Salvation: Delivered *From* Something *To* Something By Grace

I think the greatest tragedy for Christians who are so law-minded and obsess with thoughts that they are sinners and must "contain the beast" within themselves, is that they never truly understand the mystery and the glory of Christ within them; that God Himself has been and is working in them still to reveal their own salvation to them with all of its benefits. Focusing on their failures and negative tendencies, they can never freely and fully rejoice in their new creation self, and their union with Christ, which was the work of God Himself.

The great tragedy is that they remain focused on themselves, and never truly understand (and thereby neglect) God's glory and grace upon their life. By choosing to remain in this condition, they reject grace and its free gift: a change of mind about their true nature and about God's goodness. Thus, they are robbed of the enjoyment of that which is already theirs by the work of Christ: righteousness, peace, and joy, all which belong to salvation (Yeshua). You have not only been delivered from something, but also to something.

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

Grace in the Maze

Life is like a maze:

You enter into the maze and find that there are twists and turns that you can't predict and can't completely understand in the grand scheme of where you are and where you're going. Because of your limited view, what you really need is someone above you who has a bird's eye view of the maze. Such a person can direct you step by step and turn by turn. And while you still won't know the complete journey from your perspective, you'll learn to trust the one above you to guide you and direct you to the best outcome: a successful journey through the maze without needless delay ending in the best possible result.

Can you imagine yourself in this maze? Can you imagine the one who sees you from above? I bet you can.

Call out. Listen. Trust. Follow.

That's how real faith works.

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

Neither the Older Son nor the Younger Son Knew Their Father's Love and Generosity

In the biblical story of the prodigal son, the older brother complains that his father never gave him even a young goat for a feast with his friends. This statement reveals several important things:

1. The young goat (ériphos) requested by the older son was used for ordinary meals, not celebrations. In fact, it would have been skinny and meager compared to a celebration meal.

2. In contrast, the fattened calf that the father sacrificed on the spot for the younger returned son was reserved for occasions of great joy and celebration.

3. As is apparent in his demand, the older brother was looking for joy and a cause for happiness in his life, and was tragically unaware of his father's love both for him and his brother.

4. The father declares that the fattened calf had always belonged also to the older son. Unfortunately it was the son's servant mentality--his idea that his father was harsh and demanding--that kept him from the truth: if he had had the mentality of a son, he could have been celebrating the whole time because of his father's love for him.

This is why experiencing the love of the Father and the grace of God is the most important thing of all. Sadly, the older son had experienced only a meager life of servitude, because his mentality lowered his aspirations for real joy and love, which he could have enjoyed from the start.

How appropriate, then, is the fact that the story begins with "A certain man had two sons...." The story was always about the father's love and lavish blessing, not the sons' obedience or disobedience.

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

You Are Not a Sinner Saved By Grace; Instead, Grace Changed Your Entire Identity

I know many Christians who recognize God to be good and gracious; benevolent and loving; generous and forgiving. However, do they acknowledge this merely intellectually, or is it their personal experience? Moreover--and more importantly--I get the sense that many, if not most, relate to God from a false understanding of their true identity. It sounds right and pious to view oneself as a sinner whom God continually forgives and loves, and there is some sort of strange pleasure they indulge in when they make statements such as "I'm a sinner saved by grace" and the like. It sounds humble to identify oneself first as a worm and second as an object of God's affection and forgiveness. But I believe this view falls horribly short of the reality of who they are. It ignores the fact of their true nature, a new creation, and as Paul and Peter would add, that the believer is "united with Christ" and a "partaker of the divine nature."

The believer is united and one spirit with Christ, Paul states further, and I am convinced that most Christians never accept this truth as their reality. Christians, and people in general, have been taught to gain their identity from what they do. Therefore, the Christian who struggles to obey God sees their sin and failure primarily, and God in all his good attributes secondarily. How can one be both a sinner by nature (i.e., your perceived nature based on your actions) and a "partaker of the divine nature" at the same time? And even if the Christian denies that they are still a sinner by nature, their perception of who they are is still based on their actions. The cause for this confusion comes from at least two sources: 1. a traditional view of ourselves placed on us by others, and; 2. a misreading of Paul in several key scripture passages.

What I am asserting will be rejected by those steeped in a confused identity of themselves, and they will continue to view God through their sin, their sins, and their failures. But if they reject the original lie of the accuser and accept that they have been made complete in Christ and are like God, the benefits of union with Christ will open up to them a world of possibilities they never imagined. In other words, without this mind of Christ (a view of God and themselves not through a false nature), they will never fully know all that is in store for them.

We focus obsessively on our sins, trying to stop them, but that only causes us to sin more. Our confused identity as sinners keeps us in sin, and thus honoring ourselves and others becomes a constant battle in which we quickly compromise, since we can't "live holy." We were meant for so much more, and our failed view of ourselves and our compromised behaviors inaccurately reflects the love of Christ to all men and women.

God is indeed good, loving, and gracious, but our reality goes much deeper and truer than that. Stop viewing yourself and God through your sinning; stop accepting a false identity based on what you do rather than who you are in God. A life you have yet to imagine exists. A life free from sin and struggle. You've actually already been carried through the Door in the arms of Christ. Relax and enjoy the union.

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

Two Passages on the Robe of Righteousness...It's a Free Gift!

"I will go home to my father and say, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.'"

So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son."

But his father said to the servants, "Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found."

So the party began. (Luke‬ ‭15:18-24‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

"I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels."
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(Isaiah‬ ‭61:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

It's About God's Love For You

Old Covenant:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27)


New Covenant:

"...not that we loved God, but that He loved us..." (1 John 4:10)


Take your eyes off your attempts to love the Lord, and keep them on His love for you.

