This is the third and final anniversary program as Mike and Joel reminisce about doing the podcast for the past 15 years. The discussion includes some of the “favorite” subjects that have been foundational to the program and how gaining an understanding of them will help free people from religious bondage.
Also, you can search for topics on the Growing in Grace website. Growing in Grace is not a donation-based or listener-supported ministry but is supported by listeners sharing the good news with others.
One of the things that we often focus on here at Growing in Grace is built around helping believers in Christ to understand the identity we now have in Him as a new creation. Sadly, people are seldom taught they are righteous, holy, complete, forgiven, perfected, saints, etc.
But a catch phrase that is often used to identify us as believers: We are “followers of Jesus.” Just exactly what is a follower of Jesus today? Get ready for a wide variety of different answers because it’s one of those talking points within Christianity which people don’t think too much about. Typically, we might think it has to do with following the teachings of Jesus. But as previous programs have revealed, Jesus often taught things related to the Old Covenant which targeted Jewish people who were under the law - impossible demands - now made obsolete since the cross.
Almost all references to those who were followers of Jesus are found in the four books of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)… people who literally and physically followed Jesus from one place to the next. But their following ceased at the cross as they were relocated to a New Covenant where they would be led by God’s Spirit. You’re not merely a follower, you are a child of God, living in union with Him.
Jesus always had a reason for His methods during His earthly ministry. But much of what He taught was not meant to be considered or received as New Covenant Christianity - yet we can still look back on it and benefit when considered in the proper context. As the Apostle Paul explained to the Galatians, Jesus was born of a woman under the Mosaic law so that He might redeem those who were under that law - the Jews needed to be delivered from that religious system which could only bring death and condemnation. To assume Jesus was usually teaching a new doctrine meant for future Christians has resulted in countless misinterpretations as to how the gospel is defined. Empty religious doctrines of men will scream that we should do our best to keep some of the commandments from that old law which is now obsolete. What’s the problem with this? “The law is not of faith!” Faith in Christ has no relationship with a law of works which can’t bring life.
When you mix peanut butter with chocolate, you might end up with a delicious peanut butter cup. If you take (portions) of the Mosaic law from the Old Covenant God made with Israel and mingle it with the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, you’ll end up with confusion and uncertainty. One of the primary ingredients that has led to this problem within the Christian religion is making the false assumption that the New Covenant began with the birth of Jesus. It pulls people into a misleading belief system that Jesus was usually communicating a new Christian teaching meant to be applied to our lives today. Certainly there were moments when He did look forward to the New Covenant, but His primary purpose while walking the earth as a man was to minister to Israel - those who were under the curse of the law - and to ultimately redeem them from it. Don’t fall into the trap of concluding that much of what Jesus taught was always meant for you personally. If that were true, we’d discover inconsistency with some of the writings from the apostles after the cross… not because they contradicted Jesus, but because two different covenants need to be kept in the proper context.