Grace Roots

"Even though those unworthy worms didn't deserve it..."

2009-07-21T14:00:00.000-05:00

So reads the first part of John 3:16, as apparently translated in some Bibles.

But my Bible actually says something like, "For God SO LOVED THE WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son..."

Why did God give? Why was the price paid? He gave and He paid the price because He so loved the world! The gift of eternal life that we've received from God truly did cost Him something, but the price was joyfully paid (see Heb 12:2). And now that the price has been paid, walk in the beauty of it and enjoy it!

Some people walk around as if God's grace, though given freely, is "cheap" unless we grovel before Him, always reminding Him and each other how "unworthy" we are to receive it. Of course, it's not that we should not be thankful for grace! In fact, the best way that we can show that we are truly thankful for the gift is to walk freely in it!

My son is three years away from getting his driving permit. (Lord have mercy!) ;) Let's just say that when he's able to drive, we have the means to buy him a car. He's done nothing to deserve it. We paid the price for it, entirely. He gets in the car, drives five miles and then stops and calls us and says, "Mom and Dad, I'm really not worthy of this gift you've given me. Thank you so much!" Great, he appreciates the gift! But then during the next five miles, he keeps on thinking about how unworthy he is, and he stops again and calls us to tell us again how unworthy he is, and how thankful he is for the car. This then keeps up for the rest of the time that he owns the car!

Am I being a bit over the top with this example? Maybe. :) But it's to point out that that's how some people see the gift of grace. They live day in and day out as if they need to keep reminding themselves of their unworthiness in order to truly appreciate the gift. But just as we wouldn't give our son a car with the hopes that he would keep on understanding and groveling before us about how he didn't deserve it, but rather we would give it to him so that he would simply enjoy it, God hasn't given us the gift of His life so that we would continue to feel unworthy. Even though we truly didn't deserve it, He didn't pay the price so that we would remain stuck in a mentality of unworthiness before Him, but rather so that we'd have a brand new life in which we see how much He truly LOVES us and how He has crowned us with glory and honor, and how He VALUES us!

People don't give gifts hoping that the receivers of the gifts will stay with the mindset that they didn't deserve the gifts. True giving is given joyfully and out of a true willingness to give! God gave the ultimate gift as the ultimate giver! To walk as a unworthy worm before Him is to not appreciate and understand the gift! In fact, it takes away from what the gift has truly provided us with! To appreciate the gift of grace is to walk in its fullness, which means understanding that we are PRECIOUS and VALUABLE to God, not unworthy worms.

GIG 200 - Special Celebration Edition - Highlights Part 1

2009-07-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

We're celebrating our 200th Growing in Grace Podcast with a look back on highlights from the past programs that have led up to this memorable occasion! It's been a lot of fun to have you sit in with us on our casual conversations as we discover together what true freedom is all about. We'll continue with our celebrating for the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for more highlights to come, and of course we're looking forward to many more great chats in the future!

gigcast.graceroots.org

To flush it out or to flesh it out?

2009-07-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Interacting with people who for various reasons haven't understood or believed the gospel of the finished work of Christ is not always necessarily a black and white process. I think the Apostle Paul showed that in his various dealing with others. Not that we always look to Paul and his ways of handling confrontation and debate as "the" ways for us to handle it, as he had his own personality and his own calling from God, but I for sure can say that I've gleaned a lot from him.

When speaking with others who are not walking in the freedom of the gospel, do you nip it in the bud quickly or do you take time to reason things out? Do you flush it out or do you flesh it out? I think it all depends upon getting a feel for where the other person is coming from.

At times Paul spoke harshly to and about those who rejected the gospel by putting any sort of confidence in the flesh - in their own fleshly attempts to become justified or remain justified. He would trample underfoot those who "trampled the Son of God underfoot." He flushed them down the toilet. He didn't really hold back at all. "Beware of dogs!" he said in Philippians 3. "Beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!" Those definitely aren't "tame" words. He had serious words for those who put any confidence in their own actions.

Read on in Philippians 3 and see how Paul said that he would have every reason to put confidence in his own actions, but yet he chucked it all aside and he counted it all as loss and traded it in "for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord... and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ..." He, of all people, would be the world's number one contender for putting confidence in his own deeds, but he knew that in order to have Christ he had to renounce it all. Therefore he had very harsh words for those dogs, those evil workers, those mutilators of the flesh!

On the other hand, there are those who he took time with. Instead of flushing them down the toilet, he fleshed it out with them. I see a form of the phrase, "he reasoned with them," at least seven times in the book of Acts. For example, "...and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, 'This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.'" (Acts 17:2-3). "And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God." (Acts 19:8).

