Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, March 24. Would you consider yourself a rich person? Well, if you're a believer, you can always say yes. Let's learn more about the immense spiritual and eternal wealth Christians possess in part two of The Riches of the Grace of God.
Every day complaining about what we don't have and not recognizing what we do have. Now, what I want to talk about is true of every single person who has ever trusted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. This is what God has planned, prepared, and listen, has deposited to your account. All of these things are true in behalf of every single believer. That's the riches of His grace. And you say, well, what is that? Well, number one, here's what it is. First of all, God has freed you and me.
Watch this carefully. Freed us from keeping the law in order to be saved. That doesn't mean that we're not to live a righteous, godly, holy life. But we don't try to keep the Ten Commandments in order to be acceptable to God. You and I are acceptable to God on the basis of one thing alone. And that is His Son, Jesus Christ, crucified at Calvary, shed His blood, paid the debt of our sin in full. And the moment we accept Him as the full payment of our sin and accept what He did at Calvary, our sins are forgiven on the basis of what He did, not on the basis of what we do. And so, one of the riches of His grace is this. We can wake up tomorrow morning, free children of God. Listen, free to be obedient to God, free to walk in His will, free to walk in His way, knowing that if we stumble and fall, we can ask Him to forgive us. And we don't have to plead and beg and promise, God, Lord, if You'll forgive me this time, I promise.
I won't do that again. How many times has God forgiven us? Have you forgotten how rich you are in living under the canopy of the grace of God that provides, listen, continuing forgiveness of our sins? You say, well, now, wait a minute, does that free me to sin against God?
No. Being freed from the law empowers us to live a godly life, a righteous life, a holy life. When we disobey Him, we get penalized. We confess it, we repent of it, we move on in life. One of the riches of His grace is this.
I don't have to live my day wondering if God's going to strike me dead. The grace of God provides forgiveness and the assurance of that forgiveness, not living under a law such as that. Then, of course, one of the riches of His grace is our union with Him. And this is what Paul is referring to often when he talks about when Ephesians and when he says, for example, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus. Paul's favorite phrase, in Christ Jesus, in Christ, in Him.
What does it mean? It means simply this, that when you trust that the Lord Jesus Christ is your personal Savior, here's what happened. Jesus says, from that moment on, He says, I'm abiding in you and you are abiding in me. That means that He's living in us and we're living in Him.
Now, when that happens, what happens? He says, we now have this eternal relationship with Him, union with Christ. That is, we have a relationship with Him. Listen, He's the one who engineered this.
We didn't engineer this, He did it. When you trusted Him as your Savior, He says, I'm coming to live in you, in Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus in us. Once you trusted Him as your personal Savior, He came to live on the inside of you. He says, He sealed you.
Watch this. He sealed you forever as a child of God with the Holy Spirit. And He sealed you under the day of redemption, which means, until the day He calls you home, you know what?
You may scram and you may fret and you may do this and you may do that, but you know what? You can't get away from the infinite omnipotent grip of an unconditional loving God. That's who has you in His hand. So one of the riches of His grace we take for granted.
In fact, we take most of them for granted. That you're eternally secure in Him. You are in union with Him, oneness with Him.
This is what He's referring to. For example, He says in Romans 8, He says, We're the children of God. And He says, The Holy Spirit is one who bears witness with us that we are His sons and His daughters. Because who is your Father?
Once you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, God the Father became your eternal Heavenly Father, never to cease being your Father. What does He have? Everything. What can He do? Anything.
All things. You will never come to your Heavenly Father. Watch this now. And have Him say no to you but something that is in His will, His plan, and His wisdom that's best for you. Will you ever come to Him and ask for things that are not best for you?
Probably all of us have. And what does He say? He says, I love you so much, not going to give it to you because if I did, it'd wreck you and ruin your life. So whatever's going on in your life, this awesome wealth of our Father, well, listen, we have the inheritance. Jesus, Paul says, for example, in Romans, he says, We're joint heirs with Jesus Christ, which means all that the Lord Jesus Christ has, we're joint heirs. We're going to enjoy eternally the blessings, the riches of the grace of God. And that's why he says in that second chapter of the seventh verse that for all eternity, God the Father is going to be demonstrating the riches of His grace toward you and me, the goodness and love that He desires for us. Then I think about the fact, he says in Colossians chapter one also, that we have been translated.
Watch this. He says, He's translated us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Do you realize that you're a child of light? That you and I are to radiate the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, Let your light so shine that men may see your good works and do what?
