Everyone’s a Biblical Literalist Until You Bring Up Gluttony - by Rachel Held Evans

"In short, we like to gang up. We like to fashion weapons out of the verses that affect us the least and then “clobber” the minority with them. Or better yet, conjure up some saccharine language about speaking the truth in love before breaking out our spec-removing tweezers to help get our minds off of these uncomfortable logs in our own eyes."

Read the rest of the article here, by Rachel Held Evans.

Feelings

Religion is about what we must do. 

Grace is about what He has done. 

It is finished and we are complete in Him (Col 2:10), whether we feel it or not. 

While feelings are beautiful, they are not necessarily an accurate indicator of our identity. Right now it is 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside, and I am experiencing a comfortable 65 degrees inside. But my experience does not alter the fact that the actual temperature is 50 degrees right now.

"The entire law was based on the performance of man. The new covenant is based on the performance of one man, Christ." 

- Susan Woods Avello

Married to Jesus and Sleeping with Moses

"Preaching a "mixed" (grace & law) message is a form of spiritual adultery . . . . married to Jesus, and sleeping with Moses."

- Ted Nelson

Since when did the Gospel assume the role of Law Enforcement?

The Gospel is not about enforcing the Mosaic Law, which was given specifically to the Jews.

If it is, whom do we approach first - the homosexual or the Christian at a Red Lobster?


Related post: The Cosmic Turtle 

An Interview with Saint Paul

An Interview with Saint Paul

Written by Art Henkel (Paul’s answers are straight from Galatians ‘The Message’ translation).

Q. Paul, thanks for being willing to answer a few questions. It is obvious God has given you a great love for His church so I’m sure your comments will prove to be very insightful. Why don’t we get started? What is your honest response to the message that is commonly proclaimed through today’s church?

A. I can’t believe your fickleness – how easily you have turned traitor to Him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. (Gal. 1:6,7)

 

Q. Wow, that’s a pretty strong statement Paul. Way to start off with a bang. You know, there are many good people in today’s church who believe that having a right relationship with God is dependent on them trying to serve Him faithfully. Is that correct? Was that the understanding during the early days of the church?

A. We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good. (Gal. 2:15,16)

 

Q. I’m told you were once a very religious man. What changed when you experienced Christ?

A. I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with Him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. (Gal. 2:18-20)

 

Q. I’ve heard you speak against living under the law while being a Christian. Is it that big of a deal?

A. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. (Gal. 2:21)

 

 Q. Many people in the church today understand that salvation is only experienced through Christ Jesus, by God’s grace. But once they come to faith they start thinking that they must add something to the process by doing things for God. What would you say to them?

A. How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough and strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, His Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does He do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust Him to do them in you? The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. (Gal. 3:2-3, 5,9)

 

Q. But there are many Christians today who follow the example of those in the Old Testament that faithfully obeyed the law. They believe that by doing this, they will experience God’s blessings. What do you think?

A. But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent His Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that He might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as His own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance. (Gal. 4:4-7)

 

Q. If what you say is true, why do we seem to hear so much law teaching from our church leaders?

A. They want to shut you out of the free world of God’s grace so that you will always depend on them for approval and direction, making them feel important. Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ’s hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law. I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. (Gal. 4:17; 5;1-4)

 

Q. Okay, I get it. As Christians we are no longer to live under the law but under a new covenant of grace. But how do you go about doing that?

A. Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence? Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. (Gal. 5:16,18,25)

 

Q. This sounds so different from the message that many of us have been hearing. Are you saying that what many of our church leaders have been teaching doesn’t carry any substance?

A. People who are attempting to force the ways of circumcision on you have only one motive. All their talk about the law is gas. They themselves don’t keep the law! (Gal. 6:12-13)

 

Q. If we start living out what you have been saying, there could be a lot of church people that don’t agree. Shouldn’t we be concerned about that?

A. For my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. I have been crucified, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Can’t you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do – submit to circumcision, reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and He is creating something totally new, a free life! (Gal. 6:14-15)

 

Q. There could be a lot of people who will strongly disagree with what we’ve discussed. How do you plan on dealing with the possible fallout?

