GRACE IS FULL OF SURPRISES
There are two types of relationships with God--law and grace--merited and unmerited favor. To mix them is a perversion of goodness--which the world presses us to do. Grace is not a synonym for kindness, and thus the opposite of grace is not harshness--though the world presses us to think this. The opposite of grace is law. The topic of both law and grace is moral goodness. Each is a type of authority. The central meaning of law is obligation. The central meaning of grace is freedom from obligation. "Sin shall have no dominion over you because you are not under [the authority of] law but under [the authority of] grace." (Romans 6:14) What does it mean to be under the authority of grace?
It is an intense spiritual battle to understand and maintain a focus on unmerited favor, the authority to approach God without flawed human faithfulness in the equation. Both grace and law are real experiences that we can have without being able to understand or explain properly. I suggest that this is what leads people to commonly declare that grace and law need to be balanced. Grace always honors two aspects of life: 1) that only moral perfection (perfect love, perfect obedience) counts with God, and 2) that sin-bearing love at the cross provides a new identity in righteousness apart from any human performance. Any thought, word, or action that does not honor the perfection of the law--of God's goodness--is lawless. Let's be honest and declare that the world presses us hard to think leniency when we hear the word grace.
Thinking grace clearly, changes the way one reads the New Testament. Is a passage about behavior or mindset? Is there a behavioral aspect of righteousness? Is holiness about behavior or mindset? Worldly religion declares that the opposite of trying is laziness. But trying is laziness when the standard of perfection is in view. What does God say the alternative to laziness is? There are two ways of reading the Bible, with either a heavenly or worldly vision (James 3). This page collects sermons from this site and articles from the Oasis Books blog (law and grace in theory and practice) that reveal surprises in understanding life and the Bible through the mindset that grace requires perfection and is an authority (throne of grace in Heb. 4:16).
It is an intense spiritual battle to understand and maintain a focus on unmerited favor, the authority to approach God without flawed human faithfulness in the equation. Both grace and law are real experiences that we can have without being able to understand or explain properly. I suggest that this is what leads people to commonly declare that grace and law need to be balanced. Grace always honors two aspects of life: 1) that only moral perfection (perfect love, perfect obedience) counts with God, and 2) that sin-bearing love at the cross provides a new identity in righteousness apart from any human performance. Any thought, word, or action that does not honor the perfection of the law--of God's goodness--is lawless. Let's be honest and declare that the world presses us hard to think leniency when we hear the word grace.
Thinking grace clearly, changes the way one reads the New Testament. Is a passage about behavior or mindset? Is there a behavioral aspect of righteousness? Is holiness about behavior or mindset? Worldly religion declares that the opposite of trying is laziness. But trying is laziness when the standard of perfection is in view. What does God say the alternative to laziness is? There are two ways of reading the Bible, with either a heavenly or worldly vision (James 3). This page collects sermons from this site and articles from the Oasis Books blog (law and grace in theory and practice) that reveal surprises in understanding life and the Bible through the mindset that grace requires perfection and is an authority (throne of grace in Heb. 4:16).
DO YOU SEE CHRISTIANITY AS SIMPLE?
Paul expressed fear that the Christians in Corinth might be deceived by Satan
away from the simplicity and purity that are in Christ.
Might the world and the devil want us to be ignorant of Satan's deception?
Are we today aware of Paul's concern? Do you share that concern? Do I?
Might I be deceived away from this simplicity? Might you?
I suggest that this simplicity is a surprise and is central to a clear understanding and experience of grace. Read it here.
Paul expressed fear that the Christians in Corinth might be deceived by Satan
away from the simplicity and purity that are in Christ.
Might the world and the devil want us to be ignorant of Satan's deception?
Are we today aware of Paul's concern? Do you share that concern? Do I?
Might I be deceived away from this simplicity? Might you?
I suggest that this simplicity is a surprise and is central to a clear understanding and experience of grace. Read it here.
DO YOU SEE JESUS?
