Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture from 2nd Corinthians chapter 6.
2 cor 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
When we look in the dictionary the word vain actually means marked by futility or ineffectualness. It means unsuccessful.
First of all in this verse today he says don’t receive the grace of God in vain. The definition of Grace is unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification. Another definition is a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine assistance. The archaic definition means mercy or pardon.
When we come to the church we can confess our sins to God and admit our faults and get forgiven for them.
But after we get forgiven for sins, you don’t want to receive that grace for no purpose. God’s grace should cause you to change and to do the right thing with your life.
For an example, take a look at the life of the Apostle Paul.
1 Corinthians 15:9-10 says….
9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
So here again it says that he labored more abundantly. See what the Apostle did? He took God’s grace and forgiveness but it wasn’t to no purpose. It changed him and caused him to be filled up with good works. He was serving the lord Jesus Christ and all the works that he did with his life he credited to God’s grace.
The forgiveness of God does amazing things in a person’s life when they believe it with all their heart.
2 Cor 6:1 teaches, we then as workers together with him beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain.
Grace will cause a person to go a completely different direction in our lives.
Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Once again the word vain means marked by futility or ineffectual. Divine grace should have an effect on your life.
This is why the Apostle James teaches in James 1:22
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
When you go to the church and confess your sins unto God, and also realizing what Jesus went through at the cross to pay for those sins that you have committed, you should desire to become a changed person.
You should want to do what Christ teaches us from the holy scriptures. You want to be more than just a hearer, because if that’s the case you’re just lying to yourself. God wants us to change and become better people. Maybe a person out there used to rob banks but now as a Christian they changed their life around through God’s grace and they give to the church and they work hard out in the world with their own hands.
Maybe somebody used to be a constant liar but now they speak the truth to their neighbor. There’s many examples of this in the scriptures. One that I can think of readily is the life of Moses. He was a ruler in Egypt. He had all the treasures that Egypt could possibly offer him but do you know what he did? He turned away from it. He left. He went out into the desert. Later on God used him to lead the Israelites out of bondage. That is a complete change from what he had been before.
When a person becomes a Christian their lives change. Their jobs change. Their mannerisms change. They become something different than what they were in the past.
Eph 4:22
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
That is the change that is supposed to take place if you truly believe in Jesus Christ and have gotten forgiven for your sins. You will not be the same person that you used to be. God takes a sinner and turns them into a saint. He turns a thief into a giver. It turns a man who used to destroy churches into a man who starts churches. He takes a worldly leader as Moses was and creates and makes them into a leader in the church.
That’s why he continues to say in verse 25…
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Take a look at these verses right there. That’s taking God’s grace and running with it and becoming something new. We are supposed to put on the new man.
Returning back to James for just a moment he says…
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
That is an incredible passage of scripture there because imagine taking a look in the mirror when you get up in the morning. Maybe you shave or brush your teeth or whatever you do and looking at that person in the mirror and then when you go outside you can’t remember how you look at all. That is quite the illustration that James puts forth here. It’s about forgetting what manner of man you are supposed to be. That is receiving the grace of God in vain.
We hear the teachings of the Holy scriptures we see what God wants us to become we are trying to amend our ways but the people who are spoken of here walk out the church door and they completely forget what God wants them to become. When you forget something it means to fail to remember or to inadvertently neglect to do something.
James 1:25 continues on…
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Remember God is a rewarder. He rewards those who diligently seek him. God wants to bless us but it requires that someone is not a forgetful hearer. You need to take the grace and forgiveness that you’ve been given and run with it. We are given a new life in Christ Jesus and we want to take that new life and run with it.
The church is filled with people who did the wrong thing in their past we’re trying to do what’s right now .
The church is filled with adulterers who have gotton forgiven for their sins and are now being faithful to their wedding vows and their spouse.
Before you were disobedient, but now you become obedient. That is what happens when you take God’s grace and forgiveness into your heart and mind. It changes your entire life for the better.
God wants to bless us but we have to do our part. We have to take that Sanctified forgiving heart I begin that walk as a brand new person. God has already come halfway for us and we need to come the other half of the way. We need to show him how much we love him and how thankful we are that he forgave us and that is evidenced in becoming a new creature and living a new life.
There’s numerous things that can cause unfruitfulness in a person’s life.
Matthew 13:18
18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Remember these are examples of people who receive the seed which means they’ve been preached and taught in God’s holy word but they are examples of people who are not fruitful, like those who receive the grace of God and then it never came to fruition in their life.
What those were the seed was planted on the good ground of their heart and they were obedient and faithful, they brought forth fruit. They took God’s grace and ran with it.
Look again at the life of the Apostle Paul. He got forgiven and look what he did with his life through God’s grace.
How is God’s forgiveness and Grace affecting your life today? Do believe that you’ve been forgiven with God? If so how are you serving him now? What changes over have you done that show God that you want to please him?
When we confess our sins we’re admitting that we have done something wrong. In the Christian church we are making the attempt to do something that is right with our lives. I’ve always thought of the church as a spiritual reform school where each of us are reforming from our old ways through God’s grace and forgiveness
As we discussed the other day, to repent means to change your mind. Saul was a Pharisee who became Paul. He changed his name because he didn’t even want to be associated with a person that he had been in the past. Peter was an occupational fisherman but he turned away from that and became a fisher of men.
Are you seeing the pattern of what we’re learning here today? Through God’s forgiveness he takes us from one place and puts us into another. He takes the disobedient and makes them obedient. He takes a teacher who is teaching out in the world and makes them a teacher in the church. He does all these things through his grace. He takes a disc jockey who spent his life spreading secular music, but now he’s spreading Christian music.
He takes a musician who served the world, and through his grace turns them into someone who’s worshipping and serving Christ. God takes a woman who was ruling her household and she has changed by God’s forgiveness and Grace and then she submits to her husband as the head of the household and becomes a faithful mother and a wife.
So what I think it finally comes down to is how God will you allow God to use you for his purposes rather than the world? Does that make sense?
These are all examples of the great change that happens when you become a Christian. Once again let’s return to our main study verse for today.
2 cor 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
When you get forgiven and start living for Christ it’s going to take you off into a completely different direction in your life. Your decision for Christ is going to lead you to different places. It’s going to lead you away from people that you once knew in your past.
1 Pet 4:1
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
Grace is going to take you in a completely different direction. It’s going to take you away from people that used to hang around with. It’s going to take you away from relatives and family members.
Remember all of Paul’s relatives were Jewish and when he became a Christian he was hated by his own family but God took him off into a completely different direction.
Please remember before we close today that Paul was a person who was charged with the responsibility of teaching Judaism. He was very high up in that religion. He was a Pharisee. He understood the teachings of Judaism and was charged with educating the people. Paul eventually believed the truth about Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins.
When Paul got forgiven, God used him in mighty ways to educate the people in the Christian church. God uses each of us in different ways. Just make sure that you don’t receive the grace of God in vain.
That’s it for today and Lord willing we’ll talk to you some more tomorrow till then bye-bye everybody ✅
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 