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“These people needed a break! The Pharisees’ legalism surrounding the Mosaic Law had ground them into spiritual powder.” - Stuart Weber
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30 (AMP)
A) Our families
B) Our jobs
C) Our minds
D) Our bodies
E) Our stress1 - Come to Jesus.
2 - Take his yoke upon you.
To take his yoke expresses trust and relinquishes control over to Jesus.
3 - Learn from him.
Learn one thing from Jesus every day.
4 - Find Rest.
This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” – Jeremiah 6:16
“For those who live under the yoke, there is absolutely no better way to live. Who in their right mind would go back to the gods of Self, Money, Lust and Power? Who would return on bended knee to the shrines of pious performance and judgmentalism? Is not love better than hate, purity better than lust, reconciliation better than retaliation? And is not ‘better’ really ‘easier’ when measured in character rather than convenience, rest for the soul rather than selfish pride?
– Doug WebsterChoose your yoke.
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Teacher: Adam Barnett
“Jesus didn’t actually say much about the kingdom of heaven in the sense that we normally mean it. When he spoke of heaven’s kingdom, he wasn’t talking about a place called heaven to which people might or might not go after they die. He was talking about something that would become a reality ‘as in heaven, so on earth’ (Matt. 6:10). So instead of suggesting that we could escape the earth to go to heaven, Jesus’ good news was about heaven coming to earth.” – N.T. Wright
Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” - John 11:16
διστάζω – to waver, hesitate, to be uncertain.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” 24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” - John 20:19-29
1 - Share with others.
2 - Wait on the Lord.
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! - Psalm 27:14
3 - Pray and confess.
“Doubt is a form of rebellion. It is a refusal to relate to God on his own terms.” – Stan Harstine
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Teacher: Dave Brown
“Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
— Matthew 4:17Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
— Matthew 5The kingdom of heaven is like…
Sin may be comprehensively defined as a lack of conformity to the law of God in act, habit, attitude, outlook, disposition, motivation, and mode of existence.
— J.I. PackerI reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. Woe to the sinful nation…
— Isaiah 1:2Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Cedar and observe closely; see if there has ever been anything like this: Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols.
— Jeremiah 2:10-11Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.
— Ezekiel 2:3Community sins are devastating.
Sin breaks the created order, which results first in slavery, then in death.
When we sin we trade places and powers with something that God created to serve us.
Repent means to stop what we are doing, to turn around, and to go the other way.
The good news is about the living God overcoming all the powers of the world to establish his rule of justice and peace, on earth as in heaven… And that victory is won not by superior power of the same kind but by a different sort of power altogether… The kingdoms of the world run on violence. The kingdom of God, Jesus declared, runs on love.
— N.T. Wright, Simply Good News -
Teacher: Adam Barnett
The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.
I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name. – 3 John 1:1-15
“3 John is a treasure that provides a glimpse into early church dynamics, provides a much-needed exhortation to Christians today, and makes a significant theological claim about where the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to be found.” – Karen Jobes
1 - Walk in the truth.
“If we were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?” - Josh McDowell
2 - Practice hospitality.
When we extend hospitality, we make our faith visible.
3 - Imitate good.
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. – 3 John 1:11
Who has influence in my life, and is their example one I should imitate?
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Teacher: Leanne Benton
1 The elder, to the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
“Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws." - Tim Keller
The great “truth” unveiled in the gospel is that the powerful, redeeming love of God is the motor that drives the cosmos. - N. T. Wright
3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.
Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world. - Francis Schaeffer
Behavior is a reflection of belief.
5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
When other’s look at us, will they see a life shaped by the truth of the Kingdom of God and the love of Jesus?
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Teacher: Adam Barnett
Dear children, keep yourself from idols. – 1 John 5:21
Exodus 20:3 – You shall have no other gods before me.
An idol is anything or anyone more important to you than God.
“Idolatry is robbery and perversion. It’s robbery because we take what is due to God and give it to something else. And it’s perversion because we give the devotion God rightly deserves to other things.” - Erik Raymond
Idols interfere with our identity.
Is there anything or anyone more important to you than God?
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. – Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)
More anything else, I love / want / need / trust / desire / fear ___________________.
Don’t just remove idols – replace them.
Idols can kill your worship; worship can kill your idols.
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Teacher: Dave Brown
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
— 1 John 4:7-12“The English word love is trying to do so many different jobs at the same time that someone really ought to sit down with it and teach it how to delegate.”
— N.T. WrightFor God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…
— John 3:16This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
— 1 John 4:10Love is not just something God does. It is who God is.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
— 1 John 4:8Love is the language they speak in God’s world, and we are summoned to learn it against the day when God’s world and ours will be brought together forever. It is the music they make in God’s courts, and we are invited to learn it and practice it in advance. Love is not a 'duty,' even our highest duty. It is our destiny.
