Passage: James 4:6; Romans 5:2

The Big Idea

How do I get the grace we’ve been talking about? God gives grace to the humble, and we access that grace by faith. Humility and faith aren’t works; they’re relational realities. Humility is the honest recognition of my need. Faith is dependence on Jesus to meet it. God is drawn to humility and resists pride, as the stories of Nebuchadnezzar and Manasseh show. Jesus is our perfect example of both, and He is also the source of our faith. Humility and faith describe what a Jesus follower is.

Grace Given and Accessed

He gives more grace. Therefore He says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

God’s plan for our lives revolves around giving grace. It’s not a problem for Him; He wants to.
But pride restricts the flow of grace into our lives. God must resist pride. He can’t accept it or overlook it.
His response to humility is just as predictable: He pours out the resources of heaven.
Humility grows through prayer.

Through Him we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand (Romans 5:2).

Grace is given to the humble, those aware of their need. But we access grace by faith.
Faith is relational dependence on Jesus for His grace: a heart that calls out to the Lord when in need or when facing His will.
Faith grows as God’s Word is believed and tested in our lives.

Humility

“I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15).

Notice the contrast between the High and Lofty One and the one He chooses to dwell with.
He’s drawn to humility and repelled by pride.
It isn’t pride for God to be exalted. It’s simply true; He is self-sufficient. When we act that way, it’s pride.

Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:29-37). The king boasted over Babylon as if he’d built it by his own power for his own glory. God humbled him until he lived like an animal, and when he lifted his eyes to heaven, his reason returned and he praised the Most High, confessing that those who walk in pride He is able to humble.

God is able to humble anyone.
When humility is formed, that person receives grace, even a proud, murderous, arrogant dictator.

Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:1-20). One of the most wicked kings in the Bible: idolatry, sorcery, even sacrificing his own sons. Yet when he was taken captive, he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers and prayed, and God heard him and brought him back.

God’s response is amazingly consistent, even when it would be understandable if it weren’t.
Manasseh didn’t have to “make up” for what he’d done or get what he deserved.
God freely offered grace on the one condition of humility.
If God responded that way to Manasseh, how will He respond when I humble myself?

Proverbs says it again and again:

Before destruction the heart is haughty, and before honor comes humility (Proverbs 18:12).
By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life (Proverbs 22:4).
A man’s pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor (Proverbs 29:23).

The constant theme of Scripture: humility leads to blessing and honor. It’s the height of wisdom.

Jesus, Our Perfect Example of Humility

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, coming in the likeness of men, and humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God highly exalted Him (Philippians 2:5-9).

“Let this mind be in you” is a command.
Jesus showed us what it means to humble ourselves before God:
No reputation: no thought of self-image.
A servant: no thought of self-will.
Becoming like us: no thought of self-importance.
Obedient to death: no thought of self-preservation.

Be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time (1 Peter 5:5-6).

Humility is for all God’s people. It’s the relational reality God looks for to give grace.
We can be humble with God and with one another.

Faith

“Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

Faith is also required to receive grace.
The opposite of faith is self-dependence: faith in self rather than faith in Jesus.
We live by faith alone, both starting our life with God (justification) and continuing it daily (sanctification).

The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).

Righteousness is a gift and work of grace, and we see it revealed in our lives as we live by faith, at the start and all along.

“The just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:38).

Continuing faith pleases God. Growing in faith is His will for us.
Relying on any other object of faith is idolatry, and God loves His children too much to leave them there.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

By definition, you can’t see what you have faith in.
Yet we can be supremely confident Jesus will do all He has promised.
Often the first thing we see when our faith is tested looks like the opposite of God’s promise. But if we wait on the Lord, continuing to trust Him, we’ll see His promise come true every time.
This is the abundant life: believing even when it seems impossible.

We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

The abundant life isn’t the predictable life. It’s more like watching Jesus come through at the last second, time after time.

Jesus, Our Perfect Example and the Source of Faith

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2).

Whenever we need to grow in faith, there’s one place to look: Jesus.
He’ll do whatever it takes to build our faith as we keep looking to Him.
Trials test our faith, and our response is always to abandon hope in self and trust Christ instead.

His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong… the faith that comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness (Acts 3:16).

Faith in the Person and work of Jesus is our only job. His job is to produce the strength and soundness.
Jesus is working in us to produce faith. Growing in faith? It’s because Jesus is building it in you.
Keep asking: am I living by faith or by sight?

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

Faith rests on believing God’s promises in His Word.
Living by faith means being a promise-believer first.
Keep reading the Scriptures daily, looking for new places to trust Jesus and new promises to believe, and take them as God’s word to you.

We are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation (1 Peter 1:5).

Believers persevere because God’s power keeps them. Again, our part is faith: humble dependence on Jesus’ faithfulness.
It’s not about earning salvation; it’s about trusting Jesus.

Your adversary the devil prowls like a roaring lion… Resist him, steadfast in the faith (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Spiritual warfare is another arena where faith is our only option.
Resisting the enemy isn’t about us. It’s about trusting Jesus.
Suffering isn’t the enemy. Self-trust is. Satan wants you to trust yourself.

This is the victory that overcomes the world: our faith (1 John 5:4).

Want victory over everything opposed to God’s plan for your life? Enter that victory by faith.
If your plan to change the world is entirely visible, it isn’t faith.

“The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

All of life is lived by faith in Jesus, specifically in His sacrificial love for me. Do I really know it? Do I really trust it?

Conclusion

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:10). A relational reality: abandon all trust in self and self-sufficiency.
Without faith it’s impossible to please Him, for whoever comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). A relational reality: trust God in all things, believing His Word and promises.

Humility and faith are the two relational realities that describe what a Jesus follower is.

Grace Takeaway

You can’t earn grace, but you can position yourself to receive it. Humble yourself: be honest about your need. Then trust Him: depend on Jesus to meet it. If God poured out grace on a Nebuchadnezzar and a Manasseh, He won’t hold it back from you. Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, and live today by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you.

For Discussion

How do I get this grace we’ve been talking about so much?

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Grace Discipleship 9: Humility and Faith