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GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION

662. What About “Christian Laws and Rules”?

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Letter from a Growing in Grace podcast listener:

“I have not been able to keep any rules the Bible or the church says to keep. I am at a loss as I write this because I am so sick of failing and being miserable. I can’t seem to live the Christian life as has been taught to me by various people in the church and even in my own reading of the Bible. I so desire to be freed from this law inside of me to do what is right. I just want to enjoy my life. I don’t know what to do or where to turn. I almost want to just stop believing. Please help.”

If you can relate to these types of struggles in your own life or of someone you know, check-out this week’s program.  If you’ve been taught a rules-based religion that puts the pressure upon you to work at being sanctified, accepted by God, blessed, forgiven, etc., with “Christian laws” that nobody can live up to, it’s time to remember what the gospel is about.



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661. Living in Grace and the Will of God – Part 2

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Christians have often been working from a mindset that has encouraged them to continually seek the specific “will of God” in our everyday lives. It sounds religiously correct, and it will preach pretty good during Sunday sermons, but in some instances, it may lead people into a type of bondage that leads to fear and worry. There’s nothing wrong with seeking guidance from the Lord regarding specific situations in our lives. But you need not fear as to whether you are in God’s will as a believer in Christ.



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REST – The Most Effective Way to Live

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Here’s a message I shared recently at my home church, Living Word Church. In it I talk about how, so many times in life, we can try to work for certain things or we can rest, knowing Jesus has already finished the work and given us those things. The choice is ours. One way of […]

660. Living in Grace and the Will of God – Part 1

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Unlike those who lived under the Old Covenant, after the cross we’re told by the Apostle Paul that believers have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). With that in “mind,” it’s entirely possible that believers can begin to overthink when it comes to living our daily lives while seeking the will of God in all kinds of situations. The Spirit of God is able to communicate to our hearts in a way that surpasses our natural understanding. Live life, enjoy it, be free to make choices without fear and depend upon Him to accompany you every step of the way.



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The Old Covenant of Law vs. The New Covenant of Grace

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Merry Christmas 6 months early because this may just be the best present you’ve ever received! I was so excited after receiving this document from Paul Ellis, whose ministry we support, that I just couldn’t even bring myself to wait until the morning to prepare this post and send it to you. I appreciate Paul […]

The post The Old Covenant of Law vs. The New Covenant of Grace appeared first on Sandra McCollom.

659. Walking in God’s Grace in Our Daily Lives

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We hear a lot about grace and may talk about the grace of God quite often, but what does it mean when going about our normal everyday lives on planet earth? Ultimately it may begin with realizing grace isn’t just a sermon topic, but its roots are tracked back to the Person of Jesus Christ. Grace doesn’t revolve around various religious practices, but it’s about abiding in an intimate relationship which God has extended to you. As Christ is revealed to us and in us, we can set our minds on Him and what He has done, instead of focusing on self-efforts to change our behavior. The walk becomes much easier in all facets of our lives when we relax and keep our eyes on the One who is the author and finisher of faith.



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Satan Has Been Disarmed and Humiliated

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I went to my doctor yesterday for several bouts of sudden blurred vision within the past 7 weeks. I don’t know what’s going on, but there is one thing I do know – the devil has zero authority in my life. As a result of believing this truth and meditating on it often, when my […]

The post Satan Has Been Disarmed and Humiliated appeared first on Sandra McCollom.

Where Love Is Shown

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Love doesn’t highlight mistakes,

it redeemed them.

Love doesn’t point fingers at brokenness,

it embraced the broken.

Love doesn’t avoid the hurting,

It entered into it.

For God so loved the WORLD.

Not just our best and brightest

But our dirty and broken,

Our hidden and covered,

Our embarrassed, our shy

Our exposed and ashamed.

And leads us out into the wide open spaces of love and grace.

Where our eyes are opened

Where life is known

Where the lights comes on

Love is shown.

