All Things Work Together for Good Even If We Never See It

One of the most quoted Scriptures among Christ followers who are experiencing difficulty is Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  It gives us great comfort to realize that God is orchestrating all of the circumstances in our lives for our good. 

Let me give you a little advice, though.  When one of your friends is going through challenging times, don’t quote Romans 8:28 to them, especially when they first share with you.  They may give you a knuckle sandwich because what they need in that moment is to be listened to with compassion and understanding.  For example, that’s not what the families of the San Bernardino shooting need to hear right now.  We need to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.  There may be a later time to share this verse as you are led by the Holy Spirit.

What is this “good” this verse speaks of?  Sometimes, it’s the blessing of good circumstances.  For example, once when Ellen and I were on a date at a movie, my phone was blowing up with calls from one of my sons.  I finally stepped out asking what was going on.  He calmly informed me that he had put a pan of oil on the stove and forgotten about it when he got engrossed in a sports show upstairs.  His younger brother soon asked him, “Why is smoke coming up the stairs?”  The oil had caught on fire and the cabinets above were burning.  Thankfully, they got it out quickly with a fire extinguisher.  (Buy a fire extinguisher if you are currently raising teens!)  My wife had been wanting to repaint the bottom portion of our house.  God granted her desire when the insurance paid someone to paint it for her after all of the smoke damage.  Romans 8:28!  Right?

A few years later, the school system shocked us when they disagreed that our daughter with Downs should continue in regular classes as she had the first seven years of school.  We ended up in a very stressful, expensive legal battle.  We believed strongly that we would win in court because of federal disability laws.  We had what seemed to be strong confirmations from the Lord from reliable sources.  Yet in the end, we lost all three times.  It wiped out our meager college savings for our children.  And our daughter had to be home schooled.

In addition, our home church refused to allow her to attend the teen girls’ small group in our neighborhood, regardless of how much we appealed to them.  In the end, Bekah used to cry about not being able to attend school with her friends.  And, she cried because the church leadership refused to allow her to attend the girls’ small group.  She would have done fine in both.

Though we are not bitter and have forgiven all, 10 years later, I don’t see Romans 8:28 for her.  In fact, I see what appears to be the opposite.  She lost a lot of her ability to verbally communicate, write, have friends, mature socially and grow in her love for Jesus.  Yet, I want to proclaim loudly that Romans 8:28 is still true!  It’s not dependent on whether we see it.  In fact, in verse 29, He tells us that the most important “good’ God does is to conform us to His image.  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.  Jesus has used that story to help many trust that Romans 8:28 is true for them when they see it and when they don’t.  That’s a form of being conformed to His image

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

Answering an Objection to My Blog: A Christian Can't Break Fellowship with God

I received an email strongly objecting to a blog I wrote recently.  It was the one stating a Christian Can’t Break Fellowship with God.  The concern was two-fold.  First, that the teaching of complete forgiveness will lead a person to stop confessing their sins to God and into a belief that it’s Ok to sin.  I addressed that part last week.  If you missed it, go to www.MarkMaulding.com and check it out.

The second strong concern stated that we definitely lose our fellowship with God when we sin.  Please join me below in my response. (BTW, I’d much prefer someone to email me with their concerns about something I write rather than just opting out.  At least I can address it.  Of course, I always enjoy emails people send stating how much they were encouraged by the blog, as well.)

I am unaware of any Scripture which says a Christian breaks fellowship with God when he/she sins.  If that were the case, every Christians would constantly be breaking fellowship with God.  Here is why I say that.  Romans 14:23 defines sin as not living by faith, that is, not living dependent on God.  If we are not depending on God, we are depending on our flesh.  The context of that verse is certainly in the context of eating meat sacrificed to idols but it is a truth which transcends that issue.  Any time a person lives even one second depending on their flesh, rather than God, that is sin.  This means we all sin a lot more often than we are aware of. 

The word fellowship means partnership or partaker.  With this in mind, fellowship with God is two-fold.  The first has to do with our wonderful position of our union with God the moment of our salvation.  1 Corinthians 6:17 says, But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.  That union cannot be broken by a Christian’s sin.  There is a common belief that when a Christian sins, some kind of barrier comes between that person and God until that sin is confessed to God.  In the New Covenant, God removed forever any barrier between the believer and Himself when Jesus Christ died and was resurrected according to Hebrews 10:17.  Then He says, "I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds." To lose fellowship with God would mean to lose your salvation.