And glorify your Father with just in heaven. Now, we are not the light. And Jesus said, I'm the light of the world, speaking of Himself.
But He says, When I leave, you're going to be the light. That is, we are reflectors of the Lord Jesus Christ so that everybody who meets you and me, listen, they should meet the Lord Jesus Christ who is in us. We're His representatives. We're His ambassadors. He left us here to magnify Him, to manifest Him, to reveal to other people who He is and what He's like. Think about this. We have the position not only of being a child of God, we have the position of being an ambassador for Christ.
We have the wealth of this relationship. But He says, We've been translated. We are no longer in the kingdom of darkness.
Many people around us are in darkness. This is why the unbelieving people around us cannot believe what we believe. They don't see things the way they see that we see them. They don't see God the way we see Him.
Why? Because deep down inside of them, their guilty, sinful heart has so distorted their view of God. They're so deceived about the decisions that they make that hurt and hinder everybody oftentimes. They don't understand they're living in darkness and think that we're the ones who are ignorant.
We're not ignorant. We have learned the simple truth of the eternal word of God by which one day we shall stand before Him and be judged. And this is this righteous God of grace and goodness and love and mercy. Who, listen, made us one of His children. He says He's translated us. And not only that, He says He seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now, you say, Well, now, what in the world could that mean when He says He seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus?
Here's what it means. That from God's perspective, now watch this. When you trust that Him is your personal Savior, all the riches of the grace of God came pouring into your life. And you say, Well, why didn't somebody tell me that? I've asked myself that question when I was saved at twelve. I sure wish somebody had at least explained some of this. But they said, Charles, you be a good boy and grow up and one of these days you'll die and go to heaven.
What I heard was if you grow up and if you be good, you'll die and go to heaven, which was bondage. What I want you to remember is this. Judicially speaking, from God's perspective, here's the way He sees us. He sees us not only all these things that we've just mentioned from redemption to forgiven to listen to justification, reconciliation and all the rest. He also sees us already in the position of being seated with Him in heavenly places.
That is, God sees the completed picture of your life and my life. We are His children and we are eternally secure. So from His perspective, how does He act toward us? He acts toward us as His children. He sees us and knows that because we're saved by His grace, one of these days we're going to be seated with Him.
So from His perspective, it's a done deal. It's like standing on a high building, watching the parade as it begins, watching it end here and seeing the beginning and the end and everything between all at the same time. That's the infinite mind of God.
So think about this. If He has seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that is our position divinely speaking. We are eternally secure in that. We are His sons and daughters.
He sees it as a completed act. One of the riches of His grace is our eternal security. We do not have to fear death. We do not have to fear what's going to happen and suppose this and suppose that and suppose the other. Because we're in the grip of Almighty God and every single, listen, He says He's blessed us already with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus in heavenly places, then what? He's simply saying to us as He says here, we have the riches of God's grace now.
Now think about this also. Think about the fact that He says we have an eternal inheritance. Every single thing man and woman has can fade away, can turn to ashes.
They can lose it in a split second. You and I have an inheritance in heaven. God has provided for us an inheritance that cannot fade away, cannot be taken away. Listen, death can't take it away from us.
Listen, money can't buy it. Death can't separate us from it. It is an eternal inheritance God has provided for us. And every single day you and I live righteously before Him. You know what we're doing? We're sending up good works. We obey the living God. We're building up that inheritance.
We're adding to it. But what He's given to us already, already is an awesome inheritance which He said is provided for us. Then He says, for example, He has sanctified us. And Jesus talking about that in John seventeen when He was praying there in the garden with His disciples. Listen what the Scripture says, to be sanctified means to be set apart by God for God.
Think about this. This is your position. Your position is you're a child of God, part of your riches. Your position is you're in the kingdom of God. Your position is, listen, He says, you and I have been sanctified. When He saved you at that very moment He saved you, He set you apart for Himself for the work that He's called you to do.
That's why every single child of God ought to be seeking the will of God, the mind of God. Lord, how do you want me to live? How do you want me to invest my life? How do you want to use my life?
Why? Because He set you apart for a specific life. He says, for example, He sanctified us. Not only that, part of our riches is you and I have the, listen, we have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us.
Now think about this for a moment. On the inside of you is the person of the Godhead, the Spirit of the living God, God the Holy Spirit, there to do what? He will enable you, strengthen you, undergird you.
When people attack you, you know what? What does He do? He surrounds you. He says the angel of the Lord encamps around about those who fear Him. Not once in a while does He show up, He's always there. The Spirit of God has made a buffer around His children.