A. Quite frankly, I don’t want to be bothered anymore by these disputes. I have far more important things to do – the serious living of this faith. (Gal. 6:17)

Paul, I’d like to thank you for sharing with us today. In talking with you it has become very clear that the gospel message that many of us have been hearing and proclaiming is very different from what you’ve been teaching. It certainly gives us something to think about.

Thou Shalt Circumcise!

This comic strip nails it. One of my favorites from the Searching for Grace series, by Mick Mooney.

"Abraham tithed before the Law, therefore, thou shalt tithe", is a popular line among ministries that know tithing is from the Old Covenant, but still overtly or subtly imposes tithing. This is done while conveniently forgetting that Abraham circumcised before the Law as well, and yet, we don't see the same zeal for preaching about circumcision. 

Secondly, Abraham did not tithe "to be blessed", as it is popularly led to believe. What he gave was from the spoils of a war. Abraham was blessed simply because God conferred the blessing upon him. Period.

Fast forward to Moses. Under the old covenant, blessings or curses hinged on one's actions. Under the new covenant, however, a person is blessed because of Jesus' finished work on the cross. It's called Grace. Under the new covenant, giving (to whoever the heart guides) is done cheerfully, whether it is 0.1% or 100%.

Spurgeon's Cigar

Allegedly, Charles Spurgeon invited D.L. Moody to speak at an event he hosted.

Moody accepted and preached the entire time about the evils of tobacco, and why the Lord doesn’t want Christians to smoke.

Spurgeon, a cigar smoker, was surprised at what seemed to be a cheap shot leveled by Moody, using the pulpit to condemn a fellow minister.

When Moody finished preaching, Spurgeon walked up to the podium and said, “Mr. Moody, I’ll put down my cigars when you put down your fork.”

Moody was overweight.

 

“Christians get very angry toward other Christians who sin differently than they do.” - Philip Yancey

The above story and the quotation is an excerpt from Frank Viola's new book - Beyond Evangelical.

 

One may argue that Spurgeon was not right to respond to condemnation with condemnation (actually, someone did mention this in a thread on Facebook). My take on that opinion is that there is a difference between condemnation and popping the self-righteous bubbles. Jesus constantly popped the Pharisees' self-righteousness when they judged and condemned from their high thrones (I'm not implying that one has to make a vocation out of popping the bubbles). 

We can only speculate if Spurgeon was doing either here. Regardless of what his intent may have been here, the best antidote to self-righteous judgments is the Law itself - the same tool that is used to pronounce the judgement. This is one reason why the Law is a greasy slope. The moment I judge or condemn a person using the Law, I slide myself alongside with the same person, for the Law is partial to no one.

Fortunately, we don't have to judge or condemn anyone, because sin was nailed to the cross and without the sin, there is no need for the Law. Without the Law, we do not have an ammunition to judge and/or condemn another.

Law Lovers

We are already in union with God.

What actually took place is this:

"What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily."

- Galatians 2:19-21, The Message

Thou shalt be Free

Biblically speaking, we can only live either by law or by grace. Choosing to live by the law requires that one must keep all (I cannot pick and choose from the 10 commandments and the 600 plus sub commandments) the laws with absolute perfection. There isn't a slightest margin for error (James 2:10). I cannot pull the "I'm trying my best" card.

The religion comes in with blithe ignorance and proclaims that, "all you have to do is keep the law and God will smile at you" and place the sincere believer on a never-ending treadmill, when the the fact of the matter is, not one of us can score a 100 out of 100. And this is precisely why we need a Savior!

The purpose of the law (let's not forget that it was not even given to the gentiles) then, was to reveal man's inability to reach God's perfection with his self-effort. Not one action qualifies us to be in right-standing with Him. Not one action of ours qualifies us to receive His blessings. The only route through which we can receive anything from Him is by grace through faith. 

