Oh, the delight of freely KNOWING . . .

Paul writes in Romans 3:24, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

“The general rule is that adverbs end in ‘ly’ and describe the action of the verb and so freely is an adjective for the verb justified,” explains Jordan. “Our justification’s a gift. God says, ‘I did everything. I’m providing the whole shooting match; it’s yours. I did all this work at Calvary for you and now I’m going to declare you righteous without you doing a thing. It’s a gift and it’s free.’

“The righteousness of God is unto all who believe, but it’s also UPON; it’s put upon all them that believe. Put upon is a state of being: ‘Here I am, this is what I am. I’m righteous.’ The result of having the righteousness of God put on you is justification.

*****

“I’ve prayed all day today as I’ve thought about how I could communicate to you what grace really is. It isn’t something that you can just so much write down as it’s something where I want it to burn in your heart.

“The word ‘grace’ means ‘unmerited favor.’ Now, you need to associate with that the word ‘delight’ because that’s the word that needs to be placed into the definition. It’s favor, but it’s SPECIAL favor and it’s delightfully given. A person can show you special favor and do it begrudgingly, but the Lord doesn’t do that.

“Unmerited means you don’t deserve it, therefore it’s not of works. There’s no works in grace. Grace is the refusal of works because it’s a free gift God’s given to you, therefore you can’t work for it. You work for it and it isn’t a gift.

Romans 11:6 is a verse you need to be familiar with when you try to show someone grace is the absence of works. It says, [6] And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

“Grace has to do with God’s delight; His free good will to you. Let me give you an illustration. My secretary has a three-year-old grandchild. Robin has a big old fat butterball face, big old golly whoppers of eyes, and she’ll come waddling in, pushing about 12 pounds in front of her, and all she’s got to do is turn that corner into the office and Rosemary just goes bonkers. She can already be happy and cheery, but when Robin walks in she just goes bonkers.

“She’s thrilled to see that kid and out her pocketbook comes and she’s got bubble gum and balloons and toys. You know what that is? That’s delight. That little kid thrills her heart and she finds the most consummate joy in giving to that kid.

“Now, that’s what grace is; it’s that over-abounding delight God has in us. That’s just exactly the way that verse’s used in the Bible. It’s favor, but it’s happy delight. God’s thrilled, overjoyed that He can pronounce you righteous. Do you realize it thrills the heart of God to be able to say, ‘You’re righteous’?

“Man, that’s fantastic. That’s wonderful. God help us that we’d ever try to get in the way of that and put in our works. The message we proclaim is God says, ‘I’ve done everything; you don’t do anything! You just let me delight in giving this to you!’ That’s the gospel of grace.

*****

“Romans 6:22-23 says, ‘But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

[23] For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’

“People think of eternal life as dying and going to heaven and living with God in heaven forever, but there’s not a verse in the Bible that defines eternal life that way.

“Jesus Christ defines eternal life in John 17:2-3: ‘As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

[3] And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’

“Eternal life isn’t just dying and going to heaven and dancing it up around New Jerusalem, kicking up gold dust. Eternal life is to have a personal, intimate, fruit-bearing knowledge of the Father. In the end, the gold of it is that you know the Father in an intimate, everlasting way.

“You don’t just understand what the Father’s plan is and what His will is, you say, ‘Woo-hoo, I get the picture and I LIKE it! I think I’ll just join in and do this! I’ll let the zeal of the Lord of hosts . . . the thing that thrills Him thrill me!’

“It’s your faith resting in the truth of God’s Word, and when your faith rests in God’s grace--who God has made you in Christ--it will bring forth fruit unto God; righteousness unto holiness.

*****

“Holiness is talking about your character; about who you are. You’re someone who’s set apart for the purpose for which God created you. You’re able by the grace of God to bear fruit unto holiness. You’re able to bear activity and growth that represents who God created you in Jesus Christ.

“The word ‘holy’ and the word ‘sanctification’ means to be set apart for the purpose for which it’s created. His character begins to express itself through you and the end is eternal life.

“Look at Jeremiah 9. I try to drill this home to our folks in Chicago all the time. The passage reads, ‘Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

[24] But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.’

“Glory in the fact that you understand the Lord and that you have an intimate personal knowledge of Him. You understand what He’s about, what He thinks, how He reacts, what He’s planning, and you understand to the point it brings forth fruit in your life. If you’re going to rejoice in something, rejoice in that!

*****

“That thing about ‘exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight’—the key to knowing the Lord, and to knowing God, is to understand what He delights in!

"What is it that thrills His heart? It’s what He’s doing in His Son! If you ask the Father, ‘What is it that thrills you?’ He’ll say, ‘There He is at my right hand.’

“Psalm 40:7-8 is quoted in Hebrews 10 as being a reference to Jesus Christ, but I want you to see how it’s said in Psalms: ‘Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

[8] I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.’

“When the Lord Jesus Christ came, He said to the Father, ‘I delight in what you delight in. I delight in your will! I know what you delight in, Father, and you know what, that thrills my heart, too, and I’m ALL IN for what you delight in!’

“Paul says, ‘Let that mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.’ Christ gives you the privilege of thoroughly, completely understanding what the Father’s thinking is, what He delights in, what thrills His heart, and He says, ‘Come on and delight in that, too! Get as thrilled about it as He is!’

“In the Bible that’s called God-likeness or godliness. Godliness isn’t just doing what God does; it’s DELIGHTING in it, buying into it. It’s being ALL IN to it like He is.”

(new article tomorrow)