Great Grace: Broken Fellowship?

33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33 NKJV




We have been in an extended study of the great Grace of God. We have seen His Grace is greater than failure, and that because of Christ's Finished Work we are forever forgiven. In our last post, we addressed the controversial issue of confession of sins.

 Today we are going to continue looking at this what happens when we sin checklist tradition has created. In review, it was simply saying when we sin we must pay for our sins or there is some type of punishment for our sins. We are also not in right standing and need to get "right" with God. We then are out of fellowship with God, until we confess our sins and repent of them. This checklist is man's idea of what happens when we sin. 

"Get right with God"?

 This phrase reveals one is failing to grasp the New Covenant. When we are born again we are in perpetual right standing with Almighty God. In the Finished Work, we exchanged our unrighteousness with Christ and received His perfect righteousness. When we blow it we don't need to get right with God. We are already right with Him.  For further study on this point see here. 

Broken Fellowship?

  Today, I want to address this traditional stronghold of broken fellowship when we sin. This concept suggests that when we sin, God cannot have any fellowship with us. Many will say we are still saved but our fellowship with God is disrupted or broken until we repent and confess our sins. 

 In the Scriptures, we can find this word fellowship used fourteen times. Not in one single passage is this concept taught. Not a solitary verse suggests that if a believer sins God walks away from Him. No verse suggests that if we blow it God steps back until we fess up our wrong. So where did this stronghold begin? 

 Again, we go back to the first chapter of the first epistle of John. We can see clearly how this misunderstood passage creates many concepts that undermine the truths of the New Covenant. What do I mean?

            16 “This is the new covenant I will make
    with my people on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
    and I will write them on their minds.”

17 Then he says,

“I will never again remember
    their sins and lawless deeds.”

¹⁸ And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices. Hebrews 10:16-18 NLT 

 This is the New Covenant. If He isn't remembering our sins anymore why is He breaking away from us when we blow it? Look at the passage in 1 John 1 here. 

 If we look at these verses we can readily see the disconnect. 

...that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3b NKJV

What is John saying and who is he addressing? He is acknowledging the good we have in Christ. We who are saved have fellowship with the Father. He is giving an invitation for those outside of this fellowship to come and partake of it.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 1 John 1:6 NKJV

This passage is the source religious tradition misapply to create this erroneous concept of broken fellowship when we sin. The misunderstanding comes from attributing this passage to Christians. Look at the context. John is giving an invite to partake of this beautiful fellowship we have with Father God. Who is he talking to? He is talking to these Gnostic unbelievers. Understand, they didn't believe sin existed. If there is no sin, there is no need for a Savior. So this passage makes more sense when we understand the context and audience. The Gnostics believed in higher knowledge. Though they were lost they believed because they had achieved higher knowledge they were in fact in fellowship with God. 

 John revealed to them if we say we have this fellowship yet aren't saved we are in reality walking in darkness, we lie and don't have the truth. This walking in darkness is a reference even Paul used to describe and contrast the saved and the lost. So John is saying if we walk in the light (be born again) we have fellowship with the family of God and with God Himself and the blood perpetually cleansing us. 

 The disconnect is when we attribute this passage to believers. The concept begins by saying when we sin we are then walking in darkness. Then we are in deception thinking we have fellowship. But that is not what is being taught here. It is referencing a lost person. When we sin we are still in right standing. We as believers are always in the light because of the gift of His righteousness.

 Hebrews 13 also shuts this concept down. He said He will never leave or forsake or abandon us, here.  Never would include even when we sin. So when we sin will we lose fellowship? The answer is a clear no. This is a made up concept of tradition. Having God beside us even in our worst state is what will shake us from the bondage of sin.

Turning one over to satan?

 I felt it good and well to address this passage in this post. It goes well with the theme. If our sins don't separate us or bring about the loss of fellowship, why then did Paul turn a person over to satan? 

5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 5:5 NKJV

It would seem this passage pokes a hole in the no loss of fellowship when we sin view. Actually, it doesn't. What does this difficult passage actually suggest? Is it teaching the loss of salvation? Is it teaching broken fellowship?

 If we can see it in simplicity it actually makes sense. What Paul is dealing with was a man engaged a seriously disturbing sexual sin that even the lost disapproved of. This was tarnishing the witness of the Corinthian church. This issue was being addressed but the person insisted on pursuing this sin. What to do?

