214. Repentance Means to Change Your Thinking

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The word "repent" has traditionally been taught as a word that means "change your behavior." "Repentance" is taught as a necessary part of being saved. But if repentance means that we have to change our behavior in order to be saved or in order to keep ourselves saved, then doesn't that mean that it's our own works/effort that saves us?

What does it really mean to repent? We'll get into that this week on Growing in Grace.

Growing in Grace Together 1 - John Lynch, Coauthor of Bo's Cafe

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This week we're happy to present a new feature here on Growing in Grace, in addition to our regular weekly podcast. "Growing in Grace Together" will feature informal conversations with various people, simply chatting with them about their own grace journeys.

For this inaugural edition, Joel speaks with special guest John Lynch, coauthor of the new novel Bo's Café (boscafe.com), a book he wrote along with Bruce McNicol and Bill Thrall.  In short, Bo's Café is a book that will help people who are struggling with a performance-based life, and with various issues in life that never seem to get resolved. Even after hearing all the "right" things preached and knowing all the "right" things to do, we find that our lives are still mucky and falling apart, and we live with guilt and shame - and yet we make ourselves appear nice and shiny to others as we wear masks and as we hide our guilt and shame well, presenting ourselves to others as the person we wish we would be, rather than being real and genuine with others about how things really are on the inside.

As John shares, we need to find a place where "the worst about me could be known and I'd discover that I'd be loved more and not less in the telling of it, and just that alone would start breaking my shame that would allow me to enjoy this health."  Listen in as John talks about the various characters in Bo's Café, and how they come to find that Christ-in-them is enough, as He works in and through them - not with quick fixes to their problems, and not through well-laid-out and well-lived-out rules and principles, but rather as they learn to be vulnerable with one another and as they learn to trust in God's grace to work powerfully and dynamically in them through the safe - and often messy - place of genuine relationships.

213. Faith, Works and Dead Works

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"Faith without works is dead," says James. We talked about that a little bit last week, and we'll talk about it a little more this week. We'll dig into the idea of how faith and works work together, so to speak, and we'll show how we believe this phrase from James does not mean that we do works in order to "prove" our faith or in order to make our faith genuine. We'll also talk a bit about how "works without faith are dead works!" (See how we cleverly moved the words around a bit). ;)  Anyone, even people without faith, can do good works.  People can be good imitators, and their imitations can appear very close to the real thing, and yet just as an imitation is not the real thing, in the same way people can do works that appear really, really good, but are nevertheless dead works.

212. Justified By Faith AND Works?

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James, James, James... Why'd you have to do it? Why'd you have to say it?  Why'd you have to go and say it the way you said it? Why'd you have to say things like, "You see then, that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (James 2:24) and "Wasn't our father Abraham justified by works...?" (James 2:21). Didn't Paul say, "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God" (Rom 4:2) and didn't Paul repeatedly say that we are justified by faith apart from works? (Rom 3:28, Gal 2:16, Gal 3:24). And James, what's up with that "faith without works is dead" statement?

Were you having a bad day when you wrote that letter?  Did you simply disagree with Paul?  Was Martin Luther on track with his comments about your letter being a "right strawy epistle?"  Is there another way to look at your epistle?  Do Kap and Joel have anything to say about this?

Hmm... Let's see if they do!

211. God Is At Work In You

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So often we seem to make the Christian life about our work that we do for God. But as we discuss this week, it's not about the work that we do for God, but rather about His work that He does in and through us! HE has begun a good work in us and HE is faithful to complete it!

210. Work Out Your Own Salvation?

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We're going to spend a little bit of time talking about confusing or misunderstood "works" passages in the Bible. This week we talk about the Apostle Paul's words that he writes to the Philippians - "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Those words, when taken alone at face value, might cause a type of fear and trembling that was never intended, as it might seem to be saying that our salvation is somehow dependent upon our works! So what did Paul mean with those words? As usual, a look at Paul's surrounding words - as well as other things Paul said in his other letters - helps us to get a better grip on what this is really all about.