We just need to claim it. The Spirit of God, listen, not only has He made a buffer against those who would attack us, He has also, listen, He's put a funnel into our life to channel into our life the courage, the strength, the help, the physical, the material, the spiritual needs that we have. Jesus, He funnels everyone of them there through the Holy Spirit. You are wealthy indeed, rich indeed in those things that the world has absolutely no understanding of whatsoever. You are rich in the things of God.
Think about this. One of the riches of the grace of God is this. You and I have access to the throne of Almighty God.
Remember who's seated at the throne? Not only the Father, but Jesus Christ, the righteous one who died on the cross for our sins. He says He's ever making intercession for us, whatever we need. Listen, He is the eternal reminder that we are the children of God and that He paid the price for us. Think about what access you have to God.
If nothing else mattered, you have personal access to the throne of the living God who loves you, who desires the best for you. And you think about how people live their lives. People live all day long, never talk to God. Three or four days of the week, they never talk to God. Busy doing this, busy doing that, busy complaining and moaning and groaning about what they don't have when they have absolute instantaneous access to the throne of God.
And listen to what He says. He says, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. No matter what our need is, the grace of God, the goodness of God is available.
We just need to come. Do you know why you don't feel very wealthy? Because you don't take advantage of the wealth you have.
Because either you're ignorant or you, listen, or your priorities are all messed up or somewhere along the way, you're believing the world's lie and you've got your life all mixed up and confused in those things. You're, listen, you are the son and the daughters of the living God, living on the inside of you. That's the best plan for your life. Ready to give you that plan, ready to help you every single moment of your life.
Walk in that plan, live it out. Listen, and become a faithful servant of the living God no matter who you are. It's a matter of claiming it by faith. Listen, stepping out in who you are, walking out as who you really are, an ambassador for Christ. Would He call you to be one of His ambassadors and not help you at every moment of your life?
No, He would not. We don't realize what we have when He says He lavishly pours it upon us. Lavishly He says He pours it upon us. Then He says, for example, that you and I have been glorified. What does He mean by that in Romans chapter eight and that thirty-first? Here's what it means.
Watch this again. From God's viewpoint, we've already been resurrected and our whole eternity is a done deal. It's finished. In other words, when He saves us, it is a completed act. It is a completed circle in the mind of God.
There are no breaks in that. He says, those whom He called, predestined, justified, listen, sanctified, glorified. Now, going to glorify us has glorified us. Every single believer has the promise of the resurrection. Even these bodies of ours, we can put them in a casket all beat up and torn up, you name it. When they come flying out one of these days, listen, transformed in the likeness of the Son of God with a body that has absolutely no limitation. We're not only wealthy now, we're going to be eternally wealthy for all eternity in ways that the human earthly mind cannot possibly understand. Now, I want to tell you one last thing about how wealthy we are.
We could go on and on and on. Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions.
If it were not so, I would have told you. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I'm coming again to receive you that where I am, there you're going to be also. Do you realize how rich you are? You may have lived in an apartment all of your life. And you may look at your life today and say, I'll never have enough money to own up my own home. Or you may live in a home and you may think, well, I'll never be able to live in one like I really want.
I got news for you, that real estate has already been done. Jesus Christ says, I'm going to prepare a place for you. If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again to receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And I want to remind you, not going to be any shacks in heaven. Whatever, however it's going to be, it's going to be the perfection of an infinite, unconditional loving God who loved us so much, He gave us His very best in giving us His Son, Jesus Christ. You know what Paul said in Romans eight?
I love what he said. He said, if God has already given us His best, then He says, how can He withhold anything else from us? He's given us Jesus. That's the best He had. Will He withhold anything else from us?
Never. When you have the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can mark this noun. You have everything that you will ever need in this life. And you have the only thing, a personal relationship with Him that will take you out of this life in the presence of the living God and be happy to meet Him face to face. You say, well, how do I do that?
Here's what happens. You have to acknowledge that you're a sinner and that your sins have separated you from God. And you ask Him, Father, you can put it in any way you want to. You just say, Father, I know I've sinned against you. Priorities haven't been right.
Trying to mask wealth, trying to get along and make out the best way I can. Today I'm asking you to forgive me of my sin based on what I've heard today. I'm going to trust that you're forgiving me because your son died and paid that price for me.
I'm asking you to forgive me. Put my life in your hands. And from this day on, by your grace and goodness and love and mercy and help, I want to live for you. That's the only way to live in this life. It is the only way to die.
It's the only way to face your eternal future. Thank you for listening to Part 2 of The Riches of the Grace of God. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