GOD PROMISES THAT SPEAKING WITH GRACE ALWAYS GIVES PROPER WISDOM.
"Let your speech always be with grace, as if seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to respond to each person." -Colossians 4:6
Why didn't this promise work for me for 25 years? Listen to the simple explanation below.
Does the devil have a counterfeit understanding of grace with which to trick and confuse us?
"Let your speech always be with grace, as if seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to respond to each person." -Colossians 4:6
Why didn't this promise work for me for 25 years? Listen to the simple explanation below.
Does the devil have a counterfeit understanding of grace with which to trick and confuse us?
THE MOTIVATION OF GRACE: THE TESTIMONY OF TWO NON-CHRISTIANS
I preach often at USU here in Logan and have been privileged to meet and know many students from various parts of the world. One such blessing was friendship with a Muslim attorney from Jordan. I suspect that he may understand the meaning of grace better than any Christian I will ever meet. We Christians are children of the King. Read here what this Muslim friend told me one day. I agree with him totally about grace. Do you?
I preach often at USU here in Logan and have been privileged to meet and know many students from various parts of the world. One such blessing was friendship with a Muslim attorney from Jordan. I suspect that he may understand the meaning of grace better than any Christian I will ever meet. We Christians are children of the King. Read here what this Muslim friend told me one day. I agree with him totally about grace. Do you?
THREE SURPRISES IN THE GOSPEL
HOW DOES GOD FORGIVE SINS?
All people are made in God's image and thus have a sense of the moral world and of the good need for all moral violation to be managed. But because of our pride, we commonly misunderstand how sin is meant to be managed. Just because the scriptures declare that Jesus has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Heb 9:26), doesn't mean that we understand what that means, or that we always see life through that reality. We tend to read our own worldly wisdom into God. Paul declares, "That in Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Col. 1:14; Eph 1:14) Forgiveness of sins equals redemption.
Redemption from what?
Read here the three general ways to understand forgiveness and the surprise in connecting forgiveness to redemption.
Does the devil have a counterfeit understanding of forgiveness with which to trick and confuse us?
All people are made in God's image and thus have a sense of the moral world and of the good need for all moral violation to be managed. But because of our pride, we commonly misunderstand how sin is meant to be managed. Just because the scriptures declare that Jesus has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Heb 9:26), doesn't mean that we understand what that means, or that we always see life through that reality. We tend to read our own worldly wisdom into God. Paul declares, "That in Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Col. 1:14; Eph 1:14) Forgiveness of sins equals redemption.
Redemption from what?
Read here the three general ways to understand forgiveness and the surprise in connecting forgiveness to redemption.
Does the devil have a counterfeit understanding of forgiveness with which to trick and confuse us?
WOULD GOD EVER COMMAND SOMEONE TO BE ANGRY?
"Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil."
-Ephesians 4:26-27
The underlined phrases are commands in the Greek text. This text is often used to teach you to manage and minimize your anger. I declare that this is a positive command to maximize your anger and give it a razor-sharp focus. Doing so removes sin (including rage) and the devil from the equation of your life. It is important to notice the difference between rage and anger. Anger is a principled mindset of hostility toward something (ex: Jesus in Hebrews 1:9), while rage is a reaction when one's pretended control is being threatened. If sunset were the end of the work day, how would this change our understanding of the related commands? Might there be a surprise in taking this command seriously?
Be a Berean as you listen to this view of anger.
"Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil."
-Ephesians 4:26-27
The underlined phrases are commands in the Greek text. This text is often used to teach you to manage and minimize your anger. I declare that this is a positive command to maximize your anger and give it a razor-sharp focus. Doing so removes sin (including rage) and the devil from the equation of your life. It is important to notice the difference between rage and anger. Anger is a principled mindset of hostility toward something (ex: Jesus in Hebrews 1:9), while rage is a reaction when one's pretended control is being threatened. If sunset were the end of the work day, how would this change our understanding of the related commands? Might there be a surprise in taking this command seriously?
