Growing in Grace Podcast: Recent Episodes
Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke
It's easy to look at "Bible characters" such as the apostles and assume they were some type of spiritual super-humans who understood everything there is to know about God.In their writings, there are references to growing in various ways when it comes to Jesus, our knowledge of the truth, His grace and love, etc. We'll always be learning, otherwise, eternity might get rather dull.Regardless of how God chooses to use people in extraordinary ways, it doesn't change the fact that we're all humans who depend upon God to reveal truth and enlighten us to grow in our spiritual understanding. This week, we'll look at just one example which left many Jewish believers and apostles divided due to a lack of understanding when it came to the first covenant and the new one that replaced it.
Our conversation this week takes a different approach on avoiding the judgment of others when it comes to trying to identify whether or not they are saved or considered as believers in Christ. We find passages in the Bible where it's easy to jump to the wrong conclusions and allow human speculation and misdirected theology of the written pages to put God in a box, which limits His love and grace.The brothers who shared the same mother with Jesus did not believe in Him. The disciples saw Him after His resurrection and worshipped Him—but some still doubted. Others who came to believe after the resurrection were also zealous for a law of works, considered as part of an ongoing formula that had been wiped out and abolished without them realizing it.We're providing some food for thought for all of us to consider. But Jesus promised something even better that can bring people to a place where they will never hunger or thirst again. That's the ball we should keep our eyes upon.
"So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you'" (John 6:53).This was one small piece of a passage that had people trying to figure out just exactly what Jesus was saying. This not only included those opposed to Jesus but also those who had been following Him. In fact, many of the disciples left at that point.Jesus asked the twelve who were left if they also wanted to depart. There are things Jesus said that contained words of truth where the understanding with the mind was unfruitful ... but something within their hearts that had been revealed about Jesus caused them to realize that He was their only hope for eternal life. The same is true today with people who lack understanding about spiritual things, statements from Jesus, and Bible writings. But this will not prevent God from revealing truth to us when it comes to Jesus. Believing doesn't require intellectual comprehension.
Chairs within church buildings are filled with people week after week who just want someone to tell them what they need to do to experience God's blessings and acceptance. They just want to know they are right with God.In John chapter 6, after seeing Jesus perform some miracles, a group of people went looking for Him across the sea—who previously had their stomachs filled with what started out as a few loaves and a couple of fish. Jesus accused them of not seeking Him because they saw signs ... but because of their experience at the all-you-can-eat buffet. It led them to ask the question: "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."Their next question was even more significant. Why? Because it put the focus on the Savior and His work to reconcile people to God instead of us trying to do something to experience the fullness of God's life and blessings. Partaking of the Bread of Life will keep people from hungering and thirsting for God's righteousness.
Have you been told that God will not provide blessings to you until you pass a test ... or a series of tests throughout your life? Imagine being in a state of mind that constantly has people wondering if God is withholding blessings as they try to figure out how to make themselves worthy. It's another one of those foggy notions religion likes to throw out there which leaves believers in Christ longing for more of what they think they do not have (and that they need to earn). Like the gift of salvation, it's not about your accomplishments but rather the gospel testifies of God's divine triumph for us who have received an inheritance.
This week is a spontaneous conversation we were not planning on doing—as it happened in real time. There are tons of different church brands out there. Most consider the pages of the Bible as the source for their beliefs. And yet, consider there are millions of different opinions and perspectives that may be very contrary to each other. Even within circles where individuals consider themselves a grace-minded person, it's easy to get caught in the trap of thinking it's our job as Christians to persuade others to believe every wind of Bible doctrine in the same way we do. This is just an indicator that we need human validation while trying to use Bible verses to "prove" our version of the truth. Anyone can bend biblical passages to their point of view—and can sound convincing—regardless of how accurate they may or may not be. The "I'm right" and "they're wrong" approach may have good intentions but it is not likely to be established or rooted in love and maturity. Growing in grace can help us with this as we lean on God's Spirit for guidance.
"Working for God" is a theme that gets tossed around in the religious world. The memo suggests that too much grace will throw things out of balance and will deceive people. You may have even heard some say grace is dangerous.Experiencing God's grace, peace and rest doesn't mean people should be encouraged to do nothing while their earthly life passes them by. The Apostle Paul said this: "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me (1 Corinthians 15:10). Paul wasn't boasting in himself that he worked harder than the other apostles. He plainly states he isn't the one doing the work ... but God working through him and with him. In Christ, we cease from our works as God did from His. There is no need to "repent" from bad behavior in order to be considered worthy. It is by the blood of Jesus we've been forgiven, saved and declared right with God. Living by the grace of God can help people to follow their heart freely, knowing it is God who is their life source.
If repenting is required in order to be saved, justified and sanctified, it might be good to know exactly what it means. How is it defined? Well, that will depend on which church brand you do business with. Some will tell you one thing while others communicate something quite different. But most will be quite vague and not very specific. If repentance is based on a change of behavior, how does one know when they have fully succeeded? Does one "repent" before or after believing in Jesus?When Jesus arrived on the ministry scene, He told some Jewish people to repent and believe the gospel. Repent from what? These folks were attempting to live by the ultimate blueprint when it came to behavior and works (the Mosaic law). To repent means to have a change of mind, nothing more. Jesus is announcing they should reconsider that path and look to some good news they would ultimately find in Him. And what is that? An eternal redemption providing God's righteousness as a gift, bringing an inheritance leading them to a place of perfection—apart from what they do.
What is the first thing you think of when you hear the words repent, repenting, and repentance? When someone from ChurchLand says people need to repent, they are usually communicating that the person who sins needs to stop sinning. But the messenger stating this hasn't stopped ... in spite of whatever sin reduction they may boast. So where does that leave them if God requires humans to stop committing sinful actions? Of course, a change in behavior and avoiding sin is going to be beneficial in multiple ways. But repentance goes much deeper than that. New Covenant repentance simply means to have a change of mind or to think differently (than we previously thought).In addition, we who have crossed over from legalistic mindsets into a better understanding of the gospel of grace may have a hard time changing our minds about various doctrinal beliefs about the Bible or what it contains. Sure, it was easy to declare we moved from works to faith and from religious law to grace. But when we've been teaching or proclaiming things for a while under the banner of "grace people," it's easier for some to double-down rather than to allow God's Spirit to reveal new perspectives that we previously missed. We'll never stop learning ... and it will free us from feeling the need to be right all the time.
Once upon a time there was a covenant made between God and the nation of Israel. It was based upon a law of hearing it and doing it. The ultimate goal was to be a doer of that word of law as they pursued right standing with God. In spite of how many may have thought they were performing as required, nobody could actually do it.About 1,500 years later, the fulfillment of that law arrived in the form of a Person who came to provide a new and better option to completely replace the old one. This covenant would be established between Him and God the Father, available for the entire world, based not on doing— but through faith and believing.The difference between the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of faith is infinite and eternal. It is important we don't confuse the two or blend them together. Our boasting is in Jesus and His doing.
Overheard inside a church building near you:"The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin.""Sin separates us from God.""Sin will hinder our fellowship with God."What if none of these things are accurate? Would it positively change how you see God in your daily life? What if the blood of Jesus was stronger than sin ... stronger than your fleshly works ... would it bring an indescribable peace that surpasses your understanding?Sometimes it's difficult to get the right answers without asking the right questions. Here is one example: Why would God repeatedly convict you or remind you—as a believer in Christ—of something that He declared He would no longer remember inside of a new and better covenant? This would only result in the same sin consciousness that the Jewish people were delivered from within a sacrificial system that brought a constant reminder of sins.Religious legalists will indirectly declare the work of the cross as insufficient and are forced into the dubious position of trusting in themselves. God's Spirit is there to convict/remind you of His righteousness and bears witness that sins were removed and taken away, once for all. His desire is to cleanse our conscience from dead works to experience an inheritance of eternal redemption ... through a new and living way.
The practice of inviting God into our presence may be something many of us have done and may still do without stopping to think much about it. There are various phrases used when the invitation is extended but they all pretty much imply that God isn't with us, and we would like Him to show up and make some sort of appearance. God never leaves you. He doesn't come and go. The "worship" environment we try to create within our surroundings has nothing to do with it. Prayer is not meant to be a monologue, nor should it be like trying to leave a heavenly voicemail. He doesn't need to send an RSVP to our invitation because He has invited us into His presence. His favorite thing to do is hang out with His children—at all times—while guiding us into the truth of Jesus and bringing comfort, peace, and joy.
Behavior improvement is a great thing. It can be profitable in multiple ways for yourself and those around you. Avoiding sinful options is always good advice. But our conduct and good works should not be considered as our testimony of faith in Jesus Christ. To do so is boasting in the flesh with an attitude of self-righteousness. It proudly screams, "Look at me!" Paul said if anyone thought they might have confidence in the flesh (of doing), he could surpass it even more. He wrote to the Philippians with an entirely different approach as one who does not have confidence in the flesh but rather, worships God in Spirit. He had a resume that was unmatched in being a keeper of the Mosaic law and the misguided righteousness found within it. But he counted it all as loss and nothing more than rubbish ... that was replaced with something better ... and that is Christ."And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (Philippians 3:9).The testimony for all of us is not something we perform to be temporarily seen ... but it is the Person of Jesus Christ and the gift of God's righteousness by faith. It's in knowing Him and the power of His resurrection. This only occurs apart from law and works.
When Jesus spoke about being His disciple, it contained some pretty overwhelming requirements to even qualify for a shot at the position. It's not unusual to see the world of religion try to "Christianize" something Jesus said that was specifically intended for those to whom He was speaking ... Jewish people who were still under the Mosaic law, before the cross. It meant hating family by comparison, carrying your own cross, and giving up all possessions.Jesus wasn't speaking to you but was showing would-be followers that they would be unable to cover the cost of what was needed. Only He could carry that cross in order to bring redemption.Compare the rigorous conditions of being a disciple of Jesus with this:"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).Notice the difference between working through your dedication and commitment at trying to become more like Jesus by what you do ... compared to letting Him release you from such a burden.
"Discipleship" is often a big theme inside of many church buildings. But when we are told to be disciples, what does it mean? What pops into your mind? What do you need to do to get there? Is it your level of dedication? Your commitment to God? To the church corporation? To unwavering Bible reading and prayer? Maybe you just automatically think of the twelve that followed Jesus ... and that you should do the same and "follow Him."A disciple is defined as a student or pupil—in other words—someone who learns from another. It was a significant part of the culture in Bible times to become like the teacher. Most who consider themselves disciples today are the result of having learned tenets and dogma from their church denomination (which may or may not have much to do with the gospel). While growing in the knowledge of the truth and learning more about God and the gospel can be a good thing to do, it does not make you who you are. It may surprise some to find out the word disciple never appears even once in any of the New Testament epistles ... indicating it is not meant to be a part of your identity in Christ.
Imagine seeking guidance from a trusted clergy or spiritual counselor who taught and instructed you to work hard at keeping a code of stone-tablet commandments in order to succeed at securing favor and blessings from God. Chances are good you won't have to imagine because you've experienced it firsthand. You were exposed to the two-headed monster known as law and grace.What they didn't understand was that they were pouring gasoline on the fire. The law written and engraved on stones is a ministry that no longer has glory. It was a source of death and condemnation. It was the strength of sin and it resulted in sin increasing ... not being reduced. The very thing Jesus came to redeem Jewish people from (the law) is the same thing that religion often burdens people with today ... albeit their own condensed version of it. It leads to bearing fruit for death, not life.The better way: Knowing your identity as one who has had their heart purified by faith, is declared righteous, holy, and perfected ... and is already like Jesus through an inheritance. Understanding that you are not identified any longer as a sinner will allow the Spirit of God to guide you into bearing His fruit for life.
We're continuing on the question as to why the Christian church world has largely mixed law and grace. Something that is often overlooked from the legalistic side of the fence is that the old Mosaic law of stone tablets was not rooted in or based upon faith. Think about that. The religious mixture emphasized so frequently has confused "doing" with faith—much like those who were under the law prior to the cross.Most have failed to realize the law of rules and regulations was not given to reduce sin ... but rather it resulted in sin increasing under that ministry. Today, Christians tend to formulate their own modernized version of law/works that may include some trace elements from the law contained in the first covenant for the Jewish people. The goal is to make it more doable so that people can feel as though they have contributed to improve their position with God.The law of works had a purpose ... but also had an expiration date for the Jewish people (until the Seed would come). Jesus came. Grace came with Him. This has overshadowed the shadow through a promise. Grace through faith is a guarantee found within the person of Jesus. It has no place being blended with something that was incapable of bringing life or righteousness.
There is a wide array of different church affiliations out there around the world and many have very differing points of view on many different things. But there are some common threads found through the spectrum. First, most believe that they pretty much use the Bible as the source for their beliefs. Second, they mix an "old covenant" that Israel was under with a new and better covenant established after Jesus died. The first covenant came through Moses and was based on pursuing righteousness by works and deeds. The second came by Jesus Christ, bringing a realization of grace and the gift of righteousness apart from works and deeds. Two very different covenants—manifested at different times—and were not alike.Naturally, this begs the question: Why do so many Christians and churches feel the need to have a "balance" by mixing law and grace? We offer some possibilities on this week's program.
Religion is man's attempt to do enough to make themselves acceptable to God. The grace of the gospel reveals something different ... and that is ... God did everything necessary to draw us near to Him. It's wrapped inside an eternal inheritance—guaranteed in Jesus Christ.When feeling overwhelmed by condemnation, know that you will never be able to "do enough" to position yourself to be right with God. Our right standing is based on what Jesus did as the mediator between us and God. Paul put it this way: "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh."When the fleshly GPS tries to take you to a dead-end street of doing in order to get a response from God, change direction by simply saying, "God did."
After more than twenty years of doing the Growing in Grace podcast, you might have guessed we like talking about the gospel, God's undying love, and overflowing grace. Nearly each week, our conversations use the Bible as a springboard ... and we're so thankful to be able to have these writings to look back upon.However, like with any religion who uses their own written material or "book" to guide them through a belief system, it is easy for the followers to place their faith in the written manual—not unlike a form of worship. Within the wide variety of Christian denominations and doctrines, it becomes somewhat like a competition on who has the more accurate interpretation ... which may be very different from another persuasion with a large following.Our conversation this week is an encouragement for all of us not to get so tangled within the tittles found on the pages ... and to keep our focus on Jesus—looking to Him as the author and finisher of faith. He is the truth, the life, and the only way to God. God gave Him as a covenant to both Jews and Gentiles. He provided us with a guide for this life ... not letters written with ink—but His living Spirit—as we look to that which is not seen.
Did Jesus really take away sins for all time? Was the blood He shed enough to complete what was necessary for eternal redemption or do you need to work at adding something to what He has done? How can you be sure your efforts of "doing" will bring justification without judgement? Many church goers have struggled with thinking the gospel revolves around right doing while going through life being needlessly worried about whether they are truly forgiven and in right standing with God. It's tricky because even the most aggressive of legalists can bait the top of the eye-pleasing dessert with some grace-like sugar sprinkled over a religious hook underneath.When it comes to us and our good or bad actions within the eternal life package, how much "doing" will be enough? How does that mesh with the blood of Jesus from the perspective of a new and better covenant? The good news is ... God's grace has no limitations.
The word "atonement" gets tossed around quite a bit in church circles, but it really isn't a word that should be associated within the context of the New Covenant. It was something more prevalent within the previous and now obsolete covenant the Jewish people were in before the cross. Atonement represented a covering that included a priesthood involving many repeated sacrifices that ultimately could not take away sins. It was a covering, and it was temporary. The blood of Jesus was shed once and took sins away forever ... to be remembered no more by God. When people today debate whether we have an unlimited atonement (or not) is simply displaying a lack of knowledge regarding the eternal redemption which came through Jesus Christ.Most of the corporate Christian church world has been stuck somewhere in-between these two very different covenants, making it harder for than it needs to be and putting unnecessary fear and pressure on themselves and others.
Many people who have already come to believe in Christ – who Himself in reality has set them free from the bondage of sin and death – are yet unfortunately living in a type of bondage. It’s a needless, unwarranted bondage that is based upon not knowing the fullness of the reality of all that was accomplished for them through God’s grace. Their daily lives consist of a struggle of wondering if they’re truly forgiven by God for all their sins, and wondering where they stand with God, when He has already done everything to provide full redemption through Jesus’ blood – the forgiveness of sins – according to the riches of His grace.Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus, and in Him we have access, by faith, into this grace in which we stand. The grace of God truly is something we can stand in, and Paul encourages us to do so – to stand firmly in the grace and freedom of Christ. God has set us free to live free lives, so let’s not submit ourselves to the bondage of trying to relate to God through our works.
