1059. The Corporate Church Campaign to Mix Law and Grace

1. Moses. Charlton Heston. The Ten Commandments. 603 other commandments. Mount Sinai. The Passover lamb. Many sacrifices. Works. Hearing and doing. Sins temporarily covered. Reminded of sins.

2. Jesus. The Lamb of God. Grace. The gift of salvation and righteousness. Faith. One sacrifice. Easter. The Resurrection. The Holy Spirit. Eternal forgiveness. Sins taken away. Sins remembered no more.

The above is a nutshell version relating some headlines to two very different covenants. How is it that the church culture has embraced combining various portions of these covenants that were never meant to be mingled? Perhaps it's because the Bible is often considered "one book," or wrongly assuming the New was meant to be some type of addendum to the Old. Let's take a look at how badly the target has been missed with such a mixture of law and grace. God's grace (apart from law) is the recipe for us to reign in life and teaches us to deny ungodliness ... not advocating for an old or revamped law that was fulfilled and abolished by Jesus.

"For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."




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1008. Was Rahab Justified by Works and Not by Faith Only?

There was a significant lack of knowledge in the early years of the church. The cross and resurrection changed everything, resulting in the elimination of a covenant that had been in place for centuries. Consider if a Jewish person who believed in Jesus after the cross ... but still also believed the law of Moses was still to be applied for all Jewish people ... just exactly what did that mean for them? How did the blood of Jesus fit into that compared with the continued attempts to be doers of that old word? And what did it mean for Gentiles who never had the law?

When encouraging them to work at fulfilling that law, faith alone would be considered insufficient for salvation and justification. Righteousness would continue to be pursued by works plus faith. It formed a mindset that people such as Abraham and Rahab were not justified by believing, but by works being added in order to make faith perfect. How is this much different from the legalistic mumbo jumbo many of us have heard in works-based churches for so long? Let's take a closer look at the Rahab factor in the context of being justified.



   
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999. Knowing "About" Him Vs. Knowing Him (and the Power of His Resurrection)

The Apostle Paul could have competed with anyone in the boasting department when considering his background as a Jewish person who was born under the law. He was dedicated to it—even to the point of persecuting and executing Jews who believed in Jesus.

But he counted it all as loss and rubbish after gaining Christ, not having his own righteousness through dead works but attaining God's righteousness by faith in Christ. Again—faith ... not works. This led him to a special place and heartfelt desire to know Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection.

What does this look like? How can it happen for us? Is the focus based on proper Bible teaching and interpretation? Sound doctrine? Depending on the correct belief system which may change and evolve? Our program this week is meant to bring a reminder and encouragement that God lives in us and His Holy Spirit is very real. Sadly, He is sometimes forgotten to a degree and even considered a thing of the past—even by those who consider themselves ministers of the gospel ... which is not contained within pages containing words and letters ... but is found within a Person who is very much alive.



   
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998. Paul's Impressive "Boasting" Resume (But He Trashed It)

Paul told the Philippians that if anyone had reason to have confidence in the flesh based on commitment and dedication through various experiences and working diligently ... it would be him. But in spite of Paul's ability to boast—if he had chosen to do so—he counted it all as rubbish so that he may gain Christ. To gain Christ would be to attain righteousness ... not through the law or by his works ... but by faith in Jesus Christ so that he could know Him and the power of His resurrection. Nothing else mattered.

And yet there were Jewish brethren who would eventually try to convince Paul to go back to the zealousness he once had for the law prior to his conversion ... and to proclaim a testimony publicly in front of other believing Jews that his rumored teachings were untrue and that he also was one who seeks to observe and keep the law of Moses.



   
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947. How Can I Be Sure I'm Right With God?

Deep down within the hearts of people, ultimately everyone desires to know they are in a good place with their creator and are considered acceptable and right with Him. Most will pursue a religious path that attempts to do certain things—or avoid doing certain things—that will bring them to this place. Sometimes even those claiming to believe in Jesus begin to establish a mindset by hoping their good deeds will outweigh their bad and that it will be "good enough." The problem? They will never know if they have attained or succeeded in establishing right standing with God.

Changes in behavior can be beneficial for us and those around us. But this is nothing more than quicksand when it comes to our eternity and righteousness. The same is true for ceremonial traditions found within many different church brands. So how can one know they are in a place of righteousness before God or in right standing with God? It's our discussion on this week's podcast.



   
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813. The 800 Club: Looking Back - What Is the Gospel? Righteousness Gifted!

One of the things we started talking about more than 16 years ago as we launched the Growing in Grace podcast … is the question of “What is the gospel?” Ask a room full of believers as to what they think the gospel is and you’ll usually get many different answers—with many of them steeped in legalism. And yet this is a foundational question when it comes to faith and believing in Jesus. How can one believe in the gospel—as Jesus called people to do—if they don’t know what it is?

We examine Paul’s revelation of the good news from Romans chapter 1, where we discover that right-standing with God isn’t something people work for as the Jewish people attempted to do under the law. Righteousness pursued us, and came as a gift in the Person of Jesus for those who believe. Another reason why the New Covenant is better than the first one.

   
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723. Did Paul Claim He Was Blameless by Keeping the Mosaic Law?

During a recent podcast series about the dangers of mixing law and grace, someone challenged us with a comment that the Apostle Paul stated “he had never committed an offense against the Torah” (law). This is a great example of how context gets lost and contradictions begin to fly—when we zero-in on a single verse from the Bible.

Anyone can make Scripture apply to their own preconceived doctrinal assumptions. We address Paul’s statement about having been found righteous and blameless under the law as he seemingly bragged about his record. He’s actually saying the opposite in this passage (and many others).



   
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