Law leaves us guilty and helpless, which in turn draws us to receive His grace and mercy. The heavy-lifting was already done by the rabbi from Nazareth. All we do is acknowledge and receive the free gift - the glorified Him. Law weighs us down while He frees us.

Guilt vs Love

Fear/condemnation/guilt-driven preaching begets converts or the churchians, who subscribes to a religious doctrine.

Love (God Himself) begets children.

Little children do not strive to please their parents. They are intuitively aware of their parents' love towards them. They take their parents for granted, not in a negative way, but because they know that their parents are for them and not against them. They cannot comprehend the thought that their parents would desire to give them a cancer so that they would be bright kids in school; the very thought is ludicrous! They are secure in who they are. They are content with what they currently have. If given a gift, of course they would gladly grab it, instead of acting "spiritual" and pretending that they do not need more toys. They neither worry about the future nor do they give thought to past hurts. They live in the present moment and give their full attention to the task at hand. They don't know how to define love or grace, but they are in love and it is the dominant force that automatically emanates from them.

The fear-filled convert on the other hand, is driven by the a deep sense of insecurity. It is this insecurity that leads him to the treadmill of trying to pleasing God. What if He gets mad? Did I pray, fast, give, evangelize, stand in the gap, volunteer enough? The churchian has a full length mirror affixed to his whole body, at all times. His outer part, his performance is what he sees daily and for sure, he sees nothing, but flaws. He can't be blamed for jumping on the treadmill. Little does he realize that, change is something that happens within and not the behavior modification that he is so sincerely trying to accomplish, with zero success. This change within has a name - Jesus. He became wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption for us. He is love. This change is not dependent on one's works. The change is instantaneous when one says Yes to Jesus. We are made righteous. This is why grace is known as nearly too good to be true news. Grace is not a doctrine to debate with the non-conformists. Grace is love. Love is what Jesus did for us. Love is Jesus.

Evangelism is not something we do. It was God who went through the torture and died for all of us and it is God who does not want any one person to perish and therefore evangelism should be a Spirit-led activity and not a formula based one. Only the Holy Spirit knows why a particular person is hardened. Only the Holy Spirit can reach the root of the problem. The Holy Spirit does that through the gifts of the Spirit, through the yielded vessel. Only the Holy Spirit can give us the divine guidance. God just needs our body and mind. Even though on the outside it might seem like 'we' are doing it, it is His life in and through us that does His fruit-bearing (for sure, one can do a lot of things from his or her flesh, but that only glorifies the self) work - whether it is reaching 1 million or just 1 person.

Some people know that they need a Savior. To them, a condemning message would only hurt them deeply and scare them away. They might already be living a living hell; and the last thing they need is the "good news" of hell. They'll flee like Lot did, without turning back. However, this crowd will be thrilled at the invitation of Jesus, just like Zacchaeus, the tax collector was. He was ostracized by his own community, because he worked for the Romans. But when the Gospel invited Himself to Zacchaeus' home, he could hardly believe his ears (which is exactly what grace does, because it is an unmerited, unearned, undeserved gift of God). And change happened in an instant.

Contrast that with the self-righteous rich young ruler who thought he could earn eternal life with his effort. "What shall I do" was his query. To this dude, Jesus (lovingly) gave the righteous standard - the law. When he boasted that he has kept all the commandments, Jesus said (paraphrased), "Bravo, that's cute! Now go sell and distribute your wealth amongst the poor". As a side note, I should add that, this was not a lesson on charitable giving (Zacchaeus was very wealthy too, but Jesus did not ask him to go distribute his wealth or even to follow Him), but to prove that the rich young ruler broke the very first commandment by putting his trust in his wealth than God who gave it to him. As we know, he went away dejected. There are many who thinks they are perfect because they put their trust in their good works, instead of Jesus Christ. Only the Law can show them that their so called good works cannot match the perfection that God requires (because you have to keep 'em all or you break 'em all) and lead them to put their trust in the Savior, who fulfilled the law and paid the price for their sins.