One of the biggest things people struggle with is wondering where they stand with God. This certainly includes professing Christians who may attend a church building every week. In fact, that may be part of the problem if they are consistently hearing the wrong message. Am I truly forgiven? Am I doing enough? How can I be sure? What more is needed from me?There is a peace that passes understanding. It starts with knowing that God did everything necessary to bring us near to Him. Knowing in our hearts that we are justified by faith and not through religious efforts, having gained access by faith into this incredible grace He has extended to us. This is where we stand—whether we are aware of it or not. But it is beneficial to know and to embrace it by believing and receiving what the Holy Spirit bears witness to us ... that you are a child of God and He will never depart from you.
The mixed covenant message found within the majority of church buildings is one of great inconsistency and perhaps even hypocrisy. Traditions of men and false assumptions about the Bible have resulted in discounting the abundance of grace that came through Jesus Christ ... and advocating for an impossible law of obsolete rules and regulations—while focusing on a handful and ignoring the rest. Therefore, why not make it possible for us to become "doers" by altering the package! For example, murder, stealing and lying may stay on the required list, but which ones out of hundreds of others get thrown out that are also right there in that same law and often the same passage? The truth is that nothing in the Mosaic law was able to bring life or righteousness to the (Jewish) people who were once under it—and we were never under it. God provided a better way inside of a covenant that cannot fail. Any empty religion can trumpet for a code of conduct based upon behavior in the futile attempt to make themselves presentable to God—including the clothes they wear. Religious zealots who turn the gospel inside out with a works-based approach may suggest we're encouraging people to sin as much as they want because of God's infinite grace. The Apostle Paul was accused in the same way, but it is rooted in self-righteous deceit. Being under perfect grace through faith separates one from any kind of lifeless, religious rulebook, resulting in being made alive to God and dead to sin ... because of what Jesus did. It is rooted in His love.
The New Covenant is far better and more glorious than the old and obsolete one established with the people of Israel initiated during the days of Moses. In other words, the ministry of JESUS is superior to the first covenant containing the law. Why? The old way required the people to hold up their end of the agreement (they said they would do it—but they didn't). The new way of Jesus would be based on an oath God made—swearing to Himself—because he could swear by no one greater.A covenant is generally agreed upon by two or more parties. But this new way was established by God—between Father and Son—so that it could not fail and fault could not be found. It would be a covenant made available to all people—both Jews and Gentiles ... because the scripture has confined everyone under sin. In other words, everyone has fallen short and is in need of Jesus—the Savior who takes away the sins of the world.
Many who have attended a church for most of their lives can attest that they seldom or never heard teaching that revolves around the concept of the New Covenant. They may have been taught to view the Bible as one book, and in doing so, have been confused with a combination of two very different covenants that don't always translate into the true gospel.There are also some who don't believe there is a New Covenant available except to those who are Jewish. Paul spent a good deal of time explaining to Gentiles (in the flesh) the changes that took place since the cross and resurrection ... opening the gate to both groups to receive salvation and life by faith ... while leaving the old ministry of law in the dust.
As we keep browsing through the later part of Paul's letter to the Galatians, notice the contrast between flesh and Spirit. To Paul's dismay, the Galatians had been baited into adding works and law to their faith in Christ. Paul was trying to pull them out of the ditch and steer them back onto the road less traveled ... walking by the Spirit and bearing the fruit of the Spirit, where there is no law. Interestingly, notice Paul's point about how the Jews who were encouraging circumcision were not successful law keepers ... but were seeking bragging rights in the fleshly works of the Gentiles because of their recruiting efforts:"As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:12-14)
Did Paul encourage the Galatians to keep the Mosaic law? In spite of the many church teachings we've been exposed to over the years, the answer is no. But one may ask, didn't Paul encourage his audience to work on loving their neighbor as themselves? Isn't this the key summary to people fulfilling that burdensome law? If we chop up one verse without the context, some may assume this is what he said. So let's zoom out and then take a closer look.Not even this one law from the law could bring life or righteousness. It is not our goal to try to keep it or any lawful command attached with a condition. We have a new motivation as believers in Christ.Paul begins to contrast the flesh with the Spirit. The flesh can sometimes look sinful and ugly, while at other times it may appear very religious and good outwardly. Jesus fulfilled the law; therefore, the better option is walking by the Spirit and being led by the Spirit in order to avoid all of the old and unprofitable law entirely ... including modernized versions of it.
As Paul nears the end of his letter to the Galatians, he begins to wrap up his thoughts expressed previously, with a big "therefore" to start chapter 5. The exhortation is centered on standing firm in the freedom which came to them through belief in Christ alone, while avoiding the temptation of doing something to make themselves acceptable to God.They began their journey in the Spirit until some "bewitchers" came along to steer them into a mixture of the Mosaic law and grace. Paul reveals that attempting to be justified by law and works instead of faith working through love will send them in the opposite direction of grace. This is the good news gospel. If Paul had written and suggested that they need to do more to prove outwardly they are Christians—starting with circumcision and other works of the law—that would have been a burdensome epistle and quite a "different gospel."
Bible chapters and verses can cause us to trip, skip and miss the crux of the context. Paul isn't hopscotching around on a variety of topics as he writes to the Galatians, but keeps making his points that piggyback off of one another as the letter flows. And it all revolves around a law of works that was once given to Israel and how it contrasts with life found in grace through faith for all people (Jew and Gentile).This time, we're in Galatians 4, where there is verbiage being used about slaves, guardians, and stewards ... along with children and heirs ... and how the illustration involving some cultural things of that day compare to two covenants (the old and the new). One covenant from Mt. Sinai brought bondage because of human effort, while the other brought freedom through a promise that God made.
There is one true promise keeper - God. None of us were even nominated or received honorable mention. No "A" for effort. It is an unchanging and eternal promise for those who believe, which began in the days of Abraham and carried through to the Seed - Jesus Christ. Once the Seed had come, the Jewish people were no longer considered as being under the "guardian" ... known as the law of commandments.Many from the twelve tribes would struggle with Paul's message along these lines. But because of this truth—both Jew and Gentile were able to begin to identify as children of a royal family by faith. The law was a dead-end street and was not connected to the faith freeway. But those who belong to Christ are considered as Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. We're mining for gold in Galatians Chapter 3.
Continuing in Galatians Chapter 3, Paul was providing these believing Gentiles with a hard-hitting explanation of why they do not want to pursue works of the law—which they were never under—in order to perfect themselves. They began in the Spirit and were being coerced into thinking they needed Jesus plus works in order to be justified. This was a common mindset among believing Jews in the early church. After all, it wouldn't be "fair" for believing Jews to be required to continue in the law while non-Jewish people were let off the hook regarding that burdensome ministry.Redemption for both Jews and Gentiles came by a promise, through faith ... and the law was not of faith. It came by inheritance, gifted to us who have received the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Paul appears frustrated as he addresses "you foolish Galatians" in the beginning of Chapter 3. Why? They had started out receiving the Spirit of God by faith but were being lured by a more popular persuasion from men who came from James—and had started to convince these Gentiles to adhere to the old Jewish law in combination with faith in Christ. This led to Paul carefully laying out an explanation over the next couple of chapters or so of how works and faith could not be mixed when it came to their salvation and right standing with God.Abraham and the foundational message of a promise made to him by God will be Paul's launching pad to explain how the law was a curse and was not of faith. It will be fruitless and ineffective for them to think perfection could come through works (the flesh).
We're wrapping up our recent series about some things found in the letter from James to believers in Jesus from the twelve tribes of Israel ... and the contrasts found with Paul's writings. One example we'll look at is in James 4, where an old covenant mindset is communicated about telling believers to draw near to God which will result in Him drawing near to them. He said they should work at cleansing their hands and purifying their hearts. How? By avoiding becoming a judge of the law but rather a doer of it. It was a follow-through to what was stated earlier in the letter.Our identity is not meant to be found in what we do and see, but as believers who trust in the sufficiency of Christ and what He did. There is a theme within the letter that focuses much on works of the law and externals—compared to Paul who exhorted people to look at the things which are not seen—who are already declared as clean, justified and sanctified apart from their actions.The summary here is that most believing Jews at this time thought the law was still in place for them and was to be mixed with faith in Jesus as a way to attain righteousness and justification. There was a greater grace—but the law was still part of their landscape. Paul came along with what was considered controversial teaching by many for which he was harshly persecuted because of his message that the Jews had been redeemed from the law and that they and Gentiles could be saved and inherit righteousness apart from such a law of works.Does this mean the letter from James should not be in the Bible? We believe having it included actually validates the other things we find in the New Testament. There is an overall divine inspiration being provided ... but that doesn't necessarily mean that every "verse" is coming as a quote directly from the mouth of God. That is not an accurately pure interpretation of how the word "inspired" should be defined as a verse-by-verse assumption. Zoom out from the verses (which were never included in the original scripts) and we'll find the writings as a whole provide an inspiration of a much bigger picture regarding our need for God and how He met that need with the promise of His Son. Perfect grace. Perfect love. No quid pro quo. No strings attached.
Throughout the pages of the New Testament, we see numerous examples of how there were Jewish people coming to believe in Jesus, but understandably also believed the law of Moses was still in place for them. The Apostle Paul came along a short while later with a gospel message he claimed was taught directly to him by divine revelation ... to declare the former law had been put aside and nailed to the cross. His message was that life could not be found in the law which had now come to an end, and that the Jewish people had been delivered from such a burdensome ministry of death and condemnation.But he was in the minority and suffered much persecution because of it. Various places within the New Testament show how James and his council of leadership within the Jerusalem church were part of this persuasion who believed that the Mosaic law was a component towards attaining salvation/justification (for the Jew). They also encouraged at least portions of it for the believing Gentiles. By not ignoring this important part of the big picture within the scriptures, we can begin to see how all of these books (including the works-based letter from James) harmonize with each other to tell the story. The story of what was happening with the struggles in the early church at that time—but more importantly—the message of Jesus and how eternal life is found in Him as a gift by grace through faith ... apart from works.Here's the playlist for our previous series, "Faith and Works, Paul and James."
Continuing with program #3 of our series on being a "doer of the word" and what this was meant to be about...The "law of liberty" is seen twice in the New Testament, both times used by James in the first two chapters of his letter written to the twelve tribes of Israel which had been scattered to different regions. If doing an online search to find out what the law of liberty is ... like many other Bible topics ... be prepared to see no fewer than hundreds of different opinions. But as we springboard off the context from chapter 1 of his letter and move into chapter 2, we'll notice clearly how James is using this phrase as a reference to the law of Moses—something he also refers to as the royal law.Within this context, he encourages his audience to follow all of that law and to speak "and do" as those who will be judged by that law—what he calls a law of liberty—but had just defined it as the Mosaic law. James would double-down to say faith without works is dead (useless) and that one cannot be justified by faith without works (of the law). He will declare that faith is perfected by works ... the precise opposite of what Paul said in his writing to the Galatians at the beginning of chapter 3. Even when using the example of Abraham, there is a conflict with what Paul said along the same lines, which we will cover more on the next program.
James made a statement in his letter to the twelve Jewish tribes ... believed by most historians to be the earliest writing in the pages known as The New Testament. "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22). This passage, along with what follows has a consistent but curious theme of externals, doing and works—and all under the topic of righteousness, salvation and justification.In program #2 in this brief series, we continue to take a closer look at the entire context of what James said shortly before this (and after). Have you ever stopped and asked yourself what he meant by "the word?" Modern-day believers may skim over it and think that James is telling us to be a doer of the Bible (whatever that means). But in order for these Jewish believers to be able to meet this goal of identifying as a doer, it would have to be something specific that they were already familiar with ... and something they could see, hear and do—dare we say—something being read and heard in synagogues every week on the Sabbath.
The popular phrase from the Old Testament known as, "The Ten Commandments" is more rightfully interpreted as "The Ten Words." Is it a big deal? Perhaps not, but we wanted to point out a few things about this to lay some groundwork before getting into something that James wrote to his believing Jewish brothers and sisters from the twelve tribes.James made a statement to them about being a doer of "the word" and not a hearer only. It's easy to brush past this, but let's put on the brakes and check it out in context. Just exactly what did James mean by being a doer of the word? How we answer this becomes a bigger deal. He also said that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. So what is it precisely that James believes will produce the righteousness of God? What did he mean when referring to the law of liberty? Is it a grace thing found within the New Covenant or something else? We'll dive into it and offer some perspectives over the next few programs.
When we shrink the message of the good news down to a few Bible verses which have been yanked out of context, it can turn into a scary place to hang out. For example, Jesus spoke about some people who would one day be told to depart from Him ... and that He never knew them. Believers can misunderstand such a passage and make it their life's goal to work at doing whatever it takes to never hear those words being spoken to them.Jesus told some religious scholars that harlots and tax collectors would enter into the kingdom of God before they would. Why? The disciples asked what they must do to work the works of God. Jesus didn't dictate an instruction manual but answered by saying, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."Understanding our identity as believers in Christ is a foundational launching pad for us to come to a place of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The one who strives to be identified as a doer by performing what they consider to be mighty works in the name of Jesus ... will mistakenly think this entitles them to a reservation in the kingdom.
Never mind the millions of opinions, interpretations, and thousands of church corporations and denominations about what is inside the pages of the Bible ... there is also an immeasurable number of thoughts and assumptions just about the Bible itself and what it is or isn't. Some of us were instructed to make it required reading on a daily basis. Others may have been told it is our daily bread and without ingesting it as frequently as eating food, we might starve spiritually.Of course, we're thankful for these writings (we talk about them every week on the podcast). But anything—even something as potentially beneficial as Bible reading—can become a lifeless religious exercise that can sadly feel like a burdensome activity because of what others have told us. And everyone will have a different viewpoint on how to read it, how often, etc., without any guarantee of walking away with a better understanding of the gospel. Knowing we can pick up the pages because we want to instead of being guilted into it will make things more enjoyable ... and probably more profitable.
This week, we take a look back at some of the things we were coaxed into thinking and doing as it was being fed to us through our legalistic religious surroundings and misunderstandings ... as we strived to do whatever we thought was necessary to make sure we were in "God's good graces." After all, we were told of the risks of potentially losing fellowship with God (although the specifics were mysteriously missing in the fine print). Do more. Pray more. We thought that maybe "more" would be enough. Maybe.You may be able to relate to our experiences a little bit, because sadly, many believers in Christ have been in a consistent state of panic—wondering whether they are still loved by God or still accepted because of things they have done. They begin to feel a false sense of contamination—and then condemnation— and will attempt to get their compass pointed in the right direction by doing things to make up for it. Their "faith" or belief becomes centered around their dedication and commitment to God instead of what God has already done for us through His Son. There will be no need for us to graduate by earning a spiritual senior discount when we begin to understand the things that have already been freely given to us by God.
Try harder, do more, read the Bible more, be extra dedicated to church, pray more (and sometimes pay more). Someone wrote to us to share their background of feeling obligated to spend as much time as possible working to do everything they could "to connect with God." Many of us can relate to chasing the imaginary spiritual golden carrot that seemed to dangle just out of our reach. In their words, it left them exhausted—and the enemy will use this against us—while we lose sight of our identity as a believer in Christ. Jesus had a message for the religious workaholic: He desires to give rest. It's the opposite of exhaustion. Unlike the law that the Jews were pursuing, it's the opposite of burdensome. His yoke is not one of imprisonment, but it is light and easy. When we begin feeling spiritually or emotionally weary and overloaded, we're probably traveling in the wrong direction—and God wants to help us with that.
God desires to reveal Himself to us. It is not something that is comprehended with the mind or intellect but is spiritually discerned. While our knowledge may grow and our minds become renewed when it comes to understanding the truth of the gospel, the revelation comes from God's Spirit to our spirit in the heart of our innermost being. It opens the spiritual eyes of our understanding.It is not rooted in an academic approach because God's revelation surpasses knowledge and Bible philosophy or theology—and it is centered on the person of Jesus Christ. As we've been discussing, God's will for us is based more on knowing the living Christ than it is simply having knowledge about Him.
Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" After they answered, He then asked, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter spoke up and said that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus declared that Peter was blessed because flesh and blood had not revealed this to him, but it came from the Father in heaven. Peter probably wasn't even aware of his source at the time ... but he didn't hear it from another human who was trying to recruit him as a convert or a visitor for the Sunday School class. This wasn't a "one and done" where Peter would be the only person to receive such a revelation. God desires to reveal so much to us by His Spirit who now abides in the hearts of believers in Christ ... and it may be happening much more than we realize. But it all begins with not just having knowledge about Jesus, but knowing Him. It goes beyond a philosophical or intellectual belief.
Love may be the most talked about thing in every corner of the world while also being at the forefront of what people think about throughout their daily life. After all, we're pretty much bombarded with it everywhere we turn—at least in various forms—in our songs, books, entertainment, relationships, etc. Certainly, our churches focus much on love, especially about God's love and the importance of loving each other.But do we really understand love? Can it even be comprehended intellectually with the mind, or does it go much deeper? Is love just a feeling? An emotion? Love exposes the naivete of atheists who are found to be in over their heads, failing to effectively explain the love factor into their silly equation of a Godless universe—because they can't resolve what they don't know or have not experienced.What about the individual sitting near the back row week after week in the corner of the church building? Have the doctrines of men kept them from recognizing and realizing the revelation of the One who is love? Clearly, God wants us to know the love of Christ (which surpasses knowledge) and to truly believe in this love that He has for us. When our hearts begin to receive what the Spirit desires to reveal, it changes everything.
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.
In Matthew 22, Jesus had just silenced the Sadducees at one of His press conferences. After seeing this, and after a quick huddle with his co-workers, a reporter for the Pharisees couldn't resist a follow-up question in the attempt to test Jesus when it came to the subject of something near and dear to their hearts. "What is the great commandment in the law?"Jesus answered: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."The corporate church world has generally made this a foundation for the Christian life. But the key words in the question that Jesus answered was "in the law" ... referring to the law of Moses which was still in effect at that time for Israel. But it is a law Gentiles were never under and was made obsolete for Israelites after the cross and resurrection. It is a commandment no one had ever kept nor has anyone successfully fulfilled it since. The "great commandment" is not the message of the gospel as suggested by those who blend the Bible into one book as if two very different and incompatible covenants were meant to be mixed together. Love is still the answer—but in a very different context.
If repentance is based upon changes in behavior or if it specifically means to turn from sin, how can someone know they have truly reached a place where they can be defined as one who has attained the required plateau of having repented? Turning from sinful behavior is good advice, but when religion includes it in the context of repenting, things get a bit vague and uncertain as to whether that means reducing your sin count or eliminating sin altogether ... and leaves people in a place where they wonder if they are right with God—unaware that God is no longer counting sins against them.A works-based religious system touts a message that believers are broken people who are in constant need to be fixed and that it's our responsibility to accomplish this. Let's repent by changing our thinking—realizing God no longer sees us in Christ as "sinners" but as children who have been gifted with righteousness through an inheritance. We have the life of God and His Spirit abiding within as holy and perfected people. We can begin living from this reality and experience it in the here and now.
John stood in the middle of a river calling for Jewish people to repent—because the kingdom of heaven was at hand—and to be cleansed with water. Although there is no record of the Pharisees being baptized by John, they also were not surprised or shocked by such a cleansing ritual where people would confess their sins ... which was common under the law. However, they were curious as to the motivation and purpose of this one who came from the priestly tribe. The old priests didn't go to the people, the people went to the priest.After John's arrest, Jesus would go out among the Jewish people saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” But exactly what was it that Jesus was calling for these people to do when He said to repent—these who were under the Mosaic law? If we assume His intent was to get them to stop sinning, He could have simply stated to work harder at keeping the law they were trying to live up to (but constantly failed at doing). Yet we know the law never resulted in reducing sin, but increasing it.As we've done many times on the podcast over the years, we'll review the meaning of the word repent or repentance from the Greek and provide some specific consistency within the context. To repent is a good thing, but empty religion has defined it in a way that makes it impossible for people to do and only leads to a sin consciousness which Jesus came to free people from.
Many interpretations of scripture are rooted from a certain mindset. Assumptions about certain things related to the Bible and its content can lead to a point of view which may or may not be true. Bible verses that get singled out and quoted without the proper context of the passage or even the gospel message itself can result in people being misinformed.A listener had written to us asking if there was any advice we could give regarding the proper understanding of context ... especially as it may relate to what was written directly for us as believers in Christ compared to issues being addressed by the writers to those specific people of that time in the early years after the cross.There may not be a perfect answer to such a question, but we talk it out to provide some food for thought.
When we talk about the once-for-all forgiveness found in the one sacrifice through the blood of Jesus, we'll often notice a variety of spiritual muscle spasms from those who had a (1) particular Bible verse taken out of context and pounded into them for many years, found in 1 John 1:9.Considering what we have covered in recent programs about forgiveness, how does this mesh with what we find in other passages? Was John really talking to believers to encourage them to remember to confess each individual sin ... sins that God declared He would no longer remember inside of a new and better covenant? And if that were true, where would it leave a person if they didn't confess every wrongdoing? Can we walk in and out of fellowship with God while consistently going back and forth between abiding in the light or darkness? Is it confession or blood that causes us to receive forgiveness?One more question that absolutely needs to be answered within our hearts: Is the forgiveness of sins from God dependent upon you or something you do ... or is it the result of a Savior who bled, died and rose one time? Let's get some answers with a consistent context that will help make people truly free indeed.
If a believer in Christ becomes tempted to ask God for more forgiveness over and over, this is a sign they have not yet come to realize the plenitude of God's forgiveness that came through the one sacrifice of Jesus. It implies a lack of confidence in His shed blood. But since this is what the bulk of the religious message has coached people to do ... habits and uncertainties can be a challenge to break, especially when approaching these things from an old covenant perspective.There were many priests under the Mosaic law who daily offered animal sacrifices time after time, yet never taking away sins. They could only provide a temporary covering. Sins kept happening so the blood of bulls and goats kept rolling down the sacrificial conveyor belt. And now the good news ... But the one High Priest (Jesus) "having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God." Why was this Priest able to sit down after the sacrifice of Himself? Because the issue of forgiveness was completed. He finished the job.
Even those claiming to be believers in Christ have experienced a fear of not being forgiven by God, sometimes walking around in guilt and condemnation rather than peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Many have been taught that repeated forgiveness is needed when we stumble—that we are forgiven for past sins up to this moment, but frequent requests must be made to God for more forgiveness when sin rears its ugly head again.Context is often missing and leads to misunderstandings when we see a statement like Jesus made to His disciples ... that God would only forgive them if they would forgive others. If they did not forgive others, God would not forgive them. (Gulp!). Then we assume Jesus was also speaking to us in this reference. This would not be good news for anyone.Let's take a closer look at what religion refuses to teach—that the blood of Jesus brought a permanent forgiveness of sins with a single sacrifice "for all time" (past, present, and future).
Even many who are stuck in certain degrees of legalism might agree with our recent discussions about salvation being offered as a gift by grace through faith. But they can't resist the temptation to somehow make works a part of the equation. One way of doing this is to suggest salvation is free and instantaneous (then listen for the "but"), BUT sanctification is a gradual process that we participate in - meaning our behavior and works. Before you know it, well-meaning believers are taking credit for their "sanctification" and thereby are receiving more blessings as they boast about themselves.It may sound correct to the religious mindset, but let's take a look at how God has already gifted us with sanctification through Jesus Christ, just as He did for salvation. We'll land in a place where our boasting is in Jesus and what He provided for us that we could not do for ourselves.
Welcome aboard ... as it occurred to us after starting this program that we have now been doing the Growing in Grace podcast for 19 years. Springboarding off of recent programs, we examine the typical mindset that is often adapted within a multitude of church buildings where they focus on what they consider to be wrong with people instead of the goodness we've received as believers in Christ. This leads to the futile attempt of doing or avoiding a variety of things that will "hopefully" bring people to a place where they are considered clean and more acceptable to God, but it is usually followed by repeating the same efforts over and over.Anything that you are taught that you "must do" in order to be considered right with God is not the gospel but a fable. So let's ask the question ... is Jesus truly a Savior or is He not? Did He do everything necessary to save to the uttermost or are we responsible for our eternity by our actions? If the latter is true, then He died for nothing.
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.
We've heard from so many listeners around the world over the years who came to be enlightened by God's perfect love, grace and once-for-all forgiveness. It can be stunning when coming to realize just how good the gospel message is while experiencing freedom from religious routines ... and coming to grips with how very different it is when compared to the many things we've been taught by religious tradition that seeks to establish right standing with God through human effort.It's different and so much better to experience Jesus as our peace. But some will wonder how they should proceed as believers in Christ who are taking on a new mindset which may go against many of the things they've embraced as their most cherished and sacred assumptions. The focus of this week's conversation will be a reminder that we have much more than writings in the Bible, but as believers in Christ, we have the unique blessing of being able to interact with the living God by one Spirit who lives within.
The Apostle Paul said: "But now we have been delivered from the law." We often apply a phrase such as this to us who are believers in Christ today who typically are not from a Jewish background. We'll offer a perspective on who Paul was specifically addressing from Romans 7 and how removing the dividing wall of separation (the law of commandments) brought Jews and Gentiles together in Christ.When huddled with His disciples, Jesus said: "Do not think that I came to destroy (abolish) the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." While it was not the mission of Jesus to arrive on earth to declare the law as abolished, He did complete what He came to do—which was first to fulfill it—and this resulted in the law from the Old Covenant being abolished in His flesh and fully annulled and set aside (or cancelled). When scanning the scriptures in the Bible or hanging out in a mixed-covenant church culture, understanding who was being spoken to, what was being said and when it was said will help us to avoid blending law and grace ... while growing in the knowledge of the truth about the gospel that offers a better hope than an obsolete covenant of works (which we were never alive to).
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).
We're concluding our series on salvation coming to the Gentiles (this is the 10th program). After the endeavor by James and the church leadership in Jerusalem of trying to convince Paul to deny what he was teaching and to participate in an Old Covenant cleansing ceremony in the attempt to make peace with Jews who were zealous for the law ... Paul was nearly killed by the zealots — many of whom believed in Jesus — and ultimately he was arrested. His course was now completely changed for the rest of his earthly days, living in chains. Having been warned twice by the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem, Paul could have avoided all of this, but he wanted to go and was prepared to be bound and even die on this journey.Ultimately, Paul would end up under "house arrest" for a couple of years in Rome, where he invited leaders of the Jews to come to him — who were unfamiliar with "the sect" of the Jesus movement other than they knew it was spoken against everywhere. Perhaps Paul's former reputation as a Jew devoted to the ministry of the law from his younger days still carried weight among some of the unbelieving Jews ... because Paul gained an audience with them ... sharing and persuading them of Jesus from morning until evening by using the writings from the law and the prophets. Some believed, others did not.Paul warned those Jews who refused to believe, using words from the prophet Isaiah and then this follow-up regarding their rejection of the Messiah:Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it! And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him (Acts 28: 28-31).
We're nearing the conclusion of our series on the challenging time of transition after the resurrection related to Gentile controversies from the book of Acts. Taking a look at Acts 21, where Paul went to Jerusalem to address some issues head-on ... knowing he may end up suffering or even facing death. This would have been about a decade after the heated debate centered around Gentiles back in Acts 15 with other apostles and elders. This time, he met with James and the leadership council from the "church headquarters" in the city. Paul was eager to share what God was doing among the Gentiles and they all rejoiced. But there was still a barrier causing a division or separation between Jews and Gentiles. That barrier of hostility was connected to the law of Moses which was still being embraced among the church leadership and their community.Many Jewish people were also coming to believe in a risen Jesus, but remained zealous or fervent for the Mosaic law ... a law that Paul had been teaching was abolished and a ministry of death and condemnation from which Jews had been fully redeemed. These newer believers who were passionate for the law were unhappy to hear Paul was proclaiming these things and some wanted death for him. During this private meeting, those who were present from the Jerusalem church attempted to convince Paul that he should squash the rumors of his teachings, denouncing them as empty hearsay, and declare he also was zealous for the law and traditions of Moses ... while participating in an old covenant cleansing ceremony. But ultimately, Paul would not compromise his message, as he would escape death for a period of time and primarily spend the rest of his days as a prisoner ministering a gospel of grace apart from works.
Continuing in our series about the controversies in the early years of the church regarding salvation for Gentiles and whether Jewish religious law should apply to them, we compare what James said in Acts 15 to some things Paul said about the question of eating meat that had been sacrificed to an idol. In the effort to alleviate confusion about whether Gentiles should follow the law of Moses, the declaration given in writing ended up eventually causing more confusion among non-Jewish believers in Christ. It was a significant disruption in their everyday lives.There is quite a contrast with what Paul would say to Gentile converts in comparison to the original letter that was sent from James and the church council a few years earlier. But considering the cultural clash about some issues in that day between Jews and Gentiles, his bottom-line exhortation would be ... in spite of them being free from law and that all things were lawful ... to filter everything through love while considering those who may be weaker in faith and are more susceptible to a guilty conscience.
The scene takes place about a decade or so after it came to light that Gentiles could be saved. In Acts 15, a contentious debate occurred between apostles and other Jewish elders and leaders in the early church at Jerusalem. Should non-Jewish believers in Christ be forced to abide by the Mosaic law ... as these believing Jews thought they were still supposed to follow? Gentiles never had the law. James provided a compromise of sorts. He sided with the team of Peter and Paul - that Gentiles should not be burdened with the law in the same way as Jews - but it often gets skipped over that he made exceptions to the "rule." James listed four things from the law that he felt Gentiles should do going forward.We'll begin to take a look at these lawful line items, and what it would mean for the Gentiles of that time within their culture as they would be trying to live in harmony with nearby Jewish believers who still embraced Moses. These four things were not merely 4 commandments out of 613 from the law, but were more like categories which would involve much more than what it initially looked like on paper, and would unnecessarily result in a much bigger burden than what would have been initially understood.
After Peter's revelation of Gentiles coming to faith - which coincided with Paul arriving on the scene - non-Jewish people were beginning to believe in Jesus and to receive the Spirit resulting in eternal life. The wildfire began to spread throughout certain regions. But it collided head-on with Jewish believers in positions of high authority who jumped to the wrong conclusion that these believing Gentiles needed to adhere to circumcision and other aspects of the law of Moses in order to be truly saved.It resulted in "no small dissention" and "much debate," and it was suggested that the Gentile converters gather for a meeting at the church headquarters in Jerusalem, where Paul and Peter (among others) would meet with the apostles, the council and elders to determine if Gentiles who never had the Mosaic law should be required to follow it as those Jewish believers in Jerusalem assumed they were still required to do.
In Acts 13 and 14, after what may have been close to a decade after the resurrection, Paul was in the early days of his ministry of the gospel to Gentiles and also Jewish people. He and Barnabas connected in the region of Antioch for about a year, finally opening the message of salvation available to Gentiles found through faith in a risen Jesus.But first they addressed Jews who gathered at the nearby synagogue on the weekly Sabbath to hear a customary reading of the law of Moses. Some received their gospel message, but just as many did not ... and the city became divided. Jews who were advocates for the old law didn't appreciate being told that only Jesus could bring them forgiveness and freedom—while the law never could.This ... combined with Gentiles coming to faith in Christ ... led Paul's Jewish contradictors to stone him while in one particular city, and dragged him out of the town to be left for dead. This would just be Round 1. The bell would ring, and Paul would get up and head boldly back into the ring, undeterred by those who threw rocks while they were clinging to the stone tablets.
Continuing with the 4th program in our series about Gentiles coming to faith in Christ, after God revealed to Peter that non-Jewish people could be saved and should no longer be considered unclean as they were under the Mosaic law ... the word about this had reached other apostles and Jewish believers. In Acts 11, Peter was "called on the carpet" and accused of doing the unthinkable by not only rubbing shoulders with some of those dirty Gentiles, but also eating grub with them that was prohibited by the law.Peter would go on to explain his story of the vision he had about Gentiles coming to faith and receiving the Spirit, but it's another example of how even witnesses to the risen Jesus and early believing Jews were still of the mindset that they were to abide by the old law—unaware that outsiders could even be saved. Adding Gentiles to the equation would complicate their message of law and grace ... and even divide many of these believers for many years to come.