209. Jesus' Harsh Words to Self-Righteous Hypocrites

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Did Jesus approach everyone in the same way? During the past few weeks we've hopefully been successful at throwing that idea into the shredder! Jesus spoke differently to different people, and didn't always approach and respond to them in the same way - and it always depended upon all kinds of varying factors. It never was black and white.

So what about Jesus' interaction with self-righteous people and hypocrites (essentially one in the same)? It seems as if these people bugged Jesus the most, and He often had more than a mouthful to say to them. This week we look at one such example of His interaction with them in Matthew 23, as He speaks openly and harshly to and about the self-righteous, hypocritical scribes and Pharisees.

208. Jesus' Response To "What Shall I Do To Inherit Eternal Life?"

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Just as with the "certain lawyer" who approached Jesus (Luke 10:25-37, as we discussed recently), the "rich young ruler" also approached Jesus with the question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (see Mark 10:17-27, Luke 18:18-27)

Jesus' response to the man was similar, bringing up five or six of the Ten Commandments. And so, is that true? Do the commandments have anything to do with inheriting eternal life? After all, that was how Jesus responded to this man's question about inheriting eternal life! Mike and Joel talk this through in this week's Growing in Grace podcast.

As we continue looking at how the words of Jesus don't always apply to believers, we realize many questions may arise, including the question, "What about the Bible passage that says, 'ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work?'" We take some time out at the beginning of the podcast to address that.

207. It's All About the Unconditional Love of the Father

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Continuing from last week with our look at parables in which we often seem to misidentify the characters, or at least in which we seem to put the spotlight on the wrong characters, this week we take a look at the story that is commonly called "The Parable of the Prodigal Son." Certainly the prodigal son isn't a character who we simply glance over, and most of us can easily identify with him in one way or another, but is he really meant to be the main focus of the parable? We'll share a couple of real-life stories as we discuss how we think the focus was always meant to be on the great love of the father.

206. Identifying Ourselves Correctly in the Parables

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The words of Jesus - surprisingly to many people - are not always what they seem at face value, as we've discussed over the past few weeks here on Growing in Grace. Often we begin with a preconceived premise in our determination of what Jesus is trying to communicate, but if we start with the wrong premise then we're going to end up going down the wrong path, leading to the wrong conclusions. With this in mind, this week we take a look at how various characters in the parables that Jesus told are often misunderstood because we often start with the wrong premise of the meaning of each parable.

Often the parable of the Good Samaritan is read and taught in such a way as to make us (Christians) out to be people who should strive to be the Good Samaritan in the story. The parables of the Pearl of Great Price and of the Treasure Hidden in a Field are presented as stories that show Jesus as a precious pearl and treasure that we are to purchase after we sell all we have. Are these things really what these parables are communicating? We'll take into consideration the people Jesus was talking with in each situation and what questions He was responding to, and also take into account the surrounding context and other New Covenant truth to help us sort out who some of characters in the parables really represent.

Hint: We often try to make ourselves the heroes and/or the centerpieces of the parables. But perhaps these parables really show us how Jesus is the hero and centerpiece!

205. Sermon on the Mount - Jesus' Words To You? (Part 2)

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We're taking some time to look at some of the 'hard sayings' of Jesus, as recorded in the four books that open the New Testament as we know it, known as "The Gospels." Specifically, this week we're continuing on with our look at "The Sermon on the Mount." What was Jesus really saying? To whom did His words apply? Was this a "Christian" teaching? Was Jesus giving a new list of rules to live by? Why do some of His words seem so harsh and legalistic?

We'll move on next week to various other words that Jesus spoke to others that seem hard, looking at them in the context of the New Covenant in which we now live.

204. Sermon on the Mount - Jesus' Words To You? (Part 1)

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Jesus said it, so we're to follow it - right? Not so fast! Over the next few weeks Kap and the Breezeman will be taking a look at various words of Jesus that seem like hard sayings. And they're hard for a reason! This week we begin with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Check out some of the things Jesus said:

-You will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.
-Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment
-Whoever says, "You fool!" will be in danger of hell fire!
-Whoever looks at someone with lust has committed adultery in his heart
-If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out
-If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off

And so on! Read the whole thing for yourself. Is this a word from Jesus that is to be applied in daily Christian living? Who was He talking to? What was His purpose? What covenant was being represented here? We'll take some time this week and next week to go through what we believe is the true meaning and purpose of the Sermon on the Mount.