— N.T. Wright, After You BelieveLove is a disciple, a practice, an act of the will.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
— 1 Corinthians 13:4-8aThe great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.
— C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity -
Teacher: Adam Barnett
1 John 2:28-29; 3:1a
And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!John 1:12-13
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.To be “born of God” specifies the origin of our identities, impulses, motivations, and attitudes.
1 - God’s children do not live in sin
1 John 3:6, 9
No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.6 No one who lives (Greek: menōn = to remain, abide, stay) in him keeps on sinning.
2 - God’s children love one another
1 John 3:11
For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another."A failure to love others is symptomatic of a failure to love God."
-Karen Jobes1 John 3:16-18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.To lay down your life is to express love through sacrificial and compassionate actions.
3 - God’s children are confident before the Father
1 John 3:19-24
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.“John says that we can set our hearts at rest whenever they condemn us… for God understands us better than our own hearts know us, and in his omniscience, he knows that our often weak attempts to obey his commands spring from true allegiance to him.”
-Howard Marshall -
Teacher: Adam Barnett
If you know God, you must obey Him and live as Jesus did.
We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. - 1 John 2:3-6
Do I take God’s commands seriously and do I repent when I fall short?
1 - You must not hate your brother.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. – 1 John 2:9-11
2 - You must not love the world.
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from
the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives
forever. – 1 John 2:15-17Worldliness – an affection for that which is unlike God and contrary to his will.
Is there anything you possess or desire that interferes with your devotion to God?
3 - You must not listen to false teaching.
As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. – 1 John 2:24-26
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Teacher: Dave Brown
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no
darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and
do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without
sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not
sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. My dear children, I write this to
you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—
Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours
but also for the sins of the whole world. —1 John 1:5-2:2Fellowship
Light versus Dark
Truth versus Lie
Sin, Confession, Forgiveness
Atonement
Consumerism/Materialism
Nationalism
Stewardship/Ecology
Sexuality
Security
The people stood in the holy place and spoke the current religious cliche and supposed that
everything was just fine. They were in the right place, and they said the right words—but they
were not right…Religion is not a matter of arrangements or places or words, but of life and
love, of mercy and obedience, of persons in a passion of faith. —Eugene PetersonGod of grace and truth, in Jesus Christ you came among us as light shining in darkness. We
confess that we have not welcomed the light, or trusted good news to be good. We have
closed our eyes to glory in our midst, expecting little and hoping for less. Forgive our doubt
and renew our hope, so that we may receive the fullness of your grace and live in the truth of
Christ the Lord. Amen. -
Teacher: Adam Barnett
Who?
The Apostle JohnWhat?
A pastoral exhortation on truth, obedience, and love.When?
AD 90-95.Where?
Ephesus (and surrounding churches)Why?
The truth was under attack.1 John 1:5 (NIV)
1 John 1:5 (AMP)
“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” - St. Francis
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Teacher: Leanne Benton
Jeremiah 29:11
Proverbs 15:22
Psalm 33:11
The Infinite Infant Entered Our Timeline
What Will We Do When God Disrupts The Plan?
Proverbs 16:9
Proverbs 19:21
The Story of Christmas is Not About What We Want But What We Need
What Will We Do When God Changes Our Plan, A Holy Disruption?
Philippians 1:6
What Will We Do When Our Plans Come to a Place of Disruptive Disappointment?
James 1:2-4
Psalm 23:?
John 1:?
Philippians 3:13-14
John 16:33
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Teacher: Adam Barnett
Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah 7:14
Matthew 1:22-23
1 - God was with us (past event).
Matthew 1:18-21
2 - God is with us (present reality).
God is ALWAYS with you and will NEVER leave you.
Galatians 2:20
3 - God will be with us (future hope).
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Teacher: Adam Barnett
Isaiah 9:6
Peace is not the absence of conflict.
Luke 2:12-14
Luke 2:14
1 - Peace with God.
Romans 5:10
“Our sin has put wrath between us and God, and a mere ceasefire will never suffice—we are not meant to live under the cloud of an uneasy standoff with God. Instead, Jesus became incarnate, died, and rose so that believers might be adopted into God’s own family and eat at the table with him in unbroken fellowship forever.” – R.T. France
2 - Peace within.
Philippians 4:6-7
3 - Peace with others.
Romans 12:18
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.” – St. Francis
Can we agree to disagree, and focus on being loving instead of being right?
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Teacher: Adam Barnett
Isaiah 9:6
Psalm 90:2
Jesus was born, but he did not begin.
John 1:3 - Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
The infant is infinite.
Philippians 2:6-7
John 14:9
Christmas – God got on our level.