Under the Mosaic law of stone tablet commandments, Gentiles (non-Jewish people) were considered unclean outsiders who were to be avoided by (old) covenant people. They fell into the same category as camel casserole, bacon burgers, and lobster for lunch. Therefore, in the first number of years after the ascension of Jesus, believing Jews were sharing the good news with other Jews ... and not the outsiders. Some might ask the question why the apostles would have assumed the law was still in effect when Paul made it clear that it had been abolished and brought to an end. On the other hand, until Peter had his vision (Acts 10) telling him this was now different, why wouldn't they assume the law was still in place? Paul hadn't made the scene yet with his revelations about the gospel because he was too busy having Christians killed.Let's try to put ourselves in their sandals as we look through these pages. We'll take a look at something Jesus told his disciples when He had sent them out during the time of His earthly ministry. Plus, let's not forget about the "dog woman" who approached Jesus back at that time when the law was still in place (before the cross).
Program #2 in our series shows Peter receiving a vision from God about unclean food prohibited by the Mosaic Law. God told him to eat it, but Peter replied saying he would never eat anything that was considered to be common or unclean. God responded by telling him not to call anything unclean that He declared to be clean. Of course, the next day Peter put two and two together when he realized that there was also something else considered unclean by the standard of the Mosaic law ... it was Gentiles.By God's direction, Peter would end up going to meet with a group of Gentiles. He pointed out to his host, Cornelius, that it was considered unlawful for a Jewish man like himself to meet with the outsiders of other nations (Gentiles). But when God's Spirit fell upon those (formerly) considered unclean ... Peter's Jewish friends were amazed and astonished at what they saw (they had not witnessed this before). Although it was nearly a decade after the cross, Gentiles were finally receiving God's Spirit and being saved ... all thanks to a new revelation about the law being set aside and taken out of the way.
This is the first in a series of programs about the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) seemingly not having the gospel preached to them for nearly a decade after the cross and resurrection of Jesus. It may surprise some believers and even avid Bible readers that the focus in those early years by the apostles and other Jewish believers was to spread the message of Jesus to their Jewish brethren. This is very interesting since Jesus plainly stated they should go to all nations. Also, the many prophetic scriptures from the Old Testament looked forward to Gentiles coming to salvation. After Jesus ascended and the Spirit came down upon people ... even Peter's speech in Acts chapter 2 quotes the prophet Joel, looking to a day when God's Spirit would be available to all and that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So how did Gentiles seem to fail to show up on the radar for 7 to 10 years when it came to spreading the message of salvation through Jesus? People can speculate as much as they want, but one thing is certain ... it had to do with the Mosaic law that they thought was still in effect.
The problem with taking lengthy passages of scripture and chopping them into individual Bible verses is the frequent attempt to interpret the meaning of each verse. Context gets missed, which can have a domino effect on other interpretations regarding the writings. We give an example from Hebrews 4:12, which states the word of God is living and powerful. Many of us were taught this is a reference to "the Bible." Keep in mind, these people who were receiving this message would have had no idea what a Bible was ... and most of their knowledge about the law and the prophets came from hearing it in the synagogues or other sources not associated with their bookshelf.
We take a closer look at not "what" the writer was referencing ... but "who" they were highlighting in this passage and throughout the letter.
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Many of us search the scriptures for truth. On our humble podcast, we've talked for years about these writings and how much they mean to us—we value and embrace them with what can be discovered as we grow in our understanding of the good news of Jesus. But ultimately, gaining more insight or expertise about the Bible will not allow for us to grow to the fullest in the knowledge of the truth. Truth is contained within a person (Jesus Christ), and all truth is ultimately revealed by the Spirit of God—the One sent to guide people into all truth as our comforter and teacher. The absolute true things of God cannot be received intellectually or by human wisdom. With so many voices (and Bible teachers) out there who are saying so many different things ... our conversation this week is an exhortation not to jump to the wrong conclusion in assuming the Bible somehow replaced God's living Spirit who abides in us ... with an anointing that teaches us in a way that is only spiritually discerned.
We call it The Bible. A collection of writings that have resulted in millions of never-ending interpretations, opinions, doctrines and debates. There are thousands of Christian church denominations that have very, very different viewpoints on what should be considered foundational aspects of the faith. And yet, they all claim the Bible is their foundation for what they believe. Weird, right?
People begin to wonder what is true and what is not when it comes to understanding a Bible verse or passage ... or ideologies about the writings. They begin looking for someone or something to which they can subscribe and believe. Should the main focus be placed on proper interpretation of the Bible books ... or will this outcome just result in frustration and uncertainty?
The pages themselves tell us where to look and who we can trust. It doesn't come from an outside or external source that we can see, hear, and touch, but from within.
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We like to tell people salvation is free, but then somewhere along the way—maybe right away—we feel the need to begin rolling out the rules to help make sure the new converts don't wander from what we believe to be the truth. This approach may actually hinder believers in Christ from experiencing the fullness of God in their lives.
It becomes a gospel of "doing" in order to become something that children of God think they need to work at in order to reach a higher level of spirituality or to make themselves more acceptable to God. Not to mention, the "rules" vary significantly from one corner church to the next. Maybe we should begin to trust Christ (who abides in us) to complete the work He began in each of us by His grace.
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When Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, he was astonished at how quickly they had been turned by others who invaded their turf after he had been there ... and these seemed to want to distort the gospel of Christ. These Gentiles had previously been given the pure message of the grace of Jesus, but were now being told they needed to mix some aspects of the Mosaic law with faith in Christ.
Paul referred to it as a different gospel (although it was really no gospel at all). He had some strong words against those delivering this contrary message and it launched the rest of his "Galatians" letter, where he would expound on the differences between a ministry of bondage under works, compared to a New Covenant of Faith.
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When sharing the good news of eternal life in Jesus Christ, Christians will often have the end game of bringing their prospective disciple into a school of lifestyle and behavioral changes. The person on the receiving end begins to interpret the gospel as one of needing to change what they do in order to identify as a saved believer in Christ. Do the "right" things, and they'll receive God's blessings and approval. Do the "wrong" things, and they risk the opposite.
Our discussion this week is meant to be an exhortation for us who abide in grace to stay focused on the true message of God's love and the gift of salvation apart from works. When we can do this, it will be much more beneficial for hearers of the good news to recognize their need for a Savior ... believing freely in what Jesus provided for them, without fearing that they need to change who they are to become like other religious robots who think their right-standing with God is based upon behavior. Good changes in their life can happen without us needing to give them a religious code of conduct that they should be expected to follow in order to stay in God's grace.
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Following up from last week's program defining the gospel as a revelation of God's righteousness gifted to us ... another important foundational truth contained within the message of the gospel is how believers in Christ have passed from death to life. This is the good news at its core.God has freely imparted His life to us which we have inherited as children. This brings peace, knowing it's not by works that we have done.
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"The Gospel." We probably hear these words used frequently. Many of us have understood it to mean good news, which is accurate, but just what is the good news specifically? We may think of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ... but there is very little gospel in there when compared to the writings of Paul. There can be much to discuss in a broad sense, even from a grace perspective. But this week, we'll go back to some simple basics of what we first talked about when our podcast started many years ago ... answering the question of "what is the gospel?"
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When it comes to sharing the good news of Jesus, many have followed a "formula" that features a pattern of sharing bad news first. This is usually based on a form of legalism ... telling each individual they have broken God's law. However, it was a law they were never under, and it came to an end over 2,000 years ago.
There is a better option of pointing people to the One who gives eternal life other than using an obsolete law of works. By pointing out that people need to be saved because of bad works, then they often assume a mindset that works are needed to maintain their approved position with God by having good works that will outweigh their bad. The better choice is to communicate the love of God as demonstrated through what Jesus did on behalf of everyone ... which brought a New Covenant based upon believing—and not good and bad works.
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Hello to all Growing in Grace podcast listeners! We have many, many past podcasts for you to check out, so maybe as a GIG listener you can dive into some of those episodes this coming week, as for the first time in a long time we won't have a new episode. Feel free to scroll through the pages here, or do a search in the search bar on the middle column for topics that may interest you, or check out the Archives page and perhaps choose a random episode or episodes to listen to. We will hopefully be back next week!
There seems to be no shortage of contrasts when it comes to comparing the New Covenant to the Old. Sadly, most won't ever hear about it within the walls of their church building, so welcome to our podcast!
Perhaps nobody explains it better than whoever wrote the letter called Hebrews. While they were attempting to bring a revelation of Jesus to their Jewish brothers and sisters of that time, we have so much to gain by latching onto their explanation of what it would mean for all believers in Christ. The Old Covenant contained many offerings which couldn't take away sins, featuring many priests that were weak and sinful—who came and went because of death. It was a covenant deemed to be unprofitable with its many commandments which nobody could do.
Jesus came to fulfill the law within that Old Covenant by offering himself one time (once) for the sins of the world ... to be taken away forever. The Old way of stone tablet commandments given to Israel would be annulled, abolished, cancelled, and made obsolete. It would be completely out of service, null and void, because the new High Priest would be declared ... not by the law, but by the word of the oath (from God). Unlike the priests appointed by law, Jesus would hold his priesthood permanently, forever. Through his blood and the word of the oath, Jesus is now the mediator of a better covenant, it's a more excellent ministry than the Old, established upon better promises.
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Galatians 3 explains the law was a guardian for the Jews to point them to Christ in order for them to be justified by faith. But once faith came—or once Christ came—the Jewish people would no longer be under that guardian/tutor. This isn't meant to be chicken feed for Gentiles who were never under the law.
In order for Jesus to be declared High Priest by God, there had to be a change of priesthood so there could be a change of law. Why? Because according to the law given by Moses to the Jews, priests were required to come from the tribe of the Levites. Jesus was from a different tribe (Judah) which the law said nothing about concerning priests.
The law was received by the Jews through the (Levitical) priesthood. They fit together like a hand in a glove, and you could not eliminate one without doing the same with the other. Those many priests ministered within a covenant that was weak and useless ... and would be replaced by a superior priesthood—Jesus—who was not appointed by the law like the other priests, but would carry on an eternal priesthood. If the Mosaic law still had any function whatsoever, then Jesus could not be considered as a legitimate priest. It had to end.
In Hebrews 7, the writer is explaining why that law had to completely be annulled and cancelled—not revised or tweaked.
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Since the death and resurrection of Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles are justified by grace, apart from works. How can we keep from getting tangled between a mixture of law and grace ... or faith and works? Once we begin to understand that non-Jewish people (Gentiles) were never given the law that Moses handed to Israel, this will be a step in the right direction. That's right, the law was never for us to use. The Church has been thrown into a lurch by trying to balance law and grace and attempting to place believers in Christ under a combination of two different covenants—albeit a very revised version of it in our modern culture.
In the book of Galatians, Paul addresses this confusion to some believing Gentiles who had been persuaded by Judaizers they needed Jesus plus certain aspects of the Mosaic law. When Paul called the law a tutor, a better interpretation in our English language is "guardian" ... as some translations will show. Let's take a closer look at what Paul said in Galatians 3 and 4 from his Jewish perspective and how it translates to Gentiles and Jews ... then and now. We'll want to consider not only the historical background, and not just the context of the passage, but the context of the gospel itself so we can get a better view of the bigger picture.
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It was recorded once in the book of Acts that Paul used the phrase "the whole counsel of God." It's a quote that religious people like to use as a weapon of sorts to stress there is more to the gospel than grace. In other words, when people get hyper about grace, legalists will think it results in an unhealthy obsession that should include a balance of other things such as a measure of law and works, resulting in guilt and then trying to do things to make ourselves more acceptable to God.
Of course, those on the works treadmill can never really spell out exactly what the whole counsel of God is or how it should be defined apart from grace. Those who do will only be able to give you an opinion and guesswork based on a very limited perspective and likely an inaccurate one.
Right before Paul mentioned this phrase, he described what it was that the whole counsel of God revolves around, and the ministry he received from which he was called to testify about. Spoiler alert: It was the gospel of the grace of God.
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There are those who will attempt to communicate that the sacrifice of Jesus wasn't necessary and wasn't the will of God. It would seem that if this were true, it would have been plainly stated by Paul or someone else within their writings instead of people today pasting individual Bible verses together as if they were pieces to a puzzle to be arranged to fit an assumed narrative or belief.So what did Jesus say about this? Did he predict he would be “murdered,” or did he suggest something else? He knew why He came and what was coming. The OT prophecies had plenty to say about the suffering of the Messiah, and the New Testament records substantial information about the blood of Jesus and what it meant for us as it relates to forgiveness of sins, the removal of sins, eternal redemption, and much more. Without his blood being shed, we would have no covenant.The book of Hebrews reveals it is true that God did not desire sacrifices and burnt offerings for sin ... he took no pleasure in them which were offered according to the Mosaic law (because they couldn't fully deal with the problem of the sin issue). But the writer would go on to explain how the sacrifice of Jesus Christ would bring a permanent solution, while wiping out the religious system of law and works which contained the sacrifices of animals which could never take away sin. Jesus came to do the will of God with a holy sacrifice to end all other sacrifices, once for all.
The majority of us who chose to believe in Jesus were encouraged within religious circles to work at making ourselves better, more holy, more righteous, more sanctified ... and the list goes on. We've gotten it backwards with that approach. The better way is to grow in the knowledge of God with the understanding that He has already declared us to be all of these things and more. So instead of trying to work at becoming what we think we are not, we realize God has already equipped the believer in Christ with all things that pertain to life and godliness. This is our starting point as we run this race and it's called the finish line. Growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus will completely change our perspective and motivation in many ways—including works.
Over the years, we've heard from believers who attended church regularly and would often walk out of the building wondering if they were still saved. They heard a works-based message which planted fear and doubt because they would begin questioning whether they were "doing enough" to guarantee their salvation. Certain people from the legalistic department who self-identify as judgmental "fruit inspectors" will suggest that some who have confessed Jesus Christ and called on the name of the Lord "didn't really mean it" and therefore, did not have a genuine conversion. They will point to works as the manifested proof in the pudding. But they fail to provide the specifics—or it will vary greatly among the denominations.The blessed assurance or guarantee we have is found within the person of Jesus Christ and belief in Him. Although we are created in Christ for good works—God working in and through us—salvation is a gift by grace through faith (apart from works) and is not the result of any effort on our part. As Paul said in Romans 4:5: "But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness."
A common teaching in the land of the legal is that the grace which brings salvation also enables believers to keep the commandments contained in the law. They will be careful to polish this so it sounds shiny and will make sense to the religious, works-based mindset. For example, they may say we're saved by grace and not by works ... but will then imply we're expected to embrace the Old Covenant law in our behavior. So is this true? Are we meant to live by a ministry of condemnation which is contrary to us ... a ministry which strengthens sin and causes it to increase? It doesn't make sense that Jesus came to redeem Jews from the law—who then died to the law—and then have God resurrect the same law which couldn't give life and wasn't based on faith. When it comes to good works in our lives, God empowered us with something better ... not just Scriptures, not law-based commandments, but the power of His Spirit abiding in us.
God established a covenant with Israel after delivering them from slavery in Egypt, and it included a law which came through Moses containing 613 commandments that they agreed to follow and that they would be required to keep. It was generally exclusive for the Jewish people. The rest of the world (gentiles) were outsiders and were unfamiliar with the covenant, without hope, and without God in the world. The Jews attempted to (unsuccessfully) pursue righteousness through the works of this law, while gentiles were doing no such thing—but would still attain righteousness.Some will chop up the context found in the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Romans. It's easy to misunderstand or misinterpret a comment such as "doers of the law will be justified" ... or that gentiles had the Mosaic law written on their hearts before the cross (and the Jews did not?). Recommended: Do not read Romans 2 without at least reading Romans 3—and Paul continues to expound further from there.Having a basic understanding of the position of Jews under the law, and gentiles who never had that law ... will help us recognize who Paul was directing comments towards when it came to the people to whom he was writing. They were usually a mixed audience of both groups, and his language will often reveal whether his comments are to be contextualized for believing Jews who previously were under the law, or if it was for gentile outsiders who came to faith in Christ. But both groups would receive life by grace through faith, apart from the law, and be brought together into one new man—where there would no longer be the issue of Jew or gentile.
