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    Full-Time Savior: Learning to Trust in Grace
    Full-Time Savior: Learning to Trust in Grace
    Full-Time Savior: Learning to Trust in Grace
    Ebook147 pages1 hour

    Full-Time Savior: Learning to Trust in Grace

    By Marcus Bradley

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    About this ebook

    Mathematician and accountant by trade, Marcus Bradley combines his analytical nature with a unique writing style to craft a message that many Christians need. Designed to simplify the concept of grace in our minds, introduce more freedom to the burdened soul, and give all the credit to Jesus Christ for the hope of salvation, Full-Time Savior delivers a new insight on every page.

    The core of this message is that we cannot save ourselves, and neither can the codes we live by. We are saved only by grace through Christ, in the good times and the bad. There is never a reason to get down on yourself for having a rough day, nor is there basis to be proud on a good onebecause Jesus is better than your best and He covers up your worst. He is your full-time Savior, when you deserve it and when you dont.

    Our nature, both individually and corporately, is to complicate the gospel and magnify the human role in salvation and justification. This book diagnoses such tendencies, and dissects them in a way that is certain to stimulate your thoughts, impact your heart, and re-focus your attention squarely onto the cross.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateJun 6, 2016
    ISBN9781512743876
    Full-Time Savior: Learning to Trust in Grace
    Author

    Marcus Bradley

    Marcus Bradley is the author of two books—Full-Time Savior and Everyday Saints. He resides with his wife and daughter in Washington Court House, Ohio.

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      Book preview

      Full-Time Savior - Marcus Bradley

      SECTION ONE

      1

      For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith---and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God---not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8--9).

      The fact that salvation is a free gift of grace through faith---rather than something we acquire through works---is supposed to be the liberating message of the gospel. But the over-logical can't fathom such grace; the self-sufficient won't accept it; and the self-righteous don't want it.

      26005.png

      Combining grace and works is a common practice used by Christians who believe that salvation is a defined, physical occurrence; or by those who believe that personal righteousness is attainable, at least to some degree. Regardless of the reasoning behind its use, any grace-works combination creates a code of beliefs I call selective grace, as opposed to absolute grace.

      Selective grace is based on the premise that God has a system (instead of, or in addition to Jesus) for us to obey, in order to receive His grace and keep it. Basically, to believe in selective grace is to believe in the notion that we play a tangible role in the activation and retention of grace, rather than trusting fully in Jesus Christ. Absolute grace trusts in the blood of Christ, whereas selective grace is built on theological credos, obedient actions, and other perceived merits.

      These kinds of selective grace systems (which vary among our churches) are well-intentioned, but insufficient, attempts to make sense out of God's grace the only way we know how---by humanizing it, systemizing it, and incorporating a set of qualifications for it. But the fundamental problem with systematic grace qualifications is that they don't exist. Grace doesn't have parameters. It doesn't follow rules.

      26036.png

      Selective grace implies that you have to qualify for God's grace, one way or another, even if just a little bit. But if you don't believe that grace is unmerited, then you don't believe in it at all.

      If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace (Romans 11:6 NASB).

      26038.png

      It's easy for us to acknowledge grace but awfully tough to trust in it. Grace just seems too simple and effortless, not requiring enough personal responsibility for our own fate. In fact, the marked simplicity of the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24 NKJV) has proven to be one of the most challenging things for Christians to believe in. Our inability to accept God's simple and absolute grace is manifested by our doctrines that keep adding things to it.

      Additions to grace are usually administered by the most religious and self-righteous among us. Although grace is not influenced by human achievement or intellect, the self-righteous---who covet at least a smidgen of credit for the grace that God freely gives---try to manipulate grace, perhaps subconsciously, so they can feel somewhat deserving of it. But grace is a gift from God that is not connected to human deservedness on any level.

      The gift of grace is a function of God's heart; and that eliminates all bragging rights from us. Nothing we do---whether individually, corporately, behaviorally or doctrinally---will ever affect grace. God's grace doesn't care about our best actions or preeminent doctrines, only the blood of Jesus Christ. So there is no such thing as being good enough or correct enough or deserving in any way. Grace is simpler than that---we either trust Jesus Christ to save us from our sins or we don't.