 A believer won't lose their salvation when they keep sinning the same sin. But if they persist in pursuing a destructive path, sometimes we just have to let them. In other words, if we find someone extremely persistent in sin and going down a path and no matter the love, the compassion and goodness showed, they still wish to pursue this sin, eventually we just have to turn them over to experience their own destruction. For example, the spouse who persists in adultery. Eventually, divorce, marred reputation, and broken trust of their children is the result. Though the person is saved the destruction experienced could have been avoided. Now God was always there with them. They could have turned from this path at any time and God was right there with arms open wide. 

 In a simpler explanation, Paul is saying the man was going down a path and we have tried to rescue him from this path but he refused, so go ahead and follow this path to its bitter end. The turning over to satan, is simply saying allow the person to experience all the consequences of sin because in the end the spirit is still saved. 

 To sum it all up, when we sin we don't experience some form of broken fellowship. What can occur is condemnation attacking our minds. Though we aren't actually separated or experiencing a literal breaking of fellowship, our mind and emotions may feel like it is occurring. Sin sometimes shakes our confidence. It is never God bringing these feelings. This is why it is essential always to run to God not hide from Him when we miss it. Think of this. Before you were saved, He knew each and every sin you'd ever commit and He still called you and received you unto Himself. When you accepted the free gift of Grace, He gave you His righteousness, forgiveness, eternal security and the gift of no condemnation. Nothing we do will surprise or catch Him off guard. He will never leave, abandon or forsake you.

Great Grace: What About the Confession of Sin?

33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33 NKJV

We've been in an ongoing study detailing the great Grace of Almighty God. We have seen His Grace is greater than our failures. His great Grace has freed us from the observance of Old Covenant rituals and brings us out of performance rooted religion and has forever forgiven us of our sin. Today, I want to continue looking at our forever forgiveness in Christ.

 Now you may be saying, brother, we have heard all this from you before. We read about His Grace, our forgiveness in Christ, our righteousness, and our eternally secure salvation constantly on your posts. Got anything new? Let God's Word respond to this objection.
 Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it Hebrews 2:1 NRSV
We must consistently feed on the truth of God's Grace and His work in our lives less at anytime we lose sight of Grace and revert back to self-efforts and performance. That is why we share these marvelous truths of our perfect redemption Grace purchased for us.

 In our last study, we began detailing our forgiveness in Him. We also looked at the religious checklist that men created to deal with personal sin. To sum it up, it is basically when we sin, there is a penalty or punishment coming to us. God can't fellowship with us until we repent, (defined as to turn around, to cease the action), and confess the sin. 

 Now, this "punishment" differs depending upon what denominational background you have. Usually, it centers around God not answering your prayers. Or that you're temporarily unable to access a portion of His favor or receive any blessing in your life. In Charismatic/Faith circles it could mean God won't bring you financial prosperity or you won't receive your healing. 

 What they can't grasp is the two-fold issue this view creates. First, it discounts the perfect price Jesus paid for our sins, see here. This means Jesus already paid for all sins. He already bore the punishment for sins in His body on the tree. He paid the price once for all time;
12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, Hebrews 10:12 NASB
We shouldn't let religion dishonor and discount the once-for-all all perfect sacrifice Christ paid for our sins by accepting some man-made guilt concept where we also must pay for our sins. Holding to a concept where we must also receive some form of punishment for our sins is, in reality, saying God isn't satisfied with Christ's once for all sacrifice for sins.

Second, it places the burden of receiving answers to prayer, favor, any blessing or healing upon our perfect performance, conduct, and actions. In essence, we orchestrate our own healing or redemption. If we could actually do this, why do we even need Jesus or His Finished Work? (For the religious and foolish-minded, certainly, sin carries natural consequences and makes for a miserable and fruitless way to live.)

Confession of sin, is it for the Believer?

Now that we addressed the "punishment" aspect of sin, let's address the confession of sin. What about the confession of sins in order to be forgiven of sin? Is it His blood or our apologies that bring forgiveness?

 Imagine if you will, a newly converted believer living in an oppressive nation where Christianity is outlawed. Imagine a nation known for persecuting Christians. Now, what if this new believer were only given sections, one at a time of the New Testament? Over the period of let's say a year, he received the four gospels, Acts, all of Paul's Epistles to include the Book of Hebrews, Peter's two Epistles, and James and Jude. He had not yet received John's Epistle or the Book of Revelation. Would this new believer then find a passage instructing him to confess his sins in order to receive forgiveness?