In a land known as "seminary," it is commonly taught that the law of Moses was basically divided into three different categories, typically referred to as sacrificial laws, ceremonial laws, and moral laws. Dietary commands and many other "miscellaneous" statutes are usually considered as part of the ceremonial group. The misguided approach with this is that the ceremonial and sacrificial laws were brought to an end after the cross, but the "moral laws" are still to apply. This ideology is passed on to the church sheep as it is filtered through Bible teaching from those with educational degrees. The problem? None of this is true. It's completely fabricated. The Bible says no such thing about the law being broken up with some of it eliminated and a small portion of it still in place. Such a concept should be known as cheap law.There was one law which came through Moses (not multiple laws) ... and it was all bundled together ... of which God declared that nothing shall be added to it or taken from it. The Jews were required to do all of it. Either it all had to remain in effect, or it all had to come to an end. Cherry-picking a few rules here and there while disregarding others is exactly what the law itself says cannot be done. It's interesting to notice that many individual laws the church ignores are mixed right into the very same passages as ones they think should be kept. It's a murky mixture of a covenant combination with glaring inconsistencies.None of the law was going to pass until it was fulfilled. Jesus fulfilled the entire law, not to mention the Psalms and the Prophets. By establishing a new and better covenant, we now live in a more glorious ministry of the Spirit, where He guides us into all truth, and by grace teaches us how to live in godliness.
Christians have been told through religious sources they are identified as sinners saved by grace, which makes sense to most people ... because after all ... everyone has sinned, and all who believe have been saved by grace. But nowhere in new covenant writings are believers in Christ identified as sinners. We have now become a new creation, inheriting the righteousness of God. If we are stuck in a mindset that thinks "I'm just a sinner," we'll abide in that place of defeat, while missing out on the empowerment of God's grace and who we have already been made to be as holy, righteous and perfected people.Do we still fail? Yes. But our identity is not based upon what we do, but who God has made us to be. Some might try to argue that Paul declared himself the chief of sinners—as if he were bragging about what a bad person he is. It's amazing how a few words can be misunderstood and taken out of context to be twisted into an entire doctrine or mindset which doesn't line up with the gospel message. So we'll take a look at this and how it really compares to the many other places where Paul referred to fellow believers as saints.
It is often called tithing — usually interpreted these days as giving ten percent of your income—frequently to go to a church organization. But guess what? There is nothing in the Bible that tells us to do this ... in spite of preachers finding a way to make people think it is meant to be a "biblical principle" for Christians to apply. The way religion has stretched this out of context is mind-boggling. The "storehouse" for Israel was a place to collect the food tithes. The church is not some sort of modern-day storehouse to become a cash cow, as some have been told. The Jewish tribes tithed their food to the priestly tribe of the Levites who did not own lands and cattle. It had nothing to do with money. It was part of a system of law that doesn't fit with where we are in a New Covenant as believers in Christ. We're not discouraging giving at all ... God loves a cheerful giver, as each person decides in their heart what they want to give and where to give it. The One who lives in you will guide you with that.
In some church circles, there is a popular supposition that (non-Jewish) Gentiles were engrafted into Israel. The phrase often heard is, "We are now engrafted Jews." This idea can leave people with the wrongful impression that Gentiles would be brought under Jewish laws and customs that were from the Old Covenant, exclusively meant for Israel before Jesus fulfilled the law.This is usually taken from a passage in Romans 11, but the theory is a misleading one that doesn't consider the bigger context of what else Paul said in his Romans letter regarding Jew and Gentile. And another explanation he gives is in Ephesians chapter 2 ... where both Jew and Gentile were reconciled together into one body—the body of Christ—giving both groups access to the Father by one Spirit. In other words, we Gentiles weren't merged into Israel. Both which had been separated were brought together and joined in Christ himself.
Gentiles are referred to throughout the pages of the Bible, especially in the New Testament. Sometimes when Jesus mentioned them to his Jewish audience, it is assumed by the modern-day reader that he was just referring to unbelieving heathens. The meaning of the word gets more specific in the original language ... a Gentile is defined as a non-Jewish person—which would be over 99% of the world. The reason they were considered heathens and unclean from a Jewish perspective wasn't just because they were viewed as sinners, but were "covenant outsiders." At one point before the cross, Jesus sent out his disciples and told them to avoid going to Gentiles (and Samaritans). Certainly Jesus wouldn't tell them to avoid unbelieving people—that isn't why they were sent. But the gospel was to be ministered to the lost sheep of the house of Israel first. After the resurrection, Jesus encouraged the disciples/apostles to go to the Gentiles. But that didn't really happen until years later when God came to Peter with a vision ... and Paul would eventually take the gospel to all people—with a big emphasis on Gentiles. Non-Jews were unfamiliar with the law and the promise of a Messiah, they had been without God and without hope in the world. Much to the dismay of many Jews who were clinging to the obsolete Mosaic law at that time, Gentiles would be saved in the same way as Jews—through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by a law of works.
In Matthew 18, Jesus makes a statement that is often quoted in religious circles: “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” This is usually plucked out and used in a church group setting where people are worshipping together, or it may be applied when "two or more" are gathered to pray, and that their prayers will be answered because there is more than one person present ... "power in numbers," they might say. Notice Jesus didn't say two or more, but was very specific about two or three ... and it was for a distinct reason based on what the law said. In spite of our assumptions, Jesus was talking about something entirely different and it was from a law-based, Old Covenant perspective (now obsolete). It involved conflict resolution when one would sin against another. Jesus even quoted from the law within the passage. It's clear Jesus is not speaking to non-Jewish people and it's not a "Christian" passage with new instructions—but He was looking back at something from the Mosaic law which was still in place before His death.
Why did some of Paul's statements appear as a contrast to some things Jesus said? Put simply, Jesus made statements to Jewish people who were still under the burden of the Mosaic law. Paul provided revelations of truth for those people who had been freed from that law after Jesus fulfilled it. The mistake of assuming Jesus is always speaking to future believers will miss valuable context regarding what He came to deliver people from—especially as it relates to Israel and the shift from one covenant that was about to be made obsolete ... to something brand new. One example is when He said, "You are the salt of the earth." Traditionally, many Christians have identified themselves as the salt of the earth, but this was a covenant conversation Jesus was having with His Jewish disciples who were still under the law. A covenant of salt between men was not an uncommon idea in those times. The problem is that Israel failed the covenant God made with them, the salt lost its flavor—and needed to be thrown out (Gulp!). Nobody could attain righteousness through that covenant containing the law. The good news is that by God's grace and mercy, it would not be the people being thrown out, but the covenant would need to be tossed aside and replaced with something better. The house of Israel was also considered the light of the world as Jesus spoke to them, but it was a light growing dim through an inconsistent effort of works of the law. Jesus later stated He was the light of the world ... and new covenant writings describe us as children of the light ... but it's His light that we reflect, which is a different position than His reference to Israel in Matthew 5. When it comes to the teachings of Jesus, developing an understanding of the Old and New Covenants and their timeline will help avoid a lot of inconsistencies in what we say and what we think we believe.
It's easy to get confused between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant if we're under the assumption that when Jesus was speaking to His disciples, it means He was also speaking directly to us today. Jesus was born under the law for the purpose of redeeming the Jewish people from that law, which was incapable of providing them with life and righteousness. The New Covenant did not begin in Matthew 1:1 or at the birth of Jesus ... but would be ratified after His death (Hebrews 9). The "sermon" in Matthew 5-7 was Jesus attempting to methodically show His disciples that if they were to continue to make attempts at attaining righteousness through that law of works, they would fall short of the perfection it demanded ... because it would mean keeping every jot and title of the 613 commandments and statutes. They would need a greater righteousness. Therefore, what Jesus spoke with His words in these passages is of critical importance ... but it was not a new Christian teaching for all future believers in Christ with a new set of rules that would be even more difficult to follow than the impossible law. They would need a better way to get to God—and Jesus would be that way.
On more than one occasion, the Apostle Paul mentioned a list of fleshly, sinful actions, and said that those who do or practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Believers may sometimes be taught by the legalistic that this is like fine print on their salvation agreement, leaving them feeling unsure about where they stand with God, despite having confessed faith in Jesus. Such passages sound like quite a contradiction on the surface when compared to other things Paul stated in his writings. We have already received the kingdom—and it's one that cannot be shaken—which occurred apart from what we do, by grace through faith. The unrighteous are not identified as such because of what they do, but what they do is because they are unrighteous. Likewise, believers in Christ are not righteous as the result of doing good and avoiding what is bad ... God's righteousness has been gifted to us. We'll take a look at what else Paul said right before and after these statements and it will highlight our identity as righteous people—as he encourages believers to avoid the quicksand that the unrighteous fall into and realize this is not who they are in Him. And walking by the Spirit will help us in this.
After taking a few minutes to recognize the milestone of our 900th weekly podcast, we pay a visit to another false assumption that the ministry of fear loves to pour on top of people. And yes, once again it involves plucking a Bible verse completely out of context from the book of Hebrews that will be advertised in a way that suggests a person may lose their salvation if they sin deliberately. They will imply the sacrifice of Jesus will not be able to save them for "willful" sins. We will point out who the writer is communicating to and some things they said over several chapters leading up to this "verse" which we hope will bring some peace of mind—because the gospel is supposed to be good news—not a message of discomfort. The writer is explaining to Jewish people about the contrasts between the New Covenant of Christ and the former Old Covenant of law and animal sacrifices ... and how the old way was annulled. If they were to reject the sacrifice of Jesus which brought eternal forgiveness and took away sin once for all, there would be no sacrifice left for sins. So this is not referring to people who sin (as we all do), but it is aimed at those who reject the only sacrifice God provided to take away their sin.
When someone is accused of falling from grace in today's "religiondom" (introducing a new word on the podcast!), it is usually used in the context of a person who has been caught in some sort of "major" sin or was discovered to have broken a significant commandment from the Mosaic law. Perhaps it involved a habitually failed attempt at commandment-keeping—and caught the attention of the rumor mill—also known as the judge and jury. The phrase "fallen from grace" appears in one passage (Galatians 5:4). Even within this very Bible verse, it tells us what caused the Galatians to have fallen from grace, and it's pretty much the precise opposite of what church attendees have been told. But as we often do, we will expand the boundaries of the context to help get a clearer understanding in order to avoid the pitfall of yet another false assumption which slipped through the religious church filter.
Believers in Jesus often throw around a talking point that sounds something like this: "The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins." It's another false assumption which is probably the result of misunderstanding something Jesus said in the gospel of John. Jesus is looking forward to the New Covenant as He speaks to His disciples and begins to tell them how He will be departing, but the Spirit of God would be sent as a helper. Jesus explains the conviction of sins by the Spirit would be directed at unbelievers. The Spirit is with believers to convict, declare and remind them that they are the righteousness of God. Not understanding the plenitude of God's forgiveness and the taking away of sin through the blood of Jesus will leave people in a sin consciousness instead of a righteousness consciousness. Hebrews 10 explains how the Spirit of God bears witness to us that God would no longer remember sins in this New Covenant. They were removed, and the Spirit isn't going to convict us of something that is no longer on the record.
When a single Bible verse is taken out of context and becomes completely misunderstood, it will often result in a ripple effect which will lead to more misunderstandings, which can lead us away from a better understanding of the truth as it relates to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're following up from our previous program regarding the repeated confession of sins ... and how this false assumption leads to another one you may have heard or been taught. A common church doctrine or teaching is that unconfessed sins are defined as unforgiven sins, which will hinder your "fellowship" with God. But is this what the Bible really says for us who are in Christ, inside of a new and better covenant? The answer is no. No matter how far off the trail that a works-based religion will try to take people, the true gospel is always good news.
It's our first program on the topic of false assumptions, regarding many traditional mindsets related to the Bible, Jesus, the gospel, etc. An overwhelming assumption taught by many church organizations is the need to confess sins to God in order to seek a renewed forgiveness. The idea pretty much revolves around one single, solitary Bible verse taken out of a much larger context, and then making a doctrine out of it. We'll bring "the verse" into a framework so it matches with the rest of Scripture as it relates to the New Covenant and also to whom John was speaking to in the first chapter of his first epistle. In the Old Covenant, a temporary forgiveness came by repeatedly confessing sins onto sacrificial animals as their blood was shed, but it could never take away the sins of the people. God's eternal forgiveness came through blood through the Lamb of God—Jesus—and it only needed to be shed once for all. Continuously trying to keep up with every wrong thought or action is a heavy burden that will never deliver people from a consciousness of sin ... and yet, this is why Jesus came ... to free people into a realization of His gift of righteousness. The "confessions" (plural) are not meant to be about your sorrow and trying to do something over and over in order to get right with God. That would be a place of hopelessness and failure. As is typically the case, the "confession" comes back to the One that is often overlooked when staring too long at the theology tree. It's simply meant to be an acknowledgement of the Person of Jesus.
With millions of Christian believers listening to thousands of sermons on any given Sunday, one might leave the building wondering if the cross even happened ... based on the content of the Bible teaching. Even on Easter Sunday, how many people head home without a better knowledge of the truth of what Jesus fully accomplished for us through His finished work? We know Jesus died, but just exactly what does it mean for us today. How does God's forgiveness factor into all of this with the blood Jesus shed? We've got some good news. The cross did indeed happen, and it worked!
We're familiar with the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery who the Pharisees brought before Jesus ... who was teaching in the temple with plenty of witnesses. Of course, they could have stoned her anywhere, but they saw an opportunity to try to trap Jesus into saying something that opposed the law—which would be punishable by death. They knew He wasn't likely to pass judgement on the woman, so they thought they had Him between a rock and a hard place. Did Jesus somehow go against the law of Moses or disregard it in some way? Some might be left with this impression, but Jesus wasn't about to go against a law that needed to remain in place until He would eventually fulfill it. We provide a perspective on how all of this went down, and why the Pharisees released their rubble and walked away—in spite of the law still being in place and what it had declared.
When people disagree on various things from within the realm of religion, sometimes after the debate has run its course, the go-to statement is suggesting the Bible is our final authority. This positively sounds like a spiritual truth, but there is a bit of a problem with it ... and that is ... the very thing that is being strongly disagreed upon is something found within the pages of the Bible! In reality, what is meant with such a statement is "what we think the Bible says is our final authority." We provide some examples of this with a perspective from a group who believes there are 1,050 required "commandments" found in the pages of the New Testament. You'll notice the lists that are found in various church statements or membership agreements vary quite a bit in length, depending on the denominational brand. Any works-based ideology will always be vague and leave believers hungering and thirsting for more assurance and peace. While one person can find security and comfort with a message of faith, grace and love, someone else may tend to see a "do this or else" within nearly every Bible verse. Their minds were programmed to make such assumptions partly because they've never been told about what the cross of Jesus accomplished. For some, it's just a rule book (and one they can't live up to).
Many corners of corporate Christianity have advocated for a ministry of law and works, combining a mixture of two very different covenants. The law contained within the first covenant made with Israel was what Paul described as a ministry of death and condemnation, and a yoke of bondage. And yet the "Christian religion" has taken a very small portion of that law and tried to apply it to the gospel. These cheerleaders for "the law" are pulling the wool over the eyes of the sheep, because they are ignoring most of it. They have little clue as to what the Mosaic law states or are willingly ignoring the bulk of it. Each denominational brand will pick and choose what should apply and what should be tossed out. Jesus provided all of us with a better option than a written rule book ... His Spirit.
As the world stops to recognize the birth of Jesus the Savior, we share some thoughts about the profitability of good works, the birth of Jesus, Santa, idol worship, and Christmas trees ... and what grace can teach us while living in a fallen world.
When Jesus was explaining to His Jewish disciples how they should pray at that time—before the cross—one of the things within the prayer was that they should ask the Father to forgive them based upon how they forgive others. Immediately after this, Jesus told them if they didn't (perfectly) forgive others, God would not forgive them. What a monstrous statement! Does it apply to believers in Christ? This was how it was before the cross. We're taking a look at the context of what Jesus was sharing with His listeners who were still stuck in a hopeless situation under the law when it came to attaining righteousness, forgiveness, and eternal life. If what Jesus stated at that time was true for all future believers after the cross, then His blood was shed needlessly. On the subject of forgiveness, one of the biggest differences between the Old Covenant compared to the New ... is that forgiveness came through the finished work of Jesus and His blood, which was shed once. As Paul explained, we don't forgive others in order to receive forgiveness from God, but we now have the grace to forgive others because God has already forgiven us.