Hopefully, if this passage has caused you any fear, worry or anxiety, this will take a load off!

203. I Give My Life To God?

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We've all heard expressions like "I gave my life to God" and "God, I give my life to you." But is it really true that we give our lives to God? Do we really think that we are the ones who offer our lives to Him? Or is it the other way around? The good news of the exchanged life is not that we had something to offer God for Him to use but that we had nothing to offer Him, and instead He gave His life to us and came to live in us! We didn't give our lives to God. Rather, we died - we were crucified with Christ - and the lives we live are no longer our lives but are His life in us.

Many people are trying to do their best to offer their "all" to God. They're trying to "do" in order to become something. But in Christ we've already become something (complete in Him, new creations, etc), and the lives we live are not a matter of performing for God or offering our "best" to Him, but rather resting in Him and having Him live His life through us!

202. Identity - How Did I Become Who I Am?

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The Bible has a lot to say about the new life that Christians have. Various passages talk about our new identity in Christ. How did we gain this new identity? How did we become who we are? Was it by works? Or was it simply by birth? Are we trying to become something through our behavior, or are we already who we are on the basis of having inherited a new nature and identity, apart from anything we've ever done or will ever do? We'll discuss these questions and more this week on Growing in Grace.

201. Dead People Don't Keep Laws And Don't Break Laws

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Continuing on with our conversation that we were having before our 3 special highlight editions of Growing in Grace, Kap talks about an actual person who no longer breaks the laws of the land to illustrate how we as Christians no longer break God's laws!

Also this week: The Christian life is, of course, not about keeping or breaking God's laws, so how in the world do we live our lives in Christ? Might it have something to do with grace?! Can too much grace be preached? We'll talk about all this and more on this week's Growing in Grace podcast.

200. Special Celebration Edition - Highlights Part 3

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Thanks for helping us celebrate our landmark 200th podcast! Here's the third and final highlights program.

200. Special Celebration Edition - Highlights Part 2

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The festivities continue this week as we celebrate our 200th Growing in Grace Podcast with some more highlights from past programs!

200. Special Celebration Edition - Highlights Part 1

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We're celebrating our 200th Growing in Grace Podcast with a look back on highlights from the past programs that have led up to this memorable occasion! It's been a lot of fun to have you sit in with us on our casual conversations as we discover together what true freedom is all about. We'll continue with our celebrating for the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for more highlights to come, and of course we're looking forward to many more great chats in the future!

199. If Not Law and Rules Then What is the Source of Living the Christian Life?

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For the past several weeks we've been getting pretty heavy into discussions about God's Law. We've discussed the purpose of the Law, and how it is the ministry of death and condemnation, and how being under the Law is bondage. We then talked about how Jesus came to FREE us from the Law! For those not familiar with all these things that the New Covenant scriptures say about the Law, this may leave some scratching their heads and asking questions such as, "If the Christian life is not about keeping God's law and it's not about following rules, then what is the motivation and the source of living the Christian life?

If we say that Jesus came to deliver us from the Law, and all we talk about is God's love and grace, won't that cause people to want to go out and sin and live reckless lives? Is that what grace does? (Do we really have the gall to make grace out to be so cheap and powerless and insufficient?) The Law, which is good and holy and perfect, had one main problem. It could certainly lay down its demands of perfection - but yet it had absolutely no power to help anyone live right! Grace, on the other hand, is the ever-sufficient power of living the Christian life. To take it even further, it's not that grace enables the flesh to live a better life, but through God's grace we have died to the Law in order that we may have true life - the very life of Christ in us! Therein lies the power and the motivation and the source of the entire Christian life!

Special Note: Next week marks our 200th Growing in Grace program! To celebrate, we'll spend two or three weeks running highlights of our past programs. This should be a lot of fun as we look back on some of our conversations that have hopefully been a source of grace, freedom and life. Thanks so much for listening and for all your encouraging words!