 The answer is a resounding no! This makes the hairs on the back of our necks stand up. We get a sense of astonishment and then a strong sense of concern. This is borderline heresy in most circles. This is downright blasphemy to some. 

 Confession of sins is a practice we see in the Old Covenant. See here and here and here. Yet these confessions weren't what brought forgiveness, it was the sacrifices they had offered to the Priests. In essence, what we see occurring in these instances were people simply acknowledging their misdeeds, and failures, and sins. 

 It is the same in this New Covenant. It isn't our apologies that bring forgiveness it is only perfect shed blood that purchases forgiveness of sins. 

22 In fact we can say that under the old agreement almost everything was cleansed by sprinkling it with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22 TLB

So confession of sins, is it for the Believer? That depends on your understanding of confession of sin. Do we confess our sins in order to receive forgiveness? No, this confession is not for the Believer. However, if you define confession of sins in the sense of acknowledging our failure or misdeeds, and simply agreeing with what God said about them then that is acceptable for the Believer.

 Heresy, false teaching! Some may be crying out. Hold it now. What did Paul say that confirmed Jesus' own words? He said in the mouth of two or three witnesses will something be established, here. Now in this New Covenant can you find two or three places where the Word instructs us to confess our sins, in order to receive forgiveness of our sins? The answer is a resounding no. 

 The problem is we have this stronghold in our minds involving 1 John 1:9. It is not that the Word is wrong and is a stronghold but the religious misapplication of this passage is. John was teaching the Church about the Gnostics that had infiltrated the Church and denied that sin existed. If sin doesn't exist then what need is there for a Savior? John is evangelically speaking here and telling them to acknowledge their sin and agree with what God says about their deeds (they were indeed sinful) and that He offers once for all forgiveness through Jesus shed blood. 

 Yet religious tradition resists this interpretation. They insist this passage is for the Christian just in case they sin after conversion. You see what the results of denying and discounting future sins being forgiven are? Before salvation, all your sins were dealt with by the Blood of Jesus at Calvary. After conversion, the forgiveness of your sins are left up to you to ensure you confess each and every one of them or you will find yourself having unforgiven sin on your "spiritual account". 

 There is a major concern this type of teaching seemingly ignores. It goes back to their man-made checklist. They redefined the punishment for sin. Recall, it was unanswered prayer, and God breaking fellowship with you. Problem is that is man's definition of the punishment of sin. It isn't God's. The wages of sin is one thing and one thing only. Spiritual death. 

This means if our future sins aren't already forgiven by the shed blood, then when we sin we must then be partaking of spiritual death over and over again until we confess our sins. What if we forget to confess? Well, don't fret religion created a loophole. They say well the Blood covers you until you confess it. So wait, is the sin forgiven or not? Oh, it is just covered? Wait, isn't that how God dealt with sin in the Old? What this proves is tradition lacks serious understanding of the New Covenant. 

 They go through these mental gymnastics and blending portions of the Old and New together in order to combat what they see as a concept that gives people a "license to sin". If future sins are already forgiven and there is no need to confess in order to receive forgiveness then what is stopping us from pursuing lust? 

 So they created this concoction of Old and New Covenant style redemption. Where we are forgiven in installments. Where after conversion, God's method of forgiveness shifts away from the once for all sacrifice of Jesus perfect shed blood to our up to date apologies. 

 What some religious folk fails to grasp is that the use of 1 John 1:9 has become a ritualistic "bar of soap", for some cleaning them up when we fail. This can become a "license" for some. Some in religious circles realize this. This is when it gets real harsh. They begin espousing teachings that even if you confess your sins it is potentially possible that forgiveness will allude you because you may not be sincerely remorseful. Or they say you may be sinning the same sin once too often. Confessing that sin you habitually engage in, runs the risk of you breaking the "Grace limit" and thus God choosing not to forgive you. 

 Some religious leaders set themselves up as God's spiritual accountants doling out His forgiveness as they seem fit. Often times this forgiveness is withheld because the sincerity of your sorrow, regret, and penitent attitude for your sin comes into question. They will finally bestow this forgiveness upon a believer when in their eyes they have satisfactorily shown sincere regret and remorsefulness for their sins and transgression. 