Our narrow and limited view of eternal things can lead to a ripple effect on some of the foundational basics regarding the message of gospel. For example, grace may often be viewed as something we seek or fall back on only when we sin or fail. Surely people are saved and justified by God’s grace, but it so much more. Consider Jesus … the Bible states the grace of God was upon Him. Jesus the man—who was also the son of God—if He didn’t sin and had no need to be saved, why did He need God’s grace to be upon Him? Why do legalistic religious advocates try to warn people about too much grace? Why do they put forth a faulty message that it gives a license to sin and that it is grace that leads to an increase in sin? How does that contrast with the many things the Apostle Paul wrote about the abundance of grace we have freely received? Let’s encourage each other in grace as we grow in our understanding of it and begin to realize that it is an integral part of our lives in Christ on an hourly and daily basis. During this episode, Joel mentioned an article he'd written several years ago on the sufficiency of grace, and how it's not merely a subject to be talked about now and then. You can find the article here, and as a bonus, in that article you will also find a link to a much earlier podcast episode we did on grace being the essence of life in Christ.
It might be alarming to discover how many hours theologians and others have spent discussing, dissecting and determining what it was exactly when it comes to trying to figure out Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” We’ll avoid coming to some of the specific conclusions that are based upon speculation, but this program will discuss some other key ingredients from this passage and others that are often overlooked. Did God tell Paul “No” when he asked Him three different times to take away his thorn? What does it mean when God said that His grace was sufficient for Paul? Would he end up being delivered from his thorn? We’ll provide a perspective with some simple answers while trying to avoid the weeds where poison ivy may be found.
The phrase “dispensation of grace” found in some Bible translation such as the KJV and NKJV in Ephesians chapter 3 is often misunderstood to mean an age where grace is poured out for a period of time. It is also considered by some that the dispensation of grace is meant for Gentiles, while the New Covenant was meant for the Jews only. We’ll look at this passage in context to break down what the word dispensation means in the original language and why it is found in many translations as stewardship.
Paul was referring to a stewardship of grace that was given to him to help reveal a mystery that had been hidden in previous generations … and that mystery is that Gentiles would be fellow heirs with the Jews as was explained in the earlier part of the book of Ephesians. Paul preached the gospel to both groups, because everyone is justified in the same way—by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law—a ministry that Jesus abolished and tore down. The grace of God is not a temporary period of time in history … it is eternal.
There were even those named as apostles who were advocating for a gospel catering to Jews and another for Gentiles. Paul came along with a revelation on how the establishment of a New Covenant by Jesus resulted in a bringing together of these two groups—not a separation with different gospel messages. And the obsolete and abolished law would have nothing to do with the one gospel message to be ministered to all people.
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In the early days of the church, there were intense disputes and disagreements among Jewish believers in Jesus regarding non-Jewish people (Gentiles) and how they would fit into the bigger picture. Since Gentiles had never been under the law, but seemingly could still be saved, how would all of this work? Most believing Jews still assumed the Mosaic law would continue to be in effect and remain part of the “Christian” culture in a post-resurrection world.
There were even those named as apostles who were advocating for a gospel catering to Jews and another for Gentiles. Paul came along with a revelation on how the establishment of a New Covenant by Jesus resulted in a bringing together of these two groups—not a separation with different gospel messages. And the obsolete and abolished law would have nothing to do with the one gospel message to be ministered to all people.
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The world has an army of theologians who consider themselves soldiers sent to interpret the writings of the Bible. An army is more effective when they work together in sync, but the countless array of viewpoints and opinions have largely left each individual soldier fending for themselves, running in all kinds of different directions and resulting in confusion and disarray. One of the subjects that has “Bible believers” all over the map is on the topic of the New Covenant.
Some will claim it hasn’t begun yet and it will come later after Israel agrees to the terms of the agreement. Others will say it is in effect, but only for Israel. Others who believe the NC is in place and available for everyone have differing views on just exactly how the covenant should be defined. Few church denominations teach on it at all. So let’s take a closer look at the New Covenant and the Jewish/Gentile controversy that was taking place in those early days after the resurrection of Jesus.
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Our conversation this week starts out with reflecting on the transition of experiencing the truth of the gospel of grace and how it is so radically different from typical teachings within the corporate church world. It really begins within the heart of a person as God reveals it, and then the mind and understanding begin to pick up on it.
On a related note, we also follow-up from our previous program about the tremendous misunderstandings regarding a Bible verse that appears to be saying that believers need to continually confess all of their sins in order to be forgiven (again) and cleansed from all unrighteousness (again). It’s a faulty doctrine that doesn’t add up with the many writings of Paul and it has kept people in chains. So who was John talking to in this specific passage and what was he really saying?
In case you missed it last week, Joel referenced a recent blog post he'd written on this subject, which can be found here, along with an older blog post series he'd written, which can be found here.
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Once in a great while, we like the “rush” of recording a program without discussing what we’ll talk about ahead of time. This week, we just opened the microphones, and both talked about something randomly on our minds.
Kap: How many times is the Greek word for “gospel” found in the New Testament? And where is it most often found? What may surprise you is the books where it is seldom found or does not appear at all.
Joel: Examining the misunderstandings of “sin confession” from the book of 1 John and some little-known history behind the people John was addressing in the first chapter of his letter. Joel referenced a blog post he had written on this subject, which can be found here. Also, an older blog post series he'd written can be found here.
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Those who advocate for a works-based attempt at getting right with God will often accuse the message of faith-based righteousness as nothing more than “cheap grace.” Of course, the Bible doesn’t caution against grace at all. Pure grace is not “dangerous ground” or something we can have too much of because God has poured out an abundance of grace—grace upon grace—which overflows beyond what is needed. There is no such thing as cheap grace because it cost God everything to bring people into a place of perfection through the bloody sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
However, there is something we don’t hear much about, but it dominates the corporate church communities … and that is cheap law. This is where the wolves will try to convince the sheep they can actually achieve success in keeping the rules and regulations of the Mosaic law (more accurately, a modernized, shrunken version of it). As members of the “hyper-grace” community, we realize the law of God given to Israel was something so holy, so good and so righteous, that nobody could possibly live up to that perfect standard. It was never given for that purpose … which is why it would be fulfilled by Jesus, allowing us to receive life by grace through faith, apart from works.
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We’re all familiar with the phrase “nobody’s perfect.” But is this a true statement? If one is referring to the actions, works, and behavior of people, then this is to be considered true. But if the reference is about attaining perfection apart from works and behavior, then we can point to a perfection that was inherited or gifted which came through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. A law of works was incapable of making people perfect.
The Jews may have thought they were “a work in progress” as they pursued right standing with God through their actions and attempted obedience to the Mosaic law of 613 commandments. But that law was useless in making them perfect … and perfection was the requirement. Works and repeated blood sacrifices could not make people perfect. We can’t earn our way towards God’s approval … regardless of whatever religious denominational tenets we want to use as a guide.
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Is the gospel of grace really as good as we’re making it out to be? Someone asked us if there was any kind of a catch … meaning is there some fine print that has God requiring certain expectations from us when it comes to contributing to our justification? The religious flesh will scream that there must be more to it than the grace of God and the blood of Jesus. It sounds too easy and too good to be true!
The religious business will usually pitch a gift of grace initially, but once you sign up, there will be plenty of fine print regarding what you need to do to ensure your salvation—and it leaves people in fear, hungering and thirsting for something God already provided. Religion will set aside the grace of God to emphasize various works requirements. But Paul stated that if right standing with God comes by any other way than grace, then Christ died needlessly. He also said to the one who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. Some good news reminders for all of us.
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The world system where we now live is a mess. It hasn’t been fully redeemed. Bad things happen and physical death still occurs, but it doesn’t change how good God truly is at all times. Yet there are times when we may feel like God is millions of miles away in a far off galaxy. We wonder if He is aware of what we’re going through or why we’re going through it.
It has been said that “God is just a prayer away.” This sounds encouraging on the surface, but on this week’s program, we’ll be taking it a step further to bring a reminder that the gospel provides even better news. Prayer or communion and fellowship with God doesn’t have to be like a type of long-distance phone call where you say good-bye (amen) at the end and hang up until the next time you dial the number. Hopefully we can help bring a new and fresh reality of just how connected you are to God in Christ … all the time. He created the original wireless—no password required.
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Once Jesus came and fulfilled the law, faith was established. It would result in an inheritance. This is not something where you can earn favor by something you do, but an inheritance is something gifted when someone dies. Our inheritance is according to a promise that God made many years ago—and was ratified after the death of Jesus.
In Galatians, Paul contrasts the inheritance factor with the struggle of trying to attain eternal life through the works of the law. Hebrews 9 explains a will does not go into effect until the death of the one who made it. Jesus died and “willed” for us to become heirs according to the promise. The Greek word for “will” is often translated as testament or covenant in English Bibles. So it’s really by grace as a child of God that we freely receive the good things given by God.
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Here's Part 2 (of 2) of Joel's "Growing in Grace Together" interview with Mike Adams of the UnSunday Show." Mike talks some more about how the institutional church of today has come to be the way that it is, including the misunderstanding of the Old and New Covenants, and how they're erroneously mixed together, as well as how we've "Christianized" all kinds of Old Covenant concepts and brought them into the church. Carrying the Mosaic Law into the church has caused countless problems, as it was given exclusively to the people of Israel - not the body of Christ - and it was given only for a period of time in history. One of the problems with institutional Christianity is that it has to keep people dependent upon itself, and this can hardly be done when grace alone is preached, so rules, traditions and laws must be added.One key word from the original Bible manuscripts that is hugely mistranslated - even in many versions of the Bible today - is the word "ekklesia." It's most often translated as "church," and as Mike explains how that is not a good translation at all, and how "church" and "ekklesia" are really quite different things, he also talks about how and why it came to be wrongly translated.
Other topics brought up: The Old Covenant words of Jesus being used in the New Covenant church today; being a "strong" Christian vs. resting in Christ; and how growth is stifled for so many people when they're bound to the church system. It's exciting that so many people are finally experiencing true growth and freedom by leaving the institutional church setting (not the same as the body of Christ) and getting to know Christ by His love and grace. Listen in and be encouraged by the second half of Joel's conversation with Mike Adams.Go to UnSunday.com to find out all about Mike Adams, and to listen to The UnSunday Show and read the UnSunday blog.
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Once upon a time, God made a covenant with a guy named Abraham. It would be based upon a promise God made to him, and by believing that promise, it was counted as righteousness to Abraham. His justification was not based upon anything he did, but by what he believed in regard to the word God spoke to him. Several hundred years later, God made a covenant with a nation known as Israel, which would be based upon the Jewish people and their ability to obey a law of 613 commandments (works). They failed, but this would not annul the promise regarding the covenant God made with Abraham.
So why was the law given? Paul gives us at least a partial clue in Galatians 3. The law was in place as a guardian for those who were under it … but only until the promised Seed should come (Jesus). That old law was not of faith (Galatians 3:12), but when Christ arrived, faith came. Once faith made the scene, the Jewish people would no longer be under the old guard (the law of works). The promise made to Abraham came to fruition with a new and better covenant established through Jesus Christ after His death and resurrection. This new and everlasting covenant would annul/cancel/set aside the failed and faulty covenant made with Israel. This would open the door for all people to come together as one in Christ.
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Joel is back with an episode of "Growing in Grace Together," in which he welcomes his friend and the host of "The UnSunday Show," Mike Adams. In Part 1 (of 2), Mike talks about how the institutional church of today came to be the way that it is, and how it has strayed so far from biblical descriptions of how the body of Christ is to operate and assemble together. Mike shares from his studies of church history, including the topics of how today's "pastor" has taken on an overwhelming amount of responsibility and power that is never described in the New Testament pages, how honorific titles have no place in the church, how the word "church" itself is not even what the biblical word "ekklesia" means, and what the differences are between the two words. This is by no means a "church bashing" conversation, as we both have great respect for our fellow members of the body of Christ, and the way the New Testament writings describe the body assembling together and using their spiritual gifts for the benefit of one another, and being equals with one another without the ungodly hierarchy that separates the members of the body into different classes. Joel invited Mike onto the podcast to share from his understanding of how things came to be the way they are, knowing that Mike has much to share from his own journey of leaving the institutional church, and again, his rich understanding of church history.
Go to UnSunday.com to find out all about Mike Adams, and to listen to The UnSunday Show and read the UnSunday blog.
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At the time of Moses, the Jewish people agreed to a covenant containing a law of works. They worked hard at fulfilling the agreement, but nobody (not one) ever attained it, regardless of how much they pursued it. The goal was to be right with God (righteousness). Contrast that with this … the rest of the world (Gentiles) had no covenant and were without hope in the world.
Therefore, they were not pursuing right standing with God. And yet unlike the Jewish people who were trying their best to obey stone-tablet commandments, the Gentiles attained righteousness—without working for it. It’s called faith, and it’s the driving force within a New Covenant that God established through Jesus Christ … who is the covenant and is our righteousness.
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Over the years on our podcast, much of what we’ve talked about revolves around the New Covenant which was established at the time of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Sadly, many folks who regularly attend their local church are very unfamiliar with either covenant, and it’s rather shocking to see so many believers uninformed about the New because it reveals the truth of the gospel.
This week, we’ll chat about some specific differences between these two covenants and how the new way brought grace to the human race. A few nuggets we discuss … God made a covenant with the Jewish people—which they agreed to—and yet they failed miserably with that stone tablet ministry. Nobody could keep the requirement. It was all one law, not broken up into different categories. Religion has gotten it wrong by thinking some of the law ended and some of it still applies. The entire Old Covenant containing a law of works was made completely obsolete.
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Who could forget the famous quote from Jesus: “I have come to give you religion, and to give it more abundantly.” Whoops. That doesn’t sound quite like what Jesus said—because it’s not. He came to give life. He came to bring truth. He came to show the way. He came to bring peace. And these are all contained within Him. He is all of these! Religious rule-keeping isn’t based upon faith and doesn’t result into life eternal.
Only God’s Spirit can reveal the depth of God’s love and guide us into the supernatural life we have received from belief in the risen Christ. Christianity is not meant to be a religion or the “right religion.” But sadly, we have taken many of the concepts that thousands of lifeless religions have used. And it revolves around this: Trying to DO something to get a response from God, instead of resting in His response to us.
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We’re following up on last week’s program about the rigorous requirements Jesus laid out to the Jewish people who expressed interest in being His disciple. He told them they would need to forsake all they possessed and give it away. He told them to count the cost—because they would never be able to afford it … only Jesus could pay what was required. He told them to carry their cross—because if they truly wanted to be a disciple and be like the teacher in following His example until the end … they would need to do what He was about to do.
Of course, only Jesus would be able to carry “the” cross to bring redemption. Their dedication and commitment, their efforts at following and commandment-keeping would all fall far short. Jesus would show that the world will be better off accepting His free invitation to life and fellowship with Him—the living God, who did it all for us. The gospel is about His commitment to us.
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Ask a church auditorium full of people what the definition of a “disciple” is … and you’ll probably get all kinds of different answers. And this is just from the people who belong to the same denomination. Depending on what we’ve been told or taught, we have probably developed assumptions as to what a disciple is in our own minds. Sometimes we’ll even turn it from a noun into a verb. People seem to feel the need to bring a form of an old Jewish custom from a past culture into our present time because “discipleship” was in the Bible.
On this week’s program, we take a look at how the word disciple is defined in the original language. What were the requirements to be an actual disciple of Jesus to those who wished to apply for the position? Will it cost us everything like religion has taught? Are we called to be disciples of Jesus today? Here is a hint: The main word for disciple in the Greek appears about 246 times in the New Testament. But the word never appears one single time after the book of Acts. Not once was anyone identified as a disciple of Jesus in New Covenant writings.
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One of the greatest helps people will experience when it comes to understanding the gospel of grace is to know the Bible is contextualized into two very different covenants. When one assumes the Bible is “all one book” or everything in it is aimed at them directly, it can lead to confusion and have other negative impacts.
Another easy trap to fall into is the “following” of men or women who have a certain celebrity status due to a nationally known ministry through media, books, etc. This doesn’t have to apply to only well-known people in the ministry, it could occur with anyone who has influence. Of course, there is nothing wrong with enjoying or benefitting from the teaching of the gospel from those who are gifted in communicating truth.
But Paul was discouraging people in Corinth from jumping on bandwagons in his day that had people dividing into different persuasions based upon personality and possibly other unknown preferences. Some wanted to follow Paul, others wanted to identify with the teaching of Apollos or Peter. Paul stated he didn’t die for anybody, and nobody was baptized in his name. Following preachers or people is fleshly; it’s a human weakness which Paul discouraged.
