Bad Things Must Happen

As I write these words, there is war in the Middle East. America is at war with Islamic extremist terrorists, Israel has been bombing Lebanon, Hezbollah Arabs have been sending rockets into Israel. In other words, things aren’t that much different than for many years.

False religions grip many millions of people, even whole nations. False teachers abound in the visible Christian church world. Violence and other crimes rise and fall in the statistics, but they never go away.

I am big on the love and grace of God. He loves us unconditionally, he has forgiven us of our sins, past present and future. He has made us a new creation, dead to sin and alive to God. He has given us all spiritual blessings in Christ. He gives us the fruit of His Spirit, love, joy, peace, and so on. He even blesses the unbelievers in many ways, causing the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

Life in Christ is so blessed in so many ways, we might be tempted to think that bad things shouldn’t happen. We might be tempted to pray, “Lord, why all these bad things? Why war? Why bloodshed? Why all this evil? Lord please take it all away. Don’t let any bad things happen any more, please.”

But we know that is not to be, don’t we?

I want to cite a series of verses, not for the specific content of the verses, but just to ask you to do one thing. As I read these verses, I’d like to ask you to look for the word "MUST". As you look for the word "MUST" in these verses, I hope some light is shed on our topic today, and I hope some light is shed on our amazing Lord, and His ways. Look for the word "MUST" in these verses:

Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He MUST go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

Matthew 24:6 "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things MUST take place, but that is not yet the end.

Matthew 26:54 "How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it MUST happen this way?"

Mark 8:31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man MUST suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Luke 17:25 "But first He MUST suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

Revelation 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what MUST take place after these things."

O.K., you may be asking, “What’s your point, Terry?”

Several points:

1. God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are greater than our thoughts. We wouldn’t do things the way He does, necessarily.

Isaiah 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

2. God has a plan, and His plan is good, but... His plan includes bad. In a fallen world, there will be the evil results of fallen man, but God uses that evil for good. As Joseph said to his brothers in Gen. 50:20, “you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good”.

Few things will cause us to worship God in heaven for eternity, more than the full realization of how He turned bad to good.

These things MUST be.

3. God is sovereign in all things.
Psalms 115:3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.

4. God works all things for good to His children.
Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

What’s the application? As the question goes, “How shall we then live?”

1. If God puts on your heart to pray against some evil, by all means pray. I’m not advocating that we just not care. And sometimes, as James reminds us, we have not because we ask not.

2. We can have peace that passes understanding.
Peace is a fruit of the spirit. And after we've prayed, we need to leave the results to God, and not be anxious.
Phil 4:6,7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

3. We can praise God for His great plan, and His awesome ability to take bad, and use it for good. We can honor the Lord for His sovereignty, instead of grumbling and complaining in it. Whether it’s the geo-politics of war, or some false teaching or apostasy, or even today’s weather report, let’s rejoice that God is in control. When we pray for our thorn in the flesh to be taken away, if it isn’t, His grace is still sufficient.

These things must be. But only for now.

Operation Freedom Life, Part 2

Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. He wrote them specifically to a man named Theophilus. At the beginning of Acts, Luke tells Theophilus that his first treatise (The Gospel of Luke) was about the things that Jesus BEGAN to do and teach, until He ascended to the right hand of the Father.

This indicated that the Book of Acts was a CONTINUATION of Jesus doing and teaching things, AFTER He had already ascended. And how did He continue his doing and teaching? Well, through His Body, the Church. In the days of the apostles, and today. We are His Body, and His life is being lived through us.

This means that His mission is our mission. If you want to know what the mission of the Church is, look for the mission of Jesus Christ. And Jesus gave us a capsule version of His mission in Luke, Chapter 4.

He went into the synagogue, as was His custom, took the scroll of the Book of Isaiah, and read a portion. When He was done, he said that the passage from Isaiah was fulfilled in Him. This was His mission.

Here are what we may say are the seven points of the mission of Jesus, and therefore the mission of you and me:

1. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me"...

No spiritual mission is possible without the Spirit of God. And His Spirit is in us, ready to live through us. Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." This is especially true of spiritual things.

