Living from glory to glory: The gospel for grown-ups

Inspiration

By Doug Bankson

Recently one of our bible school students shared a profound statement with me that she got from the Lord in prayer. She said the Lord spoke to her heart that,

"My people are going from mercy to mercy instead of from glory to glory."

Wow! That's powerful!

We know that God is merciful, or none of us would still be alive! But in a watered down mixed up world (and I'm speaking sadly of what's behind most pulpits) we are spreading a popular brand of gospel that keeps us from the victorious heights we were created for as children of God. We have fallen from a grace that frees us to live victoriously and abundantly, to a pitiful excuse for our indulgences.

Intrigued? Follow my thoughts.

God's mercy is our starting place. It is found at the mercy seat where the precious blood of Christ had to be spilled for our atonement. And oh what mercy it is! What a precious gift that our Lord would pour out his sacrifice to atone for us! Mercy is what turns the valley of Achor into a door of hope. Achor was the valley where Achan the thief who cursed Israel was stoned, yet in Hosea God said he would turn it into a door of hope for backslidden Israel to give them a new start even though deserving of death. See Joshua 7:24-28 and Hosea 2:5-15.) In other words, through Christ our dead end has turned into a new beginning!

But we must truly understand that the wages of all sin is death, and until we get past the place where we see ourselves as "good people" who have done bad things, to sinners who need a Savior, we will be relegated to a shallow salvation (if actual at all) that excuses sin rather than becoming victorious over it in our lives. We have anesthetized ourselves from the true power of redemption that not only forgives us of sin, but truly delivers and frees us from repeating it!

Please don't get me wrong. God's mercies are new every morning, and it is the place we are to run to should we fall short. "...run boldly (with confidence) to the throne of grace and obtain mercy..." Heb 4:16

But what I want us to see is that we have become like the perpetual dieter who keeps starting tomorrow rather than making a true lifestyle change. We are using mercy as a lifestyle rather than finding the grace that helps us overcome "the sin that so easily besets us." (Heb 12:2) We are in a holding pattern, ever learning but never able to come to the truth.

We are not called to merely go from mercy to mercy constantly having to restart, but to go from glory to glory!

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom). [Isa. 61:1, 2.] And all of us, as with unveiled face, continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; from the Lord the Spirit.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3:17-18‬ ‭AMPC‬‬

The truth is that Jesus came to set us free! But it is a freedom that is more than turning back condemnation when we sin, (or the perverse teaching that there is never any more condemnation no matter how much we sin.) It is the truth that we can live victorious over sin! We can live a life of consecration and holiness in this present world by the power of God's grace, just like we can live a healthy lifestyle and be in shape if we choose to crucify the flesh rather than serve it. Greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world!

Mercy is always available to the repentant sinner both before and after receiving Christ, but better still is the admonition to the believer to now go from glory to glory! It is a life that starts with mercy and a salvation of grace through faith, and by that faith we can live free and in power over sin. This equips the believer to go from a "I'm a sinner just like you but it's ok cause God loves us all the way we are" mentality (which by the way can actually build big churches) to a truly God ordained gospel that says "I too was bound to sin and its continual curse, but God saved and delivered me and now I'm free and you can be too!"

"Glory to glory" living truly leaves a sin mentality in the rear view mirror as we live how God intended, free from the attitudes and actions of the past and in unhindered relationship and fellowship with God.

So as Hebrews 6:1 declares, "... let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God." Let is build upon the beloved mercy of God and live in the power of grace so that we don't merely go from "mercy to mercy" but truly in the tremendous liberty of living "from glory to glory!"

Doug Bankson is the Lead Pastor at the Victory Church World Outreach Center in Apopka and an Apopka City Commissioner.