Forfeited Grace.

Confession. I would hear words a lot in the Methodist church that I had absolutely NO idea what they meant. Honestly? I was often too embarrassed to ask. I mean, shouldn’t I know what “prevenient grace”, “justifying grace” and “sanctifying grace” actually meant? Possibly. But, alas, I didn’t. Maybe you’re there too. It’s ok. I was too. The truth is, you do know these words. If not, let me refresh your memory.

It was John Wesley that used the following analogy to explain these various types of grace. Imagine you are in a field and in the center of the field is a house. God dwells in this house and, as you move through the field towards the house, that’s God’s prevenient grace, moving you along on your journey. You step up onto the porch. You’re drawn into the presence of God and this stage is called, convicting grace. You realize your sin, your brokenness and your need for God’s presence in your life. So, you take the door knob and open it. Here you find justifying grace. Christ is the door with which we enter into God’s presence. It’s understanding that, in the shadow of the cross, we stand forgiven and redeemed by the blood and sacrifice of Christ on the cross. And, once we walk through the door, there we stand in the presence of God and encounter the beauty of Sanctifying grace. Sanctification is living a life that mirrors the holiness of God at work in our lives.

Beautiful, huh? Last Sunday I kicked off the No Regrets series in Harvest (WATCH IT HERE) and spoke on Philippians 3:13 and 14 where the apostle Paul said,

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what’s ahead, I press on to take hold of the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”.

Paul speaks with such passion in this passage in Philippians. See, before Paul was the Apostle Paul, he was actually just plain old Saul. And Saul was not the greatest poster child for the glory of God. He was present at the stoning of Stephen (a disciple) and even whispered out threats against all followers of Jesus Christ. But, along the way, God said, “Saul would be perfect for my cause”. The rest? History.

You can’t tell me Paul’s old life didn’t creep into his current life at times. His old friends had to grab him and ask, “what is wrong with you? What are you doing living out all of this Jesus stuff in your life? This is not who you are. You’re not Paul. You’re Saul. Pick up this old life and get back to who you were”. So, as Paul speaks here, you hear him saying, “Look. This is how I live… forgetting what’s past and straining towards what’s ahead… I press on”.

Regret can pull you back onto the porch and tell you that you’re never good enough to get any closer to God or living into His calling in your life. Can I tell you? Don’t let regret play that card. You were not created to live and dwell in a life that accepts mistakes and sin as who you are. You are a child of the Most High God. Yes, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (see Romans 3:23) BUT, you are justified freely because of salvation that came from Jesus through the act given on the cross (please ALSO see Romans 3:24).Here’s the thing. Don’t stop at just knowing Jesus, live differently because of who He is and what He has done for you! There’s power in living out sanctification in our lives.

Truth be told? You can’t take hold of what God has in store for you today, if you’re still holding on to the mistakes and regrets of yesterday.