Gal. 2:20 teaches us that we were crucified with Christ, and that now Jesus is living through us. This is the foundation of our mission, "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

2. "To preach the gospel to the poor..."

This includes evangelism, witnessing and telling the gospel to the lost. This also includes telling the rest of the gospel to the saved, the good news that our sins are forgiven, past, present and future. The good news that we have been declared righteous in God, that God is for us, and nothing can separate us from the love of God.

3. "To heal the broken-hearted..."

There is a good chance that YOU are broken-hearted. If so, do you think you are alone? A famous preacher once taught his student preachers to always assume that the people you are preaching to are hurting. And healing is in Jesus. He is the balm of Gilead that is spread on the wounds and sores of His people.

Have your broken heart healed as you spend time with Him, in prayer and meditation, and His wonderful Word, the Bible. Then spread the word to others. Healing the broken hearted is your mission too.

4. "To preach deliverance to the captives..."

Again, this is regarding before salvation and after. Listen to Gal. 5:1 – "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." It’s our mission too.

5. "And recovery of sight to the blind..."

I once was blind, but now I see. Again, before and after salvation. The church develops pockets of cultic thinking that cause blindness to our freedom in Christ. We need to help each other to “see” with spiritual eyes those things which are eternal, unseen with the physical eyes. It’s our mission too. Ironically, sometimes the most blind are those who walk by sight

6. "...To set at liberty the oppressed..."

This is opposing Legalism, whether for salvation (false "works" religion), or to keep salvation (earning God’s continued favor), or for fellowship (earning God’s love and friendship, trying to make ourselves "worthy").

Are you oppressed? Are you feeling like, "How could God love me and fellowship with me when I fall so short all the time?" Let me assure you that He has already taken care of that. When Jesus cried out on the cross, "It is finished", He meant it. The curtain between you and God is torn away. The wall between you and God has been blasted away by the cross, when Jesus became sin so that you might be made the righteousness of God.

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." And if there is no condemnation, then there is nothing to keep you from the sweet communion with Him. And then pass it on. It’s your mission too. To tear legalism limb from limb. To set at liberty the oppressed.

7. "To preach the acceptable year of the Lord..."

Jesus caps His and our mission off with this reference to the Year of Jubilee, spoken of in Lev. 25:10, a year of universal release for person and property.

Jesus said, "I came that they might have life and life abundantly." And it’s all through Him. "He who has the Son has Life". We just need reminding sometimes of what we have.

What Jesus BEGAN to do and teach, is now being passed on to us.

This is our mission: Operation Freedom Life.

Operation Freedom Life, Part 1

I live in an Army town, Clarksville, TN. Our suburb is Ft. Campbell, KY, most of which is actually in TN. Ft Campbell is the home of the 101st Airborne Division, along with a large contingent of the Fifth Group Special Forces, and the 160th Nightstalker Special Forces.

So I rub shoulders with a lot of soldiers. I do business with them, make friends with them, and just naturally pay more attention to news about them than someone might who doesn’t see camouflage uniforms every day at McDonald’s or the Wal-Mart checkout line.

And I love these soldiers. I admire them. I respect their dedication to their mission, whatever it may be at the time. I watched the troops come and go during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, freeing Kuwait from Saddam Hussein, Operation Enduring Freedom in Oct. of 2001 invading Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, still ongoing.

I’ve prayed with families as they were ready to say goodbye to the dad or mom soldier in the family. We gathered with a crowd at Ft. Campbell to welcome home a Nightstalker who had been wounded, tortured and held captive in Somalia. We had a young boy and his homeschooler mom over for our son Michael’s birthday party. Not long after, that boy’s daddy lost his life in Afghanistan.

I say all that to say this: I’ve thought a lot about the concept of “mission”.

A good mission is simple. It may have a lot of complicated logistics, lots of details necessary to carry it out, but the mission itself is simple.

