rules – Page 2

656. “Am I Right with God?”

June 17, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Something many people wonder deep inside is the question of whether they are right with God. Even those who call themselves believers in Jesus Christ may question at times as to where they stand with God. Their fear or uncertainty is sometimes triggered by their behavior and performance. They may tend to assume their identity as a child of God is filtered through their works and actions, or religious rule-keeping. The gospel reveals something that isn't always heard through weekly church teaching, and it's the greatest news you could ever want to hear. We've been gifted with God's very own righteousness. Right-standing with Him is no longer something you'll ever have to wonder about ever again.

655. Dead to Sin, Alive to Righteousness

June 10, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Behavior is important. Avoiding sin is profitable. But these are not the components that represent who you are as a believer in Jesus Christ. Your spiritual identity is based purely on a work that God did in you by faith as a result of the finished work of Jesus at the cross. Many new believers are told to repent from sin, stop sinning, work at avoiding sin, etc. — and if they blow it, they should seek a renewed forgiveness from God, and work at trying harder to become more holy and sanctified. This ends up pulling people into the very thing they are trying to avoid. If we would start letting believers know they are truly declared to be the righteousness of God and have been forgiven by blood that was shed once and for all, they can begin to realize and experience God's unconditional love. This unlimited supply of eternal grace provides the ability for us to be empowered in a way that religious rules and commandments cannot.

654. Sharing the Gospel with Others (Part 2)

June 3, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Following up on last week’s program, we discuss some thoughts about effective ways to communicate the simple gospel message. It may be with someone who has never claimed to be a believer, or it may be someone from your church who has been bound by external religion. The message of God’s grace and unconditional love has changed how we communicate the good news. Many times, well-meaning Christians will tell people the gift of eternal life is free, but after the gift is received, a list of “Christian stuff” is handed to them, telling them all the things they need to do from now on (or the things to avoid). We’ve learned through our growth in grace that a better approach will be to let believers know who they (already) are now in Christ so they can grasp the new identity they have inherited. In Him they have become partakers of the divine nature and are considered holy, righteous, forgiven, sanctified, and much more.

Breaking Free From A Religious Mindset

February 6, 2018 by Sandra

Are you reigning in life? If not, the thing that’s holding you back could be a religious mindset. But Father God wants you free! This is why He gave up His one and only Son to come and rescue you – to replace all those rules with relationship. When I came into a revelation of […]

The post Breaking Free From A Religious Mindset appeared first on Sandra McCollom.

Practicing Religion or Following Jesus?

January 9, 2018 by Michael Wilson

Jesus went around helping people. He healed people, cast demons out of people, and even raised the dead a few times. One would think that this is a good thing. Yet, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day got mad a few times about Jesus helping others. Imagine that, people who claim to love and follow

Quitting The Rules

December 31, 2017 by Sandra

A few days ago my husband Steve and I landed in Orlando for a three night marriage getaway. Today was our last day and we’ve had such a great time. We haven’t laughed this hard in a long time! Steve is the funniest person I know. When this man gets on a roll I am […]

The post Quitting The Rules appeared first on Sandra McCollom.

623. Salvation Is Free! (But Watch out for the Fine Print)

October 29, 2017 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

You may have heard sermons or Bible messages correctly explaining that salvation is a gift that is free and there is nothing that can be done on our part to earn it, but it is simply received by believing. Unfortunately, what will often follow is a type of legal addendum found in the fine print describing all of the things Christians must do in order to maintain acceptance, fellowship, blessings, and so on, and so forth. Although it varies depending on the denominational label, empty religion is often injected into Christianity by teaching that portions of the commands and statutes within the Mosaic law are still meant to be followed and kept within the New Covenant of Christ. They will declare that some of it came to an end and was discontinued, while other parts are meant to still apply. Exactly which of the 613 commands from the Old Covenant still apply and which were dropped? Therein lies the problem. The law was never meant to be changed or altered. In order to be able to say one was keeping it, one had to follow everything perfectly, without failure. This is why the good news should never be mixed with the bad.

620. The Law Package: No Changes Allowed

October 8, 2017 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The predominant mindset within most Christian churches is that parts of the law that came through Moses are to be applied to believers today, while other parts have been eliminated after the cross of Jesus Christ. This demonstrates the widespread ignorance about that law under the Old Covenant, because God had declared that as long as the law was in effect, there would be no changes to it. Nothing could be added and nothing could be taken away from it. The hundreds of commands, rules and statutes were bundled together in one package known as “the Law.” Many ingredients; but one package that was never meant to be broken up and applied in many different ways, based upon personal perspectives or man-made doctrines. This is why people needed to be delivered from the entire law package, and why we are declared to be dead to the law under a new and better covenant.

610. Gentiles: Never Given the Law; Jews: Do the Law or Die (No Doer Found)

July 30, 2017 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

It comes as a surprise to many Christians who have spent years in church - those of us non-Jewish people (Gentiles) were never considered to be under the Mosaic law. Never. None of it. Not the dietary rules, the sacrificial statutes, or the moral laws. Only Israel had been placed under that law in the Old Covenant, before the sacrifice of Christ. The law brought a curse for those under it - they were required to do it… all of it. Under that covenant, only a doer of the law could be justified. The problem? Nobody had ever done it until Jesus came along and fulfilled the law on our behalf. A New Covenant would be established, where righteousness would be received through faith, apart from the works of the law. Gentiles who were without the law and had no covenant would be gifted with the invitation to enter into this everlasting covenant of life. We died with Christ and have been raised to walk in newness of life.

601. Clash of the Covenants: Kap Talks About His New Book

May 28, 2017 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Joel interviews Mike about his new book now available on Amazon Kindle. It's like a Growing in Grace podcast in written form! The target audience is for anyone who has had exposure to Christian churches or doctrines, but may struggle with wondering where they stand with God. It's for those who wonder if God can really forgive them and whether they have truly been accepted. It will help to bring a greater understanding of what the finished work of Jesus Christ provided for them, and the book will help remove some of the confusion associated with many common teachings that have mistakenly jumbled the old and new covenants together. The book addresses issues such as why the old commandments and rules will never work; the ministry of Jesus and why He taught things that weren't always meant for future believers; sin confession; repentance and other hot-button topics that have caused many to live in religious bondage.

The new book is available on Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0713ZSKY7) under the title of Clash of the Covenants: Escaping Religious Bondage Through the Grace Guarantee, by Michael C. Kapler.

If you do not have a Kindle device, no problem, simply download the Kindle app for free to your smart phone, tablet or computer and then purchase through Amazon.

575. How to Attain Perfection (the one-step plan)

November 27, 2016 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

God has a requirement for all of us: Be perfect as He is perfect. How do we go about this seemingly monumental task? It hardly sounds like a good news gospel if we're going to apply our own works and efforts, because we'll never meet that standard. However, there is another way for us to enter into a state of perfection - believe in the work of Jesus Christ. The Jewish people could not arrive at being perfect through trying to keep rules, commandments or offering repeated animal sacrifices; nor could they escape a sin consciousness that brought them more guilt. With one sacrifice of Himself, Jesus brought an eternal perfection… And it looks really good on you!

Podcast from the Past: Rules or Relationship?

December 27, 2015 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Mike and Joel are taking a break from creating a fresh podcast this Christmas week, but why not take a trip to the past with us! We're going back a few years to Podcast #149, entitled "Rules or Relationship?" This podcast originally aired on July 27, 2008. We hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas, and we're looking forward to more grace talk in 2016!

We'll be back next week, taking a look at the inheritance we have in Christ.