1064. The Religious Beatdown: "I Felt Worse, Like I Was Never Doing Enough"

A listener shares with us their story of spending decades in several different churches while working at being dedicated and committed to the cause. Over time, they began to struggle with depression, anxiety, guilt and shame. If it seems like there is something wrong with this picture, it's because there is ... and unfortunately, it's all too common. But we have some encouragement for those who feel trapped.




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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."




"Clash of the Covenants" book available on Amazon

1017. "Recalculating" When Feeling Lost on a Guilt Trip

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 God. Our right standing is based on what Jesus did as the mediator between us and God. Paul put it this way: "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh."

When the fleshly GPS tries to take you to a dead-end street of doing in order to get a response from God, change direction by simply saying, "God did."



   
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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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776. "Giving Verses" Out of Context

We’ve communicated many times over the years about giving generously, born out of the same love God has shown to us. But when believers haven’t been told about their identity in Christ or have failed to grasp they are the righteousness of God by faith, then sometimes ministers will use various Bible verses out of context to try and motivate them into giving. It can come from a place of guilt or greed while convincing people it’s a part of the gospel. We look at a couple of examples of more verses without the context from 1 Corinthians 16 and Luke chapter 6.

   
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692. A Life of Faith Apart from the Law

Faith. Grace. Righteousness. Forgiveness. Life. Salvation. These are gifts we’ve been delivered into since God established a New Covenant where both Jew and Gentile have been invited into the covenant - Christ Jesus is that covenant that has been given and established after the cross. These things were not attainable for those Jews living under the religious system of the Mosaic law from the Old Covenant. Their efforts at trying to abide by the many commandments fell far short of the requirement. The new way came by an oath or a promise. The premise of most Christian church doctrines tragically resembles a train-wreck where law and faith have crashed head-on, leaving people in a state of anxiety, pain, fear and bondage. Our program this week covers many of the differences between the law of works compared to the ministry of faith and grace… and why we should avoid the mixture.



   
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688. Jesus Often Taught a Ministry of Death and Condemnation

Jesus always had a reason for His methods during His earthly ministry. But much of what He taught was not meant to be considered or received as New Covenant Christianity - yet we can still look back on it and benefit when considered in the proper context. As the Apostle Paul explained to the Galatians, Jesus was born of a woman under the Mosaic law so that He might redeem those who were under that law - the Jews needed to be delivered from that religious system which could only bring death and condemnation. To assume Jesus was usually teaching a new doctrine meant for future Christians has resulted in countless misinterpretations as to how the gospel is defined. Empty religious doctrines of men will scream that we should do our best to keep some of the commandments from that old law which is now obsolete. What’s the problem with this? “The law is not of faith!” Faith in Christ has no relationship with a law of works which can’t bring life.



   
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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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680. 1 John 1:9 (Part 4) No Longer Asking for What Has Already Been Given (Forgiveness)

This week we reflect on a relatively small number of scriptural passages which confirm our forgiveness in Jesus Christ. It’s “forever forgiveness” that occurred through one righteous act at the cross of Jesus Christ. His blood not only brought a permanent forgiveness of all sins (past, present and future), but cleansed us from all unrighteousness. The work of Jesus has already brought us the gift of justification, righteousness and sanctification. In him we are new, alive, clean, holy, perfected and so much more. In addition to our previous programs in this series, part of our goal is to help believers understand that the context of 1 John 1:9 was not meant for us to keep trying to remember all of our sins, mistakes and shortcomings in order to try confessing all of them be forgiven again. The church has failed to realize this keeps people in a sin consciousness which Jesus came to free people from. It only brings a temporary emotional release from guilt, leaving people with a false identity by thinking they are just sinners who can’t seem to overcome. A better way to living in victory is placing faith in what Jesus did, and that it was more than enough.



   
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