In Desert Storm, in 1991, the mission was “Free Kuwait from Saddam Hussein”. The mission in Afghanistan was “Capture or kill Al-Queda terrorists, bring down the corrupt terrorist-supporting Taliban, and establish an elected government.” In Operation Iraqi Freedom, the mission was “Oust Saddam Hussein and, again, establish a freely elected government.”

Huge operations, but simple in their missions.

What is our Mission as the Church of Jesus Christ? That’s the question I want to answer here. And for our purposes here, I’ll call it “Operation Freedom Life”.

(Continued in Part 2)

Thoughts On The Cross Of Christ

By Michele Rayburn

When I think about the cross, I think of what Christ's death on the cross accomplished. What Christ did on the cross is not "the end" or "an end in and of itself". But rather it is the beginning, and the means by which we are not only forgiven and our sins paid for, but we begin to experience eternal life right now, having received the Holy Spirit. And we are now able to "walk in the Spirit" and thereby grow and mature in our faith.

Without Christ’s crucifixion, we could not receive the Holy Spirit so as to experience His life and become ministers of the New Covenant, the gospel of our salvation to all that would believe. Because we have received the Holy Spirit, we glorify God in the earth and carry out His work as well.

When I think of Christ’s death on the cross, I think of Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

And Colossians 3:1-4 says, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God...For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

Hebrews 12:2-3 says, “...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross...consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

The author of Hebrews reminds us to look at how Jesus was able to endure such suffering because He was forward-looking, anticipating the joy that would follow, and encourages us to be like-minded...to not become weary and discouraged in our sufferings, but to look forward to the joy that is to come after this life.

Our church had to say goodbye to one of the members of our congregation a couple of Sundays ago. He came to church to see everyone one last time because he knew that he only had a few days left to live. He was a young man with inoperable brain cancer. I was so glad to see him just one more time, because I wanted to know how he was feeling spiritually...could he say, “It is well with my soul”.

Though he was very, very weak sitting in his wheelchair, barely able to speak or hear, and very frail, I was blessed by his countenance. He had an almost imperceptible smile on his face, and a glow about him. I could see that though outwardly he was perishing, inwardly he had the joy of the Lord. That’s what I needed to see.

I thought of how he must be looking forward to his new home in Heaven, that he was ready. He was looking forward to the joy that was to come. And that’s what the author of Hebrews is encouraging us to do in our sufferings. (This young man has since gone home to be with the Lord.)

When I think of Christ’s death on the cross, I think of the acceptance and unconditional love that we have in Him. Ephesians 1:4-7 says, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself...by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.”

One Pastor/theologian wrote, “...other religions cannot tell us of a dying Savior.” I would have to say that other religions not only cannot tell us of a “dying Savior”, (though “many Christs will come”) but they cannot tell us of a risen Savior either.

I remember talking to my cousin about Jesus Christ years ago. She preferred to follow the teachings of Buddha. So, I finally said to her that all those other “prophets” from those other religions are dead, but Jesus Christ is alive...He has risen from the dead! I will never forget the look in her eyes. She was speechless. It was a moment I will never forget.

The gospel is not the cross, per se, as I sometimes hear people say. It is that Christ died on the cross for our sins, and that He was buried and that He rose again on the third day. (1 Cor.15:3-4)

Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” (John 12:32)

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Is The Book of James Against Grace?

I have seen much confusion caused among believers because of a misunderstanding of the message of James in the Epistle of James. Some have glossed over it and made it seem as if James didn’t really say what he said, others have twisted the words of James to mean what they want it to mean, and others have outright rejected the Book of James, teaching or implying that it shouldn’t even be in the Bible.

In Martin Luther's preface to the New Testament, he wrote the famous words, "St. James' Epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to them; for it has nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it." (Actually that appeared only in the 1522 edition. In the 1545 revision it was taken out.)

Is the Book of James against grace?

After all, James uses the word “law” 12 times, and “grace” only twice. He uses the word “works” 13 times, but the name “Jesus” only twice.

He even says blatantly, in James 2:24, "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone." And he gives an example in James 2:25, "In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?"

Is the Book of James against grace?

