A Mirage of Grace.
A Mirage of Grace.
“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7
Paul never claimed this war would end during our earthly life; he always pointed us to Jesus in the now not the later. Grace is God’s greatest weapon against our human flesh. There was a time when I questioned grace and how I applied it. I realized that, at times, I would premeditate sinful choices, and do them, knowing God's grace would cover me, which didn’t sit right. Despite this, I found myself giving in to sin, thinking, "I might as well get it all out of my system and then return to God for repairs.” During those moments, I resonated with Paul’s words, “What a wretched man I am!” for years I experienced that this type of grace offered little hope or healing. It was like a man dying of thirst and seeing an oasis in the desert, giving all he had to reach it only to find he was dipping his hands in sand rather than true water. This would happen over and over, eventually to the point of not knowing if I could trust what I thought I knew or saw. It bred doubt in my salvation and hopelessness, even though I loved my Savior. I was not winning this war; I became desensitized to it. I found myself in a stalemate—captive to my own human tendencies and content with the crumbs of self grace I scavenged from the prison floor of my captivity. But while on that floor, I was reminded of a promise from God long ago given to His people that where in exile:
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jeramiah 29:11-14
This promise compelled me to deeply examine the grace I was accepting. The grace I received didn’t truly give me hope or freedom from captivity. It could not be God's grace I was listening to—rather, I realized it was the enemy’s deception of grace a forged counterfeit that was twisted in human nature. The enemy recognizes God’s grace too and can manipulate it as a weapon and then use it against us. The key difference lies in what what true grace produces in comparison to tainted grace:
Holy Spirit affirms God’s grace.
Satan too affirms God’s grace.
Holy Spirit uses grace to convict and lead away from sin.
Satan distort grace to guilt and keep us in sin.
The Holy Spirit’s grace causes discomfort from sin, urging transformation.
Satan’s grace offers comfort in sin, encouraging complacency and ecceptance.
The Holy Spirit’s grace fosters the desire to fight sin and brings hope.
Satan’s grace condones surrender and breeds hopelessness.
The Holy Spirit’s grace denies human weakness and point to Jesus.
Satan’s grace downplays our fallen state, justifies our sins and blames someone other than ourselves
The Holy Spirit encourages hope and perseverance.
Satan promotes reckless living as if there’s no tomorrow.
Often when a person sees a mirage it give the appearance of what they are desperately seeking. My encouragement is don't give up when you find that it not there continue to seek and allow the Spirit to show you the true way to the Living water.
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