368. Confessing Sins To Be Forgiven?

One of the greatest burdens a believer can endure is the misleading doctrine of needing to constantly confess all of your sins in order to be forgiven. What happens if you forget to confess one (or many)? Taking one verse out context can bring misery into peoples' lives. You have been forgiven and cleansed of all unrighteousness through the blood of Christ and His finished work. Not through this Old Covenant practice of confessing sins to God. There may be a time when emotional healing is needed and as James stated we can confess our sins to one another. But in regards to God's forgiveness, that has already been dealt with by Him.

Confessing Sins To Be Forgiven? (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
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New Grace Roots Podcast

Joel has begun recording a brand new podcast called Grace Roots.  The Grace Roots podcast episodes will be much shorter (1 to 3 minutes each) and will be posted sporadically, at least for now, with no set schedule for posting new episodes.  The purpose of the podcast is simply to provide short bits of encouragement as we get our hearts rooted and established in God's love and grace.

There is not yet an iTunes feed for the podcast, although it will be added soon.  For now, you can go to the Grace Roots podcast page and listen to the first couple of episodes, and subscribe via email or your browser or feed reader if you wish.

367. True or Faults: We Should Give Our Lives to God

Many Christians have had the mindset they are supposed to try hard to give their lives to God. Unfortunately this misses the point of the gospel by putting the focus back on self-effort instead of faith. Your sacrificial efforts will never be acceptable. There was only one life that was worthy of (one) acceptable sacrifice to God and that was the life of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. God found fault with us when we were in Adam. He was never interested in us giving our lives to Him but rather Him giving His life to us.

True or Faults: We Should Give Our Lives to God (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
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366. Remembering What the Simple Gospel Is

Which is better? Good news or bad? The Gospel is referred to as good news. One definition of "news" is 'previously unknown information.' Most people that have attended religious institutions for nearly their entire life have not heard or been taught some basic gospel ABC's like what we discuss on this week's Growing in Grace podcast. Even if you're established in God's unconditional grace and love, Peter recommended bringing these things to our remembrance (II Peter 1:12-13). The good news never gets old and we never stop growing in our understanding of it.

Remembering What the Simple Gospel Is (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
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365. Saints or Sinners?

Before the cross of Christ, everyone was declared to be a sinner. No one could claim righteousness. The good news of this new covenant is that believers are no longer called sinners but saints. You have a new identity and a new nature in Him. The old nature passed away. We still have the flesh to deal with but God has done everything through Christ to bring us complete forgiveness and allowed us to be partakers of the divine nature.

Saints or Sinners? (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
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364. Jesus’ Reactions to Sinners and the Self-Righteous

Everyone has a different opinion or point of view when it comes to imagining the personality of Jesus when he was a man walking the earth. This week we talk about how he would respond to people that religion would frown upon. In contrast to that, He would often have a different approach when He spoke to the self-righteous and judgmental Pharisees. Ultimately, Jesus was leading all of us to the cross.

Jesus’ Reactions to Sinners and the Self-Righteous (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
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363. Persecution

The Apostle Paul talked about the persecution that he had to endure as a believer in Christ. Today most Christians think they are suffering persecution because they have changed are trying to live by a moral code and try to avoid participating in ungodly activity. They think that this is why the cross is offensive to people.

But is this why Paul was persecuted? Is this the offense of the cross? Quite the opposite. And who was it that was persecuting him and the early church? It was the religious folks who had a zeal for the law and commandments.

Persecution (14 Min, 9.6 MB)
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