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After an evening service one Sunday, a young man comes up to me to ask for prayer.

He relates to me his experience the past several months. He said that hearing, reading and studying the grace of God has caused him to go back to his old ways and live a life that is licentious.

In his mind, “because God is so gracious, then I know He will forgive because His grace can cover any of my mistakes.”

I can understand where he might be coming from. However, I told him that causing us to go back to our old ways and maybe worse is missing the point. That wouldn’t be the grace Paul talks about in Galatians.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. You who are trying to be justified by the lawhave been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. (Galatians 5:1,4)

The operation of God’s grace on our behalf doesn’t imply any lessening of his demands. God has always and will always demand perfect obedience. But his grace is experienced when we realize that those demands for perfection for each of us have already been met by our Savior, Jesus. Jesus fulfilled all of God’s conditions on our behalf so that our relationship with God could be unconditional. Christianity is the only faith system where God both makes the demands and meets them. (Tullian, Jesus + Nothing = Everything)

I was stirred when I read Acts 2 again this morning for my daily reading.

The Holy Spirit came upon all the apostles. This is what we would usually refer to as the Pentecost.

At that moment, boldness and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit came upon them that they started in different languages not native to them.

Concurrently, Peter, with extraordinary boldness preached to the crowd about Christ and what He accomplished at the cross. (Remember, just a few days before that, he was cowering in fear, denying Jesus three times.

It was interesting what the following events were.

1. People thought they were drunk, even crazy.

When we decide to follow Christ and get baptized by the Holy Spirit, many will not quite understand what is taking place. Many times, we also don’t. But that’s what it means to ‘go against the flow.’ They’ll think you’re crazy for not being like everyone else.

2. Signs and wonders followed.

God did ‘extraordinary miracles‘ on their behalf. You’ll notice this throughout the book of Acts. The whole book is actually the “Acts of the Holy Spirit.”

As you put your faith in Jesus and get filled with His Spirit, expect miracles to happen in your life. Beginning miracle? Your salvation.

Jesus didn’t die to make bad people good. He came to make dead people alive.

3. People responded to the gospel.

Signs are exactly what they are – SIGNS.

Standing by a sign going to Baguio doesn’t mean you are already in Baguio. It just points you to the direction going to Baguio.

Many get stuck in the signs (and wonders) that they camp there. Signs should point not just to the miracle but to the Miracle Worker (Jesus).

Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit… (Ephesians 5:18, NLT)

One of my favorite verses has been John 3:30 which says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

I have had to recite this verse often, sometimes every day.

How come? There are days and moments I really want to increase – to be ‘the man’, to be the answer to every solution, to be the hero of the story.

Wanting to look good has never been a problem for me.  To protect or even improve what people think is so natural for me.

That only shows the rottenness of my own heart. I guess, that’s why Jesus had to save me.  And He still is saving me from this rotten attitude.

Read what Pastor Tullian says about this from his book “Jesus + Nothing = Everything.”

Returning to the gospel is a return to reality. Reminded of the gospel, we’re reminded that sin enslaves by making us big; the gospel frees by making us small. Our self-esteem culture would have us believe that the bigger we become, the freer we’ll be. But the gospel turns that on its head—the smaller we become, the freer we will be. We begin to decrease; Christ begins to increase. The world says the more independent you become, the freer and stronger you’ll be; the gospel says the more dependent on God you become, the freer and stronger you’ll be.