GraceUncovered

Authors home articles Gracelife

GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION

944. You Are Not Under Law but Under Grace (No “Balance” Required)

by

The Christian religion has notoriously attempted to mix the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ with a hodgepodge of works-based rules and requirements that will vary with great extreme from one denominational brand to the next. Leapfrogging through various Bible verses which are often taken out of the context of the New Covenant can leave people in a place of uncertainty when it is based upon our doing instead of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Our conversation will examine the inconsistencies in mixing various aspects of old covenant law with the assurance we have in Christ by faith. Paul made a simple and yet profound statement that is easily overlooked: "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14).



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

Get the book

931. Freedom From the Religion of “How To” (Growing in Grace 931)

by

The church system in Christianity is largely based on following formulas and three-point sermons to help people work at how to become something they think they are not. The message of the gospel of grace is based on a very different and more solid foundation. Instead of working through steps and principles on how to become a better Christian ... more holy, more sanctified, forgiven, etc. we come to realize God has gifted us as heirs with these qualities as His child.

His divine power in us has given everything we need that pertains to life and godliness—apart from works. It's not about trying harder or a "how-to" but it's about "a Him" ... where our life and identity is found in a place of peace and perfection.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

Get the book

730. Red Letters Were Not Always Meant for You

by

“Jesus said it, I believe it.” “It’s a red-letter verse!” “We should obey everything Jesus said.” “When Jesus spoke to His disciples, it means He was speaking to us.”

These are a few of the comments you’ve probably heard over the years regarding the words of Jesus. What the pulpit may have neglected to tell you is that Jesus was born under the law and spoke about things regarding the Old Covenant in order to redeem the Jewish people from that bondage — it has become a covenant that is obsolete. Religion has copied and pasted many red-letter verses onto the church wall that were never meant to be applied into the lives of believers. We don’t discard these words of Jesus, but we embrace them within the proper context of the New Covenant and awaken to grace and truth realized through the Person of Jesus.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

Get the book

729. Red Letters + Golden Rule = Spiritual Blues

by

Most of us have been taught that Jesus ushered in a New Covenant at His birth and began to teach new guidelines and rules for believers and future Christians to follow. Having this mindset will cause us to begin filtering all of the Scripture through this faulty assumption, causing our lenses to see a fake gospel which isn’t really the good news at all. Even the so-called golden rule was not a new guideline for Christians, but it was an old statute from the law—a ministry that could only supply the Jewish people with death and condemnation. Jesus was on a mission to free people from such a bondage.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

Get the book

715. Grace Is Never Dangerous

by

The bad news police who are established in a legalistic mindset will caution believers in Christ that too much teaching about God’s grace will lead to an unhealthy and perilous plight. Their tangled view of the testaments wrongly assumes grace needs to be balanced with law.

We’ve been supplied with an abundance of grace for a reason and it has no connection to law or a rules-based religion.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

Get the book

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

by

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.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

663. Reigning in Life

by

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.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

662. What About “Christian Laws and Rules”?

by

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.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

658. The Golden Rule: A Spiritual Death Sentence

by

“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.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

656. “Am I Right with God?”

by

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.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

655. Dead to Sin, Alive to Righteousness

by

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.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

654. Sharing the Gospel with Others (Part 2)

by

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.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

Categories

Recent Posts