Title: Living by Grace / Psalm 80:14-19
Content * Text: Psalm 80:14-19, Matthew 18:23-35, Hebrews 13:9
1. Every human being is a debtor.
◎ People are the debtors who live with the love of their parents as they grow up from birth. Confucianism teaches that all body parts are inherited from parents. Of all living things, no animal grows with parental care as long as man.
People live under the guidance and help of brothers and sisters and family members, seniors and friends, teachers and leaders. As the saying goes that humans are social animals, we live with many people in society and our social nature is growing.
◎ Humans are living by grace in the environment given freely regardless of their desires or efforts. Sun, light, air, water, oxygen, rain, soil, rivers, rivers, seas, grains, animals, plants, day and night, and fish, etc. Numerous natural resources are not created by me, but we use them freely.
◎ Above all, we are living in the grace of God the Creator. We must know that everything we enjoy does not come naturally, but is a gift created and given by God the Creator. There is nothing in our life that is not the grace of God. Therefore, every human being is a debtor.
◎ The saints received special grace. In addition to all of the above natural graces, there are special graces. The apostle Paul emphasizes the special grace of Jesus Christ being saved only through the grace of atonement on the cross (Acts 4:12, Luke 24:47, John 14:6, John 20:31, Gal 1:7).
Paul confesses that he is indebted to the gospel because it is entirely the grace of God that one is saved through atonement through Jesus Christ alone.
2. Irresponsible grace (Matthew 18:23-35)
Jesus spoke in parables. A rich master had pity on the servant who owed ten thousand talents, and forgave him all the debt. The servant caught the friend who owed him 100 denarii and told him to pay the debt, but he could not pay it. It is the story of the master who heard this news and called his servant to pay off the ten thousand talents debt, but he could not pay it, so he put him in prison.
It is absolutely unforgivable that a person who was forgiven a debt of ten thousand talents could not forgive the debtor who owed a very small 100 denarii and put them in prison. Those who have been forgiven and received grace should give grace to them.
“If you do not forgive a man’s trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you” (Matthew 6:15)
It is because of God's great grace that we are forgiven of our great sins and transgressions. So Paul confessed that what I am is the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:10).
We live by the natural grace of God and the special grace of salvation through Jesus Christ. But they are debtors that we cannot repay in our own strength. Those of us who are living through this kind of grace are grateful for the grace we have received, and we also have to live with grace in the sense that we can repay the grace even if it is one in a billion.
3. Life renewed by grace (God who heals)
After receiving Jesus Christ, Paul confessed that he became a new creation by his grace. When God's grace comes to man, man cannot reject that grace. Just as an old house is repaired and a new house is built, God heals wounded people with grace so that they can be born again (John 8:1-11). If there is a condition for receiving grace from God and becoming a new person, it is the grace given to those who repent. Therefore, no matter what mistakes a person commits, relying on God's grace and going to God, He forgives all things and heals them anew.