In case you’re getting a little nervous, the answer is, “No, James is not against grace." Two things are important here.

First, we need to understand that James is not just writing to believers.

He is writing to “the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad”. These were Jews who were scattered around the then-known world, some of whom were now Christians.

You can never understand James until you realize that he was addressing unbelievers as well as believers, some who professed to believe in Jesus, and some who truly did believe. And James, in some of his comments, sort of throws them all into a hopper and mixes them up, and then tells them what’s what. You may not like his method here. You may prefer a systematic Paul, who more logically progresses with his points and makes it clearer whom he is talking to. But God has used James to make some points that no other Bible writer has made.

Second, we need to see the purposes in James' writing.

He was not laying down a theological treatise on salvation, or what we call soteriology. He wasn’t, like Paul in Romans, detailing the makeup of man, the work of Christ on the Cross, and the election, calling and justification of men by grace through faith.

To see these purposes of James, let’s do a very brief review of the Book of James, and comment on some of the issues James was dealing with. There are 5 chapters, and we’ll give each one a title, reflecting the main theme of each chapter. These 5 titles will begin with letters which spell out the word Works. W-o-r-k-s.

Chapter 1 “With Trials Comes Growth”

Chapter 2 “Only Works Show Faith”

Chapter 3 “Rudder-Tongue Steers Ship”

Chapter 4 “Keep Humble, Get Grace”

Chapter 5 “Suffer Patiently, But Pray”

So James is not against grace. But he wants true grace to be in evidence. Not a false or spurious grace. He wants to emphasize that when you become a New Creation, there will be fruit that comes from that. When you are born again, something happens. You are given a new spirit, which is the true you, the essence of your being, your very nature…a new nature which loves Jesus and hates sin. And when that new true nature of yours expresses itself, there will be good works. And when we walk by the Spirit, some of those works will be seen. And it’s all by Grace!

If We Love, We Will Forgive

We need to understand that Love, as a fruit of the Spirit, has its own fruits.

Some of the fruits of Love are named or implied in the 13th Chapter of 1 Corinthians, the so-called "Love" chapter.

And one of these fruits of Love is "...does not take into account a wrong suffered." In other words, Forgiveness.

We must not fool ourselves by saying, "I am loving," when we aren't also forgiving. If we hold something against someone, we are merely manifesting the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). Unforgiveness and lack of Love go hand in hand.

How quickly should we forgive? The simple answer is, "Immediately as the offense occurs." But, of course, it's not that simple, is it? Why not?

Well, because forgiveness, like Love, is a fruit of the Spirit, and if we're not walking by the Spirit, to that degree we won't be loving, and we won't be forgiving.

So, as always, we need to be being filled with the Spirit, to commune closely with Jesus Christ, to live in surrender to Him and His will, to bask in His grace and love, reckoning ourselves dead to sin, and allowing Him to live His Life through us.

Then we will be loving, and forgiving. But we won't be one without the other, and we won't be either without Jesus.

Side Note: Acting loving or forgiving isn't enough, is it? That's not the fruit of the Spirit.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Legalism In The News - Re-Baptism

Make no mistake about it. Men often love to make rules that are not in the Bible and call them Biblical.

The new President of the Southern Baptist Convention, Frank Page, "...affirmed that he believes re-baptism is necessary in the case of a person who was baptized by immersion following salvation in a church with 'incorrect theology,' including one which rejected eternal security of the believer."

Now I certainly believe in the eternal security of the believer, but the issue for baptism Biblically is not the fine points of theology, but the professed regeneration of the candidate. In other words, are you born again? Are you a believer in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?

But in an echo of the Pharisees, man sometimes likes to make his own rules, call them Biblical, then parse them to the "enth" degree to cover all situations that might arise, forgetting that the Holy Spirit will be leading.

What's interesting is that President Page has a controversial background of promoting women Pastors, which he has since recanted as "incorrect theology".

Does that mean that those who were baptized in his church during those years when he held his former view should now be re-baptized? He would, of course, say, "Certainly not." There again, because one not only makes his extra-biblical rules, but then refines them according to his own sub-rules, legalism remains a slippery fish to get a hold on.

