by Henry Knapp
For those old enough to remember… Billy Graham’s evangelistic call was often accompanied by the musical tones of the old song: “Just As I Am.” That hymn captures the essence of the Gospel of Grace: God saves us “just as we are,” not once we earn His pleasure, or satisfy some minimum requirement, but as we really and currently are—broken, sinful, ugly, ruined. Rather than moving toward God, He has come to us and embraced us, “just as we are.”
If we lose that, if that truth does not permeate our entire life, we will distort God’s grace, and become nothing more than legalistic, rule-following, pharisaical, religious people (said with disgust in our voices). And that we do not want.
What do we want? We want to see Jesus! We want to follow Christ!
The beauty of the Gospel is that Jesus accepts us “just as we are,” but also that He loves us far too much to leave us “just as we are.” Having received salvation through grace alone (conversion), we then enter a journey of transformation through grace alone (sanctification). We do not remain as we are, but are taken by our Lord, shaped, molded, and fashioned into His very image (2 Corinthians 3:18). “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). He who saved you, remains powerfully at work in you, that you might be “to the praise of His glory!” (Ephesians 1:14). This is what discipleship is all about; this is following Jesus.
Discipleship, then, is God’s work, it is grace in your life. It is not just knowing theology, it is not only practicing certain spiritual disciplines, it is not a matter of shaking off the old sinful patterns; discipleship is grace. So, if it is all about the Lord’s work in our lives, how does He do it?
Discipleship is the work of the Spirit through the power of the Word of God.
This is to be the Church… this is to be OUR church, then: to be a body of believers where the work of the Spirit is transforming individuals through the power of the Word. We are a “discipleship factory,” where people come “just as they are” and experience change at the hands of the Spirit via the Bible. Exposing our children, our youth, our adults, and all those in the community to the presence of the Spirit (evident in and through our fellowship together), and creating avenues for the Scripture to be opened, read, and studied together—by these means, God-willing, our congregation will be changed, renewed, restored.
Practically, what does this mean? This means that this church, Hebron Church, will always be seeking opportunities to experience the presence of the Spirit: gathering together, worshipping, serving, sharing. And exposure to the authority of the Bible: learning together, teaching, maturing, centering our faith on God’s Word. There are many things which we will do—children’s ministry, Bible studies, fellowship groups, youth trips, sharing, eating, serving, loving—but they will hold one thing in common, a desire to magnify Christ through the work of the Spirit speaking through the Word. When we do these things, the Lord is with us, and we are made new. We will be transformed!
When we are transformed by grace, we become the kind of people who know their Lord, who share their faith, who demonstrate compassion and kindness, who strive for holiness, who take captive every thought, who give of ourselves even when it hurts, and who live as Christ lived. Transforming grace is how all of life is redeemed—by the Spirit and the Word.
To the praise of His Glory!
Henry
