Tag: Grace
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2 Mistakes Christians Make
People tend to make two mistakes when they think about the redeemed life. The first is to underestimate the sin that remains in us; it’s still there and it can still hurt us. The second is to underestimate the strength of God’s grace; God is determined to make us new. As a result, all Christians…
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Justified: Profound & Practical
…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ~ Romans 5.8-9 Matt Chandler passionately proclaims the profound practical benefits of God’s grace…
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Brokeness, Contrition, and Repentance = Marks of a Growing Christian
“So Repentance begins with an attitude of brokenness over our sin. But true repentance will be followed by an earnest desire and a sincere effort to put away the sin we are repenting of – to put on the Christlike virtues that we see missing in our lives. These efforts often seem to be characterized…
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Fighting the Sin in Our Hearts
In Colossians 3, the Apostle Paul commands us: Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (v. 5) His list should not be seen as exhaustive, but rather suggestive. There are many other things that could be included in this list – things which…
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Looking Heaven-ward
“There are two methods which the Lord graciously adopts, in order to draw our heart away from this present world: The first is by setting before it the attractiveness and stability of “things above:” The second is, by faithfully declaring the evanescent [temporary] and shakable nature of ‘things of earth.’ … Now it is much…
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Too Much Religion
Eugene Peterson, in the Introduction to the book of Hebrews in his book The Message, writes: “It seems odd to have to say so, but too much religion is a bad thing. We can’t get too much of God, can’t get too much faith and obedience, can’t get too much love and worship. But religion…
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The Difference That Makes All the Difference
Francis Schaeffer, of his own testimony, writes: “I became a Christian once for all upon the basis of the finished work of Christ through faith; that is justification. The Christian life, sanctification, operates on the same basis, but moment by moment. There is the same base (Christ’s work) and the same instrument (faith); the only…
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Paradoxes of Grace
In his excellent, perspective shaping book, Broken-Down House, Paul Tripp reflects some of the amazing paradoxes of the gospel. Take some time to ponder these; feel the tension. This is what genuine grace is and does: So grace is a story and grace is a gift. It is God’s character and it is your hope.…
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Help My Unbelief
If I had a favorite hymn from Red Mountain Music, this would probably be it. It reflects the common duality of our hearts, simultaneously Believing and Struggling to Believe; simultaneously Saints & Sinners. (See Mark 9.24) It reflects and explains the cause of Paul’s dimemma: Failing to do what he wanted to do, and doing…
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I Asked the Lord to Grow in Grace
This song comes from a beautiful poem by John Newton. It is a powerful reminder to me about God’s grace and how God works. Like Newton in the opening lines of this poem, I often ask God to grow me in grace and faith and the fruits of his Spirit. I asked the Lord that I might…
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Lingering Guilt & Insulting God’s Integrity
What do you do with the person who says: “I’ve asked God to forgive me, but I still feel guilty?” A noted writer (R.C. Sproul, I think) was asked [this] once. [His reply:] “Well, if You still feel guilty, then pray to God again, but this time don’t ask Him to forgive you for the…
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Our Universal Need
“Just so you know, the need for repentance, redemption, and forgiveness is universal. I don’t care if you are a liberal or a conservative, a religious fanatic or a militant atheist, a ‘spiritual’/’religious’ person or someone who runs from all that. It doesn’t matter to me if you listen to Billy Graham or follow Camus…
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Living & Loving to Please God
Steve Brown, professor at Reformed Theological Seminary and president of Key Life Network, penned a marvelous word picture of the motive and expression of a life gripped by God’s grace: When I became a Christian, two things happened. I got saved, and I got loved. I got loved so deeply that it still amazes me…
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Confession of a Recovering Legalist
The guy seemed somewhat indignant. “There are no legalists in this room”, he insisted in response to an indirect, and unintentional, indictment made by another member of the presbytery. Little did he know. “Absolutely there are legalists in the room”, I thought outloud. I cannot say with certainty that this man, who felt compelled to defend…