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” - Augustine
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Teacher: Adam Barnett
Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah 9:1-5
Isaiah 9:6-7
Isaiah 9:2-7, MSG
Mighty God - El Gibbor
1 - Jesus is God.
Philippians 2:6-7
“He took to himself what he was not, while remaining what he was … he continued to be what he is, while appearing to us as what we are.” – Augustine
2 - Jesus is a Warrior.
Luke 1:46-51
3 - Jesus sees your battles and cares.
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Teacher: Dave Brown
Isaiah 9:6-7
Wonderful Counselor
Mighty God
Everlasting Father
Prince of PeaceJesus has cognitive and practical mastery of every phase of reality: physical, moral, and spiritual. He is master only because he is Maestro. “Jesus is Lord” can mean little in practice for anyone who has to hesitate before saying, “Jesus is smart.” He is not just nice, he is brilliant. He is the smartest man who ever lived. He is now supervising the entire course of world history (Rev. 1:5) while simultaneously preparing the rest of the universe for our future role in it (John 14:2). He always has the best information on everything and certainly also on the things that matter most in human life.
—Dallas WillardColossians 2:2-3
The soul is the perceiver and revealer of truth… We know truth when we see it, from opinion, as we know when we are awake that we are awake.
—Ralph Waldo EmersonThe only way we can ever know what is right for us is that it feels better subjectively than any alternative…what tastes good is also, in the growth sense, better for us.
— Abraham MaslowThe counsel is that we can arrive at our full humanness by gratifying our desires. It has been a recipe for misery for millions.
—Eugene PetersonMatthew 7:24
We don’t become whole persons by merely wanting to become whole, by consulting the right prophets, by reading the right book. Intentions must mature into commitment if we are to become persons with definition, with character, with substance.
— Eugene PetersonMatthew 23:36-40
Relationship with God is not something added on after we complete our basic growth, it is the essential core of that growth. Take that core out, and there is no humanity at all but only a husk, the appearance, but not the substance of the human.
—Eugene Peterson -
MESSAGE NOTES
In The Way | Consumerism | Week 12 | November 24, 2024Teacher: Daniel Dennison
Mark 10:17-22
“An idol is anything in our life that takes the place of God. It is anything in our life other than God that gives us meaning, acceptance, and purpose.”- Tim Keller
Matthew 6:25-26
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MESSAGE NOTES
In The Way | Legalism | Week 11 | November 10, 2024Teacher: Dave Brown
“In the past few years, I’ve observed an epidemic of sorts: patient after patient suffering from the same condition. The symptoms of this condition include fatigue, irritability, insomnia, anxiety, headaches, heartburn, bowel disturbances, back pain, and weight gain. There are no blood tests or X-rays diagnostic of this condition, and yet it’s easy to recognize. The condition is excessive busyness.” - Dr. Susan Koven
Mark 4:35-41…
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”“Margin is the space that once existed between our load and our limits. Margin is the space between vitality and exhaustion. It is our breathing room, our reserves, our leeway. It is the opposite of overload. When Jesus went to the back of the boat, he was practicing margin.” - Richard Swenson
If Jesus needed to stop, then so do we.
“Maybe the greatest enemy of the life you want is the life you are living.” – Craig Groeschel
“To walk with Jesus is to walk with a slow, unhurried pace. Hurry is the death of prayer.” - Walter Adams
"Every one of us needs half an hour of prayer a day; except when we are busy. Then, we need an hour.” - St. Francis
Jesus wants to infuse our lives with purpose, but not through full schedules and hurried lives.
Do I need to slow down in order to catch up with God?
Schedule time with God.
Learn to say no.
Quit something.
Adopt new disciplines.
Resist social acceptability.
Turn notifications off.
Practice Sabbath.
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/> ### MESSAGE NOTES
In The Way | Legalism | Week 10 | November 10, 2024Teacher: Dave Brown
/> We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
—Galatians 2:15-17/> Since in much Western theology “justification” and “salvation” have regularly been confused, sometimes even conflated, it has been easy to strip out the “Jew and gentile” aspect of these verses and read them simply as saying, “To be saved, it isn’t a matter of keeping moral rules; it’s just a matter of believing.”
—N.T. Wright/> Legalism is the distortion of obedience that can never produce truly good works. Its first fault is that is skews motive and purpose, seeing good deeds as essentially ways to earn more of God’s favor than one has at the moment. Its second fault is arrogance. Belief that one’s labor earns God’s favor begets contempt for those who do not labor in the same way. Its third fault is lovelessness in that its self-advancing purpose squeezes humble kindness and creative compassion out of the heart.
—J.I. Packer/> Our beliefs about legalism and grace direct affect how we view God and how we view ourselves.
/> Grace does not do away with holiness, righteousness, and obedience.
/> The Christian ideal had not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.
—G.K. Chesterton - Visa fler