In these seven instances (and of course not only in these seven instances), there were people who heard Paul out and were persuaded and joined with Paul and the other believers, or at least wanted to hear more, and there were people who flatly rejected what he had to say. But at times, "some were hardened and did not believe," and Paul and his disciples withdrew from them. At times, people started mobs in reaction to Paul's "reasoning," and Paul and his friends ended up getting brought before rulers and thrown out of cities. Other times Paul stayed with the people for weeks, months or even a couple of years.

I said at the beginning that we don't necessarily follow Paul and all of his ways of dealing with those who hear and receive or reject the gospel. I think that to try to be a copycat of Paul is a huge mistake. The point here is that we can gauge where other people are at, and our response to them is not black and white. It often depends upon each given situation, and it's often a good thing to take time to get to know where someone is coming from rather than using a preconceived "speech" or way of handling things. Our own unique personalities play a big part as well. And most of all, obviously, we rely on the fact that we only go where God brings us and as we rest in Him we let His life in us do the confronting, persuading, reasoning, etc.

"Believing all the lies to keep the dream alive"

2009-07-17T14:00:00.001-05:00

I spend so much time
Believing all the lies
To keep the dream alive

Those are lyrics from a song from the 80's by Billy Idol, Eyes Without A Face. I'm intentionally ripping those lyrics out of the context of the song because they speak to me in another context that others will probably relate to in one way or another.

In this case the lies I'm thinking about are those of legalism and religion and the 'dream' I'm referring to, whether consciously realized or not, is the delusional and fruitless fantasy of self-preservation. I'm thinking of the lies that are preached and taught - and believed - to keep the dream alive of having people remain allegiant to any given church or ministry. Those who preach these lies end up believing them themselves, and it's all rooted in the protection and preservation of "their" ministry, "their" church, "their" institution, "their" cause. Manipulative lies are taught about "tithing, "hierarchy," "covering," "church membership," "behavior modification" (performance-based acceptance), etc, in order to keep the masses loyal to a certain leader or ministry.

Two thousand years ago, the Pharisees were a prime example of this, being hard nosed about keeping people strictly under God's law, and even adding myriads of additional rules, laws, interpretations and traditions on top of it all. And of course during the past 20 centuries, this has moved into the church setting. I fully understand that sometimes these legalistic lies are taught because the teachers and preachers honestly don't know any better, and are simply teaching what they themselves have been taught. But I'm talking about those who are caught in the very tangled web of self-interest and self-preservation, who purposely teach manipulative lies in order to "keep the dream alive," with the dream being the success and growth of whatever system or institution they've created and built.

This is also true in many other areas of life, such as in household situations and other family matters and relationships, finances, jobs and vocations, social activities and so on. Whatever the case, the pursuit of self-preservation is very often the root of the legalistic and religious lies that keep people in bondage and keep them from experiencing the freedom for which Christ has set them free.

Not one to remain stuck only on criticism of the system, I offer up a solution or two to all of this, and I look for input from others as well! My main focus would be to keep on remembering that we were bought with a price, and that we are not "our own." Our "ministries" are not our ministries. They are the work that God Himself is doing in and through us for the good of everyone, not for our own individual self-preservation and self-centered success and prosperity. God didn't "purchase" us so that He could keep us in chains but so that we'd be free! This is also our "ministry" to one another. It's not about building "a ministry." It's not about coming up with ways (lies and manipulation) to keep people faithful to US so that OUR dreams stay alive. It's about building one another up (edifying) and ministering to (serving) one another!

Any thoughts? (including additional criticisms, solutions)?

:)

Divine Enablement

2009-07-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

"Grace is the divine enablement, by the life of Jesus Christ in us, for us to be all that we've been called to be and do all that we've been called to do." - Steve McVey

GIG 199 - If Not Law and Rules Then What is the Source of Living the Christian Life?

2009-07-12T15:30:00.004-05:00

For the past several weeks we've been getting pretty heavy into discussions about God's Law. We've discussed the purpose of the Law, and how it is the ministry of death and condemnation, and how being under the Law is bondage. We then talked about how Jesus came to FREE us from the Law! For those not familiar with all these things that the New Covenant scriptures say about the Law, this may leave some scratching their heads and asking questions such as, "If the Christian life is not about keeping God's law and it's not about following rules, then what is the motivation and the source of living the Christian life?

If we say that Jesus came to deliver us from the Law, and all we talk about is God's love and grace, won't that cause people to want to go out and sin and live reckless lives? Is that what grace does? (Do we really have the gall to make grace out to be so cheap and powerless and insufficient?) The Law, which is good and holy and perfect, had one main problem. It could certainly lay down its demands of perfection - but yet it had absolutely no power to help anyone live right! Grace, on the other hand, is the ever-sufficient power of living the Christian life. To take it even further, it's not that grace enables the flesh to live a better life, but through God's grace we have died to the Law in order that we may have true life - the very life of Christ in us! Therein lies the power and the motivation and the source of the entire Christian life!