Be a Berean as you listen to this view of anger.
CAN YOU DRIFT AWAY FROM GRACE? - SOME SURPRISES
Is there a difference between your identity and your mindset right now?
Are both real experiences?
Might the devil and the world have a counterfeit of drifting away from grace to confuse us with?
If you were confused, would you want to know?
The following sermon in article form can be found here.
Is there a difference between your identity and your mindset right now?
Are both real experiences?
Might the devil and the world have a counterfeit of drifting away from grace to confuse us with?
If you were confused, would you want to know?
The following sermon in article form can be found here.
HAVE YOU ENDURED TO THE END?
Does the devil have a counterfeit understanding of endurance to the end to confuse and distract us with?
If you have been tricked, would you want to know?
Surprise hint: Endurance to the end precedes assurance of salvation.
Does the devil have a counterfeit understanding of endurance to the end to confuse and distract us with?
If you have been tricked, would you want to know?
Surprise hint: Endurance to the end precedes assurance of salvation.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO REVEAL THE HUMAN HEART?
God declares that His word can do this.
How does this work?
Listen for the surprise that clarifies and simplifies the issue.
Might the world and the devil want to trick us that this is impossible?
God declares that His word can do this.
How does this work?
Listen for the surprise that clarifies and simplifies the issue.
Might the world and the devil want to trick us that this is impossible?
NATURAL EVANGELISM - A SURPRISE IN SEEING GRACE CLEARLY
Would the devil want to confuse us and hinder our witness for Jesus?
Jesus said that what fills our hearts overflows freely.
This is where the spiritual battle lies.
Would the devil want to confuse us and hinder our witness for Jesus?
Jesus said that what fills our hearts overflows freely.
This is where the spiritual battle lies.
WHAT IS TEMPTATION ABOUT? A SURPRISE
Is it toward something or away from something?
Do the world and the devil have a counterfeit of temptation to trick us with?
Is it toward something or away from something?
Do the world and the devil have a counterfeit of temptation to trick us with?
WHAT IS THE FLESH?
Do the world and the devil have a counterfeit of the flesh to trick us with?
Adam and Eve were created in the flesh and God declared that creation to be good.
Jesus came in the flesh and He was certainly good.
Paul declared that he lived in the flesh by the faithfulness of Christ. (Gal 2:20)
Is the flesh good or bad?
What is the difference between the flesh and the ugly works of the flesh in Galatians 5?
Understanding what it means that Jesus came in the flesh reveals some surprises.
Do the world and the devil have a counterfeit of the flesh to trick us with?
Adam and Eve were created in the flesh and God declared that creation to be good.
Jesus came in the flesh and He was certainly good.
Paul declared that he lived in the flesh by the faithfulness of Christ. (Gal 2:20)
Is the flesh good or bad?
What is the difference between the flesh and the ugly works of the flesh in Galatians 5?
Understanding what it means that Jesus came in the flesh reveals some surprises.
DO YOU SEE JESUS AS OUR DREAD CHAMPION? - Jer. 20:11
Do the world and the devil have a counterfeit view of the life of Jesus to trick us with?
If you have been tricked would you want to know?
David rushed out to lay down Goliath's life.
Whose life did Jesus rush out to lay down?
Listen for the surprise in connecting these.
Do the world and the devil have a counterfeit view of the life of Jesus to trick us with?
If you have been tricked would you want to know?
David rushed out to lay down Goliath's life.
Whose life did Jesus rush out to lay down?
Listen for the surprise in connecting these.
THE SURPRISE IN UNDERSTANDING DEAD WORKS
Do the world and the devil have a counterfeit of good works to trick us with?
There are three kinds of works: evil, good, and dead.
What is the difference?
What does it mean to be cleansed from dead works?
Do the world and the devil have a counterfeit of good works to trick us with?
There are three kinds of works: evil, good, and dead.
What is the difference?
What does it mean to be cleansed from dead works?
