rules – Page 3

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.

524. The Christian’s Relationship to the Law

November 22, 2015 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The mixed covenant culture found in the church world has brought a wide variety of confusion among believers in Christ. As Gentiles who had come to faith in the early church, what were they instructed by the lovers of the law from the Jerusalem church who still believed the law was in effect? Even those elders shared that Gentiles were not to be troubled with keeping the law. What we fail to realize is there was no list of old rules given to the church from the law, because in Christ we have no relationship to that law from the former covenant because it was replaced with God's Spirit in us.

517. Dead to Religious Rules, Alive to God

October 4, 2015 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

As we recognize the identity of righteousness that belongs to us in Jesus Christ, we can put away our own efforts and rest in him. Before the cross, the Jewish people were in bondage to the Mosaic law as it demanded a perfection the people could not attain. Their works were based on pursuing their own righteousness because they did not understand God's righteousness. We are declared perfected, justified and sanctified. As the Apostle Paul stated, "For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God."

In this podcast we mentioned a couple of past episodes in which we talked about how sanctification is not a process, but is a part of who we are in Christ (our identity). Here they are:
506. The Gift of Sanctification
507. As Jesus Is, So Also Are We

511. “Are You Saying People Can Do Whatever They Want?”

August 23, 2015 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The position we have proclaimed that the ministry of the Spirit of grace has replaced the Old Covenant of death and condemnation, will frequently lead to the accusation that we are sending the message it's okay to sin. Covenant mixers instinctively assume if we have no list of rules to live by, it encourages people to run wild and that behavior doesn't matter. Since their own spiritual identity has been bound to following rules, they have a hard time understanding the freedom from law that came through Christ and the new heart and motivation of love that is found in Him. Our growth in grace will change our perspective and our desires.