Special Note: Next week marks our 200th Growing in Grace program! To celebrate, we'll spend two or three weeks running highlights of our past programs. This should be a lot of fun as we look back on some of our conversations that have hopefully been a source of grace, freedom and life. Thanks so much for listening and for all your encouraging words!

gigcast.graceroots.org

Doubt without works is dead

2009-07-09T00:00:00.004-05:00

We've all heard it said at one point or another (and probably more often) that James' words "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20) means that faith is a work, or at least that in order for our faith to be legitimate we have to add works to it.

But James doesn't say, "if you say you have faith, then do something to prove it." Rather I believe his sentiment in his words, "Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18) is simply this: Your actions simply show what is already true and alive in you. If you try to "add" works to faith, then it's not really faith through which the works are produced! It's dead works!

If you truly believe something, your actions will naturally reflect your belief. This applies to all people, regardless of any relationship with the Lord. If a burglar believes (has faith) that he can get away with burglarizing a house, his actions will justify his faith. If a man believes he can get a better job or career by going to college for four years, his actions will show his faith to be genuine. If you believe the bogeyman is under your bed, your feet won't get anywhere near the floor until the light of morning!

On the same token, doubt without works is dead as well! If a person doubts that he is worth anything to God or to other people, his actions will go right along with the doubt. If he doubts that his gas tank has enough gas to get him to the next town, he will put gas in it before driving that far. But it's not as if a person says, "I have doubt," and then he goes about trying to add doubtful actions to try to prove his doubt to be true! You don't add works to doubt in order to prove it. Again, the works (actions) simply go along naturally with what is already true. If you try to "add" works to doubt, then it's not really doubt through which the works are produced! It's dead works!

Do we really understand this?

We don't add works to faith to try to prove it. Our lives in Christ are not a matter of going about trying to prove our faith by doing good works. Our lives in Christ are based upon taking God at His word... believing Him... having faith in Him... and allowing the "works" (accompanying actions) to be worked out naturally as we rest and trust in Him.

Jesus became a curse for us and Jesus became sin for us

2009-07-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

Abraham believed God and God accounted that to him as righteousness. That is the blessing of Abraham. Christ became a curse for us so that we might receive the blessing of Abraham. Also, Christ became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him! It's through nothing we've done... It's all what He has done! Your sins are not counted against you. You are not cursed. By faith, you are counted as righteous.

2 Cor 5:21
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Gal 3:5-14
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? — 6 just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them."

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

It blows people's minds that the law is the ministry of death and condemnation!

2009-07-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

It blew my mind when I first saw it and understood it, so I can understand why it blows the minds of others. Recently I've had interaction with others that drives home the point.

It's right there in the Bible. Loud and clear! And yet many people have never heard it or at least have never understood it - or simply not believed it. The Apostle Paul calls God's Law "the ministry of death" and "the ministry of condemnation" (see 2 Cor 3:7-9). I've written about this before, and I'm sure I'll write about it again, so I won't get into the full meaning of it right now. I just want to show how this essential gospel truth is hardly even known in the church!

A listener of our Growing in Grace program, who also became a Facebook friend of mine, recently wrote these words on his Facebook page:

This blow me away, what was engraved on letters of stone, the 10 commandments and Paul calls them the ministry of death, wow! and a ministry that condemns men. Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ, the truth is, the Law justifies no man.....sigh.....what a freakin relief.

On Facebook you can "like" someone's comment. (You can click a little link that says you "like" what the person has shared). So I "liked" his comment. He responded to me:

You should Joel, you did a podcast on it...man that was powerful....I never seen that before.

Nowadays I simply take it for granted that this is the truth - that the Law was the ministry of death and condemnation. And sometimes I forget that this is new news to so many people - even people who have been Christians for a long time!

"I never seen that before."

My friend and Growing in Grace cohost, Mike Kapler (Kap), was sharing with me yesterday about a conversation he'd had with some people at church recently. Long story short, he was sitting in on a certain class, and they began getting off of the particular topic of the class and began talking about our identity in Christ. Kap began sharing that Paul called the Law the ministry of death and condemnation. One of the women in the class spoke up and said, "I've never heard that before."

I don't know how long she's been in the church, but my point in all of this is that these are essential truths that should be known by anyone and everyone who has come to know Jesus (and has died to the Law in order to be married to Him - [see Rom 7:1-6 and Gal 2:19-20])! WHY is Law taught as part of the Christian life when the Bible says the exact opposite?!! WHY is today's church in such a state that stuff like this is so revolutionary when it should be the norm? Rhetorical questions. As I said at the start, I understand it. I get it. And that's why we need to keep on sharing the truth that breaks down all these falsehoods!

You are who you are, not who you're not

2009-07-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

I think I've shared this before on this blog, but these are notes I wrote down about 2 1/2 years ago. I was reading through some old stuff today and came across this.