198. Freedom Comes Not Through Law But Through Faith

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Christians, declare your independence from the Law! Many Christians, it seems, have not realized that Christ set them free from God's Law. But since it's the truth, we might as well know and understand it so we can live a life of independence from the Law and of true freedom in Christ!

There are over 600 Laws in the Bible. So which Laws are we talking about here? As everyone knows, there are two covenants - the Old and the New. In the Old, we see that there are laws that are broken into three categories: sacrificial laws, dietary laws... AND what is known as "moral laws," or The Ten Commandments. Most Christians have no problem with the understanding that we don't live by the old sacrificial and dietary laws. But as we check out Paul's words in Galatians this week, we find out what he has to say about the latter set of laws, which many Christian seem to think are there for us to live by. If you see things that way, you may be surprised at what the Bible actually says about that!

In short, let's just say that walking by Law means that we are in bondage! To walk according to God's promise - to walk according to freedom - means to walk by faith, not law. We are children of faith and of the promise, not children of the flesh and bondage!

Next week: If our lives in Christ are not to be by Law, then what is the motivation and source of good works and righteous living?

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197. Law: Bondage, Jesus: Freedom

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Continuing on from last week's program in which we talked about being delivered from the Law, this week we talk a little bit more about the ministry of the Law, which is bondage, and the "better hope" that we have in Jesus, which is freedom!

The Apostle Paul uses very strong language when talking about the Law. Sometimes we glance over these things, but we've got to look at the reality of the Law's purpose and ministry so we can have a clearer understanding of the ministry of Jesus! Did you know that Paul refers to the Law as "the law of sin and death," "the ministry of death" and "the ministry of condemnation?" He brings up the Old Testament characters of Hagar and Sarah, saying they are symbols of the two covenants - one that gives birth to bondage and the other that brings freedom. Are we of the child that was born according to the flesh, or of the child that was born according to the promise!

196. Delivered From The Law

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This week we talk about our relationship with the Law. The Law is good, holy and perfect. Is it "good" to remain in a relationship with the good, holy and perfect Law? This "marriage partner" points out all our faults and demands perfection... but yet is powerless to provide it! The end result is nothing but guilt and condemnation. And so somehow we needed to be delivered from this bad relationship. Using Paul's illustration from Romans 7 and his words from Galatians 2, Mike and Joel discuss what needed to happen in order for us to be "delivered from the law."

Guest on 'The Good and Noble Heart' podcast

This afternoon Jim Robbins had Joel as a guest on his podcast, The Good and Noble Heart. Jim and Joel had a really great discussion, talking about several things including:

-The new Grace Roots community on ning.com
-People being alone in their grace walk
-The worldwide body of Christ being able to connect with and encourage one another in God's love and grace through the internet
-How community is not just about one person's agenda, but rather everyone has things to bring to the table
-What it looks like when people aren't walking according to God's grace and their new good heart
-Several other things revolving around being established in grace and growing in grace

Just as Joel had found in studying Jim's Recover Your Good Heart study guide with other people, Jim asked really great questions that provided for a really great discussion on this podcast. You can download the podcast and/or listen directly by clicking on the widget below.

195. The Purpose of the Law

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Last week we asked the question, "Don't we need to commit ourselves to the laws of God?" This week we begin exploring that question by going back and talking briefly about what the gospel is (in short, we talk about God's righteousness that is given to us as a gift, apart from the Law) and we move on from there.

Was the Law given to help us live right and overcome sin? The Bible says that we've been set free from sin and that sin does not have dominion over us! Why? Does God's Law have anything to do with this? What is the Law's purpose? We'll talk about this and more on this week's episode of Growing in Grace.

194. What Place Does the Law Have in the Life of the Christian?

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As we talked about last week, a recent Barna study showed that a majority of Christians believe that spiritual maturity is about keeping the rules. Many people think that God gave the Law to teach people how to live righteously and according to His "standards." It may be surprising - or even shocking - to some Christians that the Bible actually says that the Law was added so that sin might increase. It also says that sin's strength is the Law!