Jesus gives mercy to the 'sinner' and His righteous standard to the wannabe perfectionist. He spoke regarding hellfire to the religionists, who trusted in their law-keeping, but dined with the 'sinners' that the religionists looked down on.

An Encounter with Jesus

You might be a professing Christian with several years or decades of experience, a Pastor, a famous preacher, a church leader, a theologian, a theology student, a new believer or a skeptic - but are you sure that you have heard the pure Gospel (Good News) yet? Listen to these messages with an open heart and receive Jesus Christ (not your traditions/principles/works) as your only anchor, for only in the person Jesus (not in a religion that loves to put people in bondage and condemnation), in His perfectly completed works, will you find true literal liberty.

An Encounter with Jesus: Message by Bertie Brits. Translated to Malayalam by George Varghese.

Click here for more of Bertie Brits' messages, which can be downloaded free of charge.

Let's not keep the common sense aside

by Bino Manjasseril, Branch of Vine - A journey from religion to Christ...

I have been listening to the 'growing in grace' podcasts a lot lately. In more than one episodes, I heard Mike Kapler saying, "let's not keep the common sense aside". He says that especially when it comes to obedience and keeping the law.I think, being honest to ourselves is all it takes to come to the conclusion that religion doesn't work. It doesn't matter which religion it is. Each has its own 'ways' to please their god. For some, their god is pleased when they follow certain set of rules, laws, regulations or a list of do's and don'ts. Some gods are pleased when we gather at particular place at a particular time of a week. Some are pleased when we chant some prayers or starve through fasting. Some are pleased when we put some dollar bills into an offering plate. Some are pleased when we confess all our sins.

I am not excluding Christian religion from this. Christians says their god is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. He is a perfectly holy god. He is self-sufficient. That being the case, isn't it a futile act attempting to please that god through our puny works? Who in their right mind can logically come to a conclusion that they can somehow please god through all these? Not just that, some people think that they can make god angry! As though god has an emotional imbalance or something- easily angered, easily provoked but somehow hard to please.

I feel stupid for believing such a lie for a long time in my life. I thought my god would be pleased when I achieve sinless perfection. I thought I was pleasing him when I did the works of evangelism. I thought, the more I studied the Bible, he is more pleased. The more I set apart a 'quiet time', I thought I can somehow tap into his presence. I thought I could manipulate god through 'effective' prayer (by quoting scriptures, for example). I thought god was a genie who comes out and bless me when I give my money. I kept doing all these for years and years even though I never felt contented nor reached a satisfying point in my life to boldly say that I pleased him. I tried to do all the right things and tried not to do any wrong things to keep god from getting angry at me. But I always felt that I fall short. So, I successfully hid my burned out heart from others.

For a long time in my life, I lived an illogical spiritual life. I kept my common sense aside and listened and followed other illogical spiritual leaders out there. I wasn't even honest to myself. I pretended as if my spirituality was working.

Then there came a time in my life that I had to take a step back and look at the foolishness of my belief system. Trying to achieve sinless perfection? Trying to earn forgiveness through confessing all my sins on a daily basis? Trying to keep the law? Trying to love my neighbors as myself? Trying to love the enemies? Are you kidding?

I didn't know that James said, "whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." Will I ever be accepted by this god? Will I ever be able to say that I confessed all my sins that I am now fully forgiven? Will I ever feel the security of god's love? Will I ever feel any kind of security, contentment or peace?

If you don't cheat in answering those questions, if you can be honest to yourself, the only thing you can do is - give up! That’s true - just give up!

That’s where my journey started. I first gave up, then God took over…

Money on the Cross

What are the principles for giving (finance) in the New Testament? Do we have to sow to reap? Since Abraham tithed before the Law, do we have to tithe in order to be blessed? Are we trusting in our giving or in Jesus? This message series by Bertie Brits will address the above questions (and more), free you from the yoke of legalistic bondage and transform you to be a cheerful giver.

Money on the Cross (Audio)
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

Click here for his message archive.