908. False Assumptions: “I’m Just a Sinner Saved by Grace”
Do we still fail? Yes. But our identity is not based upon what we do, but who God has made us to be. Some might try to argue that Paul declared himself the chief of sinners—as if he were bragging about what a bad person he is. It's amazing how a few words can be misunderstood and taken out of context to be twisted into an entire doctrine or mindset which doesn't line up with the gospel message. So we'll take a look at this and how it really compares to the many other places where Paul referred to fellow believers as saints.




816. Law Keepers: None Righteous; Believers in Faith: Gifted With Righteousness
Anyone can separate and pluck-out Bible verses, miss the context, and then wonder what in the world they mean. One of many examples is found in the first three chapters of the book of Romans. Paul was taking chapters to explain how the entire world had fallen short of God’s glory because of sin—whether Jew or Gentile. But in these passages, he also reveals the good news of God’s righteousness and acceptance being made available as a gift by a source known as faith, which occurs apart from the works of the law of commandments which came through Moses.
So whether one was a Jew under law or a Gentile without the law, all fell short, and all now have the same access to God by faith in Jesus Christ. But right-standing with God has never been attained or based upon what one does.




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




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




800. The 800 Club: Looking Back – Believers Identified as Righteous
Most church buildings are filled with believers who have assumed they are “sinners saved by grace,” when no such phrase is written within the pages. It’s a fake I.D.! We have inherited certain attributes from God as new creations in Christ and one of those is that we are now identified as righteous—the righteousness of God in Him.




732. Repenting from What God Doesn’t Remember?
This mindset has left people wallowing in a works-based doctrine and in a state of sin consciousness which Jesus came to deliver people from. Believers are gifted with God’s righteousness, and Jesus doesn’t call the righteous to repent, but rather those identified as sinners who are still born in Adam with a sin condition they are trying to fix through their own efforts — instead of trusting in the work of Christ by faith.




728. Religious Requirements – or Grace (Choose One)
This week’s program will help to differentiate between requirements which demanded perfect results … compared to exhortations delivered by grace. The former would seek to establish identity by trying to work at becoming something we haven’t achieved. The latter starts at the finish line, as we realize we have been made new and are already declared the righteousness of God.




655. Dead to Sin, Alive to Righteousness



607. Forgiveness Complete! Now Empowered to Walk in Newness of Life



607. Forgiveness Complete! Now Empowered to Walk in Newness of Life



587. Jesus Became Sin – You Became Righteous