So what place does God's Law have in the life of the Christian? Listen in as Kap and the Breezeman begin a series of podcasts on the true purposes of the Law and of the true source and motivation of the living out of the Christian life. We hope you'll be greatly encouraged and freed from the chains of legalism!

193. It's Not About Keeping the Rules

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A recent Barna survey found that "most Christians equate spiritual maturity with following the rules." But if you've listened to this program for any amount of time, you know that we don't believe that the Christian life is about following the rules, and this week we talk about how to not let "Christian rules" rule your life.

We find it quite amazing that Christians continue clinging to laws, rules and commandments, when that's what God has set us free from! So we take some time to discuss how the Christian life isn't about doing things for God but rather about us being in Him, and Him in us. It's not about doing. It's about being. We take a look at how many people are actually being "compliant" by trying to follow God's laws - which anyone can do, whether filled with God's life or not. The key word there is "trying," and so we also discuss the difference between "trying" and simply "trusting."

You're invited to join the Grace Roots online community!

Visit Grace Roots

Hi everyone... Just wanted to let you know about the Grace Roots community - a brand new online community that is centered around connecting with one another and encouraging one another as our hearts become established in grace and as we live and grow in grace! Among the many wonderful features of the site, you can share blog posts, take part in discussions, post photos, videos and music, form 'groups' that are based upon various topics and interests, and so on and so on. You can share about your life, your favorite quotes, your favorite books, websites and other 'ministries,' and share the work that the Lord is doing in and through you.

192. Us Living For God or God Living Through Us?

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Life truly is God's gift to us! But is it really also true, as a common slogan goes, that "what we do with it is our gift to Him?" God created the universe, and everything in it - easily! Do we really have something of value to offer Him? Can we pay Him back in any way for the gift of Life He's given us?

This week we take a look at the difference between us living our life "for God," and God living His life through us. Rather than trusting in our own strength, we realize that we have died and now have a new life --- Christ lives in us. It's not us doing great stuff for God, it's Him expressing His very life through us. With this in mind, what does it mean to present ourselves as living sacrifices? We discuss this and more on this week's episode!

191. God Doesn't Need Us To Serve Him

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Do we have a duty to serve God? Is God looking to us and our strengths and capabilities to serve Him? Is there something about us that our self-sufficient, self-sustaining God needs?

As if!

But the good news is that even though God doesn't need us or our capabilities, He wants us. He desires us, not our service. Although service is a part of our lives of love, God didn't save us for the purpose of making a bunch of servants. He saved us so we could know Him! Many have somehow gotten the idea - and live with the premise - that God's primary interest in us is what we can do for Him. Join us as we spend a little bit of time with this idea that God doesn't need us to serve Him (see Acts 17:25, NASB) but rather has saved us for an eternal intimate relationship with Him.

190. Our Message To the World: God is Not Counting People's Sins Against Them

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This week we take a peek into the deeply rich passage of 2 Corinthians 5. Not only does it talk about us being New Creations in Christ (not simply "changed" or "improved," but made completely new), but it talks about the ministry that we have to the world as believers. Is our ministry to point out people's sins? Is our ministry to protest all the sinful behavior of the world?

What about the message in 2 Cor. 5 that "God was in Christ reconciling (exchanging sin for righteousness) the world to Himself, not counting people's sins against them?" The very same passage goes on to say that God has committed to us that ministry - the message of reconciliation. The message of reconciliation is our ministry to the world - that God was in Christ exchanging our sin for His righteousness!

189. Already Forgiven of All Sins

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Isn't it great to be forgiven! This week we touch on one of the very basic truths in our lives in Christ: We have already been forgiven of ALL sins! The Bible makes it clear that we've already been forgiven of all trespasses - past, present and future - and we have no need to keep on going back to God and confessing sins and/or asking Him to forgive us time and time again.

It's a wonderful and marvelous thing that God has done for us. "He has made you alive together with Christ, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Col 2:13-14). There is no condemnation whatsoever. Your sins have been taken away, forgiven completely and forever. Why wallow around in guilt when your sins have been forgiven and taken away!

