Tag: gospel

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study

Knowing that Our Triune God is Graciously Grace Filled

snow top mountain under clear sky
Photo by Stephan Seeber on Pexels.com

In one sense, to be grace-filled means that God is favorably disposed. But it is so much bigger. God’s grace or favor is free, more than enough, and overwhelming. If you put problems, pain, suffering and death on one end of a scale, God’s grace is infinitely above, over and beyond (Romans 5:15-16)!

  • God’s overwhelming grace is decided and sourced in the Father (Ephesians 1:2-18)
  • God’s outstanding graciousness is worked out and multiplied through the Son (John 1:17)
  • God’s otherworldly grace is eternally perfecting and sanctifying by the Holy Spirit of Grace (Heb. 10:29)

No matter what “direction” we look at Him, God, in all three persons, is graciously grace-filled—especially towards us who can’t earn this eternal hope (Eph 2:8).

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,

Deeper than the mighty rolling sea

Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain, all sufficient Grace for even me

Broader than the scope of my transgressions

Greater far than all my sin and shame

Magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise His name!

Categories
sin

I’ve Sinned; Now What? Eleven Reminders For Dealing with Sin

On this side of eternity we will sin. I’m not saying we must sin. Sin is not necessary to human life but it is part of human life. On this side of eternity we will struggle with it. We will sin.

Indeed, there will be times in lives where we think we’re doing okay, where things seem to be going fine, and then we hear a sermon or see a passage in the Bible, or read an article, or hear an argument where we find ourselves convicted of sin. We wind up convicted of some specific thing that we thought was okay but now we see it is wrong.

Perhaps there is a specific sin that we keep slipping into, like a well-fitting sweater or comfy shoes.  Or the sin we’ve committed a long time ago, before even thinking it was a sin, and now we see it for what it is.  We’ve sinned.

In the blogging vogue, here are eleven things (to limit it to a readable number) to keep in mind in regards to sin.

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Categories
salvation

Yes, Christians Really Are Motivated By Christ’s Resurrection

A friend of mine, Jewish by birth, told me he was off to visit family during Passover. Unsure if I knew the history of the holiday, he told me how the Jews were slaves of Pharaoh and was rescued by God via a bunch of miracles. Then he added, “it’s all lies, anyway. Holidays are just an excuse for families to see each other.”

It got me thinking about how people seriously misdiagnose the motivations of true Christianity.

An excuse for family get-togethers? A way for people to be good to each other? Just another religion on a spectrum of beliefs?

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philosophy pray

Does God Hear Sinners?

hearsinners-01

This is one of those questions that, at first blush, have an easy answer. Some folk might automatically say, “Yes, surely God hears sinners. God loves his children!” Others might respond “Of course not: God is holy!”

The question “Does God hear sinners” is actually very complex not because of the terms (we’ll look at that in a second), or hidden assumptions in the question, but because of the unknown baggage carried in by the questioner.  Who knows what’s the theological ideas behind it and, nowadays, theological common ground can’t be assumed.

All that being the case, I want to look at the large network of ideas that undergird this issue by addressing it in at least three levels: philosophically, Biblically, and theologically.

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christ church scripture

Corinth: Thought Model For Dealing With Church Problems

I’ve noticed when a church has problems (or more often before problems) they try to figure out what to do to make things better. Mind you, that might be fine. If a church has money issues, it might be a good idea to examine spending habits and prepare for the future.

Thing is, some of the problems are specifically spiritual but folk try to contrive a fix using the flesh. Now, what I mean by that isn’t what the modern ear would hear. I’m not saying “things that have to do with our internal faith have to be dealt with by praying or other faith-things instead of using our physical selves to deal with it.”

I mean that we can’t deal with these situations, whatever they may be, using the methodology and empowerment of the old system we’ve been rescued from. Church gossip might be addressed by saying “stop doing this” or “gossip hurts people” and then maybe having get-to-know-one-another-parties: but this is based more on what the world values in the Flesh System than what God has revealed as valuable to deal with these issues.

I suggest examining the thought model offered by Paul’s letter to the Church at Corinth.

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