Growing in Grace

Our former days from working in radio brings a reminder of something the FCC required at the top of every hour for broadcasters. It's called a "Legal ID," where each station airs their call letters and city of license. From a Christian spiritual perspective, what would appear on your ID if it were printed out ... similar to a driver’s license or other form of identification? How do you see yoursel...

Have you lived in fear of wondering whether God has forgiven you because you've had struggles forgiving others? This is often related to a "scary" statement Jesus made to His disciples during the "Sermon on the Mount." But we need to consider why Jesus said what He said and to whom He was speaking. In the previous chapter during His talk with these Jewish disciples who were still under an impossib...

Jesus made a statement to His disciples after giving them what is commonly referred to as The Lord's Prayer in Matthew Chapter 6. "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." As we compare this to some things Paul said about forgiveness in Ephesians chapters 1...

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 h...

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....

"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...

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...

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 lon...

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 g...

"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 t...

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...

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 commit...

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...

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 surpas...

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...

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 m...

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 compariso...

"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 sh...

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...

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...

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 establi...

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...

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...

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 ne...

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 cou...