The second meaning of fellowship is our experience of intimacy with God.  This is the enjoyment we have when we commune with God.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.  Can we stop enjoying our intimacy with God?  Yes, absolutely but it’s not because He recoils from us when we sin.  When a Christian sins, they are not experiencing fellowship/intimacy with God in that moment at all.  They are living as if they are separated from God though they are not.  If we could lose fellowship with God, it would mean we lose our union with God.  We can’t be separated from our God with Whom we are united.  Otherwise, we would be jumping in and out of Christ all day long.  And He would be jumping in and out of us.

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

Teaching Complete Forgiveness Leads Christians to Sin?

God knew that the teaching of His complete forgiveness of our past, present and future sins would appear to be a license to give Christians the OK from God to sin.  That is why He clearly addresses it showing the complete opposite.  Let’s look at why the Gospel of Grace leads us to live a righteous life instead of a sinful one.

God’s grace is greater than the sins of any unbeliever.  Romans 5:20-21  says, The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God is clearly saying that His grace is greater than the sin of the most despicable sinner so that he/she can be saved.  In 1Timothy 1:12-16 Paul shows this saying God saved him as the foremost of sinners.  His point was that if God could save a persecutor of Christians to the point of giving hearty approval of the murder of Stephen in Acts 8:1, He could save anyone.

God’s grace is also greater than the sins of any Christian.  No Christian can commit any sin Jesus did not already forgive through the death of Jesus according to these Scriptures:  Colossians 2:13, When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.  Ephesians 1:7, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 4:32, Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.  Hebrew 8:12, “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 10:12, But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.  Hebrews 10:14, For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.  Hebrew 10:17-18, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

God knows that His complete forgiveness is going to appear to mean that a Christian can just go out and sin because of grace.  He answers why this is absolutely not true in Romans 6:1-2, What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  God’s answer is that anyone who believes God’s forgiveness gives a Christian permission to sin is dead wrong and doesn’t understand the Gospel completely.  The reason grace is not a license to sin is that we died to sin and were made alive to Him.  Romans 6 spends the remainder explaining what this means.  God tells how our old nature, our sinful identity in Adam, which loved to sin, was once and for all put to death with Jesus on the cross.  He shows clearly that we are no longer a slave of sin but of righteousness.  In other words, a complete understanding of grace will never lead the believer into sin but will give him/her the desire and power to overcome it.  Another way of saying this is that our new nature, our identity in Christ, hates to sin and desires to live a righteous life which glorifies God. 

Neither I nor Grace Life International teach or believe that God’s complete forgiveness is a license to sin.  To the contrary, we believe and teach that when the Gospel is understood in its entirety, a person will see their sins more clearly and confess them to God (meaning they are in agreement with God that they did not act like who they are) being assured of their forgiveness by God through the blood of Jesus.   We also believe that God’s grace will lead a person to turn from sin and live a righteous, holy life consistent with who they already are in Christ and Who Christ is in them.  That’s repentance leading to real freedom. We see freedom from all kinds of sins happen every week at GLI from believing the truth.

Truth sets people free.  Error keeps them in bondage.

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

Why Halloween May Not Have Been Demonic

Recently on Halloween, millions of kids dressed up to go from house to house in hopes of getting enough candy to give them a stomach ache for three days.  It seems like innocent fun but many Christians wrestle with whether to let their kids participate.

Here are a few questions at play on this issue.  Am I teaching my kids to worship Satan by letting them do this?  Am I personally worshipping Satan by letting my kids do this?  Will I open my kids up to demonic attacks?  Every parent must answer these questions if they are to live a life pleasing to the Lord in this area.  Ellen and I had to do this ourselves when our kids were very young as we were coming out of legalistic Christianity into our freedom in Christ.

What does the New Covenant teach us about Halloween in the Bible?  The closest passage to this is found in 1 Corinthians 8.  In this case, the issue was whether or not a Christian could eat a grilled steak whose meat had been sacrificed to idols.  It’s an eye opening read because the Holy Spirit does not say through Paul that they shouldn’t do it because it would displease the Lord or open them up to demonic attacks. He comes at it from a perspective of freedom in Christ and loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Paul made clear the knowledge of the Gospel and how God provides freedom for some Christians to do this, but not all.  He hedges a little by saying in verse 4.  For even if there are so called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him: and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.  The first part might be a reference to the demonic world.