WHAT DOES REPENTANCE MEAN? A SURPRISE
Do Satan and the world have a counterfeit repentance with which to trick us?
If you have been tricked, would you want to know?
Do Satan and the world have a counterfeit repentance with which to trick us?
If you have been tricked, would you want to know?
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Sermon Visual Aid
Let's identify with the dull-hearing Hebrew Christian community who were confused about righteousness. Hebrews is baby food Christianity to repair their broken foundation. Conversion to Christ is the death of the old life/mind/heart of Adam and the implantation of the new life/mind/heart of Christ. Metanoia (change your mind = take a new mind) is the Greek word used 57 times to mean this transformation by the gospel. The early church was tricked by their Roman culture to view this as direct behavioral improvement, and thus paraphrased it as repentance (look back in sorrow and try to improve). This translation error confuses the meaning of both life in Christ and the spiritual battle. We need good questions to help clear the fog. Let's not be afraid of our Bibles. Books recommended: The Great Meaning of Metanoia, by Treadwell Walden, Shepherding a Child's Heart, by Ted Tripp, and A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, by Edwin Friedman |
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FREEDOM FROM THE CONFUSION OF HEBREWS 6:4-6
- THE SURPRISE OF A NEW QUESTION -
Would the world and the devil want us to be confused about this passage?
Hint: Are You an Old Covenant Thinker?
- THE SURPRISE OF A NEW QUESTION -
Would the world and the devil want us to be confused about this passage?
Hint: Are You an Old Covenant Thinker?
Sermon Visual Aid
This passage mentions falling away and thus has terrified and troubled true Christians, and led to bitter arguments. Here is the traditional question. What is the status of those who fall away: 1) saved, 2) never saved, or 3) lost their salvation? I suggest that God is not confused and that the text is simple and clear. But we are confused in not realizing that Hebrews is baby food Christianity for early Hebrew Christians confused about righteousness. We need a new question.
“The second attribute of imaginatively gridlocked relationship systems is a continual search for new answers to old questions rather than an effort to re-frame the questions themselves. In the search for the solution to any problem, questions are always more important than answers because the way one frames the question, or the problem, already predetermines the range of answers one can conceive in response.” - A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, by Edwin Friedman, p. 37
Here is a new question to approach this text from a new angle. Is this passage about the status of those who fall away, or is it a simple explanation of how the audience was confusedly mixing the old covenant into the foundation of the new covenant? If your were mixing them would you want to know?
I suggest that it is a spiritual battle to understand the meaning of Bible words. If we are easily confused about drifting away from grace (#4), God's satisfaction (#6), enduring to the end (#8), how sin hardens (#9), entering God's rest (#10), how the word cuts the heart (#11), temptation (#14), the flesh (#15), dead works (#19), and especially Metanoia (#21)--if we are confused about these--we should not be surprised at being confused at 6:4-6. Be a Berean as you listen to this approach to this passage. We all "need to suck up our pride and be honest" about our confusion, as a young agnostic told me recently.
This passage mentions falling away and thus has terrified and troubled true Christians, and led to bitter arguments. Here is the traditional question. What is the status of those who fall away: 1) saved, 2) never saved, or 3) lost their salvation? I suggest that God is not confused and that the text is simple and clear. But we are confused in not realizing that Hebrews is baby food Christianity for early Hebrew Christians confused about righteousness. We need a new question.
“The second attribute of imaginatively gridlocked relationship systems is a continual search for new answers to old questions rather than an effort to re-frame the questions themselves. In the search for the solution to any problem, questions are always more important than answers because the way one frames the question, or the problem, already predetermines the range of answers one can conceive in response.” - A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, by Edwin Friedman, p. 37
Here is a new question to approach this text from a new angle. Is this passage about the status of those who fall away, or is it a simple explanation of how the audience was confusedly mixing the old covenant into the foundation of the new covenant? If your were mixing them would you want to know?
