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GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION

981. Work Harder and Run Faster (Or Try Resting)

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Jewish people under the Old Covenant dedicated themselves to trying to follow a written blueprint (law) they believed would bring them to a place of God's acceptance. First, they felt favored and privileged as people who were born under the banner of such a covenant made between God and Israel. Now all they had to do was to actually do what the law said. They convinced themselves they were doing it—but they were really just working at establishing their own (self) righteousness, while being ignorant of God's righteousness.

Unfortunately, that failed blueprint is a considerable part of how many churches approach the idea of Christianity. Two different covenants get twisted and tangled leaving people frantically running a race in the wrong direction ... where the ditch seems to be the final destination.



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981. Work Harder and Run Faster (Or Try Resting)

by

Jewish people under the Old Covenant dedicated themselves to trying to follow a written blueprint (law) they believed would bring them to a place of God's acceptance. First, they felt favored and privileged as people who were born under the banner of such a covenant made between God and Israel. Now all they had to do was to actually do what the law said. They convinced themselves they were doing it—but they were really just working at establishing their own (self) righteousness, while being ignorant of God's righteousness.

Unfortunately, that failed blueprint is a considerable part of how many churches approach the idea of Christianity. Two different covenants get twisted and tangled leaving people frantically running a race in the wrong direction ... where the ditch seems to be the final destination.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

Get the book

981. Work Harder and Run Faster (Or Try Resting)

by

Jewish people under the Old Covenant dedicated themselves to trying to follow a written blueprint (law) they believed would bring them to a place of God's acceptance. First, they felt favored and privileged as people who were born under the banner of such a covenant made between God and Israel. Now all they had to do was to actually do what the law said. They convinced themselves they were doing it—but they were really just working at establishing their own (self) righteousness, while being ignorant of God's righteousness.

Unfortunately, that failed blueprint is a considerable part of how many churches approach the idea of Christianity. Two different covenants get twisted and tangled leaving people frantically running a race in the wrong direction ... where the ditch seems to be the final destination.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

Get the book

981. Work Harder and Run Faster (Or Try Resting)

by

Jewish people under the Old Covenant dedicated themselves to trying to follow a written blueprint (law) they believed would bring them to a place of God's acceptance. First, they felt favored and privileged as people who were born under the banner of such a covenant made between God and Israel. Now all they had to do was to actually do what the law said. They convinced themselves they were doing it—but they were really just working at establishing their own (self) righteousness, while being ignorant of God's righteousness.

Unfortunately, that failed blueprint is a considerable part of how many churches approach the idea of Christianity. Two different covenants get twisted and tangled leaving people frantically running a race in the wrong direction ... where the ditch seems to be the final destination.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

Get the book

981. Work Harder and Run Faster (Or Try Resting)

by

Jewish people under the Old Covenant dedicated themselves to trying to follow a written blueprint (law) they believed would bring them to a place of God's acceptance. First, they felt favored and privileged as people who were born under the banner of such a covenant made between God and Israel. Now all they had to do was to actually do what the law said. They convinced themselves they were doing it—but they were really just working at establishing their own (self) righteousness, while being ignorant of God's righteousness.

Unfortunately, that failed blueprint is a considerable part of how many churches approach the idea of Christianity. Two different covenants get twisted and tangled leaving people frantically running a race in the wrong direction ... where the ditch seems to be the final destination.



Download  GIGBite  YouTube

Get the book

957. Not One Command From the Law Brings Life

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Stop and think about the emphasis that is placed on the topic of faith within our churches and even within multiple religions. Those who believe in a supreme being may often identify themselves as "people of faith." The Apostle Paul stated that the commandments contained within the Mosaic law are not of faith—and yet we find a tremendous emphasis being placed on small portions of that law within the Christian church.

For those who were attempting to be doers of the law, God required the Jewish people under that law to obey all of it (which no one ever did). On the flip side ... Paul told believers in Christ that if they were going to attempt to cling to even one commandment from the law (such as circumcision), they would be obligated to keep the whole law package (containing 613 line items). The result would be a falling away or distancing from grace. He also articulated that if a single law could give life and righteousness, then those things would have been provided by such a law. But life comes by faith in a living Christ—not a religious system of works that seeks to establish phony self-righteousness.



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947. How Can I Be Sure I’m Right With God?

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Deep down within the hearts of people, ultimately everyone desires to know they are in a good place with their creator and are considered acceptable and right with Him. Most will pursue a religious path that attempts to do certain things—or avoid doing certain things—that will bring them to this place. Sometimes even those claiming to believe in Jesus begin to establish a mindset by hoping their good deeds will outweigh their bad and that it will be "good enough." The problem? They will never know if they have attained or succeeded in establishing right standing with God.

Changes in behavior can be beneficial for us and those around us. But this is nothing more than quicksand when it comes to our eternity and righteousness. The same is true for ceremonial traditions found within many different church brands. So how can one know they are in a place of righteousness before God or in right standing with God? It's our discussion on this week's podcast.



