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As Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2: 20). The apostle sensed within himself not just the philosophy, ideals, or influence of Christ but the Person of Jesus. Christ moved in. He still does. When Grace happens, Christ enters. “Christ in you, the hope of...
A story is told of Civil War days before America’s slaves were freed, about a northerner who went to a slave auction and purchased a young slave girl. As they walked away from the auction, the man turned to the girl and told her, “You’re free.”
With amazement she responded, “You mean, I’m...
Grace means that God does something for me; law means that I do something for God. God has certain Holy and righteous demands which He places upon me, that is law.
Now if law means that God requires something of me for their fulfillment, then deliverance from law means that He no longer...
"The moralizing and legalizing of the Gospel of God's Grace is a dull heresy peddled to disappointed people who are angry because they have not received what they had no good reason to expect."
-RICHARD J. NEUHAUS
When I hear Christians say, “I don’t do this, and I don’t do that, and I am following a set of rules,” I immediately recognize that they know very little about the grace of God. They are trying to live the Christian life in their own strength. But Paul says, “Be strong in the grace that is in...
How Do We Pervert the Gospel?
If you were on a sinking ship and had a choice of going into the water holding an anchor or a life preserver, which would you choose? Silly question? Yet this is the same choice we make when we choose which gospel to be believe.
Choose a gospel? Isn’t there...
It is a constant wonder how we guardians of the true faith can become so adept at gumming up the greatest news in the universe. We hold in trust the Good News of all good news — God gives free grace to sinners for Christ’s sake — and then we break our necks to hide it behind a great wall of...
"Ironically, the God who identifies Himself as love has entrusted His people with the most offensive message in the world. That message is not deny yourself or take up your cross or die to self or sell all you have or live your faith radically or just do something or give until it hurts or no...
How to Spot a Legalist
Legalists are tricky creatures.
They slither in the side doors of churches, sign up to lead Bible studies, and fill the minds of once joyous believers with rules and requirements of what it “really means” to become a Christian.
Ask them how a person is saved and...
"This is the glory and miracle of grace, that God, through the Holy Spirit, is able to transform a stubborn, rebellious, and unbelieving will into a passionate, obedient, believing will without violating the integrity of the individual or diminishing the voluntary nature of one’s decision to...
One who has been touched by grace will no longer look on those who stray as “those evil people” or “those poor people who need our help.” Nor must we search for signs of “loveworthiness.” Grace teaches us that God loves because of who God is, not because of who we are.
Philip Yancey, What’s...
The biggest lie about grace that Satan wants the church to buy is the idea that it’s dangerous and therefore needs to be kept in check. By believing that lie, we not only prove we don’t understand grace, but we violate gospel advancement in our lives and in the church by perpetuating our own...
A frequently asked question is, “Will some believers take the message of grace as a license to sin?” I answer it this way: “If their understanding of the gospel goes no farther than the forgiveness of sins – probably yes. But when you understand that Christ not only died for the forgiveness of...
"Grace is everything Jesus. Grace lives because he does, works because he works, and matters because he matters. He placed a term limit on sin and danced a victory jig in a graveyard. To be saved by grace is to be saved by him – not by an idea, doctrine, creed, or church membership, but by Jesus...
You won’t hear from Paul’s lips some of the phrases that are commonly heard from many Christians. In the New Creation language, you won’t find longing and wanting. You will find endless praises declaring that the waiting and wanting is over. It’s a language and song of blissful fulfillment and...
When the law was given, a sin-consciousness was added to man’s self-consciousness… Then into the darkness of this pitiful plight came the brightness of the gospel. We will find that it is in the nature of grace to always rush toward need: “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom...
Grace is God’s free and unmerited favor shown to guilty sinners who deserve only judgment. It is the love of God shown to the unlovely. It is God reaching downward to people who are in rebellion against Him.
Grace stands in direct opposition to any supposed worthiness on our part. To say it...
There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to this, that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do...
Grace is a gift only the non-religious can accept. They’re the only ones who can understand it, and put it to use. “Religious” folk see grace as soft and weak, so they keep trying to manage their junk with willpower and tenacity. Nothing defines religion quite as well as attempting impossible...
The Gospel is not a call to do something, but the announcement that all is done in the One Who stood for all. Nothing is so contrary to our natural human tendencies, even as Christians, as the acceptance of such powerlessness, weakness, inability and inadequacy that must rely on God's action of...