Gospel – Page 9

I Had A Fight With My Husband The Other Night…But God!

July 14, 2021 by Sandra

I had a fight with my husband a few nights ago. That is rare for us but I was sooooo mad. I was digging some holes in my garden after […]

815. Ungodly People Justified With Righteousness – Apart From Self-Improvement

July 11, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Christian believers have frequently fallen into the religious trap of thinking they are identified as “just a sinner” who needs to keep working harder at becoming something they think they have not attained yet. The mindset established is that they are “hungering and thirsting” for righteousness while working to make behavioral improvements in order to become “more righteous” and gradually coming to a place where they will (hopefully) make themselves more acceptable to God.

While lifestyle and changes in behavior can be a positive thing in this life, it has nothing to do with who God has declared you to already be as His child—having inherited His very nature and now gaining access to all things pertaining to life and godliness. The idea that we are trying to climb a spiritual ladder of self-improvement is a fairy tale which leaves people in the same hopeless position as those who were under the law in the faulty first covenant. It leads to one of two dead end streets: self-righteous hypocrisy or guilt and condemnation. Jesus did the work so we could live in a place of peace and rest.

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813. The 800 Club: Looking Back – What Is the Gospel? Righteousness Gifted!

June 27, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

One of the things we started talking about more than 16 years ago as we launched the Growing in Grace podcast … is the question of “What is the gospel?” Ask a room full of believers as to what they think the gospel is and you’ll usually get many different answers—with many of them steeped in legalism. And yet this is a foundational question when it comes to faith and believing in Jesus. How can one believe in the gospel—as Jesus called people to do—if they don’t know what it is?

We examine Paul’s revelation of the good news from Romans chapter 1, where we discover that right-standing with God isn’t something people work for as the Jewish people attempted to do under the law. Righteousness pursued us, and came as a gift in the Person of Jesus for those who believe. Another reason why the New Covenant is better than the first one.

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812. The 800 Club: Looking Back – Repentance and What It Means Under Grace

June 20, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

We grace renegades often get accused of not talking about repentance enough. That’s really not accurate, but what comes to mind when you hear the word repent? If you’ve spent at least a few weeks in a church building, most likely you’ve been under the assumption that to repent means to stop sinning and start living a better and improved moral standard. That’s great advice, but is this the core of what repentance is supposed to be about? We revisit the meaning of repentance in the Greek and how this ties into what Jesus was trying to get the Jewish people to do when He told them to “repent and believe the good news.”

The gospel isn’t about attaining right-standing with God through what we do … or what the Jewish people were attempting to do by the works of the law. Repentance involves a change of mind by realizing the more excellent ministry of the New Covenant—which ended a religious merit system—and to begin trusting in what Jesus did to bring us to a place of righteousness and perfection.

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The Gentiles are not the Gentiles.

June 19, 2021 by Simon Yap

Dear friends, We so often use these version to speak about how God uses us the Gentiles to bring Israel … More

How Condemnation Holds Us Back

June 14, 2021 by Sandra

Guilt and condemnation is such a trick of the devil, yet I lived buried under it for decades and I’ve spoken to so many friends on my grace journey this […]

How Condemnation Holds Us Back

June 14, 2021 by Sandra

Guilt and condemnation is such a trick of the devil, yet I lived buried under it for decades and I’ve spoken to so many friends on my grace journey this past 9.5 years who are also in the process of digging themselves out. Many have said, Wow, I never realized that I lived under so […]

811. The 800 Club: Looking Back – Double Talk – “The Spirit of the Law”

June 13, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The spirit of the law. The letter of the law. These are phrases often used by religious theologians who erroneously teach a mixed covenant message of law and grace. The way they try to explain it, one might be led to believe that “the spirit of the law” is a phrase actually found within the written pages of the Bible (it’s not). Generally, this talk about the spirit vs. the letter of the law is rooted in the assumption that believers in Christ have been mandated by God to follow certain portions of the old covenant ministry which was arranged with Israel through Moses. Good luck with that.

We look at one of the passages today which is sometimes used by legalists regarding this topic. The next time someone tries to drag you into the theological weeds while trying to convince you about the spirit of the law, realize the Greek word for it is mumbo jumbo.