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It’s no secret that some of our favorite information in the Bible is found in the book of Hebrews. We recently had a listener ask us what one book we felt is a “must-read” (aside from the book of Hebrews). Of course, there is plenty to benefit us throughout the pages and context is everything, but if we had a Gilligan’s Island scenario where we were stranded on a deserted island while taking a 3-hour boat tour … and the only thing we brought was a wardrobe of clothing, a radio, a suitcase full of money, an entire collection of jewelry, razor blades, hair product, toothpaste, brushes, and a Bible with only one book in it — which one book might be near the top of our list? We talk about it on this week’s program … along with some chit chat about our favorite metal rock artist — Pat Boone.
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As Christians, we believe in a risen Jesus who is alive and lives in us by His Spirit. We are identified as believers in Christ. We should avoid identifying ourselves as “Bible believers” or as “people of the book,” as other lifeless religions may do. Your relationship is not with a written code. And yet, through the writings, we have a reliable source of information for obtaining truth as it relates to the fallen state of the human race and how a plan of redemption had been formulated by the Creator before time began.
This revelation of truth about Jesus as Lord doesn’t come by flesh and blood (human sources) nor does it come solely through words spoken or in letters on paper. If this were the case, every single Christian would believe the same things since we all have access to the same Scriptures (writings). Wrapping up our discussion over the past few weeks, we encourage people to pause and consider the significance of the role of God’s Spirit in their lives. He is in the business of renewing hearts and minds, and cultivating personal relationships with the living God.
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It’s easy to take for granted the availability of the Bible in much of our world today, but it wasn’t always this way. For the majority of centuries since Jesus rose from the dead, most people had very little exposure to the writings. The majority couldn’t read, and there weren’t the mass production capabilities we have today. Also, it wasn’t available in most languages until recent centuries (including English). And yet people still came to faith in Jesus, just as in the days after His resurrection when His Spirit was sent.
Certainly there is so much to learn and gain from the Scripture and writings of those who were witnesses of the risen Christ. And although the Bible has gone through many transitions throughout the last 1,500 plus years, God doesn’t change. His Spirit continues with the same ministry of conviction to unbelievers and the reassurance of righteousness to believers. He shows people in their hearts the need for salvation through Jesus … and it’s often by word-of-mouth messengers that this occurs. The Spirit needs nothing to reveal truth—but can use anything and anybody.
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It’s easily skimmed over or swept under the rug, but it’s difficult to deny there are thousands of different church corporations and Christian denominations with very different dogmas and doctrines. This isn’t exactly breaking news, but let’s face this reality and talk this out. Think about it, millions of varied opinions from a perspective of theology, endless debates about (what should be) some of the most foundational issues from forgiveness to salvation. Who is right? Who is wrong? Why all the confusion? Which group should I associate with?
If believers in Jesus all have the same Spirit of God living within, how is it that perspectives and opinions can be so far apart in many cases? There is something that most of these religious branches—and individuals—have in common. They claim their conclusions come from a collection of books called the Bible. The Jews already had writings (scriptures) … and they pointed to Jesus. If we think the Bible is truly meant to be the final authority that ensures its every reader of being solidified in the truth, we may want to ask why Jesus said He would send His Spirit to lead, guide and reveal truth as He looked ahead to the New Covenant.
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Our focus here is to highlight the superior ministry of the Holy Spirit. But this also leads us to asking ourselves some challenging questions about the Bible, the Scriptures, and how they were chosen to be “canonized.” People who aren’t exactly household names debated and then would eventually make decisions to include the 27 books of what we know as the New Testament … but not with unanimous conviction. When Paul made mention to Timothy that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, what was he referring to and what did he mean by it?
To repeat what we’ve stated numerous times, we embrace the writings and we’re not attempting to “Bible bash” or suggest the writings are inferior or questionable when it comes to revealing the truth of Jesus. But we are encouraging believers to come to a further realization of the ministry of God’s living Spirit in us—and not to depend on a myriad of very different opinions and potential false assumptions from the written pages. Bible knowledge and theology isn’t king, Jesus is.
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Over the past 17 years on the Growing in Grace Podcast, we have embraced the writings of the Bible and various passages as it relates to the gospel of grace and the finished work of Jesus Christ. Part of our goal has been to talk through some things to help people escape a box of bondage containing traditional religious thinking that may have kept them from gaining a better understanding of the truth in regard to the fullness of what Jesus brought to the world … eternal life, eternal hope, securing eternal redemption, etc. We have attempted to provoke thought by encouraging others not to get trapped into spouting Bible verses by themselves without considering the context of the New Covenant and to avoid mixing it with the Old one. The writings which occurred after the resurrection by witnesses of the risen Jesus are filled with incredible testimonies and information to benefit us.But there is something (Someone) far more superior to any writings—The Holy Spirit. Ultimately, it is He who reveals truth, while leading and guiding people from within. In the weeks ahead, our purpose will be to elevate Him and this all-important Person who abides with us at all times, as He bears witness of Jesus to the hearts of people everywhere. We will also be challenging many traditional assumptions about the Bible—a wonderful reference tool which is often elevated in the minds of well-meaning believers to a place that unfortunately surpasses the more glorious ministry of God’s life-giving Spirit.
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For some time now, we have been friends with Mike and Susan Adams, who both formerly did a podcast together called The Grace Cafe. Mike Adams has also been doing another podcast, The UnSunday Show, for some time, and he recently had Joel as a guest, discussing the subject of the recent Growing in Grace podcast series, "The Law Abolished."
You can listen to the episode (and all of the great UnSunday Show episodes) at UnSunday.com.
If the goal is to be holy, how does this occur? Is it attained by what we do? Works? Conduct? Would one even need be considered saved and a believer in Christ to accomplish an acceptable level of good behavior that could be considered holy … at least in the eyes of the religious community? And if it requires all of our conduct to be perfect, righteous and holy, who decides what is and isn’t defined as sufficient?
You can probably already see how muddy the waters can get when it comes to a works-based attempt at gaining favor with God. There is no assurance in any of it. This week, we look at some words from the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter regarding the gift of God’s righteousness and holiness through an inheritance.
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Another case of mistaken identity is when believers assume they are spiritually identified as “the light of the world.” The misguided assumption usually stems from something Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount when He was speaking to His Jewish disciples who had not yet even received the Holy Spirit. When Jesus told his buddies they were considered the light at that time—He was referring to the nation of Israel—the only people who were in covenant with God before the cross. But later, Jesus would reveal that He is the true light of the world.
Nowhere in New Testament letters written to the churches are we identified as the light of the world. Whatever light comes from us is because we are in Him as children of the light—and He in us. This takes the pressure off us because we have no need to wonder or fear if “our” light will go dim. The light in us is not tied to works and performance which can be up and down or inconsistent. It’s the light of Christ that abides in us and it’s eternal. He is the light that shines from us.
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Okay, okay, we admit it. Last week was going to be our final program in “The Law Abolished” series. But in case you didn’t read the fine print in our podcast contract, we reserve the right to change our minds. We felt another round would be beneficial to finish this series or topic to further address questions that may still be lingering … and there is a handful of potential “light bulb” moments here as we attempt to help bring further consistency to the message of the gospel of pure grace … fully apart from a law of commandments.Today, God has a very different ministry than before Jesus died and rose. It’s the ministry of the Spirit, which completely surpassed the previous ministry of works from a former covenant which has absolutely no place since Jesus Christ fulfilled it.
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At the time we recorded this episode, we were thinking it would be our final program in the series, so you will hear us talk about that. However, the next time we sat down to record, our brain cells started firing and we ended up having a few more thoughts to share, so there will be one more after this one!This particular episode provides us an opportunity to tie a number of thoughts together regarding the Mosaic law, its purpose and why it is no longer needed today in a covenant of grace. What once had glory has come to have no glory at all … because of the greater and more superior ministry of the Spirit of God.
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Our fourth program in the series brings us to a conversation which challenges the idea that the law of commandments from Mount Sinai is still meant to be ministered to people after the cross as a tool to bring them to Christ. There is an effective way to look back on this obsolete law package from the Old Covenant … and the writer of the book of Hebrews shows an example of explaining how it was once the way that Jews attempted to attain righteousness by works—and that it couldn’t be done.It’s not hard for we grace folks to fall into a similar trap that the legalists have been stuck in—picking and choosing selective bits and pieces of that old law while ignoring other parts that seem more obsolete or abolished. The law only spoke to Jewish people before the cross. It never spoke to Gentiles. So let’s consider a radical idea: stop trying to use the law of sin and death to persuade people and just start sharing the good news of Jesus. He did what the law never could—He fulfilled it in us.
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Our third program in the series takes a look at how the Mosaic law was something that had kept people from God, from righteousness, and from a covenant of grace. While it had been meant to ultimately lead the Jewish nation to a Savior, in this New Covenant, we don’t use it in the same way (because nobody is under it). It was a ministry that brought guilt, death, condemnation, and bondage, while bringing a reminder of sins … the precise opposite of what Jesus brings. It came to an end when Jesus became High Priest. It was nailed to the cross and in Paul’s words, it was abolished.As Paul stated, the law spoke to those who were under it (Jews). Since it has been made obsolete with a new and better covenant, it doesn’t say anything to anyone today. If the law were truly not abolished, that would mean none of it was and it would (all) still have a place … which brings confusion and inconsistency to the message of the gospel of grace.
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We continue our discussion this week on the differences between faith and works. When it comes to salvation and justification, it has to be one or the other, and the Apostle Paul made it clear within the revelation of the New Covenant, we are not bound to a law of works, but the law of faith.
This eliminates any boasting on our part, as we receive the gift of His righteousness, which occurs apart from a law based upon works. Faith will lead to God working in and through us, allowing Him to bear His fruit instead of our own.
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We’re jumping into Ephesians this week and landing on a few popular verses in the 2nd chapter. Paul is revealing the good news of salvation which comes by grace through faith, apart from works. It’s right there in black and white, but the legal eagles will still try and convince the hearers that there is a requirement of self-effort to maintain or secure one’s salvation. They would prefer to have you believe the riches of God’s grace is simply too good to be true.We look at the passage in context and discuss more about the faith vs. works factor when it comes to our salvation and justification. Bottom line? There is nothing for anyone to boast about.
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You’ll catch a few headlines about grace through faith where religion rules, but far too often the focus becomes about our works and what we do to try and get closer to God, increase a fleshly morality, etc. We continue this week on the subject of faith compared to works … and how Paul pointed out on more than one occasion in his writings that we who are in Christ have nothing to boast within ourselves. Nada. Zero.The good works that flow through us are because we’re in Him … and He is in us. The Spirit of God produces His fruit. We are His workmanship. It’s a resting place where Jesus is our peace, having freed the world from a ministry of impossible commandments and ordinances that were preventing people from attaining right-standing with God.
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As believers in Christ, there is no condemnation at all, unlike there was for Jewish people who were in a works-based covenant which depended on their (failed) attempts at commandment-keeping. They were stuck in a state of condemnation within a ministry unable to provide life or righteousness. Out of 613 commands within the old law, Paul gave an example from the Ten that God engraved … and how he ended up coveting more when trying to live by the rule of “you shall not covet.” That’s not good news. Long before the law, Adam was only given one (1) command … and failed to keep it. Paul explained it’s because we’re “In Him” that we have redemption, and it’s through His blood we have an eternal forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Everything about this gospel is based on the work of Jesus. Don’t allow religion to plant doubt and fear by making it about you.
During the podcast we made mention of a previous podcast entitled, "How Can I Know That God Has Forgiven Me?" That was episode 820, and you can listen to it here.
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In spite of whatever struggles and challenges come our way within this fallen world, God has declared us forgiven and that we have been delivered from the power of darkness. God has transferred us into His kingdom, it’s His blood that resulted in forgiveness, redemption, and has brought us peace.As we begin to understand that the knowledge of His will was to bring all of these good things to us as an inheritance, we can live within the light of Jesus Christ where the fruit of God abounds. His strength in us is what we reply upon, not our willpower. It’s all about Christ in us—the mystery revealed.
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Prior to the ratification of the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, we find that there was a barrier, a middle wall of separation which was keeping the Jews from attaining righteousness … and the other 99% of the world without a covenant at all. At the time of the Old Covenant (before the cross), Gentiles were described as being without God and having no hope in the world.What was it that was keeping Jews from righteousness and Gentiles separated from God entirely? It was the law of commandments contained in ordinances from the first covenant. Jesus broke down this law wall—abolishing this enmity in His flesh. This resulted in Gentiles being brought near to God by the blood of Christ, and bringing both groups together into one new man. Inside of a very different covenant, it is not an obsolete, abolished law that lures people towards God … it was having it removed and taken out of the way.
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A Bible verse often quoted is when Jesus told His Jewish disciples that if they did not forgive others for their sins, neither would God forgive them for their sins. In context, we see that Jesus wasn’t speaking to all future believers, but rather to people who were trapped within an old (obsolete) covenant which had certain requirements related to works rather than grace. The gospel within a new and better covenant is not based on a quid pro quo — “you do this, and God will do the same for you.” This would be the opposite of the great exchange and would not be good news to the hearers.The Apostle Paul said something very different to believers in Christ compared to what Jesus stated. Once we realize and understand the magnitude of God already freely forgiving us through the blood of Jesus … we can now forgive others in a way that people under the law would have been unable to do. The difference between what Jesus said compared to Paul is found within two covenants that are not alike. The Old was still in place before the cross, but everything changed after that.
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Without blood being shed, forgiveness from God was not extended. Even long before the Mosaic law, sin resulted in the repeated sacrifices of innocent animals where the sins were transferred onto the animal. Seeking a renewed forgiveness from God was ongoing. Then the master plan was put into motion and Jesus happened … and offered one (1) sacrifice as the perfect lamb of God. His blood did what had never happened before by any other sacrifice … it took sins away.But today the religious community has taught that we need to confess all of our sins to be forgiven (again and again). The only thing missing is the bloody beast to go with it. What happens if you don’t confess every single sin? What if you died with an unconfessed or “unforgiven” sin still hanging over your head? Can you see the impossible requirement with that? This misleading mindset leads to fear and bondage, ignorant of the power of the finished work of the cross. If you think God will forgive you every time you ask or if you express sorrow for your sins, we have even better news for you.
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Taking a single Bible verse out of the proper context can have a negative impact in the minds of well-meaning people seeking the truth. Perhaps this is nearly unrivaled when it comes to 1 John 1:9—where it has been interpreted by many that there is a requirement to keep “confessing” all of your sins to be forgiven or for you to remain forgiven. But who was John speaking to in this first chapter? Believers or those who did not believe?How does this (false) assumption compare to statements made by Paul and the letter to the Hebrews? How does it compare to things John would say in the very next chapter and near the end of his letter? And just exactly what does confession really mean? We’re following up on last week’s program about the finality of God’s forgiveness through the blood of Jesus and His one (1) sacrifice that addressed the sin issue, once for all.
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There are thousands of works-based religions which will put an emphasis on people making promises to God and trying hard to keep them. This turns the gospel inside-out, because the good news is not based upon our good actions or our sorrows for sins. The New Covenant is based upon God’s promise to us. A promise that will never be broken by God … and a covenant that can never be broken by us.
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After His resurrection, Jesus—from the tribe of Judah—became our High Priest. This resulted in a change of law (a removal)—bringing the stone tablet ministry to an end, having been replaced by something better. Where forgiveness was constantly repeated under the old way of animal sacrifices … the new way brought the surety or guarantee of sins being taken away and remembered no more … as long as Jesus lives (forever).
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The book of Hebrews explains how Jesus put sin away by the sacrifice of Himself. He accomplished something the blood of animals could never do in the first covenant and even before that—sins were taken away, once for all. Let’s think this through. When did this happen? And prior to the cross, how many sins had you committed? Did Jesus only remove the sins of the world up to the moment He died? If so, Hebrews 9 explains that this would mean He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. Jesus isn’t shedding any more blood, and this is great news for us.
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In the year of our Lord, 2005 A.D., we were asked to begin a 15-minute Internet Radio Program, and we had no plans on doing a long-term weekly podcast. Now 17 years later, we take a look back at how it all started in our humble beginnings … and how it has grown into tens of thousands of weekly downloads from multiple countries around the world from people wanting to know God in an authentic way. We also reveal how we’re about to break one of our long-standing rules for future podcasts —one which we’ve abided by for all of our programs—until now.
