Grace
GRACE HAS FINGERNAILS
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.”
* Titus 2:11-12 *
Grace has fingernails.
- Tony Merida
Church family,
I have come to realize that most southern men have an unspoken rule. It goes something like this, “Never fully admit you are in need.”
We don’t need help.
We don’t need help from you.
We don’t need help with directions.
We don’t need help skinning a deer.
We don’t need help changing a tire.
We don’t need help with money.
We don’t need help from you.
We don’t need help.
I have a garage door spring that is broken. I’ve heard the horror stories of guys working on garage door springs by themselves. It seems to result in a hospital visit, limbs that don’t work right after you get knocked off the latter when that thing breaks loose. Now, that didn’t stop me from watching a YouTube video and convincing myself I don’t need help. I told my wife, “I think I can do this myself and save us money in the process.”
The problem with the above list. It just isn’t true.
We need help. We aren’t truly independent. We are dependent.
Titus 2:11-12 makes one thing clear. We needed salvation and hope. The only thing that could fix the problem was grace. Here grace has a name. His name is Jesus.“Grace has fingernails.”
In other words, God put on skin.
He appeared full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) This gospel rich text is filled with the reality of grace. His grace brings hopeful salvation, but also it teaches us to renounce what is not like Christ who poured out his grace richly. He gave his life because we were a people in need.
The truth is…
We need help.
We need help from Jesus.
We need help from others.
We need help with marriage.
We need help with life direction.
We need help knowing the next step.
We need help discipling our kids.
We need help with our idols.
We need help with our sin.
We need help.
We need real rescuing, identity changing, life altering, earth shattering grace.
This southern man way can really be damaging though. We can easily isolate ourselves, or live with such bravado that we are laced with pride where there should be humility.
So we have to move from independence to dependance.
Listen to the way Paul David Tripp articulates dependency. “Dependency means no longer being afraid of exposure, because I really do believe that there is nothing that could be known, exposed, or revealed about me that has not already been addressed by the person and work of Jesus. It means living as if I really do believe that isolated, individualized, independent Christianity never produces good fruit.” (LEAD)
We need to move from independence to dependance.
When thinking about the church. The truth is, God in his grace gave us the local church because he knew we would need the church. We can’t do this alone. We shouldn’t do this alone. By the way, I am hiring an overhead door guy.
Blessings,
Jonathan Johnson
Do You Need Help
I am here for you and would love to hear from you. Spiritual or practical, give me a shout.
501.249.0818
jonathan@compassviewchurch.com
Resources Used in this Post
New Churches Podcast LEAD: by Paul David Tripp
LEAD: by Paul David Tripp The Bible: Titus 2
The Bible: Titus 2
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.”
* Titus 2:11-12 *
Grace has fingernails.
- Tony Merida
Church family,
I have come to realize that most southern men have an unspoken rule. It goes something like this, “Never fully admit you are in need.”
We don’t need help.
We don’t need help from you.
We don’t need help with directions.
We don’t need help skinning a deer.
We don’t need help changing a tire.
We don’t need help with money.
We don’t need help from you.
We don’t need help.
I have a garage door spring that is broken. I’ve heard the horror stories of guys working on garage door springs by themselves. It seems to result in a hospital visit, limbs that don’t work right after you get knocked off the latter when that thing breaks loose. Now, that didn’t stop me from watching a YouTube video and convincing myself I don’t need help. I told my wife, “I think I can do this myself and save us money in the process.”
The problem with the above list. It just isn’t true.
We need help. We aren’t truly independent. We are dependent.
Titus 2:11-12 makes one thing clear. We needed salvation and hope. The only thing that could fix the problem was grace. Here grace has a name. His name is Jesus.“Grace has fingernails.”
In other words, God put on skin.
He appeared full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) This gospel rich text is filled with the reality of grace. His grace brings hopeful salvation, but also it teaches us to renounce what is not like Christ who poured out his grace richly. He gave his life because we were a people in need.
The truth is…
We need help.
We need help from Jesus.
We need help from others.
We need help with marriage.
We need help with life direction.
We need help knowing the next step.
We need help discipling our kids.
We need help with our idols.
We need help with our sin.
We need help.
We need real rescuing, identity changing, life altering, earth shattering grace.
This southern man way can really be damaging though. We can easily isolate ourselves, or live with such bravado that we are laced with pride where there should be humility.
So we have to move from independence to dependance.
Listen to the way Paul David Tripp articulates dependency. “Dependency means no longer being afraid of exposure, because I really do believe that there is nothing that could be known, exposed, or revealed about me that has not already been addressed by the person and work of Jesus. It means living as if I really do believe that isolated, individualized, independent Christianity never produces good fruit.” (LEAD)
We need to move from independence to dependance.
When thinking about the church. The truth is, God in his grace gave us the local church because he knew we would need the church. We can’t do this alone. We shouldn’t do this alone. By the way, I am hiring an overhead door guy.
Blessings,
Jonathan Johnson
Do You Need Help
I am here for you and would love to hear from you. Spiritual or practical, give me a shout.
501.249.0818
jonathan@compassviewchurch.com
Resources Used in this Post
New Churches Podcast LEAD: by Paul David Tripp
LEAD: by Paul David Tripp The Bible: Titus 2
The Bible: Titus 2
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