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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!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
199. If Not Law and Rules Then What is the Source of Living the Christian Life?
Sunday, July 05, 2009
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?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Display a Growing in Grace Banner on your site!
Mike and Joel are very thankful for all the wonderful support from friends and listeners of the Growing in Grace podcast. People are finding out about the program all the time, and many lives are being touched weekly through the message of God's unconditional love and grace. This is due in large part to people like YOU who are spreading the word! Thanks so much for telling others about the program.
Here's one more way to get the word out. If you have a blog or other site on the web, feel free to add a Growing in Grace Banner to your site. It's very easy - simply choose from the banners below, and then copy and paste the HTML code that's below the banner onto your web page.
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Sunday, June 28, 2009
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!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
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."
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
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.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
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!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
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."
Saturday, May 30, 2009
You're invited to join the Grace Roots online community!
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.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
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!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
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.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
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!
Sunday, May 03, 2009
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!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
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?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
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!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
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?!
Sunday, April 05, 2009
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.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
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).
Sunday, March 22, 2009
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!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
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!
Sunday, March 08, 2009
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.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
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?!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
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.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
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."
Sunday, February 08, 2009
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.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
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.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
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.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
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!
Sunday, January 04, 2009
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."
Sunday, December 28, 2008
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!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
170. Feelings of Guilt and Condemnation Are Not From God
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A continuation of the chat from last week. If you're feeling guilty and condemned for your sins, it's not from God! In Christ He has taken away your sin completely - which removes all guilt and condemnation. "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (see Romans 8:1). The law made people guilty before God (Romans 3:19), but those in Christ "have been set free from sin" (Romans 6:22) and have been "made free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). The only thing that has made this possible is the Blood of Jesus. We can't add anything to what Christ has already done! His sacrifice was a one time sacrifice, sufficient for all of our sins - past, present and future!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
169. No More Guilt and Condemnation
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Jesus came to take away our sin, leaving us without guilt and without condemnation. If you're experiencing fear (being afraid) of God, or if you're experiencing guilt or condemnation in your Christian life, be assured - that's not from God! This week we talk about all of this, and about how we need to "rightly divide" the word of truth, not mixing together the Old Covenant and the New Covenant and calling it all "Christianity." Jesus said to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Just a little bit of legalism can mess up the whole batch of dough! Take a few minutes with us and be encouraged as you grow in grace!
Sunday, December 07, 2008
168. Doing Doesn't Make Us Who We Are - It Flows From Who We Are
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The good works we do - the "doing" of the Christian life - are not done to score points with God or to maintain our good standing with God. Our good works don't make us who we are (and they don't disqualify us from who we are). Rather, in Christ we are a new creation - righteous and holy - and as we become more and more established in this truth, our "doing" becomes the natural outflow of who we are.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
167. Take the Blindfold Off - You Are in the Light
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The Bible talks about Christians being in the light. The problem is, many Christians live as if they must do something or maintain a certain amount of righteous living in order to be in the light. We discuss this a little bit this week as we "shed light" on the truth of the New Testament scriptures that show how it's by God's grace that we've been placed into the light already. Nothing we've done has placed us there, and nothing we do can keep us there or remove us from being in the light of Jesus Christ. In fact, the more we grow in the truth of who we already are, the more we'll begin to naturally walk like who we are.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
166. Brought Near - We Are In The Light
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Christ came to take away sin (John 1:29), and we have been brought near to God by His blood (Eph 2:13), not by our works (Titus 3:5). He has taken us out of darkness and we are in the light! Does that fact change when we sin, or when we waste our lives in prodigal living? This week Mike and Joel continue talking about the parable of the prodigal son, his older brother and his father (Luke 15:11-32), and we discuss which one of the three had the proper perspective about both sons’ standing with the father. Sometimes our thoughts, emotions, actions, behavior, etc, may cause us to feel as if we’re not in the light, but we always need to remember that it’s God’s grace that has brought us into the light and keeps us there! With the proper perspective, we’ll grow more and more into who we truly are as children of the light (Eph 5:8-10).
Sunday, November 16, 2008
165. Can Sin Hinder Your Fellowship With God?
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Can sin hinder your fellowship with God? We take a look at who we are in Christ (the righteousness of God) and we also begin to look at the different perspectives of the three "characters" in the Luke 15 parable commonly known as "The Prodigal Son." In addition to the prodigal son, there are two other people in the story - the older son and the father. Which one of these people had the proper perspective of the whole situation? There's so much good news in the scriptures to dig into! We talk about how sin can truly affect our circumstances, and even our fellowship with one another as human beings - but does that mean it affects our fellowship with God?
Sunday, November 09, 2008
164. Grace and Love
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This week we talk a little more about how "grace" is not simply one subject of many, but is the essence of every aspect of the Christian life and we talk about the biblical idea of what it means to have fallen from grace by going back to trusting in our own works. Along with all this, we talk about how God's unconditional love cannot be separated from His grace, and how growing in our understanding of God's love can change our entire mindset of who He is and who we are in Him.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
163. Grace - The Foundation and Essence of Life in Christ
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For many people, it seems that "grace" is just another topic or just another Christian doctrine, or is simply one "part" of the Christian life. This week Mike and Joel discuss how grace is not simply a topic that should be taught on now and then, but is the very foundation of life in Christ and is the very essence of our daily lives in Him. The gospel (good news) is Grace, and Grace is a Person named Jesus. Hebrews 13:9 says "it is good that the heart be established by grace."
Related article: The Sufficiency of Grace
Sunday, October 26, 2008
162. More on the Exchanged Life
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Our life exchanged for His life. Our sin exchanged for His righteousness. Christ in you, the hope of glory!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
161. Exchanged Life - Christ's Life In Us
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Our life exchanged for His life. Our sin exchanged for His righteousness. Christ in you, the hope of glory!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
160. Convicted of Righteousness
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In Christ, we have a brand new identity. The Bible says that in Christ we've been perfected, and we are holy, righteous and complete in Him. This week Mike and Joel talk about how the unbelieving world had to be convicted of sin (see John 16:8-11, Romans 3:19-20) in order to come to Christ, but now that we're in Christ we're convicted of righteousness - because that's who we are! When we sin, we are simply not being who we (already truly) are, and the more we're convinced, and convicted, of our true identity as the righteousness of God, the more we'll live as who we really are. All of this is based upon the finished work of Jesus and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It's all Him, not us!
Sunday, October 05, 2008
159. Sin Taken Away - Living With a Consciousness of Righteousness
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In Christ we've received the righteousness of God as a gift. The Old Testament sacrifices ("the blood of bulls and goats") could never take away sin. In fact, the book of Hebrews says that all they really did was to bring a reminder of sin. This week Mike and Joel talk about how the once-for-all, far-superior sacrifice of Christ has taken sin away, and how we can live with a consciousness of righteousness rather than a consciousness of sin. Let your heart and mind be set free as the truth from scripture reminds you of your true standing with God in Christ!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
158. Hold Fast the Confession of Our Hope
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This week our discussion is based upon these encouraging words from Hebrews 10:19-24.
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
We're not talking about the continuous confession of sins here! We're talking about the one confession that we have already made - the confession of Christ (See Rom 10:9-10) through which we have been saved. None of it is based upon anything we've done or not done. It's not based upon our faithfulness our faithlessness. It's all based upon the promise of the One who is faithful.
