Week 18 - From Guilt And Fear To Grace And Boldness

“[The apostles] began to speak the word of God with boldness and abundant grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4:31-33, NASB)

Last weekend, hundreds of millions of Christians throughout the world once again celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, an event that is so central to the gospel. The New Testament is packed with the account of the resurrection.

Dr John MacArthur pointed out that the resurrection “is the basis for all our future hopes, and it is the source of power in our daily lives here and now. It gives us courage in the midst of persecution, comfort in the midst of trials, and hope in the midst of this world’s darkness.”

It seems to me that the first disciples of Jesus Christ went through a radical transformation after His resurrection.

I wonder what the emotional states of the disciples were like prior to Christ’s resurrection. The gospel writers hinted that the disciples were gripped with guilt and fear. When Jesus was arrested, “all the disciples left Him and fled” (Matthew 26:56 , NASB). Peter denied Him three times and only John and a few women witnessed the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

No wonder the apostle John wrote, “it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19 , NASB). Their hearts were pumping faster than usual. No one spoke. No one moved. Then, John continued, “Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19 ).

That must be the turning point. “Peace,” spoken by the Lord, erased all their guilt and fear. And when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, they were overwhelmed with grace and boldness.

Christians rightly rejoice that “He is risen!” But how are our daily lives and understanding of the Christian teaching affected by the resurrection? Too often, we may still say with our lips that Christ is risen but secretly believe with our hearts that there is still a massive stone blocking the entrance to His grave. What does the resurrection mean to us as His twenty-first century disciples?

Thomas Merton in his book He is Risen wrote: “The risen life is not easy; it is also a dying life. The presence of the resurrection in our lives means the presence of the cross, for we do not rise with Christ unless we also first die with him.” The Apostle Paul also declared that he “want[s] to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10 ).

It is true that the cross precedes the resurrection. But some Christians never move an inch away from the cross to what I call resurrection living! We continue to live in guilt and fear when God’s will is for us to live under His grace and be filled with boldness in the Spirit.

How then can a Christian embrace resurrection living? Firstly, I suggest that we study the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12 ), the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26 ) and our relationships with fellow Christians (Colossians 3:12-17 ). These three portions of Scripture reveal the way God desires us to live. However, we will never be able to achieve it on our own effort. We must surrender our lives to God and ask Him to empower us. He will do it!

My prayer is that you may make resurrection living your lifestyle and allow God to lead you from guilt and fear to grace and boldness.

Let us not allow the things of this world to distract us from becoming a disciple of Christ.