----------

12/30/06 God doesn’t ask me to be “on fire” for Him. God doesn’t ask me to be “radical” for Him. Rather, before I was born again He told me I must die, and then He could come and raise me up to a brand new life and join His life with mine. So the life I now live is not a matter of me being radical or on fire for Him, but rather His radical life expressing itself through me – in whichever way He wills. The life I live in this earthsuit I live by faith. I most certainly don’t live by my own might or power or by my own attempts to live a powerful or radical life, or even a sincere, dedicated life. That sounds “unChristian,” I know! But as I let go of my own attempts at living any part of the Christian life, another Life takes over, with more power and dedication than I could ever come up with.

The gift of God that is in us, which Paul reminds Timothy to “fan into flame” (2 Tim 1:6), isn’t necessarily going to have an outward appearance that’s radical or sensational or impressive to other people, even to other Christians. Understand, I’m writing from the perspective of an introverted person who has tried in the past to live the extroverted, radical, effervescent Christian life, trying to prove to others that I’m “on fire” for God. I had faith – deep faith – and looking back, I can now see that my true faith was expressed in ways that weren’t always noticeable by others. But since I had come into a church culture that seemed to take greater notice of those with more visible and expressive demonstrations of faith, I prayed and tried very hard to have the same passion as others and for the Spirit to manifest Himself in me with the same sort of outward demonstration. Again, I now see that I really did have a deep faith, but at the time I didn’t think that was true. I wondered when the time would ever come that my faith would grow and I could truly be more expressive with my faith. When would I ever truly be “on fire” for God?

Thank God that I finally came to an understanding of who I really was. Or better said, I came to a better understanding of who Christ is in me.

The way that the life of God will be expressed in each of us individually will be different.
You can’t be what you’re not. Be who you are!

GIG 198 - Freedom Comes Not Through Law But Through Faith

2009-07-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

Christians, declare your independence from the Law! Many Christians, it seems, have not realized that Christ set them free from God's Law. But since it's the truth, we might as well know and understand it so we can live a life of independence from the Law and of true freedom in Christ!

There are over 600 Laws in the Bible. So which Laws are we talking about here? As everyone knows, there are two covenants - the Old and the New. In the Old, we see that there are laws that are broken into three categories: sacrificial laws, dietary laws... AND what is known as "moral laws," or The Ten Commandments. Most Christians have no problem with the understanding that we don't live by the old sacrificial and dietary laws. But as we check out Paul's words in Galatians this week, we find out what he has to say about the latter set of laws, which many Christian seem to think are there for us to live by. If you see things that way, you may be surprised at what the Bible actually says about that!

In short, let's just say that walking by Law means that we are in bondage! To walk according to God's promise - to walk according to freedom - means to walk by faith, not law. We are children of faith and of the promise, not children of the flesh and bondage!

Next week: If our lives in Christ are not to be by Law, then what is the motivation and source of good works and righteous living?

gigcast.graceroots.org

Close to God (repost)

2009-07-02T20:00:00.000-05:00

This is something I first posted almost 3 years ago (here) when this blog was still fairly new. Matthew's latest blog post, Wake the Sleeping Christians, which he posted on his blog here and on the Grace Roots discussion forum here, along with the comments on that forum, reminded me of this post so I thought I'd repost it.

--------------------

9/5/06

Yesterday I was listening to a tape of an old pastor of mine, named Mark, from 1997. He was talking about an ad he'd seen in a magazine, advertising Hosanna music. He explained that he and his wife are huge Hosanna music fans. They love that kind of praise and worship music. Well, the ad had a picture of a mountain, next to a picture of a Hosanna tape. The caption read something like, "Which will get you closer to God?"

So which will get you closer to God? Praise and Worship music, or climbing a mountain?

"Now wait a minute," Mark said. And I can remember his sarcastic grin like it was only yesterday. "I thought that Jesus came 2,000 years ago to bring us close to God!" He went on with something like, "And you're saying that now we can just bypass all that and listen to a Hosanna tape and be there in just a matter of seconds?!?!" You have to know Mark and his humor to get the full gist of his critical wit.

Anyway, this tiny break from the overall theme of the sermon had a huge impact on my soul yesterday. You know the feeling in life when nothing's really getting you down, and you feel like overall things are fine and you don't necessarily feel the need to release any heavy burdens - but then you hear or experience something and a heavy load that you didn't even consciously realize was there is suddenly lifted off of you? That is what I experienced while listening to Mark's humorous criticism of the ad he saw. The truth of what he was criticizing hit me in an instant.

And it's something I already knew... but yet the way I was trying to live wasn't representative of what I knew. I think subconsciously, even though I know that the person of JESUS is who already brought me close to God, and that NO experience on this earth, whether P&W music or prayer or good works - or anything at all - can bring me close or maintain that closeness with God, I was still trying to get close to God by the things I was doing, or by waiting for Him to do something "great" (tangibly or visibly) in my life.

