Thursday
Jan282010
ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ - 'How much do you know about grace?'
Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:39PM Do you want to see how your answers compared to other people's?
I've included the percentages below of those who answered 'false' and 'true' for each question.
1. Grace simply means that you are forgiven.
False (84.4%) True (15.6%)
Answer: False. Grace does include forgiveness; but must also include a restored heart. Otherwise, we have stunted grace: much like a prisoner who is pardonned and his debt paid; yet the prisoner remains the same person who committed the crime -- unable to relate well and to live well. He's technically free, yet functionally bound. Unless he's transformed, his pardon won't help him.
Grace requires restoration. That's the offer of Jesus. Your heart was restored (the old was removed and a new one put in its place) when you said 'yes' to him.
..............................................................
2. God the Father looks at me through 'Jesus glasses,' so that he only sees Jesus and not my sin. False (68.8%) True (34.4%)
Answer: False. Because of Jesus' work on the cross and resurrection, your heart (true self) is absolutely pure. The old was removed. (Because of the flesh, you can still sin -- but that's not who you really are any longer.)
God can look directly upon you - without Jesus glasses - because you're actually good and holy now, not simply 'positionally' holy. God is not pretending.
..............................................................
3. My heart (my true nature) is totally clean right now.
False (6.5%) True (93.5%)
Answer: True. Jesus gives us nothing less than his own heart and goodness. Your true nature is his nature. You now want and have the capacity to love as he did.
..............................................................
4. There's a mix of good and bad in my heart now -- like two dogs fighting for dominance. False (81.3%) True (18.8%)
Answer: False. Though the flesh remains, it is no longer you. It is like a thorn lodged in your body - it can cause pain, but it isn't actually you. You no longer have a divided heart. Your heart and flesh are diffferent things: The heart is the real you.
..............................................................
5. Any good in me is because Jesus now lives in me.
False (56.3%) True (46.9%)
Answer: False. This might surprise many of you. It is certainly true that Jesus lives in you. However, he doesn't need to stand between you and the Father (like Jesus glasses). You are actually good now. Today. He made you so by giving you his own goodness.
Any goodness in you is now your goodness - coming from the new heart Jesus gave you. He certainly is the source of that goodness; but that purity is now your own. It is borrowed, but nevertheless your own. His righteousness has become your righteousness: It's the result of your union with him through his work.
..............................................................
6. Discipleship is about taking on the behavior and habits of Jesus. False (65.6%) True (34.4%)
Answer: False. Discipleship is cooperating with the Holy Spirit as he strengthens and releases the new desires and goodness of your new heart. Habits flow from heart. Otherwise we end up with behavior-management.
..............................................................
7. I grow more like Christ only because I am accepted by God.
False (53.1%) True (46.9%)
Answer: False. This is also surprising to many.
Acceptance alone will not restore a person. Only restoration restores. We are indeed fully accepted by God; yet we needed something more -- a new life and power to love well. Otherwise, what you have is a fully-accepted dead person: much like pardonning and accepting a corpse. The corpse needs life.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Were you surprised, even troubled, by any of the answers? Do you agree with them?
Reader Comments (8)
Many folks think of grace as an end result of God's unmerited favor; but it is reall a means to an end. It is the highway to a walk in the Spirit. To be carnal minded is death. To be Spirit minded is life and peace.
Thanks, Willie. You're right. Grace is being in the flow of the Spirit. That's the "easy yoke."
I came across this quote I'd written in my journal six years ago. It's from the book, 'The Rest of the Gospel - When the partial gospel has worn you out' by Stone and Smith:
"I am the life. You take Me into you, and you have the life. I live the life as you, just as the Father revealed His life as Me."
Yes Jim...
Thi makes good sense. :0) When I first did the quiz I got the last one wrong....but I reread it and now it makes sense. I think it really has to do with taking the yoke of religion off the way God tells us in scripture. I think for most it just seems too good to be true and have a block on living from their hearts. There is not much in churches and in the world that encourages our hearts and to live from them.
Meredith
Great test, Jim. I've got to admit #5 threw me off a bit but the way you explained it makes perfect sense and it's even better than what I thought.
Of course, I stole your quiz and the answers and posted links on my blog. I think everyone needs to know that we're no longer just washed up sinners but we're now good and fully accepted by God.
Thanks, Aida! One of the things that was most helpful for me to know was that Jesus lives in me, AS me. That's our union with him. Christ in me, as me.
We don't give up our particularity in Christ. His heart in us, AS our heart.
I want to emphasize the personal pronoun "I". Ezekiel 36:25-27....."Then "I" will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; "I" will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, "I" will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and "I" will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh, (one that will respond to spiritual stimili). "I" will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
I don't see much of "me" in this process do you?
Hi Barb -- it's all a gift of grace, as you point out. So now Jesus lives in me, as me. As strange as it may sound, our independence is what God is after -- not an independence away from him, but an independence flowing from our union with him.