Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

641. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 12): The Psalms: They’re More About Jesus

March 4, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

It can change the way we see everything. Reading Old Testament passages from a New Covenant perspective, through the eyes of grace. There were those who recognized Jesus as the Messiah because of what they knew to look for in the Mosaic law, the Psalms, and the Prophets. After Jesus was resurrected, He opened the minds of the disciples to understand the (Old Testament) Scriptures, by revealing what they said about Him. “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). Christians often see verses out of context when they are seeking a special Word from God within the Psalms for application in their personal life situation. While this can certainly occur, in reality, quite often it may be written from the perspective of someone who was trapped under the curse of the law, or looking forward to something better (Christ). We don’t live under that heavy requirement of those commands, but now abide in Christ. Instead of relying on some of these passages to figure out where we are supposed to go, we can look back and begin to see them as a road map that brought us to where we already are… in Jesus. That’s where we find wisdom, peace and comfort - while being led by the Spirit.

640. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 11): The Psalms: Beware of Old Covenant “Law Talk”

February 25, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

It’s common for Christians to seek comfort and direction when reading the Bible, and the Psalms and Proverbs are often one of the first places people will turn for guidance. However, it is frequently assumed that everything within the Psalms is pointing us towards precepts and principles that are not necessarily meant to be applied for us who are in Christ, living in a New Covenant. We’ll find all kinds of passages written from a very different perspective from those who were under the burden of the impossible law… something from which people have been delivered from since the cross.

639. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 10): The Law Was Never Meant to Be the Answer

February 18, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Wrapping up this portion of the Summarizing the Scripture series, we take a look at the some common misconceptions about the law of commandments, and contrast it with what God accomplished for us through a finished work in Christ. Christians will be told by the religious authorities that the world will be a better place if everyone would just try harder to keep the Ten Commandments, along with a few other hand-picked rules and statutes. Is this really true? We’ll address this with an answer that might surprise many.

638. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 9): What the Church Hasn’t Told You About the Law & Commandments

February 11, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

While scores of Christians throughout the centuries have been told to embrace the law which came through Moses, the Apostle Paul and other New Testament writers received a revelation that is quite different from that approach. While church teaching tells us some of the law has ended, while other parts are still in effect, the law itself declares nothing can be added or deleted. Approval was never given to alter it. While those who claim believers should strive harder to keep the commands, their hypocrisy is exposed by eliminating large, inconvenient chunks... and nobody can seem to agree on exactly what should remain on the list. Our program this week will provide vital information on the ministry of the Mosaic law, and why God replaced it with something far better.

637. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 8): The Law in A Nutshell – More Sin, Death and Condemnation

February 4, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Frequently we’ll find church doctrines and teachings encouraging believers to cling to a law of works, found within the commandments of the Old Covenant. The problem with this? New Covenant writings reveal why the law was given to Israel (and not to us who are Gentiles). Those commands within the law caused sin to increase (not decrease). It was a ministry that killed and condemned. The law demanded perfection but was powerless to provide the ability to attain it. It once had glory, but came to an end, where the glory faded, and now has no glory at all. Why? Because of the surpassing glory ministry of the Spirit of God, which replaced the requirements written on ink and on stone. We are now in the life of Christ, we’re empowered by the Spirit of Grace where new life flows and the fruit of the Spirit is produced, apart from the works of the law.

636. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 7): A Promise of Faith Contrasted With A Covenant of Works

January 28, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The promise of a covenant bringing righteousness by faith or belief as it was given to Abraham, would eventually bring what we often refer to as the New Covenant, which was ushered in through Jesus Christ. Several hundred years after God made this covenant with Abraham, another covenant would be established with the people of Israel, and would include the law which came through Moses. This law would bring a curse requiring that all of it be kept perfectly, causing God to find fault with the people in that covenant. Fortunately, that covenant of law would not nullify the covenant of promise made 430 years earlier. The promise of faith would end up kicking the law of works to “kingdom come” (because the law is not of faith). This week in our series, we’re transitioning from Abraham to Moses and the Law.

635. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 6): Abraham Did Not Waver at God’s Promise

January 21, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

In this sixth part of the series, we wrap up our brief look at Abraham and the significance of his part in God’s redemptive picture, which is a picture described throughout Scripture. Interestingly, in spite of what appears to be a fleshly effort by having a child through his servant Hagar, the Bible declares Abraham was not weak in faith, and did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith. Righteousness was credited to him because of belief, just as it is to us today, apart from law or works.

634. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 5): Abraham and the Child of Promise

January 14, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Hundreds of years before God gave the law to Moses, there was Abraham. Through him God brought forth a promise, where he would become the father of many nations that would occur through a child promised to him and Sarah. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. It was by faith the promise arrived, not works. The Apostle Paul explains how Abraham’s two sons represent the two covenants—both the Old and the New. The son born from Hagar (the bondwoman) was born according to the flesh, whereas the son from Sarah (the freewoman) through promise. One gave birth to bondage, symbolic of Mount Sinai, and the other gave birth to freedom, which would include justification for Gentiles through faith.

633. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 4): We Can Learn from Adam’s Mistake

January 7, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Part 4 of our series includes some final thoughts about Adam and the fall that took place in the beginning. We often still struggle with the same thing as Adam, but the good news is we’ve been provided with a solution since the cross. We can avoid the tree that forced humankind to live for centuries by The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God always wanted His creation to live by His life, which we can do now that we’ve been placed in Christ. Next week we’ll talk about Abraham and how he made faith possible for a multitude of generations to come.

In this episode we briefly reminisced about our past days in Christian radio, and some of the grace-based songs we used to play. We specifically mentioned these two songs that we both really like.

632. Adam’s Temptation to Be More Like God

December 31, 2017 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

This week we get rolling with our series of summarizing the Scripture with the purpose of helping us to shrink the Bible into one big picture, so to speak, in order to connect some dots and how the Word is primarily a picture of Jesus Christ. Adam’s temptation revolved around the desire to be wise and more like God. The serpent challenged him on the basis of identity, much like the devil did with Jesus in the wilderness. One chose not to believe God and failed (Adam). The other chose to believe the truth and overcame (Jesus). We are challenged in a similar way today when it comes to our identity in Christ.

632. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 3): Adam’s Temptation to Be More Like God