Not that we don't want those feelings of closeness with God. Not that we don't want to experience it with our senses. Not that worshiping Him with music can't bring about great feelings and great praise for Him. But in the day-to-day, in the moment-by-moment living of life, we have been brought near to God and we remain near to God, solely by the blood of Jesus.

I poured out a great deal of emotion yesterday. :) Funny how something little like that, not even spoken with the intention of causing an emotional reaction, can cause such an emotional reaction! But I was balling - almost finding it hard to breathe! See, in the absence of "feeling" close to God we can often lose our perspective of the truth, that we are truly near to God all the time. We may consciously or subconsciously begin to try to create superficial atmospheres or experiences which we think will "bring us closer" to God, and when those things fail (to produce emotions, or feelings of closeness) it's very easy to think (again, either consciously or subconsciously) that something is wrong in our relationship with God. Our weaknesses and other failures in life just add to it. And for me, even though I know the truth, that Jesus alone is what has made me right with God and keeps me right with God - I still go off into that land where I have feelings of uncertainty about where I stand with God.

But this little bit of truth, presented as a sarcastic criticism of a magazine ad, caused MOUNTAINS of weight to be lifted off of me! Jesus alone has brought us near to God.

Here are just a few more examples of what Jesus accomplished for us by His blood – things that we could never do for ourselves. We have been purchased with His blood (Act 20:28). We have peace with God through His blood (Col 1:20). We have been sanctified with His blood (Heb 13:12). We have been justified by His blood (Rom 5:9). We have been redeemed by His blood (Col 1:14). By His blood, we have the forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7). We have been cleansed and purified, and our sins are taken away by His blood (Heb 9:22-28). And "we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus" (Heb 10:19).

All these things are God's gift to us - not our gifts to Him! We have no offering that comes anywhere close to the blood of Jesus.

People Are People

2009-07-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully

So we're different colours
And we're different creeds
And different people
Have different needs
It's obvious you hate me
Though I've done nothing wrong
I've never even met you
So what could I have done

I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand

People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
Help me understand

Now you're punching
And you're kicking
And you're shouting at me
And I'm relying on your common decency
So far it hasn't surfaced
But I'm sure it exists
It just takes a while to travel
From your head to your fist

Birth, Not Performance, Determines Identity

2009-07-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

Title of Chapter 5 of Bill Gillham's book What God Wishes Christians Knew About Christianity:

"That Birth, Not Performance, Determines Identity"

Your identity in Christ in solid and secure, not because of what you do or don't do, but because you've been reborn as a new creation!

From the book:

A toad is not a toad because it croaks and eats bugs. I wouldn't recommend it, but you could eat bugs till you croaked, and it wouldn't turn you into a toad. A toad is a toad because it was born a toad.

You're a human by birth. Your mom didn't pause between labor pains and pray, "Oh, God, please let it be a human!" Birth determined your human identity. This holds true in the spiritual realm as well. As a spiritual product of Adam, you are a sinner by birth (Romans 5:19a). Your performance has nothing whatever to do with your acquiring this identity...

...When witnessing to lost folks, I used to tell them that if they could live a perfect life they would go to heaven, but since they've already blown that one, they need a Savior. Although a person can come under conviction and get saved via this method, my theology was wrong. Even if it were possible for man to keep God's Law perfectly, he would still go to hell because of the spiritual identity he acquired at birth.

The point here is that we inherited our sinful identity from Adam, just by being born. And now we've inherited a brand new identity - righteous, holy, alive to God - just by being spiritually reborn! Your identity is by your birth, not by your behavior or performance.

Display a Growing in Grace Banner on your site!

2009-06-30T20:00:00.004-05:00

Mike and I are very thankful for all the wonderful support from friends and listeners of the Growing in Grace podcast. People are finding out about the program all the time, and many lives are being touched weekly through the message of God's unconditional love and grace. This is due in large part to people like YOU who are spreading the word! Thanks so much for telling others about the program.

Here's one more way to get the word out. If you have a blog or other site on the web, feel free to add a Growing in Grace Banner to your site. It's very easy - simply choose from the banners below, and then copy and paste the HTML code that's below the banner onto your web page.

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You are the righteousness of God

2009-06-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Cor 5:21

Paul says in Romans 1:17 that in the gospel a certain righteousness is revealed. It's not man's righteousness. It's God's righteousness. The gospel reveals God's righteousness that is given to man as a gift. Paul spends the rest of Chapter 1, and then Chapter 2 and over half of Chapter 3, making the case for man's unrighteousness. He does this to show how ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Finally near the end of Chapter 3 he gets to what he was really leading up to: "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe."

The law and the prophets were witnesses to this righteousness, but it's made clear in the gospel that man's attempts at righteousness, no matter how "good" or how "bad," ended up falling way short. And so: the gift of righteousness.

