Grace. Say the word out loud. Now, back up a step: form it in your mind first, then say it again. When you think grace, what do you imagine? The idea of grace is an abstraction until you imagine what grace is like—until you compare it to something that your senses of sight, sound, taste, […]
Read MoreCategory Archives: Grace
Grace Is Life
God’s nature exudes grace. We can rely upon that truth because we can see that God’s deeds exude grace, both in our lives and in Scripture. From start to finish, God’s Word reveals His grace to those with eyes to see and ears to hear. Even from the first chapter of the Bible, we see […]
Read MoreFour Antilegalistic Strategies
Galatians 5:1 NLT Grace killers cannot be mildly ignored or kindly tolerated. You can no more allow legalism to continue than you could permit a rattlesnake to slip into your house and hide. Before long, somebody is going to get hurt. So then, since liberty is worth fighting for, how do we do it? Where […]
Read MoreDefining Liberty
Without becoming needlessly academic, I want to define a term that I’ve been tossing around. What do I mean when I declare that the Christian has liberty? Essentially, liberty is freedom . . . freedom from something and freedom to do something. Liberty is freedom from slavery or bondage. It is initially freedom from sin’s […]
Read MoreIt’s Time to Embrace Grace by Embracing the Unlovely
Is horizontal grace missing in your life? You may have embraced God’s vertical grace to you, but missed its all-important connection in your relationships. Allow me to probe under your skin with a few penetrating questions. Do you free people, or do you hold them hostage? Do you relieve them of guilt and shame, or […]
Read MoreGrace Allows Us to Accept Ourselves—Warts and All
Chuck Swindoll recently sat down with Michael Easley, pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, Tennessee, USA, to discuss their mutual love for the Lord, for God’s Word, and for God’s amazing grace. Here, Chuck shares about his personal “grace awakening” and how God’s all-sufficient grace allows him to be himself. Michael: So if there’s […]
Read MoreDo What Is Right
Every day we live, we have a choice to do what is right or what is wrong. When we send our young children off to school, we tell them, “Now, sweetheart, you need to know that Mom and Dad won’t be there to make your decisions. You will find some kids at school who will […]
Read MoreAlternatives to Grace
Isaiah 44:22 NLT If I choose not to risk, if I go the “safe” route and determine not to promote either salvation by grace or a lifestyle of grace, what are the alternatives? Four come to my mind, all of which are popular these days. 1. I can emphasize works over grace. I can tell […]
Read MoreHow to Stop Expecting Perfection
Not being a bumper-sticker freak, I find myself turned off by most of the stuff people announce on rear windows and back bumpers. But years ago I noticed one I’ve never forgotten. For some reason, it stuck in my cranium as firmly as on chrome. You’ve seen it dozens of times: CHRISTIANS ARE NOT PERFECT, […]
Read MoreHow to Begin a Relationship with God
The world is filled with competing theories about God, religion, and salvation. Alternate views of Jesus vie for our attention at every turn. Different paths to different gods market themselves in the ever-changing desert of ideas. Yet in the midst of this world of contradictory claims, Jesus Christ made a bold assertion: “I am the […]
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