As we have discussed the nature of the gospel in these blog postings, the issue of “cheap grace” may be a topic that you have felt needs to be discussed. The gospel I have presented here has been described by some Christian leaders as “hyper-grace,” “cheap grace,” “license,” “antinomianism,” and other pejorative terms that imply a version of the gospel that is a “false gospel” not true to the Bible. I understand that sentiment completely, and I too think it warrants addressing. There is…

After delivering a message recently on the nature of the gospel, as we have been discussing in these blog posts, I spoke with one of my hearers who commented to me how much he appreciated the message. He then said, very naturally and spontaneously, “I’ve just got to discipline myself more.” I wondered if he had heard anything I had said. The law as a performance ladder to climb to please God had been the unconscious source of his thinking his whole life, as…

Last week we discussed the biblical idea of thinking like God thinks—losing our lives to save them, serving in order to lead, being last to be first, and being a sinner in order to be righteous. This is foolishness to the world but illustrated perfectly by the life of Jesus at the cross. What does that mean to us personally? Generally, nothing. We naturally and without knowing it continue to think as we naturally came out of the womb thinking, by cause and effect.…

God has a recovery plan for us after He cuts open our hearts with the two-edged sword of His word. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, . . . and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4;12). God has “exegeted” our hearts; one edge of His sword, the law, cut us open and exposed the hidden sin that is there,…

Lying in the Recovery Room after spiritual open-heart surgery, I recognize that I am now on the road to recovery with a newly restored heart, in spite of all the pain and discomfort that remains after surgery. My congenital heart condition has been fully repaired. However, traveling this road to recovery will take some time, and God Himself, my Daddy, is fully in charge of the whole process. Interestingly, His plan for my full restoration to a joyous, fulfilling, meaningful, and productive life can…

When the two-edged sword of the Word of God cuts open our hearts and exposes what is buried there, we initially are shocked. Of course, God has always known what was there, but we had no clue. We knew we aren’t perfect, but we were sincerely trying to do better. We weren’t really bad people anyway, at least compared to everyone else.  And that’s the problem. Everyone else is not the standard; God’s eternal law is. We had no idea that according to His law…

Some time ago I realize that the scope of my on-line ministry had morphed from a focus on Gospel Parenting, the name of my old website, into addressing a broader target: as my new website proclaims, “The Two Edges of the Sword – Distinguishing between Law and Grace in the Kingdom of God.” The family is only one of the three institutions through which Jesus, as King of all kings and Lord all lords, expresses Himself on the earth today, the other two being…

Being a Bible teacher who loves to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s” in my pursuit of truth, I am invariably tempted to think and teach with this attitude: “Let me explain to you the deeper truths of what happened in the courtroom of divine justice at the cross and resurrection. Let me help you to grasp the mechanics of how God’s justice was satisfied and how we are now assured of Heaven—in ten, easy-to-follow bullet points.” The temptation for me is to…

Ask any Christian “What is the gospel?” and you will get a ready answer in some way corresponding to Paul’s definition of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. There he tells us that the heart of the gospel is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. To Paul, the death and resurrection of Jesus were physical, historical facts, occurring in and around Jerusalem some 2000 years ago. It was not some metaphysical, philosophical abstraction. It was…

I recently received a letter from a good friend who relayed to me a very inspirational story from an anonymous source: Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate.  He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.  When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!” He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee…