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GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION

704. Born Identity: Forgiven Through One Offering

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Still seeking more forgiveness from God? You could probably use some good news. God’s complete forgiveness for sin occurred once for all.

When sin has been removed and taken away to be remembered no more, the forgiveness offerings are no longer needed. We no longer seek what we already possess.



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703. Born Identity: You Are Sanctified

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Hollow religious teaching will declare you’re saved by grace (justified), but being sanctified is a gradual, progressive, life-long process which must work at in order to become more set apart before they reach the finish line . It’s time to change our thinking. Consider that through the cross God has already gifted you with sanctification and this is the starting line. Whew! It’s the ultimate head-start, and now you can run from here.



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702. Born Identity: You Are Righteous

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Sadly, most believers in Jesus Christ have been taught they are identified as sinners and have failed to realize the gift of God’s righteousness that has been inherited by faith, apart from works. The Jewish people pursued righteousness under the law by trying to keep the Ten Commandments, plus 603 other commands and rules from the law which came through Moses. Yet they never attained a state of righteousness through that law. Nobody was righteous under that system… not one. On the other hand, Gentiles who weren’t even chasing after right standing with God attained righteousness by faith. We have been gifted with His righteousness. In Him, we are in a state or condition that is acceptable to God because of what Jesus did for us (and not what we do for Him). It is not progressive, nor does it increase or decrease based upon our performance or behavior. Growing in our understanding of this grace that has been poured out upon us - and abides in us - now empowers us to outwardly reflect the light of Jesus Christ.



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701. Born Identity: You Have Been Perfected

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It’s been said that “nobody is perfect.” While that may be true from a behavioral perspective, it shouldn’t be confused with who God has already made us to be as believers in Jesus Christ. You have been perfected, not by how well you perform or by the things you do, but by what Jesus did on our behalf. Perfection was a necessary requirement, but we will never achieve this status based upon our works and behavior. While behavior improvement can gradually take place in our lives and result in good and positive results - it has nothing to do with having already been perfected in Him. Growing in our understanding that Jesus has already made us inwardly complete will likely result in beneficial, outward changes with what we do. But we should avoid getting this backwards or it will lead to frustration, guilt and fear. God demanded perfection, not progress. Therefore, He provided a Substitute, not a goal.

We borrowed the last part above from our friends at The Grace Cafe Podcast, and we mentioned them on this podcast. We recommend that you give them a listen!



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665. The Gospel Is the Gift of God’s Righteousness

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Something commonly found in our Christian vocabulary is the word gospel. But just exactly how is it defined from a scriptural perspective? Ask a room full of believers what the gospel is, and it’s likely you’ll receive many different answers. So even something as commonplace as “the gospel” is often described in many different ways. This isn’t necessarily always a bad thing, but often our personal perspectives about what we think the gospel is will sometimes contradict what other believers think. Can’t we agree on something that should be so simple? In order to drill through all of the traditional fluff, we take a look at a foundational passage from the Apostle Paul as he reveals the primary meaning of the gospel, and how it differs from the “bad news” that was in place before Jesus came along.



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625. Justified Now! Sanctified Eventually?

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The religious business is well known for finding a way to put pressure on people to perform. The motivation to do so will vary by church denomination, but they all lead to robbing people of fully experiencing the grace and peace that God delivered to us through Jesus Christ. One script that is commonly found is the idea that believers are now justified through the cross, but being sanctified (set apart) is a lifelong process that gradually occurs through behavior improvement. It’s promoted in a way so that the responsibility falls upon us to seek self-improvement with God’s help, which will hopefully make us more holy, set apart, acceptable, etc. While improved behavior is a good thing, it shouldn’t be identified or confused with the work of sanctification, which God already provided by placing us in Christ Jesus.



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606. Faithfulness

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As believers in Jesus Christ, it’s natural to have a desire to be faithful. But our ability to perform may not always be as consistent as we desire. Whereas the Old Covenant was centered on the faithfulness and obedience of the people and their (in)ability to abide by all the commandments and rules under the law, the focus of New Covenant is highlighted in the faithfulness of God. This faithfulness is centered on the obedience of Christ, which will never fail. He is the completion of our forgiveness, our hope, our life, righteousness, sanctification, and so much more. Even when our faithfulness towards Him waivers, His dedication and faithfulness towards us remains forever.



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604. Why “Trying Harder” Doesn’t Work

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Those Christians who are seeking to improve right-standing with God through their efforts are guaranteed to fail. Many will often wonder where they stand with God as they work to improve their behavior in order to attain more of God’s forgiveness, righteousness, holiness, sanctification, and even His love and acceptance. Don’t be discouraged by the guarantee of failure and the inability to acquire these blessings through your works. As the Jewish people under the law could’ve told you, it only leads to self-righteousness, which profits nothing. What if you could discover a guarantee to experience the fullness of the life of God on a daily basis, without fear, and without it being dependent upon your ability? It’s already been gifted to you in something called the gospel.



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591. Separating True Sanctification from Behavioral Choices

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Religion without life, will seek to pursue a right-standing with God through attempts of self-improvement, and a variety of other works-based methods. Even within Christianity, belief systems will try to make this all about our ability to make ourselves progressively more sanctified and acceptable before a perfect and holy God. The problem with this? We can’t attain a more righteous position than what God has already brought to us through His Son. The standard God demanded was perfection, but not by giving it our best effort to keep certain commandments or other moral codes that will always fall short. Jesus is alive, accepted, perfect, holy, sanctified, righteous, and sinless… And as believers in Christ, “as He is, so also are we in this world.”



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590. Good News About Sanctification

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Throughout Christianity, the word “gospel” can mean many different things to different people. Ultimately, it boils down to “good news” that was first meant for the nation of Israel. The news they needed to hear was that a replacement of the law and commandments was about to occur. What would it take its place? Faith, righteousness, forgiveness, holiness and sanctification would be gifted to people apart from our own works. Where are these things found? Not through our efforts of obedience, but in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is the replacement and our destination. We have arrived “in Him” through belief in what He has completely finished on our behalf.



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589. The Sanctification Proclamation (It Is Finished)

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The past few weeks we’ve been discussing our identity in Christ and how God has already perfected us, made us complete in Him, and gifted us with His righteousness. Works-based religion will still try to find a way to put some sort of responsibility back on us, such as with the subject of sanctification. To be sanctified means to be set apart, and the gospel shows us it cannot be defined outside of what Jesus did for us on our behalf. As with justification and forgiveness, sanctification is not progressive, but was included in Christ’s finished work. We can rest in that assurance.

During the podcast, Joel mentioned this blog post of his: Instant and Permanent Sanctification.



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