The purpose of the Combined Churches of Melton is to provide a voice and an opportunity to unite on behalf of the MCMA (Melton Christian Minister's Association). We meet regularly for mutual support, encouragement and community events. Each church represented maintains it's individual structure and identity, but we see a great need to combine for various local events, services and church activities.
GLORIOUS GRACE!
The level of victory from which we live is shaped by the degree to which we understand God's grace. For example, if I believe that God is angry and consistently condemns me, then I will live outside of His graceful love and acceptance as a dearly loved son. Or, if I believe that He abandons me when I fall into sin, then I will live with a fear of His anger and punishment and resist His extended hand of graceful restoration.
We shape our world by how we view God. If we see Him as a harsh Judge, then fear will rule and cold-hearted religion will dominate. But what glorious freedom occurs when we are awakened to the Fatherly love of God and His grace! Suddenly a joy erupts and a fresh outlook replaces the doom and gloom of our endless efforts for acceptance.
The Christian life really only makes sense in the context of Family. God is a Father, adopting the orphans of this world, bringing us into a place of belonging and giving us a new name. It all makes sense when seen through the eyes of Family.
The Bible teaches us that Christ's righteousness covers the son and daughter of God in a way that our sins are not held against us and the record of failures are stricken from our account. God sees Christ's finished work on the cross all over us as the reality of His sacrifice covers our shortcomings. This is amazing news and God's glorious grace declares this truth.
Romans 4:7-8 is stunning. Read this, "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin." Instead of God demanding an account for our sin, He imparts to us righteousness through Jesus, and wipes the record of sin. So what we have here is a transfer, Christ's righteousness for our depravity. What a deal!!!
I can say this with great confidence..."I am forgiven". It is done. It is finished. Jesus paid the price as my substitute. Now I choose to live daily under this reality and not allow anything to damage my identity in Him. It really is a choice.
It is usually at this point that many can get highly legalistic and get into a frizzle crying out in protest that if we continue to promote this message we will create compromising Christians who think they have a license to sin. They would say, "Don't give them such a wide bearth. Don't describe this with such expansive freedom or else they will find a way to excuse sinful behaviour. After-all, the road is narrow." Yes, the road is narrow that leads to salvation because there are no other options but Jesus, but on the other side of that gate is a wide open expanse of God's glorious grace, mercy and love. It is bigger on the inside!
The beauty of God's glorious grace leads us to God's abundant goodness. When a person gets a revelation of God's goodness it doesn't motivate them to sin more but rather motivates them to repent more. Look at Romans 2:4b, "...the goodness of God leads you to repentance..." To behold God's goodness is to want nothing more than to be as close to Him as possible. Sin then becomes an obstacle to what you really want. C'mon, what can possibly compare to being under the influence and blessing of God's goodness?
I've noticed this in my own life. Through the years sin has lost it's attraction and power over me because I've tasted the goodness of God. Sin becomes a horrible interference and blockage to what I really want...HIM. Am I saying that I never sin? No, but I refuse to settle for the lie that I am a sinner stuck in that miserable state. The Word of God calls me a saint, redeemed and set free by Jesus and sin now does not define me, though it may trip me up at times, it does not shape my choices as it used to. It's grip and control has been broken by what Jesus did for me.
In this process of refining, God's grace is patient and ever-present, cutting away the things that hinder our relationship. You see, our Father in heaven wants us close to Him and when sin gets in the way He is quick to enable us to repent, reject it and enter into a revived state of sonship. Ahh, glorious grace!
Pastor Mark Jurisic
CityWest Church