Caring About Christ's Reputation
When we are mistreated we must respond strategically not emotionally, being more concerned about Christ?s reputation than the satisfaction of personal revenge.
grace
Learning Counterintuitive Responses
Knowing God will either graciously convert or justly judge those who mistreat us, we must be ready to respond to them with counterintuitive prayers and acts of kindness.
Serving Without Pride
As God begins to utilize us as his sold-out servants we need to vigorously fight our prideful tendency and see ourselves and all Christians as products of grace.
A Radically Different Identity
We must willingly incur any and all costs of being identified with Christ and zealously living for him in a culture that is hostile to our values, standards and commitments.
Learning To Rest In The Sufficiency of God
We desperately need the contentment, peace and fortitude that come from sincerely and purposefully praising our great God for all he has done and will do for his people.
Gratitude for Grace & Respect for THE King
To be truly grateful for grace we must “fear God” — knowing something of what it means to stand in fear, awe and reverence of the holiness, justice and power of God.
Looking to the End as a Humble Gentile
We must humbly respect the Jews for their place in salvation-history while we cling to grace, eschewing any self-confidence, as we consider God’s dealings with Israel
Exploring the Riches of Unearned Forgiveness
It is critically important to always keep God’s amazingly gracious character in view when we consider the nature of his decision to save undeserving sinners like us.
The Foundation of Our Sanctification
We can only think and proceed rightly in our sanctification when we are absolutely clear about the finished work of Christ that secured our justification.
Our Changed Relationship with God's Rules
We should see and understand God’s goal for our sanctification; and we should also know that “the rules” alone are inadequate to bring it about.
But What About Grace?
The grace that makes us right with God by Christ’s work and not ours, does not liberate us to do whatever we want, but constrains us to obey our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reveling in Our New Alliance with Christ
The finished and imputed work of Christ to us should dispel any fear or doubt, and should embolden us to joyfully anticipate the consummation of God’s good plan.
Reading Scripture in Light of Redemption
There is no room for prideful feelings that we in some way achieved our salvation because God’s salvation is freely and sovereignly bestowed through faith not works.
Scripture's Overarching Theme of Grace
An acute awareness of sin should drive us to embrace (then celebrate) the imputed righteousness of Christ that is freely granted through faith to all variety of sinners.
Making Sure You're Repentant
We must not misconstrue God’s current passivity and kindness toward sinners as approval of sin or a portend of the future; his patience should prompt us to repent.
Sin & God's Temporary Concession
We must be mindful that the current moral chaos is a result of God’s temporary concession to sin and sinners, always anticipating his coming righteous solution!
Recalling Why This is So Important
Serious effort in our sanctification bears witness to the reality of our justification; we must understand this relationship and give this fight with sin our all.
The Various Views & the Emotional Disagreements
We should approach the difficult study of eschatology with humility and grace.
Embracing the Unconventional & the Unexpected
Often it takes ambitious faith to obey God’s counter-intuitive commands or accept the way he lavishes his grace on the unworthy.
Taking Hold of the Hope of a New Start
There is real hope of a “new start” available to us because of the grace and forgiveness found in trusting Jesus Christ.
And Our Problem with Sin
Sin is our problem before our Creator, but we have trouble seeing it because we’re blinded by pride and of our tendency to compare ourselves to others instead of God.
Tempted to Trust in Something Other Than Christ
Our righteous deeds or righteous environment is tempting to trust in, but doing so is a catastrophic mistake – we must trust in Christ alone!
God’s Grace against the Backdrop of Inexcusable Sin
God’s grace is amplified as we understand the inexcusability of our sin; we have been warned about his rules repeatedly by natured, conscious and God’s word.
God’s Strategic Use of His Incredible Grace
We must be vigilant and examine ourselves regarding our obedience because God’s current blessings may be his grace that is intended to lead us to repentance!
Working on Your Public Relations
The teacher and the pupil must maintain a God-centered perspective when God has graciously granted us spiritual growth.
How Grace Can Transform Your Outlook on the Future
Because of God’s guaranteed grace toward his children we can confidently anticipate that we’ll arrive safely at our future home.
How Grace Can Transform Your Perspective on Daily Challenges
We can trust God to come through for us in every aspect of life, because his grace freely supplies for all of our daily needs – not just our eternal ones.
How Grace Can Transform Your Ideas About God
No matter what we do, we cannot earn God’s grace; we must gratefully receive what Christ has done to earn God’s grace for us!
How Grace Can Transform Your Attitude About Your Problems
See your problems in light of God’s generous grace, allowing that perspective to make you truly optimistic as you seek to change them.