1069. The Will of God for You (Part 2)

It is difficult to experience the peace of God to the fullest if we're steadily or periodically wondering whether we're in God's will. It becomes even more complicated if we're worried what the negative ramifications might be if we become convinced through external sources that we are "out of God's will."

Christ in you, that is God's will for you, and it is a place of peace and rest. He will be with you every step of the way through the earthly journey and through the many decisions being made over the years. If He impresses something unique upon your heart, you can still make choices. If you decide to go a different direction, God is flexible and has been known to be in the re-routing business ... working things together for good and never leaving you.




"Clash of the Covenants" book available on Amazon

913. How Works Fit Into the Message of Grace

The majority of us who chose to believe in Jesus were encouraged within religious circles to work at making ourselves better, more holy, more righteous, more sanctified ... and the list goes on. We've gotten it backwards with that approach. The better way is to grow in the knowledge of God with the understanding that He has already declared us to be all of these things and more.

So instead of trying to work at becoming what we think we are not, we realize God has already equipped the believer in Christ with all things that pertain to life and godliness. This is our starting point as we run this race and it's called the finish line. Growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus will completely change our perspective and motivation in many ways—including works.



   
Get the book

777. Giving Freely Without Obligation

If we’re giving because we feel it’s a requirement, then it’s not really giving. If we’re trying to love because we believe we are commanded to do so, then it’s not really love. However, when we begin to realize and believe in the perfect love God has or us as He demonstrated through Jesus and the cross, then we can truly begin to love in the same way God loves us. And giving is born from this kind of love. It makes no demands and yet seeks to help others in need without keeping a record of wrongdoing.

Godly giving through grace doesn’t seek self-reward or payback, but expects nothing in return. But our desire to give isn’t based upon religious requirements which preach you are to “give everything” or “surrender all to God.” It comes from within a new nature and a clean heart, gifted to us and received as a new creation in Christ.

   
Get the book

774. Released From the Tithing Tether; Free to Give Gracefully

When the truth confronts our hearts in dynamic fashion, it can be difficult to receive it in our minds because we’ve been trapped within religious teaching which may have caused us to depend on certain assumptions that are not based on truth. One of those bondages is breaking free from a religious requirement referred to as a tithe or giving 10% of all your monetary income.

In the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, we’re in a very different paradigm where God’s Spirit lives in us, leading and guiding us as individuals. As a new creation in Christ, it’s within our new righteous nature to desire to give willingly. The Apostle Paul provided a summary of giving under grace:

“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

   
Get the book

670. The Letter of the Law Vs. the Spirit of Life

When believers fall into the trap of getting focused on improving behavior, it often leads them back into a place of bondage rather than the freedom Jesus came to give us. Your behavior will never reach the perfect standard God required under the law of commandments given to Israel. Trying to follow those rules and statutes only caused sin to increase. The letter of the law killed, but we now live in a New Covenant of the Spirit, which gives life. The power of grace found within the Spirit of God who lives in us is a very different ministry than what Israel went through under a system of works which did not lead to righteousness within their hearts. On this week’s program, our encouragement is to abandon the attempt to mix Old Covenant commands with New Covenant grace … because in spite of what the religious world has been teaching, they are not compatible.



   

622. "Are You Saying People Can Sin as Much as They Want?"

When traditional church doctrine meets pure grace and God’s unconditional love, those who have been embedded with fragments of the Mosaic law that are wrongly mixed into the gospel, will instinctively react with a list of questions something like this:

“Are you saying people can go do whatever they want? Are you saying it’s okay for people to sin as much as they want? Commit adultery? Murder?” (Of course, that’s not what we’re saying).

They will proceed to warn the sheep about this radical doctrine of grace that is a dangerous, false teaching in the form of heresy, because of our proclamation that believers in Christ are not under the law that came through the Old Covenant. The law demanded that all of it be kept. Other than Jesus, nobody has ever accomplished this before. Therefore, He fulfilled it on our behalf. Just because we’re not trying to keep the law, doesn’t mean that we’re breaking it. The rule book can’t bring us life, righteousness, nor God’s approval. Jesus didn’t come with a new set of rules and statutes that would end up making us better, He came to give us His life and a new heart that has made us like Him.



   

588. Fake News: Believers Still Have a Sinful Nature

Many Christians have been taught they are living with two natures; one that is holy and righteous, and another that is sinful. At the very least, this is misleading and at the most it’s just plain erroneous. One who has come to belief in Christ, born in the newness of life and given a new heart, cannot also have a nature of evil dwelling within the spirit of the inner man. Confusion occurs when we define the flesh as a sinful nature, and some of this stems from a popular Bible translation using the phrase "sinful nature," although it has been revised in many instances since 2011. Believers are not defined as sinners with a nature to match - we are now described as partakers of the divine nature.



   

511. "Are You Saying People Can Do Whatever They Want?"

The position we have proclaimed that the ministry of the Spirit of grace has replaced the Old Covenant of death and condemnation, will frequently lead to the accusation that we are sending the message it's okay to sin. Covenant mixers instinctively assume if we have no list of rules to live by, it encourages people to run wild and that behavior doesn't matter. Since their own spiritual identity has been bound to following rules, they have a hard time understanding the freedom from law that came through Christ and the new heart and motivation of love that is found in Him. Our growth in grace will change our perspective and our desires.



   

489. Guest Andrew Farley: Your Identity

Best-selling author and speaker Dr. Andrew Farley joins us for the third and final week, discussing who you are in Christ. We often hear about how Jesus died for us, but it seems we seldom hear about how we also died with Him. We are spiritual beings who also have a soul and a body. We had a heart transplant, having been made brand new through birth. Although there is a growth process with the renewing of the mind and behavioral changes, this is not to be confused with how you are identified as a new creation. Andrew also address the question about whether or not we possess two natures.

Check out more on Andrew Farley at andrewfarley.org and churchwithoutreligion.com.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3


Download
(Click to play; Right-click to download)

---

YouTube version of this episode.

---

This week's GIG Bite - A bite-sized chunk of this week's program.

---

470. A New You

Many believers, who in reality have been made brand new in Jesus Christ, still carry some of the old ideas about themselves that were true of them before they came to know Christ. The Old Covenant scriptures say that the heart is "deceitful and desperately wicked," and so believers continue to believe that that is true of them, even in Christ. What they don't realize is that in Christ we've been given a NEW heart, and our new heart is not wicked or deceitful - it's holy, righteous and sanctified! Many believers also refer to themselves as merely a "sinner saved by grace," not realizing that in Christ their identity is no longer "sinner," but "saint"! In Christ, we've been made new, and it's very liberating when we begin to understand these core things about our true identity in Christ.


Download

---

YouTube version of this episode.

---

This week's GIG Bite - A bite-sized chunk of this week's program.

---