Hebrews 12:28-29 (NKJV) 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
We have been looking at Hebrews chapter 12 and the unshakable Kingdom that the Lord wants us to live in here on earth. I am 67 years old. I was a teenager in the 60’s and 70’s and I can remember the upheaval of those days. I remember lying in bed at night, hearing airplanes fly overhead and wondering if they were nuclear missiles. As unstable and dangerous as those days were, I believe that our day is even more so.
The world needs us to be unshakable because we have answers. What do you believe about Jesus? Do you believe that Jesus is the answer to every problem and the solution for every human need? If you do, you should want to come to the place where you walk in God’s unshakable Kingdom. You should not desire this just for yourself. In this world of uncertainty and instability, there needs to be a group of people who walk in unshakable faith and stability. Jesus taught in Matthew 7 about the house built on the rock. This house was stable when the house next to it was not. When storms come, and they have already begun, where will people run.
Today’s scripture puts forth a formula for becoming unshakable. Grace + Serving God Acceptably + Reverence + Godly Fear = Unshakable. As I was looking at this verse while preparing to share this, the progression jumped out at me like it had not before. Let us take a closer look.
Verse 28 starts with the word “therefore.” We know that this word connects what is to come with what went before. Here, Paul tells us. Since we are receiving a “Kingdom which cannot be shaken”, there are some things we must have in place. All he has said to this point is contingent on what comes next. The first thing he mentions is grace.
Grace and faith are related forces in the spirit. Nothing in this chapter will work if we do not start from a perspective of grace and faith. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. Grace does by the power of God what we cannot do in our own strength.
If we are ever going to be unshakable, we must start with Grace. We will never be able to be “good enough” in our own strength. We cannot become unshakable by working hard. We cannot become unshakable by being good enough to rise to the standards God requires. We cannot pray hard or long enough to become unshakable. We cannot study the Word of God, so we learn enough to become unshakable. We cannot do enough good works or attend enough church services to become unshakable. That being said, we must do all these things if we are going to live unshakable lives. The thing is we must do them with the understanding that grace has already done the work in us. Our job is to release that power in our lives.
One of the greatest challenges to most people is making this distinction. There is a difference in doing something to get approval and doing something to get results. None of my efforts to live a life pleasing to God will ever be affective until I realize he already loves me as much as he ever will. I do not have to do any of these things to get him to love or accept me.
I do them because he loves and accepts me. Since he does, I can trust that if I do things that he requires in his Word those things will release the power of God in my life. I will then be conformed to his image. I trust in his power not my works. That is grace.
James 2:14-26 tells us faith without works is dead. The power is in our faith. Without faith in God, what we do will not be supernatural. However, if we do not act in accordance with what we believe than our supernatural faith cannot change anything in the natural world.
I must have actions that correspond to faith or faith is dead. Conversely, if I do not have faith to start with, my actions have nothing to correspond to. They are no more than natural works. They may do some good or they may do harm. I must have faith first, but I must add the actions to release faith’s power.
Grace works the same way. I must believe that God already favors me even though I do not deserve the favor. Grace paid the price. I do not have to pay the price for my sin. My behavior, work, prayer, study or service will never be enough to pay that price. Only the sacrifice of Jesus could do that. Salvation is a free gift to all who believe.
Once I accept and believe that truth, I must put faith actions behind what I believe. I do not study to get God to accept me, I study to know him better so I will walk more closely with the one who loves me and paid the price for my sin. I do not follow the commandments and principles of behavior in the Word of God to get Him to love me, I do it because he loves me, and I love him. I also do them because he knows things I do not and I trust that he leads me in paths that will produce the best in my life. I do not study or serve him so I will be worthy, I study and serve him because he has made me worthy.
When I act on the grace of God by faith, a power is released that conforms my outward life to the inward reality. Grace becomes manifest in all I do and all I say. As I allow this process to work, I find that I become more and more unshakable.
We start with Grace and we add actions to release the power of grace in our outward life.
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