Overview

1. Right believing leads to right living
2. Be established in the Father’s love for you
3. He has promised to be your God
4. Receive His lavish supply for every demand
5. How to walk out God’s grace in your life

Right believing leads to right living

Today, believers are faced with a warfare in the area of our believing: the world is trying to impose its beliefs on us while the Lord wants us anchored in His truths. The beliefs and ideals of the world have led many people to be self-focused and demand-minded. As a result, they find themselves under a great deal of stress, even to the point where they experience health and mental health issues.

But why is this warfare happening in the first place? That’s because the enemy is out to steal, kill, and destroy; he wants to keep us in a life of defeat! How we live and walk out our lives is intricately connected with our believing. When we believe right, we will live right. And the opposite is also true. So, before the enemy can steal from us, he will try to seed a thought of wrong belief in us, hoping we will fall for it.

Though the enemy is out to destroy us, our Lord Jesus has come so that we can have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). The Lord’s heart is not for us to live a life of stress or to be caught up in the pursuit of material wealth. His heart is for us to live fulfilled even in the midst of our challenges, and to truly enjoy the life He came to give us.

So, how does that pan out? What are we to believe right?

In order for us to live the abundant life that our Lord Jesus came to give us, to live victorious and holy lives, we need to believe rightly the new covenant truths, especially the ones that He revealed through the Holy Spirit and the apostle Paul.

These were the words our Lord Jesus shared with His disciples during His Last Supper with them. There was so much on our Lord’s heart that He wanted to share with them, yet, they were not ready to receive the fullness of these revelations. They would only understand these truths after the Holy Spirit had come. These also are the truths that our Lord wants the church to take hold of today! We find them in Paul’s letters, whose words were based on the words of the ascended Christ (1 Thess. 2:13).

Paul’s revelations of grace that we read about in his epistles are part of the believer’s inheritance in the new covenant. Understanding and believing in the truths revealed will help us live morally excellent and fulfilling lives through relying on God’s grace, instead of trying and struggling to keep God’s laws through our own efforts. Under the new covenant of grace, there is an obedience of faith that did not exist in the old covenant of law.

The Greek word for the phrase “to the faith” is pistis, which refers to our beliefs. In other words, our obedience to the Lord, and the fruits of right living, are a result of us believing rightly!

Be established in the Father’s love for you

So, what does it mean for us to believe right about and live under God’s grace?

First, grace refers to God’s unearned, unmerited favor toward us. This favor is something that we cannot earn through our own merit. It is a gift that is bestowed upon us through the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For us to fully understand the grace of our heavenly Father, we need to understand the differences between the old convent of law and the new covenant of grace. The old covenant of law is about man’s self-effort; it demands holiness from spiritually bankrupt men. But the new covenant of grace is about us first receiving the Father’s love and grace, then walking out a holy and abundant life. Even when it comes to fulfilling the greatest commandment to “love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37), our Lord Jesus showed us a higher way—today, we can love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). It is no longer about us trying to love God; our love for Him is a response to His amazing, faithful, unconditional love toward us!

Now, this doesn’t mean that we are against the law. The laws of God are perfect. But the truth is, none of us are able to keep the law and be justified by it (Gal. 3:11). God designed the law to show us our imperfections, to bring us to the end ourselves, and show us our deep need for our Lord Jesus, our one and only perfect Savior. It is when we come to the end of ourselves and receive God’s grace that we gain the power to live the overcoming life (John 8:11, Rom. 6:14)!

So God’s heart is for us to receive and live in His love and grace. How do we know this? Let’s take a look at this next verse:

When God gave the law, He sent a servant. But when God wanted to establish the new covenant of grace, He had to give up His only begotten Son. Beloved, can you see how much the Father loves you?

Let’s take a closer look at this portion of Scripture:

Many people have taken this story to be about their personal sacrifice to God. But Abraham offering Isaac in Genesis 22 is actually a foreshadow of our Father’s sacrifice of His own beloved Son.

In this story, we see how God stopped Abraham from slaying Isaac and instead provided a ram for the burnt offering. This ram is a picture of our Lord Jesus, who was offered up as the perfect sacrifice in our place.

Here, the ram was caught in the thicket by its horns. As a result, its body remained unblemished. Had it been caught by its wool, it would have been lacerated and deemed unsuitable as a sacrifice. Since this ram had horns, it meant that it was a mature animal that would not plunge headfirst into a thicket. Thus, this would imply that it was done intentionally.

And when Abraham and Isaac pulled the ram from the thicket, there might even still be remnants of the thicket in its horns, a foretelling of the crown of thorns that our Lord would wear at the cross. All these details demonstrate to us how the ram God provided to Abraham is a picture of our Lord Jesus, who chose to lay His life down for us.

Notice also what God said to Abraham, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” God spared Abraham the heartache of losing his son but did not spare His own heart or His darling Son, Jesus, at the cross. What a beautiful demonstration of our Father’s love for us!

Today, we need to understand and believe in how much our heavenly Father loves us—so much so that He did not withhold His only begotten Son. It is only when we are secure and established in the Father’s love that we can boldly go before Him and receive His grace for every need, every challenge, every day!