These concepts are pure rubbish and need to be tossed aside in the waste bin! These ideas are a disregard of the Finished Work and New Covenant. Confession of sins? If we understand we don't confess sins in order to be forgiven, but simply as an acknowledgment of our misdeeds, there isn't an issue. In fact, it is good and healthy to come to God when we miss it. Concealment only feeds the problem. Exposing our whole life to Christ is what brings freedom. The truth is it also reveals to us just how much He loves us. He sees and knows of all our flaws and faults and habits and addictions and still sees as holy, righteous and eternally saved and secure. Remember His word;

18 And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices. Hebrews 10:18 NLT

When we realize we are forever forgiven we can walk with God our Father, honoring the great and wonderful sacrifice of Jesus. We honor and revere that precious shed blood. It isn't our apologies, our commitments to fulfill spiritual disciplines or our promises to do better in the future that bring us righteousness, forgiveness and eternal redemption. It is only His precious shed blood. 

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Great Grace: Forgiven Forever

33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33 NKJV




 Over the recent weeks, we've been in a study detailing the great Grace of Almighty God. We've seen how greater Grace is than any failures and shortcomings. We examined how greater Grace is than any performance-based concepts of men. In our last study, we began looking at how greatly we've been forgiven of our sins.

 One of the greatest objections to the message of Radical Grace is the idea that our future sins have already been forgiven. You would think that this notion of future forgiveness is some new idea brought forth by Pastor Joseph Prince. Yet, if you would visit some mainline denominational theological studies you'd see that many Christians hold to this belief. Some Baptists groups, for example, hold to this view. My only point is that this concept isn't some fringe, out of touch, unorthodox teaching.

  Before we proceed, we must acknowledge men can bloviate about any theological topic they want. At the end, all that matters is what does the Scripture actually say? Let's allow the Word of God to establish the truth and then we can expound on its implications.

14 who bought our freedom with his blood and forgave us all our sins Colossians 1:14 TLB

13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. Colossians 2:13 NLT

12 I am writing to you, little children (believers, dear ones), because your sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake [you have been pardoned and released from spiritual debt through His name because you have confessed His name, believing in Him as Savior]. 1 John 2:12 AMP

2 He is the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins, and not only ours but all the world’s. 1 John 2:2 TLB 

What I've posted is the Scriptural proof of just how many sins He has forgiven us. He forgave us all our sins. Not just some, not just past, but all of our sins. We are forgiven past and present and future. 

32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 NLT

13 bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive. Colossians 3:13 AMP

 These passages point that we aren't forgiven in some kind of installment plan. It reveals we should forgive others who wrong us because we have already been forgiven in Christ. We are forgiven all our sins past tense. What does this mean?

It means we were forgiven of all our sins at a particular point in time. When do you think this event took place? It is plain and clear that He forgave us of all our sins in the Finished Work. This is the good news of Grace. We are forgiven once for all time in Christ.

 Now where the controversy begins is what does this truth mean for the believer today? How is this truth applied to our Christian walk? The religious minded resist this truth. They can only accept that God paid for our past sins and not our future sins. Well, when Jesus died how many sins had we committed? None! We weren't even alive yet. So all of our sins He paid for were future tense. 

What if we sinned?

 This is where we can see just how much Grace we flow in when we see sin in our life or others. Obviously, no one in their right spiritual mind is in favor of sin. But what happens when we sin if we have already been forgiven of it?

 Let's see the progression of sin if you will that we normally see in Christian circles. 

1. We sin a sin

2. We feel the guilt of our choices

So far no issue, it is normal when we sin or blow it or miss it to feel guilt, the issue is what do we do with that guilt? Now let's see how traditionally this progresses.

3. Because we have sinned we are unclean again and need to get right with God again.

4. Because we have sinned we are subject to some form of punishment or retribution for our wicked deeds.

5. Because of our sin, we are out of fellowship with God.

6. We need to come back to God in repentance, meaning we must turn around and cease this action or we really haven't truly repented.

7. We must confess this sin to God in order to receive forgiveness and be placed back in right standing with God. 

 For those adhering to this traditional checklist, it is almost blasphemous to hear that our future sins have already been forgiven. This checklist is thrown aside when we realize just how forgiven we are. In the next few posts, I will deal with the concepts of confession of sins to be forgiven, true repentance and answer the question are we out of fellowship when we sin. For now, let's see the full implications of our complete forgiveness in Christ.

