Healing Grace

“Now therefore’, continues the apostle, ‘why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?’…God did not want to put a yoke upon the neck of those whose hearts had been set free by the gospel…He would rather exhort them to stand fast in the liberty of Christ and not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage’…..How could we ever admit the thought that those whom God had received in grace He would rule by law? Impossible! “We believe, says Peter, that through the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they.”

Both Jews..and…Gentiles…..were now to be saved through grace. And not only were they to be saved by grace, they were to stand in grace and to grow in grace….Those Pharisees were subverting the very foundation of the Christian faith; and so are all those who seek to put believers under the law. There is no evil or error more abominable in the sight of the Lord than legalism.”

C.H. MacIntosh

Do you agree that legalism is evil? Do your prefer legalism to God's grace?

Gracedagain is compiled by Tom Wood, Church Multiplication Ministries, a non-profit, whose mission is starting, strengthening, multiplying grace-centered churches through consults and coaching church planting pastors, leaders and emerging leaders.

Great Service at Church

When I am not traveling or teaching on Sundays I can be found at The Dwelling Place congregation in Loveland, Ohio just outside Cincinnati. This little fellowship has been meeting since the Jesus Movement brought a group together out of sin and pain in the Seventies.

The congregation back then looked around and saw that it was dying. The ten to twelve members were in their Sixties and Seventies and saw the hand writing on the wall about sustainability. They approached the thirty or so members of a Bible study that met there and asked if they would like to have the building. The groups decided to pray about it and, after some time, agreed to accept that generous offer.

The church is still very much like it was Forty years ago. Then it was a small number of young men and women who were sold out to Jesus and who came together to study the Bible, love God and each other and help the poor and needy. Rich Femia was a member of the fellowship then and he is Pastor now. He has grown a lot but the style of the fellowship is still intensely Bible and Holy Spirit focused.

I am never present at Dwelling Place without being blessed. The teachings, the fellowship, the attitude of the leaders and the people and with the presence of God in worship, prayer and study are always real and relevant. Today we studied Romans 12:11 sent out in advance by Pastor Rich. He asked us to study the passage before we go there and bring a Bible and so we would be ready to share our insights. The focus of that verse is: "Be fervent in spirit."

We were fervent in our discussion. It was a great time of sharing and insight. About half of the crowd of twenty or so came ready to talk about what God had led them to see in the preparation. It was respectful open, challenging and insightful. I liked it a lot. I have never been in a Sunday morning service like that before. I imagine it was much like the early church.

Karen and I had to leave before the group got to some serious worship but I am sure the Holy Spirit was invited to inspire, lead and speak to the gathered hearts. It was healing, growth producing and convicting. Just what I needed.

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hades; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

The Trinity

The classic creeds of Christianity have all emphasized the fact that we believe in the Trinity; three Persons and one God. We do not believe in three gods nor do we believe that there is only one name for God and that name is Jesus or The Father.

With the world becoming a global village we in Christian America have seemed to get sloppy about our theology. We seem to place friendship and harmony above clarity and principle. Thus, when we read about or get to know folks from other religions or persuasions who have a very different theology we tend to reduce everything to what we call "love" but is really "like".

I have some good friends who are Muslims. In fact I worked among Muslims in Asia and I "liked" them quite a lot. I "liked" some of them better than I "liked" some of the Christians I knew. But, I did not agree with these Muslims theologically. I agreed to disagree with them and I did disagree in an agreeable manner.

One of our friends confided in my wife Karen that we were different from most Christians. "You will listen to my story and my beliefs but most Christians will not listen to me. They will only talk with me if they can preach about their beliefs." Karen and I listened respectfully to this lady and her colleagues. We continue to have faith in the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. We do not agree with the Muslim's hyper-works approach to salvation.

My Muslim friends treated us with warmth, care, concern and respect. I laughed with them, ate with them and shared counseling ideas with them. But I disagree with them on theology, salvation and healing.

The last lines of my post about "Hiding the Resurrection" was a quote from Matthew 28 that told the story about the Jewish High Priests who tried to cover up the resurrection. They paid some soldiers to say that the Disciples of Jesus came and rolled the stone away and stole His lifeless body. Here is the kicker: "that story is still circulating today" says the Gospel. And, it is told by Muslim scholars and laity all over the world. This is why we must base our faith on truth not whether we like a person or not.

I read a news story recently about a Muslim student who was offended that his diploma from Trinity University had "Year of our Lord" printed on it. He wants it removed. I hope they do not remove that statement. Here is my question: "What does he think the term "TRINITY" means?