He also has written a book against Calvinism. Does that mean someone baptized in an SBC church that teaches what he would call the "incorrect doctrine" of Calvinism should be re-baptized. And on it goes.

Side Note: By the way, when Page says re-baptism is "necessary", necessary for what? Salvation? He would say, "Of course not." What then? Well, it's for putting your name on the rolls for "membership" (dare I say, another extra-biblical teaching?).

And that's "Legalism In The News" for today, folks.

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The Rest of the Gospel

I've found that to most Christians the Gospel is something that is told to unbelievers to get them to believe in Jesus Christ, so that they can be saved from Hell and go to Heaven.

If someone is more theology oriented, they may get into more details about how that unbeliever is saved, how God chose them before the foundation of the world, how Jesus died to pay the penalty for their sins, how Jesus imputed His righteousness to them in order to justify them, or declare them righteous, how He regenerates them so they're born again, how He seals them with His Holy Spirit, and how He keeps them in His hand until they die, so they can tell other unbelievers how to be saved from Hell and go to Heaven.

But whether a simple untrained Christian, or the most trained Theologian with several Theological Seminary degrees, there is a tendency to see the Gospel as related pretty much only to initial salvation. In fact the field of study is called Soteriology, the study of salvation.

But I want to call attention to what may be called "The Rest of the Gospel", or the Gospel for the Christian, or the Gospel for the Already Saved.

Now the phrase "the rest of the gospel" is kind of a play on words. It's the "rest" of the gospel, like there's more to come, or more to be understood, like the rest of the story. And then there's the "rest" of the gospel, like "resting", like we rest our heads on a pillow.

1. First, "rest" (as in pillow).

Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I find most Christians I meet either have no rest or rest on the wrong thing.

Hebrews 4:9 says, "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. And Hebrews 4:10 says, "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His."

Have you entered that rest, where your relationship to Jesus Christ is based on His works, not yours? I'm not asking are you born again, are you saved? I'm talking about that "rest" where we don't have to earn God's love or favor anymore. That's the "rest" of the Gospel.

2. Second, "rest" as in the rest of the story.

Unbelievers are described in the Bible like this:

Condemned
Guilty
Enslaved to sin
Unrighteous
Confidence in myself (flesh)
A citizen of earth
Unholy
Blemished
Adamic
Proud
Self-centered
Defeated Sinner

Unfortunately, too many Christians think they are still that same person, only they've been forgiven. The bumper sticker that says, "Christians Are Not Perfect, Just Forgiven" is misleading.

Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

2 Cor 5:21 says, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Christians are not JUST forgiven. A couple of things happened there that go way beyond just being saved from Hell and eventually going to Heaven, as wonderful as that is:

1. God fulfilled the long-promised New Covenant in which He would actually come to live inside His children and His life would be entwined with our life. 1 Cor. 6:17 says, "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him." And so He is living His life through us. He is actually causing us to walk in His ways, as the promise of the New Covenant declared. He is actually working in us both to will and to do His good pleasure, Paul tells the Philippians.

2. While we're living this Christ life, we can be aware that there is nothing in the way of unrighteousness putting a wall between us. We have become the righteousness of Christ. He has made us a New Creation, and He has declared us to be righteous, or in right standing with Him. No barriers, no veils, no Wizard of Oz curtain to keep us from Him.

Remember that list of things about unbelievers, that some believers sometimes think are still true of them? It's now replaced with a new list:

Forgiven
Free in Christ
Righteous
Full confidence in Christ
A citizen of heaven
Heaven-seated
Holy
Unblemished
Christian
Humble
Christ-centered
Victorious
Saint

The more we have close fellowship with Him, the more we can see beyond the veil into the invisible Kingdom of God, and see the wonders that He is doing in our lives. We don't need to be conformed to the world, but transformed as our minds are renewed. We truly see things with wisdom. I don't mean we see with our eyes, we see with faith.

