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Walking in Newness

Apprenticeship with Jesus

Somebody Syndrome

If God is gracious, why does following Him sometimes make life harder?

That question doesn’t come from rebellion.
It comes from pain.

Many people begin walking with Christ expecting clarity, peace, or relief—only to find that suffering doesn’t immediately disappear. Sometimes it intensifies. And when that happens, a quiet question surfaces:

Where is grace now?

The apostle Paul wrestled with that same question.

Paul’s Pain Didn’t Look Like Grace at First

In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul describes a deep, ongoing suffering he calls a “thorn in the flesh.” He doesn’t tell us exactly what it was, but he makes two things clear:

• It was painful
• It felt like a hindrance to his ministry

Paul even calls it “a messenger of Satan.”

He prayed—more than once—for God to take it away. He did not initially see it as grace. He experienced it as harassment and obstruction.

That honesty matters, because it tells us something important:

Struggling to understand suffering is not a lack of faith.
It is often the beginning of deeper faith.

When God Doesn’t Remove the Pain

God eventually answers Paul—but not by removing the thorn.

Instead, He says:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Grace was not absent just because the pain remained.
Grace was doing something Paul couldn’t yet see.

God wasn’t punishing Paul.
He was protecting him—guarding his heart from pride and reshaping his understanding of power.

What Paul first experienced as a hindrance, Christ revealed as grace.

Grace does not always give us what we ask for, but it always gives us what we need.

Grace Makes Your Weakness Christ’s Witness

Paul eventually comes to a surprising conclusion. Instead of hiding his weakness, he speaks openly about it. He even says he boasts in it—not because suffering is good, but because Christ’s power is unmistakable through it.

Here is the key truth:

Grace makes your weakness Christ’s witness.

Weakness does not disqualify faith.  It often authenticates it.  This pattern runs throughout the Christian story.

We expected God to conquer evil with overwhelming force—but He gave us a crucified man.
We expected power to look like domination—but God revealed it through surrender.

The cross looked like weakness.
The resurrection proved it was power all along.

And that same power continues to show up today.

• In the addict who keeps worshiping while still fighting
• In the grieving widow who prays through anger and sorrow
• In ordinary believers who remain faithful even when life hurts

Grace does not erase weakness.
Grace reveals Christ through it.

What This Does Not Mean

This truth needs clarity.

It does not mean:

• Suffering is good
• Christians should stop praying for relief
• God delights in pain
• Believers must pretend they are okay

It does mean this:

When suffering remains, grace is not gone—and your story is not over.

God often uses what feels like weakness to make His power visible, not just to you, but to others who are watching how you endure, trust, and hope.

If You’re Hurting Right Now

If you are hurting and wondering where grace is, you are not behind in faith. You may be exactly where Paul was, still praying, still hurting, still learning.

Grace may not remove the pain today.
But it can sustain you, reshape you, and turn your weakness into a witness to Christ’s power.

And that kind of grace is stronger than relief alone.

Closing Reflection

Grace does not always change our circumstances.
But it never wastes them.

Grace shows up—even here.

Most of us don’t struggle to believe that grace saves us.
We struggle to believe that grace is how we live.

Somewhere along the way, many Christians quietly adopt a myth:
Grace gets me in the door with God, but staying close to Him depends on how well I perform.

We would never say it out loud, but we live as if God saved us by grace and now keeps us by effort. The result is a life marked by pressure, insecurity, comparison, and spiritual exhaustion.

The apostle Paul confronts this thinking directly in Galatians 2.

Declared Right, Not Proven Right

Paul writes, “A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” Justification means being declared right before God, not proven right by performance. Our standing with God rests entirely on what Jesus has done, not what we do.

The “law” in Paul’s world included moral commands, religious practices, and identity markers that measured spiritual worth. In our world, the measuring systems may look different, but the instinct is the same. We measure ourselves by discipline, consistency, church involvement, or moral improvement. Even spiritual effort can quietly become self-salvation.

But if righteousness could be maintained by effort, faith would be unnecessary. Grace and self-justification cannot coexist. You cannot live in grace while trying to earn what only Christ can give.

The Same Trust That Makes Us Right Is How We Live Right

Paul anticipates the objection: If we stop relying on rules and performance, won’t that lead to more sin?

His answer is surprising. The problem is not too much grace. The problem is too much self-reliance.

Rules can restrain behavior, but only faith can reshape the heart. The law can expose sin, but it cannot produce holiness. Going back to performance doesn’t heal sin. It strengthens independence from God.

Paul says he “died to the law so that he might live to God.” A life pleasing to God flows from faith, not from constant self-pushing. Scripture says it plainly: without faith it is impossible to please God. Not without effort. Not without rules. Without faith.