The Christians who knew this and believed it were simply living out their freedom in Christ.  Yet, Paul warns that they may need to put the brakes on their freedom for the sake of loving a Christian who doesn’t understand that freedom yet.  Because, if they saw them eating in the temple and went and did the same without understanding our freedom in Christ, it would be sin for them.  Love sometimes limits our public freedom in Christ.

Similarly, many of you may have a completely clear conscience before God that your kids can go trick or treating.  Others of you are not there yet and for you, no matter how many of your Christian friends let their kids do this, you shouldn’t. Why?  Because for you, it would be sinful.  Take your kids to a local church instead as a wonderful alternative. 

Christians who live free in this area, don’t invite your friends who don’t.  Show them the love of Christ and don’t make them stumble in their conscience before God.  And Christians who don’t believe you are free to participate in Halloween, don’t condemn those who do.  No matter which of these camps you fall into, your decision will be pleasing to the Lord according to 1 Corinthians 8 as well as Romans 14:1-22 through 15:1-12 as long as you live in love towards those in the opposite camp.

Whether you think it is safe for your kids to get candy from your neighbors is a different matter which each parent must weigh as well.  I’ve simply written from a New Covenant perspective.

Concluding words:  I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. Romans 14:14

Believe it.  It’s the Gospel.

Live Free in Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

A Thousand Stories I Wish I Could Tell

"A Thousand Stories I Wish I Could Tell"

By Mark Maulding

Written September 24 and 25, 2015

Read October 10, 2015 at GLI's 20 Anniversary Celebration

A thousand stories, I wish I could tell

Of those who have come to us with their own personal hell.

Each story has a familiar ring

Of sadness, rejection, disappointment and sting.

As they trust us with their inner most shame filled thoughts,

We often hear, "You're the only one who knows this though for years for someone like you I've sought."

There are often long-time overdue tears,

That have come from pent up anger, hurt and fears.

As they open their hearts to us, they are wondering inside,

"Do you think I'm crazy or is there really hope for me in Christ?"

When their story we've compassionately heard,

We show them that there is hope to be found in God's Word.

Living life in their own strength has caused many scars,

Because the real culprit called the flesh has put them behind prison bars.

They sit and listen wanting Jesus to be their answer,

But they are skeptical since their turmoil feels like an incurable cancer.

At some point, the light begins to dawn in their heart,

Maybe Jesus is better than I knew from the start.

Complete forgiveness is hard for most to swallow,

When all they've ever been told is "You'll have to confess your sins again tomorrow."

Yet, God's work on the cross in Christ was so complete,

Every sin is forgiven before they commit it which brings them great relief.

And better yet, when we show them the cross has another side,

Their death, burial, and resurrection with Christ causes many to cry.

When they understand that their broken, sinful identity has been crucified,

Great joy arises as they embrace their true, righteous identity in Christ.

"Why haven't I heard this before?" is often shared with a shout.

"Its right here in God's Word, which leaves no doubt."

But the story of the Gospel gets even better again,

When they see they have died to the authority of the law and the power of sin.

Living united with God they finally begin to comprehend,

Was God's desire for all, including them from the beginning to the end.

When we help them become more familiar with hearing God's voice, it brings great comfort causing them to rejoice.

Daily reliance on Christ in them for inner strength,

Soon turns into Spirit produced fruit, blessing others they meet.

Though life for many remains hard year after year,

They now know they are not on their own though Satan might sneer.

Be assured, no one ever gets all of living by grace just right,

But over time, the life of Jesus in them comes more and more to light.

Then when that final enemy named death inevitably comes,

On the other side, they will hear my child and my servant, well done, well done.

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

10-22-15 Jesus is the Answer in Counseling

Christians are no different than non-Christians in that they have emotional problems, addiction problems, marital problems, parenting problems and more.  Christians are very different than non-Christians in that they believe, or at least want to believe that Jesus is their answer.

However, when a Christian goes to a trusted spiritual advisor, many times they are told that they may need something besides Jesus to help them.  I will concede that if a person has a brain chemistry problem causing their depression, etc., God can certainly use a good doctor to prescribe helpful medication.  But after 25 years of counseling Christians, I, along with my staff, can honestly say that Jesus does heal, free and restore the wounded soul.