 When we know we have been forgiven once for all time we can fully rest in Christ's Finished Work. When we sin, we can take that guilt and see that Jesus already bore our sins and the shame and guilt that accompany it. We then can walk fear and shame and condemnation free. Instead of confessing our failures we can confess the Finished Work and our perfect right standing before God. When we focus on the Finished Work, we can see that the sin isn't who we are and that Christ has so much better for us.

 When we blow it, sometimes guilt suggests to our mind that we deserve punishment. We deserve a bad day or difficult circumstances. In fact, religious minded ones will say things like God won't answer your prayers or pour His favor out upon you. Inadvertently, they have created a concept where we also pay for the sins that Jesus bore. We must reject this notion. In the Finished Work, He bore the full punishment for all our sins, and we have total forgiveness. Rest in the complete forgiveness Christ gives. We aren't being punished for our transgressions. We can't pay for them anyway. We receive goodness, prayers answered and an outpouring of favor because of Jesus' faithfulness and not our own. 

Because of the complete forgiveness, we now have in Him, even when we sin we are still in right standing before God. His righteousness He bestowed upon us is an irrevocable righteousness. You no longer need fret that you are unrighteous when you blow it. You needn't feel like you have to crawl back to Him and grovel at His feet to be accepted again. You are completely forgiven and in right standing. God is pleased with Jesus once for all sacrifice for sins. He isn't looking for your groveling to perfect it. 

 Now for those still objecting to our future sins being forgiven, then I say you are rejecting the entire premise of the New Covenant.

16 “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds." Hebrews 10:16-17 NLT

If our future sins aren't guaranteed forgiven, how then can God say I will never again remember our sins and lawless deeds? The sin issue is settled in the sense that God has paid the full price. He is the final sacrifice. We now only have a reception problem. People need to receive the forgiveness of their sins and walk in freedom. 

In summation, Christ bore the sins of all mankind. He presents a free gift of total forgiveness and all we need do is simply receive it. When we freely receive this wonderful gift of Grace, we have received the complete and total forgiveness of all our sins. When we realize just how forgiven we are, we will bear much fruit. Remember Jesus words, to whom much is forgiven the same loveth much. We have been forgiven much, don't take the amazing out of Grace. We are forgiven completely, past and present and yes future. 

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Great Grace: Greatly Forgiven

33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33 NKJV

Not long ago we began a detailed a study of His great Grace. Recently, we've looked in-depth at the various performance-based faith concepts currently in the Body of Christ. Having thoroughly defined what a performance driven faith looks like I sense the impression to examine another aspect of our great redemption. 

Greatly Forgiven

 When we get a clear understanding of our perfect redemption in Christ, one of the greatest aspect of His Grace is understanding just how forgiven those of us in Christ actually are. It is such good glad news knowing you are cleansed and totally forgiven. No matter what you've done. No matter how bad your sins seem you are totally forgiven in Him. 

Wait, isn't all humanity forgiven of their sins?

 Perhaps you took note that I said only those in Christ are forgiven. This is a challenging topic to address. You see Jesus paid for the sins of all humanity. 

2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 1 John 2:2 NLT
This is marvelously good news!Yet how do we reconcile this passage with this one?
46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Luke 24:46-47 NASB
 Is there a contradiction to the Gospel message? It really isn't a contradiction to the Gospel. The Gospel is the Grace of God. It is still good glad news. The truth we must always include is that any gift no matter how good and wonderful and life transforming must still be received to enjoy the benefits of it. Look at Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 5. See that he makes it clear only those in Christ are a new creation. Then he shares are work as ambassadors for Christ.

Take note that Paul says God isn't counting men's sins against them. What does it mean God isn't counting men's sins against them? It means He is not looking for you to come up with a payment plan for your failures and faults and sins. He is satisfied with the once for all payment of sins, Christ's shed blood.

Our work as ambassadors for Christ is to urge the World to be reconciled to God. We proclaim to them God isn't holding anything against you, so please receive this free gift. Redemption is a two-way street, God offering the gift and mankind responding by Grace through faith freely receiving it. Look at Jesus' words, the person of Grace Himself makes it clear.
18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’ Acts 26:18 NASB 

 It is clear then that those not yet in Christ still need to receive the forgiveness of sins to walk in the benefits of it. Because Christ Finished Work bore the full punishment for sins on the Cross though, there is now no more "punishment" for sins today. Meaning God isn't sending tornadoes or tsunamis to punish wicked nations or states or cities.