Identity changes everything. My identity is not what I do for God. It is what Christ has done for me.

Grace Isn’t a Do-Over. It’s a Takeover.

Galatians 2:20 sits at the center of the Christian life:
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

This is not religious self-improvement. It is spiritual replacement.

The old self, the old system of proving worth, the old way of managing life has been crucified. Christ now lives in the believer. He becomes the new source, the new power, and the new center. The Christian life is not about trying harder. It is about trusting deeper.

Grace doesn’t add Jesus to our old identity. It crucifies the old identity and gives us a new one.

Employee or Child?

Many believers unknowingly live like spiritual employees instead of beloved children.

An employee works to stay in good standing. A child belongs before performance.
An employee hides failure. A child runs to the Father after failure.
An employee obeys to feel secure. A child obeys because they already are secure.

This difference is not personality. It reveals who is really living your life: you, or Christ in you.

Living as a child does not remove obedience or discipline. It removes earning. Grace doesn’t remove effort. It removes fear-driven performance.

When Performance Undermines the Cross

Paul gives a sober warning: if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. Whenever we try to earn what Jesus already paid for, we quietly suggest that His cross was insufficient.

Grace plus performance is not teamwork. It is contradiction.

Returning to self-effort rebuilds what the cross tore down.

What Living by Faith Actually Looks Like

Living by faith reshapes everyday life:

After failure, we return instead of retreating.
In obedience, we depend instead of performing.
In suffering, we trust instead of negotiating with God.

Faith is not improving yourself. It is surrendering yourself to Christ.

Jesus did not save you so you could manage your life better. He saved you so you could trust Him to live through you.

Grace did not give you a job to keep.
It gave you a life to live.

And that life begins by becoming who God already says you are.

Most people think they understand grace.

We hear the word in prayers, songs, and casual conversation. We associate it with kindness, patience, forgiveness, or second chances. But familiarity can quietly shrink our understanding. And small views of God always produce cheap views of grace.

The apostle Paul refuses to let us stay comfortable with shallow definitions. In Ephesians 2, he begins not with comfort, but with clarity. Before he tells us what grace does, he shows us why grace is necessary.

We Were Not Weak. We Were Dead.

Paul’s diagnosis of the human condition is blunt:
“You were dead in the trespasses and sins…”

Not wounded.
Not confused.
Not morally disadvantaged.
Dead.

A corpse cannot be coached into life. It cannot respond to encouragement, threats, or motivation. Spiritual death means we were incapable of moving ourselves toward God. We were shaped by the world’s values, deceived by spiritual forces we barely recognized, and driven by desires bent away from God. Left to ourselves, we did not drift toward life. We remained dead unless acted upon.

This confronts a popular assumption: that people mainly need better education, stronger motivation, or improved discipline. Paul says our problem was not reform. Our problem was resurrection.

If we underestimate sin, we will inevitably trivialize grace.

“But God…”

Two of the most hopeful words in Scripture interrupt the darkness of our condition:
“But God…”

Grace is not human effort reaching upward. It is divine mercy breaking in. God did not wait for spiritual improvement or cooperation. While we were dead, He made us alive together with Christ.

Grace does not improve the old life. It creates new life.

We did not initiate salvation. We did not assist in resurrection. We did not contribute power. We simply received life because God acted.

But grace does more than revive. Paul says God raised us with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly places. That language speaks of a new realm, a new allegiance, and a new security. We no longer belong to the dominion of sin and death. We belong to Christ’s victorious kingdom. Our future is not uncertain. Our standing is secure.

Grace does not first change what we do.
Grace changes where we stand.

Grace Alone Gets the Credit

Paul repeats himself: “By grace you have been saved.” Not because we forget the words, but because we resist the meaning. We instinctively want to earn what can only be received.

Faith is not our contribution. It is the empty hand that receives God’s gift. Even our believing is sustained by grace. Works are excluded so that boasting is eliminated. No one stands before God with a résumé of spiritual accomplishments. Salvation magnifies God’s mercy, not human achievement.

Yet grace is not passive. We are God’s workmanship, created for good works prepared by Him. Good works are not the root of salvation. They are the result of it. Grace rescues us and then reshapes us.

Grace finds people as it finds them.
But it never leaves them as it finds them.

Why God Saves by Grace

Paul gives us three reasons grace operates this way:

• Because of God’s love. Salvation flows from His affection, not our attractiveness.
• To display God’s glory. Grace is a display of God’s goodness, not a transaction between equals.
• To eliminate boasting. Grace humbles the sinner and magnifies the Savior.

Grace does not merely rescue us from death. It redefines who we are, where we belong, and how we now live.