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810. The 800 Club: Looking Back – Tithing, Abraham and Giving Gracefully

June 6, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

As we continue looking back over the years after reaching the milestone of our 800th podcast … we’re following up on last week’s program. Many advocates for “the tithe,” as it relates to giving ten percent of all of one’s money or income, will try to use Abraham as an example on why people should tithe this way today. They will apply a couple of easily misunderstood passages from the Bible, but as we take a closer look, we find the pieces to the puzzle just don’t fit. We try to bring some context from both the Old and New Testaments about Abe and how his tithe to Melchizedek was so very different from the “church tithing” of today—and like the Jewish people under the law—it really wasn’t about money with Abraham either.

We also address some questions about the “tithe money” being received today. If such a system was meant to be in place and ordained by God, who is really supposed to be the designated receiver of the tithes with the priesthood of men no longer in place? Is the church corporation’s bank considered the so-called storehouse?

There is a better way for us to function when it comes to giving, and it’s by the freedom of grace as God’s Spirit moves within our hearts. God is a giver, but not because He is obligated to be … He wants to do it out of love, and so it is with us in the New Covenant. We have inherited this desire to help others, and it doesn’t always involve money.

Here again are some links to some of our past talks about tithing:
495. Covenant Confusion: Tithing
496. Christianizing the Tithe
497. Abe Gives a Tenth to Mel

The Tithe (Episodes 769-777). Click on the first episode and then click "Newer Post" for each subsequent part.

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809. The 800 Club: Looking Back – Twisting the Tithe Into Money

May 30, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

In our look back over the past 800 programs, we’ve occasionally discussed tithing. When most Christians hear the word tithe, they assume it means to give or pay ten percent of all your money. Most will also assume this is to be designated to a church organization which they might call “the storehouse.” And there are those who teach that when one gives ten percent or more to the work of the ministry, that God will bless them with more money.

Sincere Christians can disagree on this subject, but most of what has been taught about the “principle” of tithing in the New Covenant is extracted from Bible verses and concepts very much out of context. Our quick review on the topic touches on why tithing became a requirement under the law for Israel (spoiler alert: it was about food, not money). And did Jesus really say we should tithe? You can certainly give ten percent of your money if it’s what you really want to do, but in the New Covenant, you are free to give as it’s on your heart to do so.

We've talked about the subject of tithing a few times in the past, and below are some links to some of our past talks.

First up is a short series we did a few years ago:
495. Covenant Confusion: Tithing
496. Christianizing the Tithe
497. Abe Gives a Tenth to Mel

And then a nine-part series that we did last year (Episodes 769-777). Click on the first episode below and then click "Newer Post" for each subsequent part:
The Tithe

Get the book

809. The 800 Club: Looking Back – Twisting the Tithe Into Money

May 30, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

We've talked about the subject of tithing a few times in the past, and below are some links to some of our past talks.

First up is a short series we did a few years ago:
495. Covenant Confusion: Tithing
496. Christianizing the Tithe
497. Abe Gives a Tenth to Mel

And then a nine-part series that we did last year (Episodes 769-777). Click on the first episode below and then click "Newer Post" for each subsequent part:
The Tithe

Get the book

808. The 800 Club: Looking Back – The Book of Hebrews – New Covenant Explained

May 23, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

One of the books in the New Testament that is often misunderstood is the letter to the Hebrews. A while back, we spent many weeks doing an entire series sifting through the chapters and addressing some misinterpreted “verses” that are sometimes used to scare people, leaving them in a place of fear which God never intends for His children. The letter to the Hebrews was written to address the Jewish community as they were trying to sort out the massive change of going from a covenant of stone tablets and animal sacrifices to something completely different regarding the ministry of the Spirit and the one sacrifice of Christ that brought that old way to an end. It is easy for us to underestimate the change of mind that they were transitioning into.

Some will say the book of Hebrews was meant only for Israel, but the revelation brought forth will be profitable for Gentiles of today because it shows the bigger picture of the Bible itself, and how we got to where we are in the New Covenant today and the perfect forgiveness brought by the blood of Jesus. After reaching over 800 programs, we’re looking back at past conversations and this week, it’s the book of Hebrews.

On the podcast we mention a previous series we did on the entire book of Hebrews. You will find the first episode of that 21-part series here, and then click on Newer Post at the end of each post to listen to the entire series.