188. Trusting the Power of God or the Ability of the Flesh

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This is a continuation of last week's chat about God's Work in Us. We talk about the difference between trusting the life of Christ in us/God's power at work in us, and trusting in our own efforts. Are the things we do the result of the life of Christ expressing itself in and through us or are they the result of the abilities of the flesh?

187. God's Work In Us

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Most would agree that the Christian life is not a passive lifestyle. But just how is the life of the Christian animated? Where does the "action" come from? We know we're saved by the grace of God, but then is it up to us - and our own striving - to hop into action for God and His kingdom?

The Apostle Paul said he "labored abundantly." What was it that was working so mightily in him that caused him to spring into action? Was it a sense of duty to "work for God?" Was he compelled by a sense of obligation to serve God and to labor and strive for the kingdom? Or did he simply yield to God and trust His work to work mightily in Him?

The religious system is good at burdening people with heavy labor and wearing people out! Jesus told those who labored and were weary to come to Him for rest! And He said the work of God is to believe. Since we do trust God's grace to save us, can't we also trust His grace to animate us and to accomplish all that He wants to accomplish in and through us - as we simply believe, and rest in Him and trust Him!

186. Religion vs. Relationship - Part 2

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This week it's Part 2 of our chat about how life in Christ is not about religion, but about relationship. We share a short list of some of the BIG differences between religion and real life in Christ! We talk about our futile attempts to keep God pleased with us through "self-imposed religion" and by subjecting ourselves to rules and regulations, as well as focusing on external, outward behavior - all of which is "of no value against the indulgence of the flesh!" Comparing all of this with the freedom and grace that we have in our lives in Christ, which do you want?!

185. Religion vs. Relationship - Part 1

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This week we talk about how life in Christ is not about religion, but about relationship. Religion is man's attempt to get to God. It's based upon self-effort and performance. It puts the focus on us. Relationship is based upon faith and trust, and relying upon the finished work of Jesus.

A little leaven can go a long way. A little legalism, or a little religion, worked into our lives in Christ can blur our perspective of the perfect relationship we have with God that is based solely upon His love and grace.

184. Special Edition - Radical Sonship Conference Recap

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From Joel: I just arrived back from the Radical Sonship Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, which was hosted by Steve McVey of Grace Walk Ministries and Paul Anderson-Walsh of The Grace Project / Grace London. In this week's Special Edition of Growing in Grace, I chat with Mike about my experience at the conference. It was a weekend full of beautiful friendship and wonderful teaching about what the love and grace of God looks like as we not only soak and marvel and revel in it ourselves, but also as we actually partake in the divine nature (see 2 Peter 1:4), and God's love and grace is poured out of us into the lives of others.

Throughout the weekend, Steve and Paul said that they had far more material than they had time to present, so you can imagine that we barely even touch the tip of the iceberg with this short program! But we hope this program will at least provide somewhat of a glimpse into the radical nature of our lives as adopted sons of God (see Gal 4:5, Eph 1:5).

183. Focus on God's High View and Acceptance of You

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This week's program is a spin off of last week's program, and is again inspired in part by another blog post from Steve McVey, Who Accepted Whom? It's common for people to read the Bible and interpret what they read in a self-focused way, putting the responsibility on themselves to find God, to accept God, to come back to God, to perform for God, etc, when in reality God is the one who has reached out to us and performed all the work necessary for us to have a free, loving, intimate relationship with Him.

Kap and Joel talk about how we need to rid ourselves of an Old Covenant mentality and look at the Bible in light of God's high view of us as His treasured children, and His unconditional acceptance of us and love for us. He has placed us in Christ and He has made us alive together with Him. He has made peace with us. He has accepted us!

Despite the prodigal son's low view of himself, the father ran to him and accepted him with open arms, and paid no attention to what the son thought he might be able to do to gain a small measure of acceptance from his father. He threw a party for him!

We can forget any notion of "our part" in any of the salvation plan and in any part of the living out of this life in Christ. God has not left it up to us to make any of this happen! As if!!! He has simply asked us to believe. Through faith, we are branches on a vine, and we have no life in and of ourselves, but yet being connected to the vine we are privileged by God's grace to partake in the fullness of life in the Vine!

