rules – Page 2

669. Paul’s Testimony: I Stopped Trying to Keep the Law of Commandments

September 16, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The title of this week’s program is an obvious paraphrase, but it isn’t far off from what Paul explained when it came to being freed and delivered from the Mosaic Law with its burdensome commandments. He found out that what he thought would give life had actually proven to bring death and despair, while causing sin to increase. Today many believers will get up in front of the church and talk about how they used to do bad things and now they work on doing good things. To be clear, pursuing sin will never be a profitable venture - less sin is a good thing. But this was not Paul’s testimony. He didn’t boast about how he used to murder and then stopped after he was saved. He emphasized that we’ve been made a new creation, and the value of getting to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection. God’s life in us, has caused us to pass from death into life in a New Covenant that isn’t based upon our ability to a meet certain standard of rules and regulations. Instead, we live by the righteousness of faith with the power of Jesus Christ abiding in us.

663. Reigning in Life

August 5, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

When the focus of our belief in God is merely built upon good and evil—trying to avoid evil and working at doing good—it will not set us free, nor will it help us to do what is good and right. Instead our mindset should be on the person of Jesus Christ and God’s love and grace. Once we begin to understand that we died and were raised with Jesus Christ—and have received His life in us—we can begin to experience the gift of righteousness that will allow us to be more aware and conscious of what He accomplished on our behalf. A deeper revelation of the gospel and the finished work of Christ will help us to escape whatever bondage empty religion will try to burden us with.

662. What About “Christian Laws and Rules”?

July 29, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

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.

658. The Golden Rule: A Spiritual Death Sentence

July 1, 2018 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

“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.

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.