Would it be surprising to learn that the Gospel itself promises this?  When Jesus stood in the synagogue to inaugurate His ministry, He made this unmistakably clear. Listen in your heart and mind to what He read about Himself and the Gospel in Luke 9:17-19.  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”  

Jesus says He came to heal the brokenhearted.  When Jesus saves a person, He not only forgives them, indwells them and gives them a new identity, He also desires to heal those with a broken heart.  A broken heart is a fractured heart.  It can be brought on by a severed relationship, the sins of others against us or our own sins.  A broken heart is not punishment from God but it can be the consequences of sin.  It can also include the sickness, pain and difficulty of living in this fallen world.  It may present itself as anger, depression, anxiety, rage, panic attacks, relationship problems, disappointment, discouragement, irrational fears, hopelessness, constant frustration and more.

But, be encouraged!  Jesus is the answer you’ve been looking for and at GLI, our specific mission from God is to listen to your heart, then share with you God’s amazing heart for you.

When we first started GLI, a couple of pastors from one of the large local churches made an appointment to check us out.  They asked me all kinds of very good questions.  Finally, I looked them both in the eye with a smile and said, “Jesus really is the answer in counseling”.  One of them jumped up and almost shouted, “I always knew that was true but I could never find anyone who believed it.”  We believe it at GLI and have 1000’s of transformed lives to prove it.

Maybe you’ve tried everything you know to get help, but you are still hurting.  You may be like the lady who went to 10 other counselors before she came to us so Jesus could heal her broken heart.  If you live too far away, we can counsel you over Skype like we do so many others. Or, we can refer you to someone in your area.  Just email us at info@GraceLifeInternational.com or call us at 704-522-9026.  

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

Legalistic Discipleship VS Grace Discipleship

A lot of discipleship may be rooted in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Let me explain what I mean.  The knowledge of good and evil passed down to every human being from Adam and Eve has programmed us to think a certain way.  The world thinks, “I’m a good person if I do good things.  I’m a bad person if I do bad things.”  The Christian world thinks, “I’m a good Christian if I do the good things the Bible says to do.  I’m a bad Christian if I sin.” All of that thinking is law-based instead of grace-based.

Discipleship often has the goal of Christian behavior modification using Scripture to exhort a Christian to act good instead of bad.  The focus is on changing behavior, not replacing the knowledge of good and evil thinking with Tree of Life thinking.  In one sense, you might say discipleship is trying to get Christians to jump from the bad side of the tree to the good side.  But the good side is still the same tree and the fruit is legalism.  I don’t think those who disciple this way have evil motives or are aware of what they are doing.  They just do it because that is how they were taught. I was once one of them!

God wants our discipleship to be rooted in the Tree of Life so He can produce the fruit of the Spirit.  This means, He wants to replace our stinking thinking with grace based thinking.  No wonder Paul didn’t tell the Roman Christians to do anything for the first eleven chapters! He strategically explained the Gospel of grace line by line.  He only told them to believe and yield to God in Romans 6:11 and 14  Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Then, in chapter 12, he tells them to let Christ live through their bodies and to live with a renewed mind.  What he meant was, he wanted them to let the clear Gospel message he had written to them push out their knowledge based thinking with grace based thinking.  After making it clear to them that they have a new identity in Christ which loves to please God, he tells them how believing this will change their behavior to what pleases God.

Do you ever find yourself tired of trying to change your behavior to line up with Scripture?  Are you worn out?  That’s what burned me out 25 years ago until God broke through my garrison of legalistic discipleship and began to replace it with grace discipleship.  The first one almost killed me.  The latter has given me a life of freedom, I could have never imagined, which I am still growing in.

I desperately want you and/or someone you care about to hear about grace discipleship. Please accept my invitation to join me in person or by Skype, Wednesday night, October 21, from 6:00-9:00pm.  I will be teaching Romans 5, one of the greatest passages of Scripture on grace discipleship in the entire Bible.   It will blow your mind and blow some of the legalistic thinking out of your mind too!

To join me, you must register so we can make sure you get the notes.  And, it’s FREE!  To register, simply email our Director of Training at Sandy@GraceLifeInternational.com.com or call us at 704-522-9026. 

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!