Sunday, January 31, 2010

226. Responsible or Response-Able?

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Sometimes the question comes up, "Do we have 'responsibilities' as Christians?" Are we responsible to live the Christian life? Does God do His part, and now it's up to us to be responsible to do our part?

This week we explore the idea that rather than God requiring us to be responsible to live a certain way, He instead has placed His very life in us and makes us response-able (that is, able to respond) to His working in and through us.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

225. Freed From Sin

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Romans 6 talks about the "body of sin" being done away with and it says that "he who has died had been freed from sin." What does that mean? What does it mean that we're no longer bound by sin? The good news is that our sin has been taken away and no longer separates us from God! We'll talk about this and more on this week's edition of Growing in Grace.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

224. Not Judging One Another By Our Performance

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This week Kap and Joel share some thoughts on Paul's words in 2 Cor 5:16, "From now on, we regard no one according to the flesh." People tend to focus on what we do and don't do - our performance and outward appearances - and to judge one another according to that, rather than focusing on what Christ has already done. We are to no longer regard ourselves and others according to our own efforts and performance. Rather, in Christ, our sin has been taken away and what counts is not our performance and abilities, but rather "what counts is a new creation" (Gal 6:15 NIV).

Sunday, January 10, 2010

223. What About Those Who Continue in a Sinful Lifestyle?

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As we talked about last week, it's by One Man's obedience - the obedience of Jesus - that we have been made righteous. Jesus' obedience has been imputed to us, and He is not just "in" our life - He is our life.  The righteousness that we stand in, and even our faith, has been given to us as a gift.  Righteousness is "the state of him who is as He ought to be," "approved by God."

And so the question arises, if all of this has been given to us freely as a gift, what about those who continue in a lifestyle of sin?  Do they remain saved?  Do they remain righteous?  Obviously we all have to deal with the natural consequences of our sins, but do they stand between us and God, and do they negate the free gift of righteousness?

Everybody sins, but is there some "standard" by which we are to judge whether one person is still "ok" in front of God and someone else isn't?  If so, what is that standard?  Where do we draw the line?  Hmmm.

Sunday, January 03, 2010

222. Made Righteous By One Man's Obedience

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Romans 5:19 says that it was through one man's disobedience (Adam) that people were made sinners, and that it's through One Man's obedience (Jesus) that many are made righteous. We were sinners, not because we ever sinned (not because of our actions), but because we inherited Adam's nature when we were born. And we have been made righteous, not because we ever did anything righteous (not because of our actions), but all because of the obedience of One Man --- Jesus!