Grace That Keeps Changing Everything

Imagine waking up in a hospital bed after being clinically dead. Heart stopped. Breath gone. You did not revive yourself. You did not assist the doctor. You simply woke up alive.

From that moment forward, everything in your life is shaped by one truth:
I am alive because someone else acted.

That is grace.

And the only fitting response to grace like that is not pride, fear, or striving. It is gratitude and trust.

Grace is not something we needed only in the past. Grace is shaping everything now. Because the grace that raises the dead truly changes everything.

God's Mercy Extends to All: The Surprising Story of Rahab

July 29, 2025 | The Way of Life Church Blog

When we think about who belongs in God's family, we often have a specific image in mind. We picture people who look like us, act like us, and have similar backgrounds. But is this really what God's family is
supposed to look like?

In the book of Joshua, we encounter a story that challenges our preconceptions about who God welcomes into His family. This story centers around a woman named Rahab, and her story reveals something
profound about God's mercy and who He considers "His kind of people."

Who Was Rahab and Why Does Her Story Matter?

Rahab was a prostitute living in Jericho when the Israelites were preparing to enter the Promised Land. When Joshua sent two spies to scout the city, they stayed at Rahab's house. When the king of Jericho
learned about these spies, he sent messengers to Rahab demanding she turn them over.

Instead of betraying them, Rahab hid the spies and helped them escape. Why would she do this? Her own words reveal her extraordinary faith:

"I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you... For the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath." (Joshua 2:9, 11)

This statement is remarkable coming from a pagan woman in a polytheistic culture. She recognized Yahweh as the supreme God of everything—not just one deity among many.

What Makes Someone "God's Kind of Person"?

Rahab's story appears in the Bible not because she was perfect, but because of her faith. In fact, she's mentioned in Hebrews 11—often called the "Hall of Faith"—alongside Abraham, Moses, and other heroes
of the faith:

"By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies." (Hebrews 11:31)

Notice she's still called "Rahab the prostitute." The Bible doesn't say "Rahab the ex-prostitute" or "Rahab who cleaned up her act." Her identity as a prostitute remains, yet her faith is what God honors.

This challenges our notion that people need to "get right" before they can come to God. Rahab didn't stop being a prostitute first and then believe. She believed first, and that belief led to action.

How Does True Faith Show Itself?

James uses Rahab as an example of how genuine faith manifests itself in action:

"Was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead." (James 2:25-26)

Rahab didn't just believe in her mind—she acted on that belief. She committed treason against her own city because she believed in the God of Israel. She risked her life by hiding the spies and helping them escape.

As Timothy Keller wisely noted, "Faith is not the absence of sin; it is the presence of belief in God's mercy." Rahab believed God was merciful, and she acted on that belief.

What Happened to Rahab After Jericho Fell?

When the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, one section remained standing—the part where Rahab had hung the scarlet cord from her window. This cord, similar to the blood on the doorposts during Passover, marked her household for salvation.

But Rahab's story doesn't end there. She was incorporated into the people of Israel and married a man named Salmon. They had a son named Boaz, who married Ruth. Their great-grandson was King David,
which means Rahab is in the lineage of Jesus Christ!

Matthew's genealogy of Jesus specifically mentions Rahab—a foreign prostitute—as part of Jesus' family tree. Why? Because God wants us to know He is merciful and will save anyone who believes.

How Should This Change Our View of Church and Evangelism?

If God saves everyone who believes, shouldn't we invite everyone to believe? The scarlet cord saved not just Rahab but everyone in her household. Similarly, we should be inviting people into God's
household—people with tattoos, different lifestyles, addictions, or backgrounds unlike our own.

Too often, churches have communicated (directly or indirectly) that certain types of sinners aren't welcome. But we're all saved by the same mercy. The only difference between those inside the church and
those outside is that we've found shelter under God's covering.

Like an umbrella in the rain, God's mercy doesn't stop the judgment that's coming, but it provides covering so the judgment doesn't impact us. Our job isn't to judge who deserves that covering but to invite everyone to stand under it with us.

Life Application

This week, I challenge you to look at the people in your life through God's eyes. Who have you disqualified that God wants to qualify? Who in your circle of influence needs to hear about God's mercy?

Remember, we don't have to clean ourselves up to come to God—we come to God so He can clean us up. And once we're under His covering, we should be inviting others to join us, not keeping them away.

Ask yourself:

1.  Is there someone in my life I've been avoiding sharing my faith with because I don't think they "fit" in church?
2.  How might my attitude toward certain types of sinners be different from God's attitude?
3.  What practical step can I take this week to invite someone unexpected into God's family?

