1057. A Listener Asks About Overcoming Past Regrets, Religious Exhaustion and Church Attendance

God's grace teaches us so much over time when compared to religious routines and traditions of "doing" that have often missed the core message of the gospel of God's love. We're continuing with the second part of a letter we received from a newer listener to the podcast who is beginning to see the message of grace and recognizing the contrasts with much of what they may have been taught in the corporate church system. They ask about how to overcome past regrets for things said and done ... the feeling of exhaustion from church-related activities ... and wrestling with whether they and their young family should attend church regularly.




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1056. A New Listener Writes About Their Faith Roller Coaster - It May Be Your Story Too

Over the past couple of decades, we've received correspondence from people from around the world. We've been blessed by so many emails and comments. We've also heard stories from some who shared very difficult things they have experienced from church denominations and religious tradition ... and some of those were quite sad.

We recently received a nice letter from a new listener who discovered our podcast and shared some of his experiences while just beginning to have the eyes of his understanding opened to the message of the gospel of grace. Chances are very good that much of what he is sharing will sound very familiar to you if you have progressed into the good news of the gift of righteousness. For some, it will bring reminders from your distant past ... or more recently for some. We felt it is probably an accurate representation of what many Christians go through when being set free from ideologies that are so burdensome within the mixed covenant culture quite dominant in corporate Christianity. We're going to do something different on this program and share the letter and some thoughts for those eagerly seeking answers to what may seem like "newfound faith."




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950. How Can I Be Sure I'm Completely Forgiven?

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).



   
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850. Old Covenant: Purified Flesh (Dead Works); New Covenant: Purified Conscience

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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684. How to Get Ideas for a Growing in Grace Podcast: Listen to "Bad News" Church Sermons

When raised within a certain belief system, we tend to assume our way of thinking is generally the correct one and that it’s rooted in absolute truth. What happens when we find out the church teaching we’ve trusted in has been built around pieces that don’t accurately fit the puzzle of the bigger picture? Among thousands of Christian denominations, people with good intentions have bought into an idea or mindset about Bible beliefs that are founded on doctrines of men about a Word that is not rightly divided. On the other hand, those of us who have discovered faith-based righteousness through God’s unlimited love and grace can easily forget about some of those legalistic teachings that bring people down. When we prepare to do a podcast that communicates the truth of God’s grace through the finished work of Jesus, sometimes it’s based upon having heard a sermon from a popular church teaching that left people in uncertainty, guilt, and condemnation. This is why we occasionally like to check-out some of these lifeless teachings in order to help remind us of what many church attendees are being subjected to and it inspires us to communicate the message of freedom found in the New Covenant.



   
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669. Paul’s Testimony: I Stopped Trying to Keep the Law of Commandments

The title of this week’s program is an obvious paraphrase, but it isn’t far off from what Paul explained when it came to being freed and delivered from the Mosaic Law with its burdensome commandments. He found out that what he thought would give life had actually proven to bring death and despair, while causing sin to increase. Today many believers will get up in front of the church and talk about how they used to do bad things and now they work on doing good things. To be clear, pursuing sin will never be a profitable venture - less sin is a good thing. But this was not Paul’s testimony. He didn’t boast about how he used to murder and then stopped after he was saved. He emphasized that we’ve been made a new creation, and the value of getting to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection. God’s life in us, has caused us to pass from death into life in a New Covenant that isn’t based upon our ability to a meet certain standard of rules and regulations. Instead, we live by the righteousness of faith with the power of Jesus Christ abiding in us.



   

652. Freedom from a Sin Consciousness

“How many here are sinners?” Ask that question in most churches and the vast majority of hands will go up. “How many here are righteous?” Ask that question and you’ll typically see the hands remain on their lap. Why? Empty religion that has mixed the Old and New Covenants has left people with a mistaken identity, frequently trapped in a consciousness of sin… the very thing Jesus came to deliver people from (Hebrews 10). In fact, we have been delivered from the powers of darkness, and guilt and condemnation has been removed forever. We can’t do anything about our own sin problem, but Jesus did — by giving His own life. The reason people fall into condemnation and get confused about their identity is because they have tied it into their behavior and performance, instead of the gift.



   

650. The Conviction of the Holy Spirit

As a Christian, you may have heard it over and over in the local assembly: “The Holy Spirit will convict you of your sins.” But is this a true statement, or has it been twisted in a way that puts believers back under a sin consciousness that He came to deliver people from? Understanding our identity in Christ, and the ministry of the Spirit within us… the Helper… the Comforter. It’s part of our conversation on this week’s program.



   

637. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 8): The Law in A Nutshell – More Sin, Death and Condemnation

Frequently we’ll find church doctrines and teachings encouraging believers to cling to a law of works, found within the commandments of the Old Covenant. The problem with this? New Covenant writings reveal why the law was given to Israel (and not to us who are Gentiles). Those commands within the law caused sin to increase (not decrease). It was a ministry that killed and condemned. The law demanded perfection but was powerless to provide the ability to attain it. It once had glory, but came to an end, where the glory faded, and now has no glory at all. Why? Because of the surpassing glory ministry of the Spirit of God, which replaced the requirements written on ink and on stone. We are now in the life of Christ, we’re empowered by the Spirit of Grace where new life flows and the fruit of the Spirit is produced, apart from the works of the law.



   

612. Brought to an End: The Law (The Ministry of Death and Condemnation)

Continuing this week in part two of our short series in the 3rd chapter of 2 Corinthians. The ministry of the Mosaic law (including the ten commandments written on stones), is defined by the Apostle Paul as the ministry of death and condemnation. It’s a ministry that once had glory, but now has come to have no glory at all. Why? It’s a glory that was fading from the beginning with Moses, and was replaced with something more permanent and more glorious… the ministry of the Spirit of the living God, now written upon our hearts within a New Covenant established by Jesus Christ. Although Christian “religion” has been built upon combining the Old with the New, the covenant of death and the covenant of life should never be mixed together.



   

569. Are the 10 Commandments Written on Our Hearts?

In reference to the New Covenant, you may have been told that God would put his law, commandments and statutes in our minds and write them on our hearts. However, in the same passage, God declared the New Covenant would not be like the one made with Israel when they were delivered out of Egypt. Since the old law brought death, condemnation and increased sin, why would God choose to write it on our hearts, since it could not provide life or righteousness to us? There was a change of law with the new priesthood of Jesus Christ, and it brought a new heart to us with a new ministry that would far surpass the old way.



   

558. Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (Part 15): The New Way: No Condemnation

Although Jesus often ministered despair and hopelessness by elevating the Mosaic law, there were times when He would provide samples of the approaching New Covenant. Even though the "New" would not be in effect until after His death, we see examples of the gospel being served, such as the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. The purpose of the old commandments was to minister condemnation and death. This woman received a taste of unconditional love mixed with mercy and grace, while her accusers walked away speechless.