901. False Assumptions: If You Do the Wrong Things - You Will Not Inherit the Kingdom of God

On more than one occasion, the Apostle Paul mentioned a list of fleshly, sinful actions, and said that those who do or practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Believers may sometimes be taught by the legalistic that this is like fine print on their salvation agreement, leaving them feeling unsure about where they stand with God, despite having confessed faith in Jesus. Such passages sound like quite a contradiction on the surface when compared to other things Paul stated in his writings.

We have already received the kingdom—and it's one that cannot be shaken—which occurred apart from what we do, by grace through faith. The unrighteous are not identified as such because of what they do, but what they do is because they are unrighteous. Likewise, believers in Christ are not righteous as the result of doing good and avoiding what is bad ... God's righteousness has been gifted to us. We'll take a look at what else Paul said right before and after these statements and it will highlight our identity as righteous people—as he encourages believers to avoid the quicksand that the unrighteous fall into and realize this is not who they are in Him. And walking by the Spirit will help us in this.



   
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856. Sin Happened. Feeling Condemned? Grace Says No!

Traditional Christianity has largely taught people to develop a consciousness (or constant awareness) of sin and sinful behavior. When one falls or fails, they have been programmed by empty religion to confess their wrongdoing and seek/beg God for forgiveness yet one more time, vowing to try harder never to do it again. This is like a dark shadow of the obsolete Old Covenant, where there was no escape from such a bondage.

Jesus flipped the Script and was able to free people from a sin consciousness and bring eternal redemption and forgiveness “for all time” through one finished sacrifice. This resulted in no condemnation for anyone who is in Christ Jesus. What a victory for us to learn more about and to grow in our understanding. What about the challenges with the flesh? We talk about it on this week’s program.



   
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722. True or False: God’s Grace Encourages Sinful Behavior

We recently received a correspondence that included a comment: “You can’t keep all of the Law, so don’t even try to keep any of it? Ok. How’s that adultery working out for ya??”

This was submitted from Program #711: The Dangers of Mixing Law and Grace (Part 1).

We take a few minutes to address this mindset which is rooted in a commonly misunderstood theory from the world of lifeless religion. Paul declared we are not under law, but under grace. Just because this is our reality in the New Covenant doesn’t mean God unleashed the dogs so they could run out into traffic. Grace does for us what the law could not … teaching us to deny ungodliness apart from fleshy, self-righteous effort.



   
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