566. What Even Is Grace? (Part 3) | The Connecting Podcast Episode 030
Apr 12, 2024
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Paul Tripp and Shelby Abbott explore the concept of grace in daily life and the spiritual journey. They discuss the transformative power of grace, divine protection in a fallen world, and embracing God's grace amid challenges. The podcast delves into the internal struggle with sin and the need for deliverance, emphasizing reliance on divine strength. The ultimate warrior, Jesus, is presented as the victor in spiritual warfare, with a touching illustration of a father's love and grace for his son.
God's protecting grace holds believers up during trials, emphasizing reliance on His strength.
Valuing suffering from an eternal perspective can lead to everlasting joy and righteousness.
Recognizing sin as a universal force, believers need Jesus' delivering grace for freedom.
Deep dives
The Nature of Protecting Grace
Protecting grace is not a promise of a trouble-free life but rather the assurance that God will hold you up in the midst of trouble. The passage emphasizes the concept of being a 'jar of clay,' symbolizing human weakness, and God's surpassing power coming to our aid. It highlights the importance of realizing our limitations and embracing God's strength in the face of affliction and perplexity.
Valuing Suffering and Eternal Perspective
The podcast discusses the significance of valuing suffering from an eternal perspective. It challenges the mindset that a comfortable and pleasurable life is the ultimate goal, emphasizing that afflictions can lead to an eternal weight of glory. By fixing our focus on the unseen and eternal promises, protecting grace transforms our view of present needs and redirects our attention to everlasting joy and righteousness.
Protection from Ourselves and Reframing Life's Trials
Furthermore, God's protecting grace goes beyond shielding us from external trials to safeguarding us from our own tendencies. The podcast illustrates personal experiences, like battling chronic pain, demonstrating how enduring afflictions can shape one's character for eternity. By providing a perspective shift, God's grace protects individuals from being consumed by their circumstances and redirects them towards eternal values and eternal rewards.
Embracing Pain and Growth through Affliction
The speaker reflects on how worldly pain has transformed his life, shaping him into a better person who values his relationships and faith more deeply. Despite the challenges and suffering caused by pain, he acknowledges that it has led him to love Jesus, his family, and his neighbors more. By holding the tension between hating the pain and appreciating its transformative power, he recognizes the importance of affliction in his spiritual growth and personal development.
Understanding Sin as a Law, War, and Imprisonment
The discussion delves into the concept of sin as a law, a war, and a form of imprisonment, emphasizing the internal battle believers face. Sin is likened to a universal force like gravity that individuals cannot overcome on their own. Participants are encouraged to recognize the ongoing spiritual warfare and the captivity sin imposes, highlighting the need for Jesus' delivering grace to set them free from the internal evils that plague their hearts.
As Christians, we talk about grace all the time. But what even is grace?
In this month’s episode of The Connecting Podcast, Paul Tripp and Shelby Abbott dive into part three of their conversation on the marvelous grace of our Lord.
If you missed the first two episodes on grace check out The Connecting Podcast episodes 018 and 019.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” -2 Corinthians 8:9
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