A little bit later Paul writes, "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous" (Rom 5:19). You were not declared a sinner because you committed sinful acts. You were made a sinner "by one man's disobedience." Even when you did "good," you were still a sinner.

In the same way, you are not righteous because of any righteous act or acts you have ever done. You are now declared righteous because you've been raised up together with Jesus, through faith. In the same way that you previously inherited sin, you've now inherited righteousness. Even when you do "bad," you are still righteous.

It's been given to you as a gift, and you can't earn gifts! To earn a gift is not only oxymoronic, it's moronic! Many Christians walk in fear of "losing" this righteousness through sinning. But remember, it's a gift.

Also remember:

...When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7

"According to His mercy" He saved us, washed us, regenerated us and renewed us. It's ALL about His kindness, His mercy, His abundant gift of righteousness! If we're mired down with a sin consciousness, worried about every little (or big) sin, worried that we'll somehow cross God (when His cross has taken care of it ALL!), then we're missing the point. A sin consciousness won't cause you to walk according to the gift of righteousness! (Hello?!!).

TRUST what God has done for us, and we won't have to worry about whether or not we're messing up His work. Good news: His work supersedes ours! God has made you RIGHTEOUS!

Meeting the Lesniak

2009-06-28T23:00:00.001-05:00

On our way home from Ohio, my family and I dipped down just a little bit south of I-80 to spend an hour or two with Dave Lesniak! In addition to our time spent with the wonderful friends in Ohio, this was quite a treat. I've known Dave since early 2005 (through the internet) and I finally got to actually meet him in person right around this time two years ago. I'm very honored and I feel very privileged to call him a true friend and I wish we could get together far more often (same as I feel with all my other blogging friends)!

A candid shot of my wife Tracey. :)

More pics from Ohio

2009-06-28T21:00:00.001-05:00

Out for a walk (and RipStick) around the KOA Kampground.

Back from the walk, and we see Ryan has made new friends, and temporarily traded his guitar for a banjo!

Playing Password. Fun, fun!

Bino giving his clues.*

Matthew on his turn.

Bino and Lion-Deer

The Carolina Crew getting ready to head out.

The Bloggers!

More pics on Facebook, of course. Also, Jamie has posted some here and here.

*While playing Password, Bino had the line of the night: The clue that someone gave said something like, "Where you go to find out if you're guilty or not guilty."

With perfect timing, Bino said, "Church." =D

A HILARIOUS line for us gracers... LOL

(The actual answer was meant to be "court"). ;)

GIG 197 - Law: Bondage, Jesus: Freedom

2009-06-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

Continuing on from last week's program in which we talked about being delivered from the Law, this week we talk a little bit more about the ministry of the Law, which is bondage, and the "better hope" that we have in Jesus, which is freedom!

The Apostle Paul uses very strong language when talking about the Law. Sometimes we glance over these things, but we've got to look at the reality of the Law's purpose and ministry so we can have a clearer understanding of the ministry of Jesus! Did you know that Paul refers to the Law as "the law of sin and death," "the ministry of death" and "the ministry of condemnation?" He brings up the Old Testament characters of Hagar and Sarah, saying they are symbols of the two covenants - one that gives birth to bondage and the other that brings freedom. Are we of the child that was born according to the flesh, or of the child that was born according to the promise!

gigcast.graceroots.org

Having a blast in Sandusky!

2009-06-27T17:00:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to say that the other bloggers (or at least some of them) in our blogging community are really real! Of course, I already knew that about a few of them, having met Matthew, Gary, John and Jamie in Atlanta in March. But now I've seen two more of them with my own eyes and I know they're real!! LOL

Something that we've been talking about for several months now has become a reality, and my family traveled to Sandusky, Ohio yesterday and we're spending time with Matthew, Jamie and family, Bino and Leonard at a KOA Kampground! We were able to just spend some time last night getting (re)aquainted and talking some grace talk and just having a great time together. Today we went down by the lake (Lake Erie) and walked around a bit and then had some lunch. I went swimming with my family after we got back, and otherwise it's been a lazy afternoon. We're getting some supper ready (tacos and other good food) and we'll all be spending the evening together.

It's so great to be around these wonderful friends! We're "separated" by distance, living in different parts of the country, but we're a real family and we're really soaking this in!

Jamie, me, Matthew.

Jamie, Leonard, Bino, Matthew.

Facebooking outside... LOL.

Hanging out, S'mores, etc.

Looking out on Lake Erie (that's my wife Tracey on the left).

Waiting for some good grub outside a pub.

The blogging crew!

More pics to come, I'm sure.

Hey London - Radical Sonship Conference coming your way!

2009-06-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd pass this on to anyone who might be in the London area.

The Radical Sonship Conference with Steve McVey and Paul Anderson-Walsh, and music from David Bilbrough, will take place next weekend in London. A few of my blogging friends and I were at the conference in Atlanta in March, and I know each of us highly recommends this conference!

