OUTLINE:

Simply Worshipping God Almighty
"Choose life in order that you may live"...by:
• loving the LORD your God
• obeying His voice
• holding fast to Him

"the LORD is one!"
"one" is from echad (Hebrew) - refers to unity, not singleness (same word used to describe "one flesh" between husband/wife - Gen 2:24); it not only implies monotheism, but the Trinity as well; God IS unity.

The Gospel
Is an invitation from the eternal God of the Universe to spend eternity with Him, in perfect, blissful, loving fellowship. We were born disunited from Him, but through Jesus, we are unified with the "unity" that is God. The Gospel is THE most intimate invitation ever given.

Simplicity
The simplest people are often the ones who bring the most glory to God. The greatest compliment that we can ever give a person is that they are "simple and pure" in their "devotion to Christ" (ala 2Co 11:3).

Jesus' Example to Us
"For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him." Jn 13:15-16

Grace and Works
Grace is not a complicated subject. Neither is works. Holy doctrines only become complicated when we lose sight of the big-picture, our "compass".

Justification
If the doctrine of justification were equivalent to the doctrine of salvation, we wouldn't call them out differently. Salvation is a much larger subject than just the judicial/forensic aspects of what happens when God saves us.

Justification
Justification is the declaration from the Judge, Himself, that you have been found righteous in His eyes, based on the merits of Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross. As a judicial concept, justification primarily deals with the "penalty" of sin.

Justification
Justification opens the door to reconciliation, which implies a real relationship between a new creature, come alive in Christ, and a living God. This is not merely a judicial reality, but a very personal one.

Justification
Justification is not the close of salvation. It is how God can righteously adopt His children into His holy family. The penalty is no longer an issue for a saved person. Eternal life is much more than simply being justified, it is a gift, in and of itself!

Justification and Salvation
A person is never justified if they are not saved. A person is never saved that is not justified. This does not make justification and salvation the same thing, only simultaneous grace. Some make the mistake of placing an "equal to" sign between the two concepts.

Salvation Is a Miracle
While the Bible reveals that many things occur at salvation simultaneously (we accept this by faith), there are co-dependencies on certain concepts, like justification and adoption, or adoption and blessings, or baptism and indwelling, etc.

Infinite Grace
God's grace is certainly NOT fully definable, but rather INFINITE (not finite, but endless), and that includes all He does for us at salvation. Embrace the supernatural ways of God.

The Gospel Is Offensive
The true Gospel will make an arrogant person stumble because it is offensive to them. However, a humble person will accept the same Gospel as truth, and be saved.

The Watered Down Gospel
It's so much easier to avoid the conversation about sin and the need to repent, and just run to "just believe in Jesus, don't worry about your attitude towards sin, or if your heart is in it... just skip over that and sign on the dotted line"... but that would be dishonest. Make sure people know that saving faith is an issue of the heart.

Grace and Works
One of the easiest ways to discern if your works are by grace is to understand your motivation. If the predominant motivation isn't towards pleasing God, then you need to step back and question your actual motives.

Grace and Works
If you're thinking/saying/doing something on the premise that 'grace accommodates man', then you can rest assured that, fundamentally, whatever it is that you're doing (aka your "works") are "wood, hay, and straw" (1Co 3:12).

Grace and Works
There's no blessing guaranteed from works done outside of true grace-orientation. If God sees that your heart is self-centered, fleshly, then you cannot expect the blessing you'd receive if your heart was selfless, godly.

Disappointment is nothing more than failed expectations.

Grace and Works
There's no laundry list or "honey-do" list in the Bible that gives us what are good and bad works. Something may be good for one person, but bad for another. God doesn't judge based on the activity; rather, He looks at the person's heart. This is why you'll never be blessed for simply doing something. Your heart must be "in it".

1st Order Blessings
The blessing is in your attitude, not necessarily how your actions are received by others. YOU must stay focused on the fact that God sees the heart. If you give graciously to others, with proper motivation, God is pleased, even if the other person responds poorly, ungratefully, etc.

Heb 12:3
For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

1st Order Blessings
The blessing is in your attitude, not necessarily how your actions are received by others. YOU must stay focused on the fact that God sees the heart. If you give graciously to others, with proper motivation, God is pleased, even if the other person responds poorly, ungratefully, etc.

Grace and Works
If you have a grace-oriented heart, your works will be good. "Good works" are not qualified by what they are; rather they are qualified by how/why they are done. Motivation is everything. We garner motivation from perspective first. This is what the Spirit's been teaching us in this series.

"Do / Don't Do That!"
What do you say when someone tells you to do or not do something for someone else? Should an "ear" tell an "eye" how to perceive what it sees? Satan will use fleshly lenses to influence us. Just remember that YOU are the only person who "sees" what you see.

Every Part is Vital
Whatever part of the body of Christ you are, no matter how simple, don't listen to the lies. You have a divine purpose from your God and Creator, as part of His body, PERIOD. And the other parts of Christ's body NEED YOU, if we are to function in greater love and unity.

Grace and Works - Final Thoughts
If you want to know grace, look to Jesus, who is, "full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14). If you want to understand godly works, look to Jesus - "By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory" (1Ti 3:16). Amen.