Some time ago I decided to read
"The Discipline of Grace" by Jerry Bridges
and I have been slowly, very slowly doing so because there is just so much to take in from each chapter.
If I waited until I had read the whole book the notes on it would be extremely long judging by the ones thus far so I've decided to put together here just the notes from my reading of the first chapter to give a taste of what this book has to offer.
Chapter 1
The Holy Spirit transforms us spiritually; we cannot do this ourselves. This is sanctification.
The Pursuit of Holiness is our cooperation and involvement in the sanctification process and it is something we need to be fully committed to. This must be anchored in the Grace of God.
God's blessing does not depend on our performance.
God's grace through Christ is greater than our sin.
If God’s blessings were dependent on our performance, they would be meager indeed.
Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace.
And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.
Every day of our Christian experience should be a day of relating to God on the basis of His grace alone.
We are saved by grace but also each day of our lives we live by grace because we must look only to Jesus for God's blessings on our lives we cannot earn the blessings ourselves.
Grace - God's unmerited favour to those who deserve His wrath.
Although saved we still sin; but we also still receive His grace.
We are neither blessed because we have done good enough to gain His favour or not blessed because we have failed to earn it.
Our performance rating is not the important thing here.
The Gospel applied to our hearts each day frees us to be honest with ourselves & God.
We can admit we still sin and take responsibility for this instead of blaming our actions on the effects of others.
"So it doesn't matter how I live because God forgives me unconditionally" - no, this is not acceptable as it means that the truth is being abused.
We cannot allow others to lessen the value of the truth for all of us. So they need to be reminded of the Gospel.
What about those who struggle with the fact that we are still sinners and they think they are not committed enough? They also still need to be reminded of the Gospel because it does not pour on guilt but rather brings freedom from guilt to them.
To live no longer for ourselves but for God is the essence of discipleship.
Love is what compels us to live for God.
So it is by the Gospel that we must be motivated to live a holy life and not by guilt or duty because it is through the Gospel that we will be conscious of His great love.
God's grace is greater than all our sins.
Repentance is one of the Christian's greatest privileges. A repentant Christian focuses on God's mercy & God's love.
One who draws on God's mercy & grace is quick to repent but also slow to sin.
Are we willing to rely on God's mercy & grace alone instead of on our performance, to boast in nothing save the cross?
I promise that later posts on this book will contain shorter notes on each chapter.
See Links below:
Grace 2
Grace 3
sounds like a powerful read. thanks for linking up with the Book Review Blog Hop
ReplyDeletewe can't do anything ourselves - it's all up to Him :D
ReplyDeleteSo true Andi, thanks for stopping by.
Deletevery thought provoking, thanks for sharing with #readwithme
ReplyDeleteSuch a powerful thing - grace. We lose sight of it, we trample over it - we abuse it. We need to treasure it. Thanks for sharing this with us today Sandra!
ReplyDeleteIndeed Marie we often tend to overlook the importance of grace
DeleteI bought the book Sandra, and please do more of these blog posts of notes, it doesn't matter that they are so long...
ReplyDeleteThank God for His grace which saves us and keeps us abiding in Him to bloom and bear fruit for His glory.
I am concerned with today's abuse of grace. I see it all around. Good post and sounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteWow! That sounds like a great book! (How can you go wrong, right?)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a cool book. And you can't go wrong with Gods grace.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a powerful, full of great truth read! Thanks for sharing your notes with us. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a very legalistic home, and grace is a hard topic for me to grasp. Sounds like I need to read this book!
ReplyDeleteI love Jerry Bridges and have taught a couple of his books. This is one I haven't see or heard of! Thanks for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteAnd yet another book added to my list! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWe've been studying the Holy Spirit, this may be a good reference. Thanks for linking at Bound by Books.
ReplyDeleteI really can't do any of it on my own. It's through Him...and only through Him.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds look a very good book. Grace is so amazing and beautiful!
ReplyDelete