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We continue to reminisce on our 17th anniversary of doing the weekly Growing in Grace podcast. Have you ever taken a look back at the circumstances of your life and began to realize how God may have been orchestrating some of the seemingly smallest matters … which would later shape and form some of the most significant things in your earthly life? It’s something we can relate to, especially when it comes to how the podcast came to be.
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This is our 3rd and final program reflecting on our 17 years of doing the Growing in Grace podcast ... and some of the primary subjects that have dominated our conversations. Much of what we talk about will be the opposite of what people hear throughout most church buildings. Just one example: In the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, you are never asked to give your life to Him. He came to give His life to you! Turning certain traditional mindsets inside out will help people begin to understand a more complete truth of the gospel.
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We’re back to discussing the surety of our forgiveness contained within the New Covenant established by Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews provides us with many contrasts, comparing the Old Covenant to the New. The law of regulations contained within the old, obsolete covenant was not able to provide what God required from the Jewish people.
The old way involved ceremonial repetitions which could not permanently address the issue of sin and its consequences, whereas Jesus entered once into a holy place—not a copy made with human hands, and not with the blood of animals—but with His own blood He obtained and secured an “eternal redemption.” Those suggesting that one can lose this gift have failed to realize the power and effectiveness of the finished work of Christ—who has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
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The law of works left people in a state of hopelessness through a system of failed commandment-keeping and repeated animal sacrifices seeking more and more forgiveness. Jesus offered Himself one time to free people from that ministry of condemnation which could only attempt to make the flesh look polished. But the flesh profits nothing and the works were dead. Jesus ushered in a better covenant where His blood sealed the deal—and it all began after His earthly ministry with His death.Eternal redemption. Eternal Spirit. He did it all.
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Blood was a big deal in the Old Covenant which came by way of Moses. The entire law and everything that came with it was dedicated with blood. It turns out it was just symbolic for something far superior that would come later—the blood of Jesus. The writer of Hebrews points out the contrasts in how the first covenant was incapable of bringing what the people needed. The New Covenant established with the blood of Jesus would remedy everything necessary that the first covenant could not. And it would be available for the entire world.
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This week, church pastors around the world will be providing sermons about sin, sinning less, seeking more forgiveness because of new sins, and perhaps erroneously declaring how sin is separating you from God. Avoiding sinful behavior is good advice, but there is more to the story. The letter to the Hebrews reveals how the blood of Jesus put sin away once for all. Although all people would continue to fall short of the perfect and holy standard that the law of commandments required, the cross dealt with sin in such a way that Jesus and the Father would not have to deal with it ever again.If forgiveness from God is still needed for new sins committed, more blood would also have to be spilled. Jesus would not be required to keep offering Himself repeatedly for the forgiveness of sins because the cross would finish the need for more blood being shed. He paid for an eternal redemption—redeeming the Jews from a ministry of death and condemnation—and opening the door for Gentiles to also partake of a New Covenant. The old, obsolete law of works with ongoing sacrifices brought a reminder of sins and left people trapped within a sin consciousness which Jesus came to deliver people from.
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Isn’t it interesting how God never desired burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin which were offered according to the law inside of the first (old) covenant? All of that work, toil, effort and slaughter … and God took no pleasure in any of it.On the flip side, we discover the ultimate will of God was the sacrifice of Jesus, who came to earth to do this will of God—and it was by this will that He would completely wipe out the first covenant to establish a new and different covenant for the forgiveness, the salvation, and the sanctification of His creation.
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Within the first covenant, the Jewish priests offered sacrifices daily for the sins of the people and for their own sins. The job was never complete, sins were still on record since the blood of bulls and goats couldn’t take them away, so the priests kept standing. Enter Jesus … who offered one sacrifice for sin with His own blood, which would bring forgiveness of sins for all time (eternal redemption), plus perfection and sanctification through the one offering.In other words, sanctification is not something we progressively work at—it’s a gift which we’ve inherited by the will of God. All of this resulted in a New Covenant—a new and living way where God declared, “I will remember their sins no more.”
During this episode we mentioned how we've previously talked about how sanctification is not progressive, and is not something we do, but rather is instantaneous and permanent, and is something that Christ has done. Here are a couple of past episodes in which we discussed this:703. Born Identity: You Are Sanctified
752. Hebrews 10: Forgiven and Sanctified (Jesus Sat Down)
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The writer of the book of Hebrews is providing his Jewish audience with a revelation of how the sacrifice of Jesus did what the previous covenant could not. Jesus established a new and different covenant resulting in sins being taken away forever—to be remembered no more by God. It brought a new and living way, resulting in people being perfected, sanctified and declared holy. It has allowed for entrance with a true heart in full assurance of faith.Within these many chapters of the letter which argue a case for all of this and more, the legal eagles will still try to turn your attention to a single Bible verse or two which seem to contradict the good news writings leading up to it … when not understood in the proper context. We take a look at Hebrews 10:26 to shine some light and erase the fear.
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Traditional Christianity has largely taught people to develop a consciousness (or constant awareness) of sin and sinful behavior. When one falls or fails, they have been programmed by empty religion to confess their wrongdoing and seek/beg God for forgiveness yet one more time, vowing to try harder never to do it again. This is like a dark shadow of the obsolete Old Covenant, where there was no escape from such a bondage.Jesus flipped the Script and was able to free people from a sin consciousness and bring eternal redemption and forgiveness “for all time” through one finished sacrifice. This resulted in no condemnation for anyone who is in Christ Jesus. What a victory for us to learn more about and to grow in our understanding. What about the challenges with the flesh? We talk about it on this week’s program.
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The law of commandments came through Moses during the first covenant made with Israel. There are some in both legalistic and grace circles who will teach things about this law from very different covenant perspectives, but will often both be of the persuasion that the law itself was not abolished. There may be many reasons for this ideology—with one of those having to do with something Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.Whatever your opinion may be on the subject, our goal during this series will be to help provide a viewpoint for consideration in order to bring as much consistency as possible when it comes to the message of the grace of the gospel.
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Sometimes when people discuss faith, if you listen carefully, you’ll begin to hear them vocalize something that is more based upon their works, lifestyle choices, and what they perceive to be an improvement in moral character. If we’re not careful, it can become about us and what we do or don’t do, instead of placing a complete trust and faith in what God has done for us through His Son. Depending upon our abilities to attain right-standing with God—instead of choosing to believe in God’s ability—is not based upon faith.When the Jewish people were pursuing righteousness through a law of works, it was not a righteousness of faith, but it was based on their inconsistent works, which did not bring peace with God. For those who were described as having lived by faith or done great things because of faith, it had nothing to do with the law or their own works. Do we need those old rules and commandments to lead, teach and guide us as believers in Christ? No, we have Someone who lives in us who will fill that role much better.
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Her story is in the book of Joshua in the earlier days of Israel becoming a nation. Many years later, this woman named Rahab was still known as “Rahab the harlot,” as referenced a couple of times by New Testament writers. Like many people today, she was identified by something she did. In this case, it was considered negative, and something looked down upon.Something that easily gets lost in between this gentile woman’s occupation and her willingness to help Israeli spies … is that she was a believer in the one true God before she ever did anything to help the Israelites. She wasn’t one who was under the law. There was nothing that she (or anybody) could “do” to be accepted by God—she was justified in the same way as all people are … whether Jew or Gentile. She believed in God by faith because of what she heard that He had done.
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In the 8th chapter of Hebrews, the writer was looking back at a prophetic statement from the book of Jeremiah. He was explaining how the previous covenant containing the law was not the same as the New Covenant which was established by Jesus, our new High Priest. God declared to Jeremiah the New would not be like the Old when it was given to Israel at the time they were delivered from Egypt!When God spoke about His laws being put in our minds and written upon our hearts in this better covenant, the assumption by many church folks is that this is a reference to the Ten Commandments. But why would God want to write something on the hearts of His people which brought condemnation, resulted in sin increasing, and wasn’t based upon faith? In the previous chapter, the writer had just declared that old ministry as one that became nullified or cancelled because it was weak and unprofitable, unable to bring a required spiritual perfection. Our hearts now contain and reflect something new and better than a law of sin and death—it’s “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” It’s based upon the ministry of God’s Spirit in us, the gift of righteousness, faith, love and liberty.
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Continuing from last week’s thread … in John’s first epistle, he explains the love of God from the perspective of the New Covenant. This also connects with our love for Him and for others. Jesus was asked what the greatest commandments were under the law (from the first covenant given to Israel). Jesus answered with this from Matthew 12: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.”Nobody has ever achieved being able to follow those commandments which had the entire law wrapped up in them. This is quite different from what John stated, where the truth revealed that it wasn’t that we loved God, but He loved us. As we begin to receive and understand the fullness of this perfect love, it allows us to freely love God apart from the commandment—because we want to do so—and that love which abides in us also enables us to love others in the same way God loves us. Perfect love casts out fear and provides us with confidence in the day of judgement. It’s better than depending on your own inconsistent strength and abilities which always leave people falling short.
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This week, we look at a couple of verses—from 1 John chapter 2—that the legalistic mindset will focus upon outside the context of the New Covenant. It’s a perspective based upon a mixture of law and grace which comes from sources who believe “maintaining” salvation involves the working of our own efforts instead of the work of Christ alone. They’ll pitch salvation as a gift apart from works, but then try to sell you an extended warranty, suggesting you can forfeit so great a salvation based upon your actions. It’s nothing but complicated double-speak.John writes about keeping commandments, but he isn’t very specific in listing them out. Covenant clashers would try to have us believe he is referring to the Ten Commandments and may selectively throw in a few extras for good measure. If John was encouraging believers in Christ to embrace a stone tablet ministry of commandments, then he not only contradicted the Apostle Paul, but also would have contradicted himself in this very same letter. Peter and Paul stated the commandments which came through Moses were burdensome and unbearable. Jesus said the same thing. But John said the commandments he was referring to are not burdensome. Either John disagreed with them … or (and let’s go with this) he is referring to something different as it relates to the New Covenant.
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The law from the Old Covenant was holy, righteous and good. In fact, it was so good, nobody could ever achieve the required standard. Because of being taught a phony mixture of law and grace, the majority of church attendees have assumed the written commandments—at least a small portion of them—are meant to lead and guide us into a state of righteousness and approval from God. When they hear us talk about living under grace … and not being under the ministry of the stone tablets, they automatically jump to the false conclusion that we’re telling people it’s okay to sin as much as they want.Instead of trying to live by the written letter (which kills), the more effective approach will be for believers to come to a greater knowledge of the truth about their identity in Christ and who God already declares them to be as a righteous, holy and perfected person, having inherited the very nature of God through belief and spiritual birth. As one who is described as a partaker of the divine nature, believers can begin to live from this place, thereby allowing the Spirit of God to more effectively bear His fruit through us, apart from the law of works. He is the one who will lead, guide and teach us as we allow Him to do so. The goal is not to work at becoming someone we think we are not, but to live and rest from who God has already declared us to be.
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When the Christian religion campaigns that the stone tablet ministry should be put on display as a guide to live by, they have completely missed the vast differences between an expired covenant of works once established with Israel … and a new and better way which came by grace through Jesus.Things rarely heard in church buildings: The law given to Moses resulted in sin increasing, not diminishing. It was described by the Apostle Paul as a ministry of death, condemnation, and no longer has any glory because a more glorious ministry of the Spirit has surpassed it.
More from Paul … the law bore fruit for death, it was the strength of sin, it was a ministry of bondage, it could not provide life or righteousness. He stated how the law is not of faith but was a guardian … until faith would come (Christ), resulting in no longer being under the old guard of the law. The law demanded it be kept perfectly but could make nothing perfect, therefore was considered weak and useless. Jesus came to redeem Jews from it, not bring Gentiles into it. A new and better covenant replaced that old, ineffective ministry, which nobody could ever live by.
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Religious corporations which tout the keeping of the stone tablet commandments have neglected to recognize or minister the New Covenant established by Jesus. Very few church attendees have ever heard that believers in Christ are not under that ministry of commandments which came from God through Moses. But spiritual legal advocates will attempt to argue against this truth by quoting a single Bible verse: “But Jesus said He did not come to destroy or abolish the law but to fulfill!” This is a true statement from Jesus as He was speaking to His disciples early in his earthly ministry.But what religion has frequently failed to recognize is what was accomplished by Jesus at the cross and resurrection, which allowed for the annulment of that ministry—where Jews were unable to attain righteousness—and Gentiles had no hope or covenant at all. God was able to tear down the barrier of commandments and bring these two groups together in Christ by fulfilling the law perfectly in us.
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If you are under the assumption that most of what Jesus spoke was meant to be applied directly for you as a believer in Christ, you’ll end up with all sorts of inconsistencies and potential confusion in your belief system. Within those red letters found in the Bible, the majority of what Jesus spoke was aimed at Jewish people who were under a hopeless position, living under the law within what is now an obsolete covenant.But if you’ve been taught by church ideology that when Jesus was speaking to His disciples … that He was also talking to you … then you’ll jump to some inaccurate conclusions when it comes to the gospel of grace.
Are we dismissing, ignoring or running from the words of Jesus? Absolutely not. Understanding the ministry of Jesus as a man walking the earth—and what He spoke at that time—needs to be considered in the proper context in order to come to a greater knowledge of the truth.
Five years ago we did a foundational 20-podcast series called "Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants" that will help in understanding all of this. The first episode of that series can be found here, and you can listen to the subsequent parts from there, or you can listen via the YouTube playlist here.
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This week we have a spontaneous heart to heart about church denominations and the wide variety of different perspectives and teaching available. How did we get to this place where elements of both law and grace seem to be the norm?
This is a bit of a foundational introduction into upcoming podcasts where we’ll talk about some things that are seldom heard or taught in most churches—but should be.
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Imagine receiving a lengthy letter containing many pages and then focusing on just a couple of sentences. This is what happens frequently with individual Bible verses. It’s commonplace to set aside a few verses contained within a New Testament letter from an apostle—which are assumed to be saying something that gets translated into a doctrine or some type of religious theology.In the meantime, the bigger point is missed because we’re thinking in terms of a lone verse or two instead of the bigger picture, which is the gospel of grace. We continue the emphasis on context in 1 Corinthians Chapter 6 … as we look at a couple of verses used by those on the legalistic side of the fence to bring doubt and uncertainty into the hearts and minds of believers in Christ.
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It becomes very easy to be misled or to misunderstand the truth of the gospel when becoming fixated with a Bible verse or two. Quite often we assume there is a complete thought encompassed within a verse or a short passage, and then we try to tie it into other solitary “island verses” within the pages of the Bible … which are surrounded by an ocean of other passages. Copy and paste them together and POOF! You’ve got instant indoctrination. The goal becomes trying to “prove” one’s pre-assumed mindset about the dogmatic doctrines they have been taught. Regardless of what one believes, anybody can do this … and it’s a common practice in the world of religion.This week, we look at a short passage contained within the 5th chapter of Galatians that is often considered by covenant clashers as a not so veiled threat by the Apostle Paul regarding their eternity and their works. Considering the new covenant context about everything he said in his letter up to this point over several chapters, Paul is attempting to reassure people, not to suddenly shift gears and scare them into going from grace back to trusting in their works.
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“But what about this verse!” It has become common practice to view the Bible through individual Bible verses. What was meant as a method to reference the writings more easily can often turn into tunnel vision when it comes to the complete truth contained within the New Covenant of Jesus. A verse or two by themselves can turn into being used as a memorization technique, which sounds like a good thing to do—but the context is more important than any one verse which can often lead people into false assumptions and misunderstandings.Individual verses can be used as “topics” for sermons, while the pastor may have little or no understanding about the gospel from a New Covenant perspective. We’re working toward a short passage containing a few verses in Galatians chapter 5 which is often used to bring people back into a works mentality … and leaving them in a state of confusion when it comes to God’s grace.
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When religionists insist on a balance between law and grace—or works and faith—it often leaves people in a state of uncertainty. When not very familiar with the accomplishments of the cross of Jesus, they may try putting forth some type of effort to ensure they are in right standing with God… even to make sure they “maintain” their salvation. It becomes more about doing instead of being.The question we need to ask is … exactly what work or works can people do to ensure they are in an acceptable position with God? What act can we possibly perform to ensure we’re saved, forgiven, accepted, blessed and perfectly loved? Our honest answer should be that we can add nothing to the finished work and shed blood of Jesus. He “did” for us what we can never “do” for ourselves.
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