1063. Confidence Becomes Volatile When It's Based on Behavior

Most have been subjected to religious behavioral requirements. It may be a standard you set for yourself, or it may have come from church friends or other sources. Maybe even by misunderstandings within Bible verses. If you convince yourself you're doing a 'pretty good' job of keeping up by performing enough to think of yourself as a successful doer, your 'spiritual' and emotional confidence rises. Wander from it and you might start to wonder where you stand with God—and what you need to do to get back on track.

The good news of the gospel of grace is that we can be confident and at peace ... but it's not based on our obedience or trying to be good enough with what we do. It is fully rooted in Jesus, His obedience, His blood, and a redemptive work He completed once, for all. Anything else will have the legal eagles swooping for an opportunity to bring the fish back to their nest.




"Clash of the Covenants" book available on Amazon

1032. "Hey Jesus, What Must We Do?"

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.



   
Get the book

1025. Did Jesus Send the Spirit to Convict You of Sin?

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.



   
Get the book

898. False Assumptions: God Convicts Believers of Their Sin

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.



   
Get the book

864. "Be Holy." But How?

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.



   
Get the book

816. Law Keepers: None Righteous; Believers in Faith: Gifted With Righteousness

Anyone can separate and pluck-out Bible verses, miss the context, and then wonder what in the world they mean. One of many examples is found in the first three chapters of the book of Romans. Paul was taking chapters to explain how the entire world had fallen short of God’s glory because of sin—whether Jew or Gentile. But in these passages, he also reveals the good news of God’s righteousness and acceptance being made available as a gift by a source known as faith, which occurs apart from the works of the law of commandments which came through Moses.

So whether one was a Jew under law or a Gentile without the law, all fell short, and all now have the same access to God by faith in Jesus Christ. But right-standing with God has never been attained or based upon what one does.

   
Get the book

815. Ungodly People Justified With Righteousness - Apart From Self-Improvement

Christian believers have frequently fallen into the religious trap of thinking they are identified as “just a sinner” who needs to keep working harder at becoming something they think they have not attained yet. The mindset established is that they are “hungering and thirsting” for righteousness while working to make behavioral improvements in order to become “more righteous” and gradually coming to a place where they will (hopefully) make themselves more acceptable to God.

While lifestyle and changes in behavior can be a positive thing in this life, it has nothing to do with who God has declared you to already be as His child—having inherited His very nature and now gaining access to all things pertaining to life and godliness. The idea that we are trying to climb a spiritual ladder of self-improvement is a fairy tale which leaves people in the same hopeless position as those who were under the law in the faulty first covenant. It leads to one of two dead end streets: self-righteous hypocrisy or guilt and condemnation. Jesus did the work so we could live in a place of peace and rest.

   
Get the book

665. The Gospel Is the Gift of God’s Righteousness

Something commonly found in our Christian vocabulary is the word gospel. But just exactly how is it defined from a scriptural perspective? Ask a room full of believers what the gospel is, and it’s likely you’ll receive many different answers. So even something as commonplace as “the gospel” is often described in many different ways. This isn’t necessarily always a bad thing, but often our personal perspectives about what we think the gospel is will sometimes contradict what other believers think. Can’t we agree on something that should be so simple? In order to drill through all of the traditional fluff, we take a look at a foundational passage from the Apostle Paul as he reveals the primary meaning of the gospel, and how it differs from the “bad news” that was in place before Jesus came along.



   

656. "Am I Right with God?"

Something many people wonder deep inside is the question of whether they are right with God. Even those who call themselves believers in Jesus Christ may question at times as to where they stand with God. Their fear or uncertainty is sometimes triggered by their behavior and performance. They may tend to assume their identity as a child of God is filtered through their works and actions, or religious rule-keeping. The gospel reveals something that isn't always heard through weekly church teaching, and it's the greatest news you could ever want to hear. We've been gifted with God's very own righteousness. Right-standing with Him is no longer something you'll ever have to wonder about ever again.



   

651. Subscribing to Sin Management Inc.

When many Christians consider repentance, it is usually viewed from the perspective of turning from sin. In essence, what they are really saying is to focus on reducing your sin count. This is not how repentance is defined. Less sinning is always going to be a positive thing for you and those around you. It’s simply not a part of the new righteous and holy nature that abides in you. However, falling into the trap of “sin management” will potentially cause us to chase after the flesh, develop a mindset of self-righteousness, and lead to boasting in ourselves while judging others who fall just as short as we have. Other than Jesus, nobody has ever been able to equal the requirement of perfect behavior as it was reflected through the law. Not one … before the cross or after. There is a better place to abide than working at managing your sin count, and that is with the power of grace found inside of a new and better covenant—where the Holy Spirit will remind us of God’s unconditional love, and that we have been gifted with His righteousness as a new creation in Christ.



   

603. Believers ID’d as Righteous, Apart from Behavior

How you are identified as a believer in Jesus Christ is entirely separate from your works and actions. Israelites under the law declared that the attempt to keep the law of works would be righteousness for them, but there was never an individual who could accomplish the demand of doing it to the point of perfection, as was required. In order to receive the perfection and righteousness that was needed, Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf and God placed us in Him. He became like us so we could become like him. Instead of pursuing works in order to establish ourselves (which leads to boasting), we abide in the faith of His finished work, where we have nothing to boast. Faith-based righteousness has brought us new life by God’s grace, which empowers us to live in the way of the Spirit, apart from the works of the law.