 Now let me make it clear, only the rejection of Jesus is what results in a man choosing eternal separation in Hell. Yet, if you look at Revelation, in the end of it all, you see men having to answer for their works. What does this mean? It confirms that the Gospel is the Grace of God.

 Let me explain, the Gospel of Grace says we can't ever do enough, we can't earn or achieve salvation by accomplishing a task or carrying out an action. We can do nothing but simply respond by believing Him and receiving His work on our behalf. But you may be asking I thought all sins were forgiven, so why the need for the lost to answer for their works? That again confirms the Gospel is the Grace of God.

 Picture this. An extremely wealthy tycoon walks into a department store. There are only 3 people inside browsing. All three are poor and destitute. They are all just admiring the beautiful items in this store. Now let's suppose this tycoon lays down a million dollars cash and says whatever they desire I'm paying for it. He made an overpayment.  Two of the customers respond with great joy and freely receive all that was offered. They take their items to the register and the clerk says this is all paid in full have a nice day.

 Now the final customer says no thanks, I am not worthy. Or they may be saying I am not that poor I can handle paying for my purchases. Even though the products were paid for this one rejected that payment and sought to pay for their items with their own efforts and funds. Of course, they would come up short. That is what is happening in Revelation. Mankind who are bankrupt spiritually, who have rejected Grace seek to find their own method of paying for their sins. 

 Grace has freely provided forgiveness to all mankind but this forgiveness must still be received to be activated. In order to reap the benefits of a clear conscience and freedom from dead works, one must freely receive what has been freely given. That answers this supposed contradiction of the Gospel message. Pastor Ryan Rufus has a great article on this if you're interested in further study.

Freedom from pain and the cure for shame and guilt

 Now that we understand the message of forgiveness let's see how this knowledge of forgiveness is the cure for all shame and guilt. If you recall Paul's words in 2 Corinthians, he stated old things are passed away and the new has come. In Christ, we are made new. God's Grace makes all things new.

 So many have a past in which they were abused, mistreated or even abandoned. Some have experienced unspeakable horrors and cruelty at the hands of others. Others have seen the worst life in a fallen World has to offer. How can people live today free from the pain and hurts? What if you were the one doing the wrong and hurt another how can you deal with the guilt and shame?

 The Grace of God reveals His sinless blood shed for your imperfections and pains and hurts perfectly cleanses and heals you. The work of redemption is a Finished Work. Take all the pain and misery of the past and see it nailed to that Cross. See Him bearing all your pains, your sorrows, even your guilt and shame and exchanging it for His righteousness and total forgiveness. 

 In Christ, you stand complete. You are made whole, nothing missing. There are no spiritual birth defects. You are perfect in Christ. You are remade new, and He sees you cleansed, righteous and forgiven. Rejoice, your slate is wiped clean. You have a zero ledger balance. You don't owe a thing. 

 So great a salvation. So greatly forgiven. Now, what about our future sins? In our next study, we will see that we truly are forgiven of all our sins, past and present and future. You don't want to miss it.

Image courtesy of jesadaphorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Great Grace: Religion or Relationship?

33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33 NKJV









 We've begun a study of God's great Grace. In the recent weeks, we have been flowing in a stream focusing centrally on the works, the efforts, and the varied performance-driven mindsets plaguing the Church, the Body of Christ. We've briefly touched on demand-driven legalism, Lordship Salvation, and Old Covenant rooted faith teaching.

 Today, I sense the impression to follow this stream even further. The objective is to further expose these performance-driven thinking patterns in the Church. Thus allowing believers to more easily recognize if they are in religion or relationship.

 Religious-rooted preachers and believers are performance-driven, checklist minded, and relate to God from a blended mixture of Old and New Covenant principles. The reason some reject this call to examine their teachings or beliefs or actions to see if they are rooted in a performance based faith is because they can't recognize that they have adopted and minister and function from a legalistic mindset. They feel because they don't demand that ladies, not wear makeup or they don't forbid jewelry and they don't have an enforced "dress code" they cannot be legalistic. 

 They look at the words of Paul and Peter and James and only see them as regulations and rules. They follow them as a checklist that needs to be observed to the letter so God will favor them more and more. They use all their efforts and strength to comply with and conform to these regulations so God will be more pleased with them. 

Jesus plus nothing? 