Any Questions?

God's Love For Us Is Insane

It has been said that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.

If that's true, then God's love for us is certainly insane. For, "God loves us over and over (doing the same thing), with the hopeful expectation that our hearts will grow or change (expecting a different result)."

Philip Jornales, His Love is Like _____: Illustrations on the Insanity of God's Desire, p. 29.

The Wrong Definition of Faith Leads People Away From God

I think some (if not most) people's idea of faith is that God will somehow magically solve all their problems. That definition of faith leads to disillusion, confusion, and ultimately causes one to turn away from God. True faith, however, is not looking to God to solve your problems and answer your questions. He is God; you are not, and you cannot dictate to God on how to be God. True faith, rather, is this: a persuasion that no matter what you experience, God is on your side and is working to bring about the best possible results for you so that He gets all the credit. There is no guarantee you will understand fully all the details in this life; to demand so is not an attitude of faith. So, instead of going to God so He will solve your problems, live a lifestyle with Him in which you have become persuaded He has called you to simply trust Him, and at the end of it all, you will understand He never left you; He never held out on you; and, He worked it all out for the best possible good for the most number of people.

God's Grace Offends Belief in the Law

If your concept of Christianity is that a Christian should always be on the alert for sin in their life and hold fast to the idea that the struggle against sin is a constant battle against both sin and oneself, then the message of God's grace will offend you beyond belief. And belief is exactly the point. My heart aches for those who refuse to listen to revelation after revelation of God's grace, His goodness, and depth and extent of what Christ accomplished for all in His death, burial, and resurrection.

How To Shipwreck Your Faith

I wonder if some people's concept of God and of faith must, according to them, include no challenges, no trials, no difficulties, and no uncertainties. This concept is false and causes a multitude to shipwreck their faith. Within a few weeks to a few months or years after a crisis, that shipwrecked faith may be very well disguised as a new pursuit in life, a new friend or relationship, or even an amalgamation of seemingly similar, yet truthfully very contrasting faiths. Those who cope with crises in this manner do not find Christ lacking, rather it is their box in which they are unable to make Him fit that is the problem. In other words, they do not reject Christ; it is their concept that is inadequate to meet their needs. They have failed to truly understand Him and only know Him from a far.

However, the Apostle Paul clearly states that God is close to each one of us (Acts 17:27-28) and, as Steve McVey writes, "The deep, settled conviction that God is Love changes everything. It fits our pain in this natural world into the greater context of the supernatural, eternal world. As we see our problems in that context, we find an internal peace in the midst of external turmoil. Always filter the external through the eternal before allowing it to become internal. [We have] an anchor in the storms of life that supports us by providing a deep sense of peace that everything will be okay—even when we don't know how and when everything we feel suggests just the opposite. Until you irrevocably embrace the unequivocal and unchanging love of God, you will find yourself voting on His love every time your circumstances change for the worse."

Daily Renew Your Thoughts Toward Grace

"The life of grace is not an effort on our part to achieve a goal we set ourselves. It is a continually renewed attempt simply to believe that someone else has done all the achieving that is needed and to live in relationship with that person, whether we achieve or not. If that doesn't seem like much to you, you're right: it isn't. And, as a matter of fact, the life of grace is even less than that. It's not even our life at all, but the life of that Someone Else rising like a tide in the ruins of our death."

Robert Capon, Between Noon and Three (Grand Rapids: Eerdmanns, 1997), p. 291.

How to Test Your Faith

Amazing things happen when you read the Bible through the lens of grace.

In Scripture, Paul teaches the Christian to "test (examine) yourselves to see if you are in the faith" or "if your faith is genuine." Institutional Christianity infers a meaning here that one should look for sin and sinful behavior and get rid of it, but that meaning is not in the context of the passage. In other words, true faith, according to the Church, is tested by behavior. Well, that's not what Paul says. He says that the true faith that passes the examination he prescribes is actually the belief that Christ is in oneself and is the life and power by which a believer lives...not the will, determination, or effort of the believer.

See for yourself:

"Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is in you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith" (2 Cor. 13:5).

Wow.

Watchman Nee on Inclusion in Christ

"It is the inclusive death of the Lord which puts me in a position to identify myself, not that I identify myself in order to be included. It is God's inclusion of me in Christ that matters."

Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1997), p. 38.

You Are Innocent in Christ

The word righteous (Greek: dikaios) includes the meaning "innocent." However, Scripture affirms that the Law never makes a person righteous (see. Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; 3:11). Why? Because the Law can only condemn and bring death (see 2 Corinthians 3:7, 9). It cannot declare a person innocent. Therefore, those who seek to feel at peace with God based on their behavior according to the Law can never experience peace, because they are under a ministry that condemns and does not declare a person innocent. If you did bad, well, then, you know you messed up. But if you did right, well, then, you could have done better. Both of these directions place the weight on you, and that appeals to your pride. Instead, those who know Christ and their union with Him do know peace. In Him they are innocent. To know this feeling of peace and innocence, one must explore and rely upon the fact that one is united with Christ.

Are You Afraid of Grace?

"You would think, given the routinely low level of our performances at the higher reaches of our being, that we would, in our fantasies at least, welcome a respite from these inexorable audits—that we would imagine for ourselves romances in which the celestial bookkeeping department was given a long and well-deserved vacation. But no, we put it on overtime instead: however much we hate the law, we are more afraid of grace."

Robert Capon, Between Noon and Three (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1982), p. 5.