He has promised to be your God

What, then, can we expect from being under the new covenant today?

Under the new covenant, God has promised that He will be our God. What a powerful promise we get to enjoy today! Child of God, do you know what it truly means when God says that He will be your God? It means that if you are sick, He will be your Healer. If you are in debt or facing a financial lack, He will be your supply. If you have a wayward child or a broken relationship in your life, He will be your restorer! What is it that you need today? When your heavenly Father is your God, you can be expectant to see Him meet every need in your life.

Can I really go to God when I’ve fallen short?

YES! Beloved, He has declared that our sins and lawless deeds He will remember no more. All your sins have been effectively put away by our Lord Jesus’ finished work at the cross. While we might still fall short in our daily lives, our heavenly Father does not and will not condemn us for that sin because it has already been dealt with at the cross. So, come boldly to your heavenly Father who loves you!

Receive His lavish supply for every demand

Going back to the difference between the old covenant of law and the new covenant of grace, we see that the law is about demand, while grace is about supply. The law is about what we ought to do for God, while grace is about what God will do for us.

How, then, do we know when we’ve put ourselves under the law? Here’s an easy way to find out: Think of an area of challenge you’re facing today. Ask yourself, are you trying to be the one resolving it? Are you stressing about it?

If your answer to either of these questions is yes, then you are probably more conscious about the demands of life than God’s supply! When we speak of effort, what we are referring to is a reliance on our own knowledge, our own strength, our own doings and methods to achieve the results we want. It is being demand-minded, and does not take into consideration God’s supply of grace, wisdom, and power. Being led by grace does not mean that we do nothing—it’s about being led to do what is right at the right time by God’s grace and wisdom!

So, have you been shouldering the demands of life all by yourself or relying on advice from others or the Internet to try to fix your problems, only to yield little results? Whether it’s your health situation, your finances, even your parenting, know that your heavenly Father has more than enough supply for that area today and in the days to come. What would help is if you would tune out the voice of the world and lean into the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit within you. This is the way of rest—of being led by the Lord’s unforced rhythms of grace!

Here, the Lord was addressing people who had been living under the law. They were laboring and heavy-laden not just to be accepted by God but also with the demands of life. Doesn’t that sound familiar to us, even today? Have you been putting demands on yourself? For some of us, we might have been stressing over whether we’ve missed the mark with God. Perhaps you’ve been feeling the pressure to meet the needs of your family or your boss’s demands at work. Or perhaps it’s a marital situation, health issue, or a financial lack. Beloved, whatever you might be faced with today, the Lord wants you to rely on His grace instead of your own efforts.

In last week’s sermon, Activate Your Grace Gifts, Pastor Prince shared how God’s abundant grace freely abounds toward us. John 1:16 tells us, “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” In the original Greek, the phrase “grace for grace” translates to “grace in place of grace.” This revelation paints a vivid picture of how God’s grace is unending. And this is how God’s grace operates in our lives—constant, unceasing, and always abundant! So, start looking to your heavenly Father and His unending supply of grace for every situation!

Even in the area of overcoming sin, you can rely on God’s lavish supply of grace to overcome that bad habit or addiction you might have been struggling with for a while. Please know that this does not mean we can continue in a lifestyle of sin. Grace does not give us a license to sin! In fact, true grace births in us a desire to lead holy and pleasing lives to the Lord.

Through these verses, God’s Word is very clear that grace is what gives us believers the power to overcome sin in our lives.

Hebrews 8:10 also tells us that under the new covenant, God writes His laws on our hearts! And His Word continues to tell us that we will all know Him intuitively. Together with the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit, this in-depth and personal knowledge of our Father will release His divine power that gives us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:2–4).

How to walk out God’s grace in your life

Again, being under grace does not mean we don’t do anything. On the contrary, the Bible urges us to be faithful with the grace that our Father has given us and to continue to labor in that grace.

Along with His grace, God has given each and every one of us a unique gift or talent. For some of us, it could be the ability to play the guitar or to cook. For others, it could be to work with children or to be a businessman. From the verses above, we see that we are to be diligent with our giftings within the scope of where the Lord has led us, or else this grace that God has given us would be in vain.

And when you face demands or pressure, even while working with your grace gift, remember to turn to your heavenly Father for more of His supply of wisdom and grace. Pastor Prince shared how the demand of preparing sermons that are anointed and a word in season every Sunday can be very pressurizing for a pastor of a church. For Pastor Prince, he depends on the Father’s grace and gives the burden of feeding His flock back to Him. In turn, the Father supplies Pastor Prince both the grace as well as the material (what is on His heart for His people) to preach.

When we flow in our grace gifts, we will find that what we’ve set our hands to is easy and light. There is a supernatural ease and restfulness to what we are doing! And as we continue to work hard using our grace gifts, God rewards us for using the grace He first gave us! In other words, when God graces us for an assignment, and we are faithful and diligent to do it, He blesses us for it! And His rewards are both abundant and practical. Just as how He gave the disciples, who were fishermen, a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fish. What a good and gracious Father we have!

Beloved, your heavenly Father knows exactly what you need (Matt. 6:31–32). As you continue to remain faithful with the things He’s already given you, He will provide for your every need!

We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.

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These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.