 Now it is easier to understand why the concept of Jesus plus nothing is almost sacrilege to these trapped in legalistic performance. To them, this sounds like rebellion, slothfulness, irreverence. It drums up images of affirming sinful pursuits and an overall disregard for the instructions of the New Covenant. This is the performance-driven outlook. We've identified it. Now how can we rescue people from it? Sure, we can be angry and bitter for how they've altered the message. The problem is that doesn't resolve anything or assist anyone. 

Ritual or Relationship?

 Due to their religious outlook, those under legalism aren't relating to God from a relationship.  The actions they partake in are in reality more ritual than relationship. When we see the words of Paul and Peter not as instructions and exhortations but as regulations we begin to form checklists in our minds. We inevitably engage in rituals to come before our Father. We create rules about how to approach God. We have guidelines about praise and worship. We even go so far as to speak for our Father and reveal there are hurdles to leap over and hoops to jump through in order for Him to be pleased and accepting of our praise. 

 What do I mean by performance based faith? What do I mean by rituals? I went online and just typed in the word performance to see how it is defined. What I saw pop up so clearly defined legalistic, checklist minded, ritualistic relating to God. The definition was "the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function." 

 Think of that. A process of carrying out or accomplishing a task or function is what performance is. Now, look at your walk with God. Is it based or rooted upon your abilities to carry out or accomplish an action or task? Let that sink in. Allow that to penetrate your thinking. 

 Is the healing of your body contingent upon you carrying out a task? Is God supplying your needs dependant upon you accomplishing an action? Is His favor upon you based on how many tasks you carry out? If this is so then that begs the question just how many tasks or actions must we complete? How often are we to be engaging in accomplishing a task? How do we know when we have done enough to merit or achieve this favor?

 Under the Old, men had to complete tasks or actions to approach God. In the New, God abides within us. Why the need for ritual then? What do I mean by ritual? Ritual is when we are relating to God with steps and formulas and actions to get God's attention. Rituals and checklists go hand in hand. Did I make the right confession? Did I do this step first? Did I miss a step?

I know what the religious mind is thinking. Hey, the Word does give a checklist under the New of how to please God. Does it? Hebrews 11:6 and Romans 8 are the references. Hebrews declared it was impossible to please God without faith. Romans states we can't please God if we are in the flesh. People love to take these out of context and setting. Paul said we aren't in the flesh if we are in Christ. Certainly, if we are in the flesh, a mindset apart from God, a mindset that disagrees with righteousness by faith but embraces righteousness by works we can't please God because we can't ever do enough or perform just right to please God. Hebrews is only saying God is only pleased when we agree with God when we believe Him. When we believe what He has said. 

 See how easy it is to take such encouraging words and then see them as regulations? It then turns us into performing just right to be accepted. It sets us up to engage in rituals to find ourselves more pleasing to our Father.  

 Instead of seeing the Word as mere regulations see the heart of Paul and Peter and James. Even the commands to walk in love and walk away from the way the World does things aren't designed as rules. Often times, the Word is reminding us of our identity in Christ. They are giving us instructions to further advance into maturity and fruitful living. Pursuing sinful passions are fruitless and not fun. What's fun about adultery? Yea, spouse leaves you and children's innocence is shattered and their trust is weakened, sounds like a great way to live, huh? Of course not! 

 When we are in a performance rooted faith we see the Word as regulation. We will create checklists to observe to the letter and formulate rituals to carry out religiously. If that is you, let that go. Come back to God as a simple child and daddy relationship. In a healthy relationship, how many chores or tasks do you need to complete to receive your Earthly father's love and acceptance? What rituals then do you need to perform or checklists do you need to keep in order to get God's attention and receive of His great love?

 Come to the Grace side of the Christian life. We rest in His loving promises and what He has already accomplished in the Finished Work. We don't have to complete enough tasks to enter into His presence. We don't have to fulfill a checklist for God to receive our praise and worship. We don't have to engage in some ritual in order to receive from our good Father's Gracious hands. 

 He has us engraved in the palm of His hands. We are ever on His mind. We are the apple of His eye. We can't achieve or merit or perform enough to receive what has freely been given in the Finished Work. To be totally free from this performance thinking, ask yourself when I am praying or when I am offering my praise, am I coming to God, petitioning Him based on how well I have behaved, performed, or completed a checklist or specific requirement? Or am I coming to my Father based on Jesus' perfect performance and obedience? Come to the Father, petition God, offer up praise to Him based on Jesus and not your efforts or works and you will always find fulfillment and blessing and exceeding goodness and Grace!

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net