182. We Didn't Pay the Price - He Did!

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This week's podcast was inspired in part by a recent blog post from Steve McVey - It's Not About Us. When Steve was at our church 3 or 4 years ago, he shared some of the same thoughts that are in this blog post. He spoke of how parables such as the Pearl of Great Price and the Treasure Hidden in a Field have been taken to mean that we have paid a great price to gain a precious pearl and a rich treasure named Jesus. But in the light of the gospel, in which Life and Salvation is a free gift - not something we can buy - those views just don't make sense!

This week Mike and Joel talk about how we've misidentified the pearl and the treasure as Jesus, when really the pearl and the treasure is us! God so loved the world that He gave Jesus. Jesus purchased us with His own blood!

It's not about us. It's not about us keeping a covenant. It's not about us paying some price to earn or obtain Jesus. It's about what God has done for us! Be encouraged with some words this week about God's great love for you - how He treasures you!

181. Nothing Can Separate Us From God, Who IS Love

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The New Testament writers point out that nothing can separate us from God's love and that God is love. So... what can separate us from God Himself? Nothing! God's love is unconditional - it has no conditions. He loves us. Period. He showed it to us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us - the ungodly. Somehow some people have gotten the idea that now that we're Christians, the things we do or don't do will keep us from God. But nothing can separate us from God! Nothing can separate us from His love! His perfect love should cast aside all fears and worries that we'll ever have our fellowship with Him broken. Through His love and by the finished work of Christ - and by nothing we've done or not done - we remain in perfect, unbroken fellowship with God.

180. Love - The Essence of Who God Is

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The Bible says that God is Love, and we find a great description of the many facets of love in 1 Corinthians 13. This week we talk about God's unconditional love, and how it's interwoven into every last aspect of our lives in Christ. We cannot be separated from love in any way!

God so loved the world - even while we were still sinners - that He gave His Son. God demonstrated His love for us in this way. How can we ever think we're somehow outside of His love?!

179. God's Discipline - Loving Teaching and Correction, Not Punishment

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This week we look at the words "chasten" and "discipline" in Hebrews 12, and discuss how these words don't mean "punish," as the words are often wrongfully taken to mean. As legitimate children of God, He teaches us and corrects us in His love - not impatiently and not fearfully or out of anger - to help us to know His love and to trust Him and to walk as the children of God that we truly are.

It's interesting that the writer of Hebrews, leading up to this, would write so many words to help get people rooted and grounded in Jesus Himself bearing the sin of the world, being the once-for-all perfect sacrifice,that we're not under the wrath of God, that we should hold fast our hope in Him, and that we look unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith... and then suddenly, according to various interpretations of this, the writer tells us God is angry and impatient with us, and beats us and punishes us???

If God's "perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us" (1 John 4:18, The Living Bible), then we must know and be encouraged that He never harms us or punishes us. He disciplines us (teaches us, corrects us) in loving ways, for our own good, not as a display of anger or wrath.

178. People of Faith - Ordinary, Average, Normal People

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The people of faith who are written about in the Bible truly did some wonderful and amazing things. They did all of those things by faith - trusting in God. One thing stands out, as Kap and Joel discuss these people of faith this week. None of them were super people ("super saints") in and of themselves. Some of them may have done extraordinary things, but all of them were ordinary, average, normal people who simply believed God - took Him at His word - and simply acted and responded according to their trust in Him.

If we look into the lives of people such as Abraham, Noah, Moses and the others who are mentioned in the "Faith Hall of Fame" (Hebrews 11), we find that all of them were nothing special when compared with other human beings. They had their own issues in life. They sinned. They had times of doubt. They didn't have their acts together all the time! But God used them, and they were credited with having great faith - all because they simply trusted God.

And not only that, but as we begin to wrap up our current look into the book of Hebrews, we find that their great faith and the things that they did weren't even really the main point that the writer was making. He says a lot of things to say: "Let us look unto JESUS, the author and finisher (perfecter) of our faith."