• We walk by faith, and not by sight.
• We see how to really live, and we walk by the Spirit.
• When we walk by the Spirit, we are filled with His Spirit, and we have the fruit of the Spirit, and now we can love and be loved.
• We can have joy in our lives, the joy of the Lord, and we know that the joy of the Lord is our strength.
• We can live our lives with peace in our hearts.
• We can have patience with the circumstances in our lives, and with the people in our lives.
• We can walk in kindness, and everyone around us will know the difference.
• Our goodness will be real, not put on to impress anybody.
• We reflect the faithfulness of God with our own faithfulness.
• We won't have to PROVE ourselves, but can have true biblical meekness, that doesn't have to have our rights always enforced.
• We will have true self-control, not the pull-up-your-bootstraps willpower, but the peaceable strength of "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".

This is the rest of the gospel. This is the life in Christ, who is our life. This is the walk of the New Creation, the walk by faith in the unseen eternal things that have already been accomplished in us by our wonderful Lord and Savior. We're not just forgiven, friends. There is the rest of the Gospel to be proclaimed to the believer.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

The Real Antinomian

Scripture clearly teaches that the Christian is no longer under Law, but under Grace. (Rom. 6:14) And this is given as the reason why sin is no longer master over us.

As born again believers in Jesus Christ we may be certain that all our sins are forgiven, past, present and future. In fact the Scripture goes so far as to say that there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. In fact the Scripture goes on to say that all things are lawful for us (though not all things are profitable, or expedient). In fact it makes the radical statement that where sin abounds, grace much more abounds! In fact it says that we are accepted fully by God in Christ, the Beloved. That there is nothing that could ever separate us from the love of God. Absolutely amazing, when you really think about it from our measuring-stick mentality.

This biblical truth is so radical that it shakes the legalists to their core, and they shout "Antinomian!" (Antinomian literally refers to "no law" or "anti-law"). Or they ask the reasonable question that Paul anticipated from his Roman readers, "Should we sin, so that grace will abound?"

And of course, Paul says "of course not", and explains the new creation, the new heart given us by God, in which we have died with Christ, been buried with Him, and risen again with Him to a new life. We have died to sin, and been made alive to Christ. "How can you," Paul asks, "who have died to sin, keep living in it?"

So Paul's radical teaching of the grace of God is not Antinomianism.

Is there then a true Antinomianism? A wrong heretical Antinomianism? Yes. I know biblically, and from my other readings that such creatures exist. Even though I have to admit I haven't actually met one.

I would take a stab at a definition of true Antinomianism this way:

An Antinomian is one who believes that because our sins are forgiven, past, present and future, there is no biblical call for good works or moral living. And therefore there is really no such thing as "sin".

That kind of Antinomian is justly criticized. And while I said I never met one who taught that way, I must admit I've seen a few who seem to live that way. These are what the Bible calls hypocrites. I don't mean the born-again believer who fails, sins, gets back up in repentance, and goes on. I mean the one who thinks there is nothing really "wrong". That's the true Antinomian.

Don't let someone label you that, just because you believe the Apostle Paul when he writes that sin shall no longer be master over you because you are no longer under Law but under Grace, or because you don't walk around in misery over your sin all the time. It is forgiven, after all. And you do love the Lord, after all. And He is working in you both to will and to do His good pleasure, after all. Rejoice, no matter what the legalists say.

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Is God Pleased With You?

Five times in the Bible the words are recorded which the Father said regarding Jesus, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; 2 Pet. 1:17)

But do you realize that your Father now has that same view of you?

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. " (2 Cor. 5:21) Not only have we been given the righteousness of God, we ourselves have become sons and daughters of God. Amazing!

And so now, as stunning as it may sound, we are brethren of Jesus Christ! "...for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren..." (Hebrews 2:11b)

Don't squirm uncomfortably because you don't feel worthy. He has done it all. He has made you His child. He has made you a new creation, born of Him, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible. And He has given you a new spirit, and made you one spirit with Him. And He delights in you, the apple of His eye.

And so now, you...

are also the Father's beloved son (or daughter), in whom He is well pleased.

Enjoy.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.