Get the details here on this flyer.

GIG 196 - Delivered From The Law

2009-06-21T07:30:00.000-05:00

This week we talk about our relationship with the Law. The Law is good, holy and perfect. Is it "good" to remain in a relationship with the good, holy and perfect Law? This "marriage partner" points out all our faults and demands perfection... but yet is powerless to provide it! The end result is nothing but guilt and condemnation. And so somehow we needed to be delivered from this bad relationship. Using Paul's illustration from Romans 7 and his words from Galatians 2, Mike and Joel discuss what needed to happen in order for us to be "delivered from the law."

gigcast.graceroots.org

One week to OHIO!

2009-06-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

I'm excited about going to Ohio... but not because it's Ohio. Not that I mind Ohio. In fact I really like Ohio! No, I love Ohio! I would've married Ohio had person-to-state marriages been legal! I wonder what kind of kids a Joel-Ohio marriage would've produced? Hmm.

But really, I'm looking forward to Ohio because me and my family are gonna meet up with some really wonderful grace-friends there next week! You're invited, too, by the way. I know this particular blog post is short notice, but we've been talking about this since October. A link to the details is below, in case you're nearby and wanna come spend some time with us!

We're staying a couple of nights at a KOA Kampground near Sandusky, Ohio, with no agenda except to have some fun and to get to know each other a little better. A few people have expressed regrets at not being able to join us, and I truly understand. The distance makes it an issue for some, and we hope to be able to have grace gatherings in other locations in the future. The people who are planning on coming to this grace gathering in Ohio, in addition to my family, are Ryan and Jamie Weeks, Matthew, Leonard and Bino's family. It's also a wonderful thing that my parents will be staying with us! Because of distance, I normally get to see them only two or three times a year, but this will be my third time seeing them in a month! Our family has made reservations to stay in a park home next to Ryan and Jamie's park home, so we'll have a common area to spend time together.

As with my experience in meeting and spending time with some fellow bloggers at the Radical Sonship Conference in Atlanta this past March (John Fincher, Ryan and Jamie, Matthew, Gary and Sherry Kirkham, not to mention Steve McVey and Paul Anderson-Walsh, and meeting a few new friends as well), I imagine that this will be somewhat of a surreal experience. Words and photographs on blogs and websites are one thing, but it's quite a different thing to be there in person! I'm really looking forward to this time with my online friends!

Here's da details.

Lives transformed by God's grace

2009-06-18T10:00:00.001-05:00

In my last post I talked about the numerous "Objections to the gospel of grace" that I've come across in my several years of sharing the gospel of grace over the years. My original intent wasn't to just talk about all those objections but to share how those objections are overcome, not just through words and discussions (which can be very beneficial) but through the "proof in the pudding" of lives that are transformed by God's love and grace.

When you preach a gospel that is not based upon our performance but it solely based upon God's grace and the finished work of Jesus, it may very well seem as if you're preaching a gospel of licentiousness and lawlessness, since you're not adding a bunch of "musts," "shoulds," "ifs," "buts" and conditions to the pure words of God's grace and agape love. You're not relying on a bunch of external rules and commandments to get people to serve and to stop sinning. Without all these added extras, people think you're leading others into self-serving, sinful, destructive lifestyles. But is that really what happens when God's love and grace is spread around liberally???

I'll pick up where I left off in my last post when I said, "Let me tell you something about those who have been gripped by God's love and grace, and who don't have a focus on performance, but on a loving relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit." As God's pure unadulterated love and grace grips them, and as they become established in it and grow in it, they are the most humble, reverential, God loving people you could ever know! Are they perfect in all they do? Of course not! But their lives are transformed day by day through love and grace, and instead of relying on a bunch of external conditions, they grow in God's love and grace and their outward actions become more of a natural expression of God's life in them, rather than a plastic imitation.

As they learn more about God's unconditional love, grace and acceptance of them, that's not based upon their performance, they begin to look at themselves more and more in the way that God looks at them - not as unworthy worms, but as new creations, created in His likeness, with a holy and righteous nature. They boast about God. They stand in awe of Him and of the work that He does in them individually and in the body of Christ as a whole. They realize that apart from Him they can do nothing and with Him all things are possible... and He is in them at all times!

They find that they are FREE - not to sin, but free from sin! That makes all the difference as they relate to a God who isn't angry with them but who has set them free to truly know Him in a genuine loving, grace-filled relationship. They learn that they need not be afraid of God - EVER. They learn that they need not respond to Him out of fear of harsh discipline or hell, but rather out of joy from being loved and accepted as bonafide sons of the living God. They realize that they are not only forgiven, but that God Himself has come to dwell in them and has joined Himself to them, and they begin trusting HIS Life in them!

