Excerpt from Extravagant Grace

[Jaxb]

Here is an excerpt from Barbara Duguid's book, Extravagant Grace, taken from pages 30-31:

God could have saved us and made us instantly perfect. Instead, he chose to save us and leave indwelling sin in our hearts and bodies to wage war against the new and blossoming desires to please God that accompany salvation. This is a raging battle that we often lose, and that often leaves us feeling defeated and joyless in our walk with God. Yet Newton also points out that since we know that God does all things for his glory and the good of his people, his decision to leave Christians with many struggles with sin must also somehow serve to glorify him and benefit his people. This is shocking news, isn’t it?

Think of what this means. God thinks that you will actually come to know and love him better as a desperate and weak sinner in continual need of grace than you would be as a triumphant Christian warrior who wins each and every battle with sin. This makes sense out of our experience as Christians. If the job of the Holy Spirit is to make you more humble and dependent on Christ, more grateful for his sacrifice and more adoring of him as a wonderful Savior, then he might be doing a very, very good job even though you still sin every day.

What difference does it make whether you believe that Christians should go from strength to strength and live victorious lives of obedience, or whether you believe that Christians will remain on earth in a state of great weakness and utter dependence on God for every single good thought?

What do you think of the above excerpt?

It is true that Christians are not going to live a life of sinless perfection. They are not going to obey God perfectly. It is also true that the Holy Spirit can make believers in Christ more humble and dependent upon Christ. What more does the Holy Spirit do in the life of a Christian? When God saves a person, doesn't God ensure that he will no longer be a slave of sin and that he will no longer be dominated by his sinful habits? I'm not saying that Duguid believes that believers will continue to partake of their sinful habits as they did before they were saved. I think she could not addressed whether believers will continue to be dominated by their sinful habits.

Even though Christians don't live lives of sinless perfection, they are changed in such a way that they are not dominated by sinful patterns of behavior. For example, Paul told the Corinthians that some of them used to be sexually immoral, idolaters, thieves, drunkards, and so on. Before they were saved, they had a sinful lifestyle.

[Marta]

Here is an excerpt from Barbara Duguid's book, Extravagant Grace, taken from pages 30-31:



What do you think of the above excerpt?

It is true that Christians are not going to live a life of sinless perfection. They are not going to obey God perfectly. It is also true that the Holy Spirit can make believers in Christ more humble and dependent upon Christ. What more does the Holy Spirit do in the life of a Christian? When God saves a person, doesn't God ensure that he will no longer be a slave of sin and that he will no longer be dominated by his sinful habits? I'm not saying that Duguid believes that believers will continue to partake of their sinful habits as they did before they were saved. I think she could not addressed whether believers will continue to be dominated by their sinful habits.

Even though Christians don't live lives of sinless perfection, they are changed in such a way that they are not dominated by sinful patterns of behavior. For example, Paul told the Corinthians that some of them used to be sexually immoral, idolaters, thieves, drunkards, and so on. Before they were saved, they had a sinful lifestyle.

The way this author writes about Christians sounds like we're all weak or slaves. Almost as if we're not learning about God along the way. In the old testament the Israelite are coming right out of Egypt and as they come to the sea of reeds (Yam Suph is "Sea of Reeds") they look back to see Pharaoh and his army approaching. The Israelites are afraid of being killed, however - "The crossing of the sea signaled the end of the sojourn in Egypt and it certainly was the end of the Egyptian army that pursued the fleeing Hebrews (Ex 14:23-29; 15:4-5). After this event at Yam Suph, perhaps the verb Soph, meaning "destroy" and "come to an end," originated (cf. Amos 3:15; Jer 8:13; Isa 66:17; Psa 73:19)." (suphah, meaning "storm-wind"...The meanings "end" and "storm-wind" would have constituted nice puns on the event that took place at the Yam Suph.) Yam Suph


The reason for bringing up the Exodus into play is the fact that behind the Israelites was Egypt (slavery) and in front of them was the crossing over to becoming liberated slaves to go into the desert to worship God. Much like Christianity, we are liberated from sin (darkness was symbolic of Egypt and the Exodus) through Jesus and scripture writes, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." We are not, and as the author puts it, "defeated and joyless in our walk with God". This would not make any sense, at all. How can someone who calls you a friend leave you feeling joyless? or defeated? That is a scary article -

Colossians 1:
We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.


John 17:

25“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”