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815. Ungodly People Justified With Righteousness – Apart From Self-Improvement

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Christian believers have frequently fallen into the religious trap of thinking they are identified as “just a sinner” who needs to keep working harder at becoming something they think they have not attained yet. The mindset established is that they are “hungering and thirsting” for righteousness while working to make behavioral improvements in order to become “more righteous” and gradually coming to a place where they will (hopefully) make themselves more acceptable to God.

While lifestyle and changes in behavior can be a positive thing in this life, it has nothing to do with who God has declared you to already be as His child—having inherited His very nature and now gaining access to all things pertaining to life and godliness. The idea that we are trying to climb a spiritual ladder of self-improvement is a fairy tale which leaves people in the same hopeless position as those who were under the law in the faulty first covenant. It leads to one of two dead end streets: self-righteous hypocrisy or guilt and condemnation. Jesus did the work so we could live in a place of peace and rest.



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764. Inheriting Eternal Life: Jesus Said to Keep the Law?

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As believers in Christ, we are not under any of the law which was contained the Old Covenant. And yet, Jesus taught it frequently. When this occurred, who was Jesus speaking to and what was His purpose? Of course, it was ministered not to future believers—but to those (Jewish people) who were under the Mosaic law, and it was meant to bring them to the end of their pursuit of (self) righteousness by the works of that law.

So when someone would ask Jesus “what must they do” to inherit eternal life, He answered their law-based question with a law-based answer in order to bring them to the end of themselves. When looking forward to the New Covenant, He revealed life would be received by believing in Him.



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722. True or False: God’s Grace Encourages Sinful Behavior

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We recently received a correspondence that included a comment: “You can’t keep all of the Law, so don’t even try to keep any of it? Ok. How’s that adultery working out for ya??”

This was submitted from Program #711: The Dangers of Mixing Law and Grace (Part 1).

We take a few minutes to address this mindset which is rooted in a commonly misunderstood theory from the world of lifeless religion. Paul declared we are not under law, but under grace. Just because this is our reality in the New Covenant doesn’t mean God unleashed the dogs so they could run out into traffic. Grace does for us what the law could not … teaching us to deny ungodliness apart from fleshy, self-righteous effort.



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The Deception of Self Righteousness

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One of the biggest deceptions in the world, especially in the Church, is that of performance-religion and self- righteousness. There’s a huge emphasis on maintaining the moral standards of the so-called “Judeo-Christian-value system.”

We hear: “I’m a good Christian.” “I belong to a church.” “I go to a home group.” “I read my Bible.” “I pray every day.” “I give my tithes.” “I try to live a good life and do my moral best.” “I don’t need to be set free because I’m already free.”

In reality, these are the people who need freedom the most.

I haven’t really struggled with knowing right or wrong and good or evil. For me, it was discerning between a life of self-righteousness and righteousness by faith.

Two Sides to Self-Righteousness

There are two sides to self- righteousness, both equally deceptive in keeping people bound.

  1. The Good We Do!

    The first area of bondage that self- righteousness produces is what Jesus called “making the word of God of no effect.” It’s the belief that I have it all together, and I’ve done my part or “better than most.”

    Some people actually believe they have it all together and are fulfilling their side of a bargain with God. Jesus said to the Jews who thought they had it all together:

    … “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. … Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition ….” —Mark 7:9-13 (KJV)

    The Jews taught that there was a way to be righteous by keeping the law, even if it meant they had to bend the law to do so.
    But Paul said, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20 KJV).

    The law was designed to draw man’s attention to his sin! What Jesus was saying to the Jews was that by bending the law to make it workable, they made the law or Word of God of no effect!

    Simultaneously, there’s another side to this truth. JESUS IS THE WORD OF GOD! Legalism and self-righteousness makes JESUS and His work on the cross of no effect in our lives. If we could keep the law by our own efforts, then we’d have no need for Jesus!

  2. The Evil We Do!

    Legalism and self- righteousness create guilt, condemnation, and obligation. One of the purposes of the law was to make people see and understand that no one can be made righteous by keeping the law. The Jews were serving God, governed by rules, regulations and performance, which could never make them righteous before God. They needed to be set free, and so do many people today.

True Freedom:

We can never experience any form of freedom if we are not freed from the deception of performance-religion, legalism, and self-righteousness.

When Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32), He was saying: you will know “The Truth” (Jesus) and what He came to do. And Jesus will set you free from legalism, self-righteousness, and the condemnation and guilt of the law!

When we know “The Truth” about God’s love, we are set free from seeing an angry God who needs to be appeased and demands performance and sacrifice!

In Romans 3:21-25, Paul said:

“But now the righteousness of God WITHOUT the LAW is manifested … by faith of Jesus Christ … upon all them that believe… Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth … To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which BELIEVETH in Jesus.”

This is the freedom Jesus gave us. It’s this freedom we are to celebrate and grasp hold of every day!

Blessings,
Arthur Meintjes

Teaching from Oklahoma – “No Condemnation”

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My family and I went to Oklahoma last weekend and I spoke three times in two days. It was so much fun! Let me tell you something wonderful: People everywhere are making the connection between living by God’s grace and living in peace. People are discovering the drastic difference between the old covenant of law […]

The post Teaching from Oklahoma – “No Condemnation” appeared first on Sandra McCollom.

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