177. Faith Itself - Not Works - Is What Pleases God

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The Old Testament Bible characters listed in Hebrews 11 did some very wonderful things. But what was the root of all that they did? Were they credited for doing great things because they were such great, godly people? Or is there something deeper that is the root of what they did? Join us this week as we take a look at the foundational truth in their lives that caused them to do the things they did - the foundation of simple faith and trust in God. We look at how Abraham had been credited with faith, and how God had justified him by faith, before he had ever done a thing, and we look at a few more of the men and women mentioned in Hebrews 11, showing how it was faith itself that pleased God - not what they did. The things they did were simply the outflow or result of their foundational belief in God.

176. Living By Faith is Not a Matter of Living By Rules and Laws

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Continuing our look into the people of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11, this week we talk about how the things that the people did were all different - but the things that they did weren't the point! The things they did were the result of something else. Not a result of following rules and laws, but the result of faith - a trust in a loving God who was for them and not against them, and who was a rewarder and not a condemner.

175. Faith - What You Trust, Not What You Do

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Looking into Hebrews 11, often called the "Hall of Faith," we look at what the "faith" means. It was "by faith" that the people listed in this chapter did the things they did, but it wasn't "what they did" that gave them their testimony of righteousness. Rather, it was their Trust in God - their faith. We've got to keep in mind that faith shows itself by what we do, but what we do is not what makes us righteous! If what we do is what makes us righteous, and we call that "faith," then faith is nothing more than self-righteousness! Faith is trusting in God, not in ourselves or our works.

174. By the Grace of God I Am What I Am

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Last week we talked about how God has qualified us as His children, and He has qualified us to do all the things we are called to do. It's all by His grace. This week we continue discussing this, and we talk about how in Christ we are complete (Col 2:10) and how the anointing that we have in God abides in us (1 John2:27). It's not up to us to struggle or strive or spend hours in prayer, or spend a certain amount of time meeting with other saints, or in Bible reading in order to become more anointed or to walk in the anointing. Not that any of those things are "bad" in and of themselves, but we rely upon God's grace, not upon those things, in order to live our daily lives in Christ. The Father Himself has already qualified us in every way!

Finally, we take a look at the Apostle Paul's words in 1 Cor 15:10, "by the grace of God I am what I am," and we look at what he meant by those words.

173. God Has Qualified You

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Are you qualified to be used by God for His purposes within the church and in the world? Have you messed up too many times? Do you feel that you're able to do all that God has called you to do? Do you feel as if your own lack of ability has disqualified you? No matter what your answer to any of these questions, and no matter what you've thought in the past, this week we talk about what the scriptures say about how it's God who has qualified us, and how He isn't dependent upon US or our own strengths, but rather how He has enabled us, by His grace, to do all that we are called to do. Be encouraged as you listen to words that will hopefully take the pressure off of yourself, and that will put the focus on the One who is at work in us to will and do to according to His good pleasure!

172. There is No Other Sacrifice for Sins

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This is a continuation of the conversation from last week. We recap the previous week's discussion about how the one sacrifice of Jesus took away all our sin and we move on to discussing what we do when we sin, because after all, we do still sin! Looking at some more encouraging words from the book of Hebrews, we talk about how we don't need to live with a consciousness of sin, wallowing around in guilt and condemnation, but rather we can "hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful," resting in God's grace, knowing that where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more!

There is nothing we can do to take away our own sins. There has only been one sacrifice for all sins, once and for all, and it was sufficient! Our conversation this week ends up with a look at how all this relates to a misunderstood verse that so very often gets taken out of context:

Heb 10:26 "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins..."

We hope you'll be encouraged as we look at this in the context of the previous chapters - taking into account all of what the writer of Hebrews has previously said about the "sacrifice for sins."

171. ALL Your Sin Taken Away Through ONE Sacrifice

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One sacrifice for sin... once and for all. This week Mike and Joel take a look at the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus. Is there anything we need to do when we sin to make up for our sin, or to atone for it or cover it? Is there anything we can do? Is something else needed? How many of our sins were taken away through the blood of Jesus? ALL of them! It was a one-time sacrifice. Is there anything we can add to that!? And what about Jesus? If His one time sacrifice wasn't enough for each and every sin, wouldn't He have to keep on coming back over and over again? The good news can't be repeated enough: ONE sacrifice took away all your sin!