I suggest that it is a spiritual battle to understand the meaning of Bible words. If we are easily confused about drifting away from grace (#4), God's satisfaction (#6), enduring to the end (#8), how sin hardens (#9), entering God's rest (#10), how the word cuts the heart (#11), temptation (#14), the flesh (#15), dead works (#19), and especially Metanoia (#21)--if we are confused about these--we should not be surprised at being confused at 6:4-6. Be a Berean as you listen to this approach to this passage. We all "need to suck up our pride and be honest" about our confusion, as a young agnostic told me recently.
WHAT IS JOY? - A CHRISTMAS SURPRISE
Sermon Visual Aid
Christmas is the celebration of God’s anticipation of His goodness breaking into our world to create a new place of dependence on His goodness. He came to identify with us in our humanity, to die as our substitute carrying our obligation to goodness, so that we could enter into life in His faithfulness free from the pressure of our own.
Passages referred to:
Luke 2:1-20 - God's good anticipation of peace is revealed to shepherds.
Isaiah 26:12 - We have peace because God has done for us all our work.
Isaiah 42:21 - God is well pleased for His righteousness' sake to exalt the law.
Gal 5:22 - Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.
Jer 31:14 - "My people will be satisfied with My goodness."
What is the fruit of satisfaction with God's goodness? joy and a heart overflowing with goodness and good works.
Heb 1:9 - Jesus loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. He was the gladest man who ever lived. Joy is connected to righteousness.
Satan wants us to forget the context of life, and thus impair our experience of God's goodness. This impairs our joy.
good joy: Matthew 5:10-12; 13:16-17;
impaired joy: Luke 10:17-20
Let's fill words with meaning, thank God often for details of how His goodness is our satisfaction,
and thus fill Christmas (and all other days) with joy.
Christmas is the celebration of God’s anticipation of His goodness breaking into our world to create a new place of dependence on His goodness. He came to identify with us in our humanity, to die as our substitute carrying our obligation to goodness, so that we could enter into life in His faithfulness free from the pressure of our own.
Passages referred to:
Luke 2:1-20 - God's good anticipation of peace is revealed to shepherds.
Isaiah 26:12 - We have peace because God has done for us all our work.
Isaiah 42:21 - God is well pleased for His righteousness' sake to exalt the law.
Gal 5:22 - Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.
Jer 31:14 - "My people will be satisfied with My goodness."
What is the fruit of satisfaction with God's goodness? joy and a heart overflowing with goodness and good works.
Heb 1:9 - Jesus loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. He was the gladest man who ever lived. Joy is connected to righteousness.
Satan wants us to forget the context of life, and thus impair our experience of God's goodness. This impairs our joy.
good joy: Matthew 5:10-12; 13:16-17;
impaired joy: Luke 10:17-20
Let's fill words with meaning, thank God often for details of how His goodness is our satisfaction,
and thus fill Christmas (and all other days) with joy.
WHAT IS LOVE? - ANOTHER CHRISTMAS SURPRISE
Is love a feeling, an action, a commitment, or something deeper?
Might the world and devil have a counterfeit of love to confuse us with?
Jesus came to reveal the love of God-- to save God's people from their sins.
What does this mean?
There is a spiritual war raging: the love of God versus the love of the world.
Is love a feeling, an action, a commitment, or something deeper?
Might the world and devil have a counterfeit of love to confuse us with?
Jesus came to reveal the love of God-- to save God's people from their sins.
What does this mean?
There is a spiritual war raging: the love of God versus the love of the world.
SURPRISE! PREDESTINATION IS ALL ABOUT GOD.
Satan counterfeits all God's ways.
Is it possible that you have been tricked to swallow the counterfeit of predestination?
If so, would you want to know?
Listen for the new question that removes the bitter argument about predestination.
Satan counterfeits all God's ways.
Is it possible that you have been tricked to swallow the counterfeit of predestination?
If so, would you want to know?
Listen for the new question that removes the bitter argument about predestination.