658. The Golden Rule: A Spiritual Death Sentence

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“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). The religious world refers to this as the golden rule. Yep, the gold standard by which all other rules should be compared. With one sentence, Jesus summarized the impossible standard of the entire law with its hundreds of commandments. It was the ministry of spiritual death. It was meant to bring hopelessness and despair. The good news is that Jesus Christ united us together in His death, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Sin no longer has dominion over us in Christ… not because we’re able to keep rules perfectly or try to behave better, but because we have already died to sin through the death of Jesus. Now we’re led by the ministry of the Spirit of God under a New Covenant, where we are not under the law. It’s the ministry of life.



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Teaching from Oklahoma – “No Condemnation”

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My family and I went to Oklahoma last weekend and I spoke three times in two days. It was so much fun! Let me tell you something wonderful: People everywhere are making the connection between living by God’s grace and living in peace. People are discovering the drastic difference between the old covenant of law […]

The post Teaching from Oklahoma – “No Condemnation” appeared first on Sandra McCollom.

657. When Church Teaching Misses the Gospel Target

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We are not against the church. But it’s unfortunate that much of what has been heard and taught through various denominations and organizations has led people down the wrong path. Sometimes they are taught a mixture of law and grace which will lead to more sinning and more guilt instead of less. We have heard from people around the world through our podcast ministry, and in some cases they needed to seek professional counseling for various kinds of depression and fear which resulted in having medication prescribed to treat their condition… and it was related to their church experiences or Bible teaching that brought them to this place. The gospel is meant to bring a blessed assurance, and God’s unconditional love and grace has been given to us in abundance to bring peace of mind and to equip us for every good work. Our intention at Growing in Grace is to teach and remind people of how God has freely given us all things that are good.



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A New Race of People

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People Praying Bible Study Holding Hands Faithful - 900

Any sane Christian is both appalled at continual racism in our society and eager to uncover any residue of it in his or her own heart. It continues to be a problem, even in the community of believers, because we do not take seriously the new race into which we have been born.

In the famous text of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus says this Jewish leader, "You (plural) must be born again." (See John 3.) In essence, he is saying: "Israel must be born again."

Old Testament Israel

The Israel of the Old Testament was a community created in the wake of the Exodus. God acted in mercy towards these descendants of Abraham and delivered them from bondage to be his people of witness on the earth. Those who identified with that story were members of that community. God gave them his Law as instructions on how to live as that special community of his people.

However, they misunderstood the full purpose of God. They used the Law as a barrier separating themselves (as elites) from other people, rather than seeing the Law as a gracious guide to living in relationship with a merciful God and reflecting him to others.

A New Community

A new community growing out of a new exodus story was brought about by the Spirit rather than the Law. Jesus came as the substance of all the shadows of Old Testament events and rituals. Jesus is the new Moses. He is the Messiah (Israel's representative). He fulfills the Torah as well as all the promises and prophecies made to old Israel.

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There is a new people on the earth. They are born of the Spirit, and he guides them in daily living. God has accepted them based on Jesus' righteousness in their stead. The same love that caused the Father to send his Son and the Son to sacrifice his life dwells in them. Their ethic is motivated and measured by this kind of love. They have no need of a Law to control them or to identify them.

The evidence of their inclusion in God's new race is their fidelity to Christ alone and their love for others. Conformity to sectarian norms is not the issue. Whatever other race-markers have been used in the past to identify and categorize people are eliminated in this new race.

Only Two Groups of Humans

In reality, there are only two groups of humans on earth. The first is composed of those chosen to be the instruments of blessing to the other group. The second is the group not yet born of the Spirit, but loved. Daily, many from the second group are becoming members of the first. There is no elitism in either.

The elect are aware they were chosen because of God's mercy, not their merit. The others are grateful for mercy shown to them through the vessels of mercy. Neither their color, their culture, nor their geography matters. When one fully identifies with the new exodus story by trusting Jesus alone, he or she is included in the new race. They are more than sons of Adam or sons of Abraham in the flesh. They are sons of God and children of the Resurrection.

We stand in need of renewing our minds to this reality. All around we hear the chatter from those who are still searching for some identity markers that will give them status.

How we feel or what others may say doesn't change reality. We are not just individuals trying to stay right with God so we can obtain his blessings and ultimately make it to his heaven. We are his people on earth now and in heaven. We are his family, community, and nation.

All our decisions should take our new identity into consideration.

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