God used Rahab—a foreign prostitute—in His redemptive plan. He included her in the lineage of Jesus. If God can use Rahab, He can use anyone who believes. And if God welcomes all who believe, so should we.

God Made Me This Way: Understanding Our True Identity in Christ

June 23, 2025 | The Way of Life Church Blog

Have you ever found yourself saying, "That's just how I am" or "God made me this way" to excuse behaviors that don't align with God's Word? Many of us use our personalities or long-standing habits as reasons why we can't change or grow in certain areas of our Christian walk.

It's like ordering chicken nuggets at Taco Bell - it just doesn't seem to fit the identity. Similarly, we often resist living in ways that don't feel natural to us, even when Scripture calls us to those behaviors.

Did God Really Make You That Way?

When we say "God made me this way" about behaviors contrary to His character, we're making a theological claim that God has called people to do things He hasn't equipped them to do. But is this true?

Genesis 1:26-27 tells us that human beings were made in God's image. This doesn't refer to our physical appearance but to our character - we were designed to reflect God's nature. And God is loving, kind, patient, and compassionate.

So if God is a "people person," why would He make you "not a people person" if you're created in His image?

Sin Made You That Way, Grace Makes You His Way

The truth is that when we talk about "this way" being different from God's way, we need to recognize:

"Sin made you that way, but grace makes you His way."

Don't blame God for your hard heart, lack of love, or harsh words. These are manifestations of sin - our rebellion against God and His design.

Ephesians 2:1-3 describes our former state:

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind."

Notice the past tense - "you were," "you once walked," "we all once lived." For Christians, this is supposed to be our past, not our present reality.

How Sin Corrupts Our Identity

Sin absolutely corrupts and changes things about us. Romans 1:21-25 explains how God responds when we try to dethrone Him:

"For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened... Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity..."

When we reject God's authority, He sometimes gives us over to experience the reality of living according to our own desires. This is part of His wrath - letting us taste life without Him as our center.

Grace Remakes You His Way

The good news is that God doesn't want us to stay in our sin. Ephesians 2:4-5 continues:

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ."

In Christ, everything gets flipped. We're no longer:

• Dead in trespasses and sins
• Following the course of this world
• Following Satan
• Children of wrath

Instead, we're sons and daughters of the Most High God. We've been redefined. We are new.

An Extreme Makeover, Not Just an Update

Remember the TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"? They didn't just paint walls - they demolished houses and built brand new ones that could fully accommodate the people who lived there.

That's what happens in Christ. We don't just get a "Common Update" - we get an "Extreme Makeover." 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us we are new creations in Christ - old things have passed away, and new things have come.

This means that being kind, considerate, and loving isn't foreign to who you are - it's only foreign to who you were. Your old self died with Christ on the cross, and your new self rose with Him from the grave.

How Do I Live Out This New Identity?

If you're wondering how to start living according to your new identity in Christ when you keep falling back into old patterns, the answer is faith. But what does that look like practically?

Ephesians 4:22-24 gives us direction:

"Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

This is a daily process:

1. Put off your old self (your past, pre-Christ identity)
2. Renew your mind (change your thinking)
3. Put on your new self (embrace who you are in Christ)

It starts with believing what God says about you. For many, this is the greatest spiritual battle - truly believing that who you were is no longer who you are.

The Process of Transformation

Think of it like a tree with new roots but some old fruit still hanging on. As you nurture the new roots (your identity in Christ), you'll start to see new fruit, and the old fruit will eventually wither and drop off.

This transformation requires investment. Just as new furniture is needed for a new house because the old furniture doesn't fit, your new self in Christ deserves new thinking and new behavior. Anything else simply won't fit who you truly are.

Dealing with the Pain of Change

Change often hurts, but it's a good kind of hurt. Like working with a physical trainer who focuses on strengthening your weak areas, spiritual growth requires stretching beyond your comfort zone.

The places that are inflexible need to become flexible. The areas that are weak need to become strong. And while this process can be painful, it's worth it because you're changing from something broken to something that works as God designed.

Life Application

If you find yourself saying "that's just how I am" about behaviors contrary to God's character, it's time for a reality check. Here are some questions to consider:

1. Am I excusing sin in my life by claiming "God made me this way"?
2. What areas of my life am I resisting God's transformation because it feels uncomfortable?
3. Do I truly believe what God says about my new identity in Christ?
4. What is one area where I can start "putting off the old self" and "putting on the new self" this week?

Your challenge this week is to identify one area where you've been saying "that's just how I am" and intentionally practice the opposite behavior as an act of faith. Whether it's being more patient with your family, more compassionate toward strangers, or more disciplined in your habits - choose to live according to who God says you are, not who you used to be.

Remember, if you are in Christ, you are a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. Live like it's true, because it is.