Grace Changes Everything How Martin Luther Changed The World Week 3 - Pastor Joshua Kapchinsky

Granite Creek Community Church Sermons Video Podcast

Today we are going on very great journey and we will be traveling for 5 weeks on this journey. Today we are going to see how Grace Changes Everything and How Martin Luther Changed The World. Martin Luther remains one of the most important and influential people in the western world. The year 2017 will see both scholarship and popular media reflect and comment on Martin Luther and his legacy—sometimes negatively. His reform of the church, his translation of the Bible, and his reshaping of Christian life changed the religious, social, and political face of Europe. These reverberations are still felt today—even here in far-away America, where Christianity and even the nation itself would look very different were it not for Martin Luther. Grace is a word that believers sing about all over the world. Sadly though, many people fail to understand the full meaning of God's grace and how it applies to their daily lives. As a result, they spend their days with no real sense of peace, joy, or happiness. This is an answer to the question why grace changes everything. The word freedom as defined by Dictionary.com is "the condition of being free of restraints". To a believer freedom means we are free from the restraint of sins. We no longer have to obey what our flesh desires. We can choose to follow after our Spirit and thus denying our flesh. Without the freedom that we receive through the blood of Christ, this is not possible. Ephesians 2:1-5 (NIV) "1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." We were all incapable of living righteously because we had to gratify the cravings of our sinful nature. We were forced to do what it wanted. There was no choice, no freedom. Why? Because we had no ability to turn from sin. To remain free in the liberty of Christ we must choose not to do any that will bring us back into bondage. When we are saved, we are freed from the restraints of our sin. But we can choose to give up areas we have freedom over. We can choose to do what the flesh wants. In doing so we are giving our freedom in that area away. But if we turn to God, and ask for His help we can regain that freedom again.