To be quite frank, they have a lot of crap to deal with, in regards to the legalists in their lives with their lists of commands, principles and conditions, putting pressure on them to perform and get out and serve. But as they become more and more established in God's pure grace and in their true identity in Him, they find themselves with a kind of growth in which they are much more naturally walking out the lives that God has truly given them. Many find that they just don't fit in where the church has told them they need to fit in and they find that they are much more naturally walking in the actual gifts and desires that God Himself has given them. They don't need someone telling them what to do or how to live because they become more deeply connected with their true Life source - Father, Son and Spirit.

Serving others, loving others, accepting others, forgiving others, etc, all become expressions of Christ's life in them, and not duties or rules to follow in order to maintain a right standing with God or to live a "good Christian life." Most of this doesn't happen instantly, either. Growing in God's love, grace and acceptance takes time (especially with the heavy weight of mixed-in legalism to deal with). There's no need to rush any of it. Legalists have a hard time with people not conforming on the spot. Grace filled people understand that we're not conforming to a standard but that we've already been been perfected and made complete, and that our daily lives are a matter of having our minds renewed daily to who we truly already are by the gospel of grace, and that the transformation comes across in many ways over the years, with no need to hurry any of it! It's God's work in them, not their own attempts to change.

I could keep going! You who are growing in grace understand all of this. God's unconditional love and grace are Life to you and you are resting in that. People can try to put you into a box but you know you can't be contained because the God who lives in you and is at work in you can't be contained! Life is a thrill. It's an adventure. It's a joy. It's amazing. You're not stagnant, because there is nothing stagnant about God's love and grace! Like I said, I could keep going! Suffice it to say, the problem in the church is not that unconditional love and grace are taught too much, but rather that they're not taught nearly enough!

Objections to the gospel of grace

2009-06-17T13:00:00.001-05:00

I've been discussing the gospel of grace with people for several years, both in person and online, sharing with others my belief and understanding that not only are we saved by grace, but that God's love and grace is the essence of the Christian life. I've consistently shared that our "work" is to rest and believe, and that that's how God works in and through us. Restful trust. Trustful rest. Waiting, abiding, believing. It's not our job to produce fruit, but as we abide in the Vine, the life of the Vine flows through us naturally and produces God's own fruit. We are invited by God Himself to participate in His divine nature, but the work is His, not ours.

Objections arise, of course. I can't tell you the number of times over the years that I've been accused of and/or warned about preaching licentiousness, lawlessness, "cheap grace," "greasy grace," "sloppy agape," and other such idiotic things. People have told me in various sorts of ways that I'm teaching others to sin and to not be true followers/disciples of Jesus. They've told me that demons can "rest" and "believe," and that I shouldn't use those words without adding something about "responsibility" and "effort" on our part to work the works of God. They've told me I need to "balance" grace with rules, works and principles for Christian living. They've said I'm causing harm to the body of Christ.

In my hundreds of conversations (probably even a thousand or more) with people since the mid to late 90's when I began learning and sharing the gospel of peace, I've heard every objection you can think of. Many times I've faced those objections head on and have spent a great deal of time going into deeper conversations to talk out those issues. I've enjoyed that. I've found discussions with others to be a huge part of my own learning and growing process. Many times I feel I've effectively fought off various objections and have helped to change the thinking of some with a more legalistic bent. Other times it's been a fruitless exchange of multiple Bible verses, along with interpretations and opinions, and so I've also learned to pick my battles. :)

And in the midst of all this, I've learned something even greater. Words, discussions, opinions, etc, while often having a great deal of value, never match up to the actual testimonies of lives transformed by God's love and grace (such as mine and so many other people I know).

Let me tell you something about those who have been gripped by God's love and grace, and who don't have a focus on performance, but on a loving relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All the objections listed above (and more) are not true of them! Nowhere close. Grace, to them, is not cheap. It's Power. It's Life. It's God's strength in their weakness. If God's Agape is sloppy, it's only because He lavishes it around so wastefully! God's love and grace, to them, is not a license to sin. That's not even what crosses their minds! Yes, everyone still falls short in their actions, but it's not because they think, "Hmmm, God's grace is what is calling me to live like this!" Like I said above, that's just idiotic.

In ALL my connections over the years, I've run into only ONE such "idiot." :) About 6 or 7 years ago, someone had been reading various things that I had written in an online forum and he emailed me to say, "Congratulations on your decision to 'do nothing for Jesus!'" At first I thought he was simply agreeing with my overall understanding that it's not up to us to do things for God, but rather that it's God who is at work in us. But further into his email, he (almost gleefully) used multiple swear words and talked as if we might as well do whatever the flesh desires because we're saved by grace. To me, he didn't 'get' it!

But by far, he is the exception, not the rule, in regards to how people respond to the pure gospel of grace. No, he's not even the exception. He's got an entirely different "gospel" going on! Since this is getting long, I'll talk about those who do 'get' it, and how they've responded to God's love and grace, in the next post.