be a few of you that don't feel capable of teaching your children these things from God's Word.  I want to encourage you to just start reading to them from the Bible.  You could start in Genesis and pick out the numerous Bible stories or go to the New Testament and read to them from the gospels about the life of Jesus.

There is something that happens when you start reading out loud and teaching your children.  Light bulbs will start to go off in your head, puzzle pieces will start to connect.  I have noticed a difference in my daily reading (One Year Bible Schedule) and my reading to my children.  Too often with my daily reading, when I was on a particular schedule, I was reading to check that day off my list.  I wasn't retaining much, or stopping to understand what I was reading.  Don't get me wrong, it was beneficial to me (I wrote about that here), but there is SO much MORE I get out of reading to my children.  I am thinking more about what I'm reading and stopping to explain it to them, which in turn helps me to understand it even more.

This topic is a prime example.  All these things I taught my kids in this two-week study, literally came to me as I was teaching them.  The dots were connecting in my head as we went through this and sometimes more thoughts would come to me through the day that I could teach the following days.

So don't hesitate, start sowing seeds of God's Word into your children now!  (Deut. 6:6-7)