39. We're Righteous Through Christ's Performance, Not Ours

On a recent Growing in Grace podcast (#603) we talked about how believers are identified as righteous apart from their behavior. Faith-based righteousness isn't a matter of pursuing righteousness through what we do, but simply through believing what Christ has done.  Here I share a snippet from that podcast in which I talk about this.  We've been justified, cleansed, made righteous and made holy (sanctified) through the blood of Jesus, not through our own performance.  Do yourself a favor, and spare yourself the anxiety, depression and fear that can result from thinking that it's up to you to gain or maintain a certain level of righteousness.  Believe instead in the finished work of Christ.


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31. Grace Makes People Free

There are many reasons why people preach and teach the gospel of God's grace and peace, and why people want to evangelize the church with the message of God's grace and peace. One of the big reasons is this: It makes people free. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, and yet many believers are bound up and are far from free in Christ.

Next month marks the 10th anniversary of the weekly Growing in Grace podcast that I do with Mike Kapler. The reason we've continued to do it each week is because it continues to help people find and stay in the freedom of Christ. Over the years we've received many emails and comments from people, sometimes simply asking questions about grace and other times pouring out their hearts and souls to us. Here I share a couple of these emails, as they go to show the bondage that people have found themselves trapped in through what they've been taught in the church, and then the freedom that they've found through hearing the good news of God's grace and peace!


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27. Rock Steady Salvation

Many believers walk on unsteady ground, constantly (or at least occasionally) worrying about if their salvation is truly secure. Often, the reason for this is that people are basing the security of their salvation on their own performance or commitment to God. But our commitment or performance wavers and is unsteady, so God based the security of our salvation on something far greater: His own promise! God doesn't lie and He doesn't break His oaths, and what makes this salvation doubly secure is that God's oath was made to Himself!


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