      2

      Though it looks very little like it did over a decade ago, this book began as a self-improvement project inspired by 2 Corinthians 13:5. The original goal was to create a physical system that would gauge my heart to see how much it aligned with Jesus. But as the project progressed, it became too complicated. I began to overanalyze myself in every possible way, such that I couldn't do anything without deep, endless introspection. Eventually, I was fortunate enough to realize that no matter how far I go to critique myself or how successful I am at pinpointing and fixing my weaknesses, the forgiveness of my sins through Christ will always be my only hope. I will never improve enough to eliminate, or even reduce, my need for grace. This profound truth somewhat destroyed the purpose of my project, yet it was the answer to everything I was looking for. I had finally stumbled upon that elusive, life-changing breakthrough that many Christians never find. For me, it was an emotional experience of the simple gospel that I had been intellectually taught my entire life. This sums it up:

      I will never be perfect. But that's okay. Jesus is all I need. Let Him save me.

      At the point of realizing that Jesus trumps all my improvement efforts, this project took a 180 degree turn. It unexpectedly evolved from aimless scrutiny of self to meaningful pursuit of Christ and His love---because I learned firsthand that self-analysis, religious quests, and good intentions can take me down a million paths, but Jesus Christ will always steer me to the gospel, the forgiving love of God.

      3

      If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor ... but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:2--5).

      26040.png

      There is no bigger source of freedom than to know that God does not keep track of your sins. You are not called to toil throughout your life, trying to be as perfect as possible, hoping the grace of God will cover the balance of your imperfection. In fact, the sole intention of grace is to release you from that kind of life. The design of grace is to remove every performance burden from you so that you are free to worship God. To worship God requires the removal of focus from self; therefore, to live a life of worship calls for you to be ever-mindful and grateful for the cross that liberates you, rather than sulking or pouting about the sins you are liberated from.

      Grace does not clean up the messes you leave behind; it doesn't even notice you make them. Thanks to Jesus, your sins are not acknowledged, and they never will be. Your past, present, and future sins are completely forgiven. They do not exist in God's eyes. The grace of God is that He chooses to see the blood of Christ instead of your transgressions.

      By definition, grace leaves a clean slate in its wake; and that never changes. And it's always available---God's grace is ever abundant and His mercies never cease (Lamentations 3:22--23). This grace is so plentiful that it will always be there for you to have, when you obviously need it and when you seemingly don't.

      26042.png

      If we get perfectly honest with ourselves, many of us would find that we don't want Jesus to be our 100 percent Savior---maybe 90 percent, but not 100. We would like to think that if we're living well and clean, or perhaps receiving a solid theological education, that it should count for something. We imagine that our spiritual and religious progress have an eternal value. But that's not the way it works. Don't get me wrong---it's important to progress spiritually, live an obedient life, and continuously learn more about God's Word; but those things don't add checkmarks next to your name in the Book of Life. Only Jesus does.

      Jesus is your only hope for salvation. He is your only Savior. He is not your safety net or set of training wheels to save you only when you need saving. He is your Full-Time Savior. That means your acceptability never depends on you. When you drop the ball, God still sees you as righteous, because your sins are filtered through the blood of Jesus Christ that renders you spotless. And likewise, when you're a shining star, God views you as holy, but only because of Jesus. It is the blood of Christ that makes you holy. You're never holy because of you. And thanks to Jesus, you're never unholy because of you.

      26044.png

      Neither your strengths nor your weaknesses determine your value. The blood of Jesus is more powerful than anything you do, good or bad. Your best and worst actions fall together on a straight line somewhere beneath the cross.

      4

      Those who make the Christian life more about human righteousness than grace through Jesus Christ are the ones who inadvertently turn holy living into a competition. Living a wholesome life is obviously highly regarded in the Christian faith, but being more holy than others (as

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