Grace – Page 9

Outrageous Grace

September 19, 2021 by Sandra

Friend, I wanted to pass along my most recent message from last Sunday that I shared at my church, Living Word Church. I pray you’re super encouraged as you watch […]

825. Listener: “Why Don’t They Teach Us Right?” A Conversation About Church Inc.

September 19, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

This week we have a spontaneous heart to heart about church denominations and the wide variety of different perspectives and teaching available. How did we get to this place where elements of both law and grace seem to be the norm?

This is a bit of a foundational introduction into upcoming podcasts where we’ll talk about some things that are seldom heard or taught in most churches—but should be.

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824. New Covenant Context: Believers Righteous – Unbelievers Not

September 12, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Imagine receiving a lengthy letter containing many pages and then focusing on just a couple of sentences. This is what happens frequently with individual Bible verses. It’s commonplace to set aside a few verses contained within a New Testament letter from an apostle—which are assumed to be saying something that gets translated into a doctrine or some type of religious theology.

In the meantime, the bigger point is missed because we’re thinking in terms of a lone verse or two instead of the bigger picture, which is the gospel of grace. We continue the emphasis on context in 1 Corinthians Chapter 6 … as we look at a couple of verses used by those on the legalistic side of the fence to bring doubt and uncertainty into the hearts and minds of believers in Christ.

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823. New Covenant Context: Galatians Chapter 5

September 5, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

It becomes very easy to be misled or to misunderstand the truth of the gospel when becoming fixated with a Bible verse or two. Quite often we assume there is a complete thought encompassed within a verse or a short passage, and then we try to tie it into other solitary “island verses” within the pages of the Bible … which are surrounded by an ocean of other passages. Copy and paste them together and POOF! You’ve got instant indoctrination. The goal becomes trying to “prove” one’s pre-assumed mindset about the dogmatic doctrines they have been taught. Regardless of what one believes, anybody can do this … and it’s a common practice in the world of religion.

This week, we look at a short passage contained within the 5th chapter of Galatians that is often considered by covenant clashers as a not so veiled threat by the Apostle Paul regarding their eternity and their works. Considering the new covenant context about everything he said in his letter up to this point over several chapters, Paul is attempting to reassure people, not to suddenly shift gears and scare them into going from grace back to trusting in their works.

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822. Memorizing “Verses” While Missing the Context of the New Covenant

August 29, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

“But what about this verse!” It has become common practice to view the Bible through individual Bible verses. What was meant as a method to reference the writings more easily can often turn into tunnel vision when it comes to the complete truth contained within the New Covenant of Jesus. A verse or two by themselves can turn into being used as a memorization technique, which sounds like a good thing to do—but the context is more important than any one verse which can often lead people into false assumptions and misunderstandings.

Individual verses can be used as “topics” for sermons, while the pastor may have little or no understanding about the gospel from a New Covenant perspective. We’re working toward a short passage containing a few verses in Galatians chapter 5 which is often used to bring people back into a works mentality … and leaving them in a state of confusion when it comes to God’s grace.

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820. “How Can I Know That God Has Forgiven Me?”

August 15, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Imagine realizing that God isn’t angry with you, is not disappointed with you, is not counting sins against you, and loves you perfectly and unconditionally. Finally, peace and rest, without fear of wondering if you’re okay with God or that God is okay with you. And then it happens. Religious, legalistic, and yes, even Bible-verse-quoting folks from the land of self-righteousness invade your territory, seeking to take away the seeds of grace God planted within you.

They’ll come up with all kinds of different ways to convince you (from the Bible!) that you’ll need to repeatedly keep seeking more forgiveness from God. They somehow think there are methods and formulas which are more effective than the blood of Jesus—which was shed one time. It’s time to stop and ask ourselves a question … why do you think Jesus’ blood only needed to be shed once, and not over and over again?

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814. The 800 Club: Looking Back – The Clash Between Paul and James

July 4, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The final program in our Looking Back series revisits the subject of the apostles Paul and James … and the question of whether they were in disagreement and had different points of view on the subject of justification. We did a 21-part series on this last year.

The common mindset in the world of Christianity is that Paul and James had to be in agreement in order for the Bible to be considered completely valid. Whether coming from a legalistic perspective or one that is more based upon grace, both camps will arrive at that same assumption while trying to explain conflicting statements from the apostles in a way that fits into their narrative or doctrinal perspective. But both will also need to bend, twist and reshape Bible verses to fit the theology—whatever that happens to be. And although the explanations may vary, the purpose remains the same … convince ourselves that Paul and James could not have possibly been opposed on such an important issue as justification. Is it based upon grace? Works? A combination of both?

However, maybe there is a bigger picture to see. We quickly offer a number of things to consider on this topic—which may once again cause some of us to not only arrive at a different point of view, but to shift our thinking to an entirely different paradigm—which involves backing away from the verses for a view of the bigger picture.

Since this episode is essentially a summary of our original series, you may wish to take some time to go through the original series itself, which took place during Podcasts 778-799 (except episode 786, which was a Christmas episode). Click here for the first episode, and then click "Newer Post" at the end of each post for each subsequent episode. Or you can listen to the entire series via our YouTube playlist.

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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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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 […]

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 […]

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.