1020. Written and Engraved on Stones: The Strength of Sin

Imagine seeking guidance from a trusted clergy or spiritual counselor who taught and instructed you to work hard at keeping a code of stone-tablet commandments in order to succeed at securing favor and blessings from God. Chances are good you won't have to imagine because you've experienced it firsthand. You were exposed to the two-headed monster known as law and grace.

What they didn't understand was that they were pouring gasoline on the fire. The law written and engraved on stones is a ministry that no longer has glory. It was a source of death and condemnation. It was the strength of sin and it resulted in sin increasing ... not being reduced. The very thing Jesus came to redeem Jewish people from (the law) is the same thing that religion often burdens people with today ... albeit their own condensed version of it. It leads to bearing fruit for death, not life.

The better way: Knowing your identity as one who has had their heart purified by faith, is declared righteous, holy, and perfected ... and is already like Jesus through an inheritance. Understanding that you are not identified any longer as a sinner will allow the Spirit of God to guide you into bearing His fruit for life.



   
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1018. A Listener Asks: Why Do So Many Churches and Christians Mix Law and Grace?

There is a wide array of different church affiliations out there around the world and many have very differing points of view on many different things. But there are some common threads found through the spectrum. First, most believe that they pretty much use the Bible as the source for their beliefs. Second, they mix an "old covenant" that Israel was under with a new and better covenant established after Jesus died.

The first covenant came through Moses and was based on pursuing righteousness by works and deeds. The second came by Jesus Christ, bringing a realization of grace and the gift of righteousness apart from works and deeds. Two very different covenants—manifested at different times—and were not alike.

Naturally, this begs the question: Why do so many Christians and churches feel the need to have a "balance" by mixing law and grace? We offer some possibilities on this week's program.



   
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990. Faith Counted as Righteousness: God Justifies the One Who Does Not Work - But Believes

When it comes to righteousness as a gift from God, the "faith without works" crowd struggles to explain their inconsistent approach. Some will appear to speak words about God's grace while later their lips leak legalism because the mindsets they have been clinging to are based upon false assumptions that have been hammered into them by the church Doctrine Department. If one who believes in Christ doesn't have works, does this mean their faith is phony and not genuine? The Apostle Paul didn't seem to think so.

In addition, they can never tell you specifically what precise works are required and how much. But James could ... because he was speaking about a specific blueprint—the works of the Mosaic law. It was the very thing Paul declared had been wiped out and deemed to be obsolete under a new and better covenant. Bearing the fruit of the Spirit is a good thing, but don't be deceived into thinking you are the one producing it. So which is it? It is important to come to the knowledge of the truth as to whether salvation is truly by grace through faith in what God has done through Christ ... or if it is only for the person who has faith and then has works to show for it.



   
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989. Why Do People Gravitate Towards Religious Rules and Law?

Paul wrote to the Galatians with the motivation to help turn them back to grace and the ministry of the Spirit that he had introduced to them. They had come freely to Christ by faith alone and received the Spirit apart from works ... but they would later be solicited by believing Jews who warned them they also needed certain applications from the law of Moses—starting with circumcision.

It got us thinking about a question that may be difficult to answer: What if they had never been approached by the Judaizers who were baiting them into adding law/works to faith? Would they have continued on the path of grace by faith alone as Paul had ministered to them? Or would they have drifted towards feeling the need to establish or maintain their own righteousness without any outside persuasion? In other words, as humans, are elements of legalism and fleshed-based works unavoidable in this world?

As God's creation, we are faced with many choices. Ask yourself, do you believe confidently in what God did through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, to bring you life and a righteous perfection ... or do you feel it was deficient and uncertain enough for you to work at adding something to it? It may even be something related to church ceremonial practices. Will we listen to the witness from within or the wide array of audible voices from outside?



   
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794. Paul: One Gospel for All - Don’t Set Aside Grace in Exchange for Works

When Paul came to the knowledge of Christ’s saving grace, he spent several years being taught the gospel message by God through revelation, and declared how he had not received this from men. He spent much of his time proclaiming this good news of grace to both Jews and Gentiles. Paul came down hard on those who were preaching “another gospel” and even went so far as to say that anyone who was teaching something different than the gospel of grace … let them be accursed. And what was that different gospel? Paul reveals to the Galatian churches it involved mixing law with grace.

Things haven’t changed much in the past 2,000 years. Although the rules and regulations are tweaked based upon religious brands and cultural changes, the Christian religious system often weakens the message by emphasizing a works-based message while putting grace on the shelf. Grace may be used as a selling point, but watch out for the fine print.

   
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779. Paul, James and the Gentile Dilemma

Following up on last week’s look at Acts Chapter 15, there was great debate among Jewish believers as to whether non-Jewish people (Gentiles) should be required to follow the law of Moses as they were coming to belief in Christ and getting saved. After all, Gentiles had no relationship with that law and now it was presenting a dissension among those who felt the law was still a necessary component with Jesus added to it. James appears to reach a compromise which was accepted between both parties … or was it? We’ll discover the possibility this controversy would continue and the debate between law and grace was just beginning as we look at various passages in the weeks ahead.

   
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713. The Dangers of Mixing Law and Grace (Part 3)

Legalists who believe God’s grace needs to be balanced with a law of works will instinctively jump to the misguided conclusion that we grace renegades are encouraging people to break commandments from the Old Covenant and that sinning doesn’t matter. They are stuck in a religious trap which assumes law decreases sin and that grace inspires people to sin. It’s the precise opposite of what Scripture has revealed through the gospel. There is a reason why sin has no dominion over us in Christ, and the law has nothing to do with it.

“For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions” (1 Timothy 1:6-7).



   
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712. The Dangers of Mixing Law and Grace (Part 2)

If you’ve ever attended church for any length of time, it’s likely you’ve been taught to buy into a belief system that has blended law and grace together. Your mindset has been trained to filter the Bible through this perspective.

This approach to the gospel is an insult to the blood of Jesus and the finished work of the cross. It sprouts self-righteousness and does not lead to a greater knowledge of the truth.



   
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711. The Dangers of Mixing Law and Grace (Part 1)

The majority of Sunday sermons have established a mindset within believers that the gospel is based upon old covenant law being merged together with new covenant grace. Some things are not compatible and just don’t mix well together. The wrong combination of various liquids will either resist each other and refuse to blend or could even create toxicity. Law and grace are not compatible with each other and were never meant to be commingled.

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).



   
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626. Can Grace Become a Dangerous Doctrine?

Grace has been known to receive a bad rap when it is communicated as the foundation and the fullness of the gospel. When free and unlimited grace is taught, it has been known to be accused of giving people a license to sin, thereby causing sin to increase. Grace has been falsely rumored to be a dangerous doctrine when it is taught apart from the law, which came through the Old Covenant once given to Israel. Over the years on this podcast, we've been misunderstood by many who have jumped to the wrong conclusions about what we're saying. This is largely because of the established mindset they have developed which is built upon a foundation of law and grace being mixed together. On this week's program, we attempt to bring some clarity on what we've been saying — and also what we're not saying.



   

492. The Curse of the Law Package

Religion will tout we need to have a balance between law and grace. The problem with thinking this way is that we can't have it both ways. The Old Covenant required people to perfectly follow all the rules and commands that came as one package. Under the Mosaic Law, mankind was not given the luxury to pick and choose which rules to follow and which can be tossed aside. We've all been freed from the curse of that law and translated into the ministry of the Spirit, with a new and better covenant where God remembers our sins no more.


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