Christian Myth #4 - God Punishes Us

  

The majority of Christians wrongly believe that God punishes them when they mess up. So, when bad things happen to them, they default to thinking, "I must have committed some sin because God is punishing me. Otherwise, this wouldn't have happened to me."

God does not punish us who are in Christ! He cannot! Why? Because all of His anger for our sins was placed on Jesus on His cross. 1 John 2:1 says, "And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins..." Have we told the Lord lately that we are so glad for our propitiation? Probably not! We may have no idea what that word means. It is a great word and it literally means this. The anger of God towards us because of our sins was completely satisfied by the death of Jesus on the cross. If all of our Father's anger for our sins was dealt with on the cross, then He cannot and will not ever get angry with us or punish us again, because He punished Jesus who took all our sins for us.

In the movie, Double Jeopardy, a wife is convicted of murdering her husband and goes to prison. While in prison, she learns that her husband faked his death and framed her. Another inmate tells her that if she gets paroled, she could kill her ex-husband and would not be tried for murder because of the 5th Amendment. According to the double jeopardy clause, a person cannot be tried for the same crime twice.

We were tried for our crimes of sin and found guilty. Our sentence was death but Jesus took our place and died for us. As a result, we cannot be found guilty again by God for our sins because they are already paid for. God the Father will not ever be angry with us because of our sins, even the ones we have not yet committed.

Because He loves us, He does sometimes discipline us according to Hebrews 12, but that is not the same as punishment. Punishment is when we are required to pay for our sins. Discipline is when sin gets us off track and God is working things in a way to get us back on track. Back on track, in depending on Him and enjoying our union with Jesus Christ.

Then does God feel anything when we sin? Yes, it hurts Him like it would any parent. That is why we are told not to grieve the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 4:30.

If we believe God still punishes us, we don't really understand the gospel. That is why our slogan at Grace Life International is that we are all about "Sharing the Gospel with Christians." We were a mess and someone shared the transformative gospel of grace with us, which continues to free us from pain and religion. We are now passionate to walk with others in their journey of God's grace.

What peace, relief and rest we can experience when we understand and believe God does not punish us for our sins. Do we really believe in the whole gospel? If you have never attended one of our Grace Life Conferences where we spell this out using lots of Scripture, please visit our web site for more information and come join us for one of our monthly conferences.

Live Free in Christ,



Mark Maulding, Founder & President







 www.GraceLifeInternational.com
All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Christian Myth #3 - Christians Must Keep the 10 Commandments

Do we as Christians need to obey the 10 Commandments? No. Yet, when I hear Christians talk, I wonder if we are reading the same Bible. A man I was discipling one time got in trouble when he shared at his church that we are not obligated to keep the 10 Commandments. This belief is caused by a lack of understanding of the transformative gospel of grace.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from  the Law until everything is accomplished." (NIV) Jesus Himself did what no human has ever been able to do. He perfectly fulfilled the Law so that we don't have to.

Still not convinced? Look at Timothy 1:9 "Realizing the fact that the law is not made for a righteous person..." (NAS) There is only one way to be a righteous person - through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not through our obedience. So, the 10 Commandments are not for Christians.

Imagine waking up every day with a husband whose first words are, "I have a list of things you have to do today. I am going to follow you to make sure you do them perfectly. I will point out every mistake to you. And by the way, I will not lift a finger to help you. Have a good day!" Does anyone want to be in that marriage? That is what it is like to be married to Mr. Law.

But what if you have a husband whose first words every day are, "I love you so much! Let's go have some breakfast together. While we are talking together, enjoying each other, I will share with you some things I want you to do today but don't worry about them. I will not only go with you but I will actually do each one through you if you will trust me. And if you make a mistake, I will gently let you know but no matter what, don't forget that I love you." Who wants to be in this marriage? It's a no-brainer. This is what it is like being married to Mr.. Grace - Jesus! Romans 7:1-7 says we died to Mr. Law and are now in a holy union with Mr. Grace!

Some will argue that we only have to keep the law for our sanctification (spiritual growth) but not our justification (salvation). Galatians 3:24-25. says, "So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." Can it be any clearer? Once we come to faith in Christ, we are not obligated to keep the 10 Commandments!

God has given us something so much better than trying to keep the 10 Commandments. He has actually written the Law on our hearts according to Hebrews 10:16. This is referring to our new creation identity in Christ which gives us the desire to obey Jesus in us. We have Jesus in us so we can love God, people and ourselves appropriately. And love always fulfills the law according to Romans 13:8-10. Ask Jesus to live His life through you in the power of the Holy Spirit by faith (not by feelings) and you will live out the 10 Commandments without even thinking about them! Let go of the 10 Commandments today and enjoy your union with Jesus!

Live Free In Christ,


Mark Maulding, President and Founder





www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Christian Myth #2 - Get Closer to God

Is it possible for a Christian to get closer to God? No. Yet, if you listen to a lot of Christians, you would never know that. Look at the titles of these articles I recently read. "12 Steps to Get Closer to God" and "10 Ways to Get Closer to God". If we add those together, we need to do 22 things to get closer to God! I'm tired already! How about you?

This kind of thinking is based on a faulty understanding of the gospel. The real good news is that we who believe in Jesus Christ are as close to God as we are ever going to get, both in this life and the one to come. Why? Because we are united to Christ. He lives in us and we live in Him. You cannot get any closer to God than that! For example, Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Also, the letter to the Ephesians mentions that we are in Christ over 30 times just to mention a few.

Some may wonder about James 4:8 which says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." In the early church, some who believed in Jesus as their Savior, especially Jewish people, were taught that they also needed to commit themselves to believing in the law if they wanted to truly be saved. Salvation was Jesus plus the law. James appears to be addressing these who were in church but who were not appearing as genuine Christians because of the false gospel they believed. So, he calls them double-minded and sinners. His exhortation to come near to God is an invitation to become a Christian. The Bible never tells Christians to come near or to get closer to God.

We can certainly feel closer to God at times, but that is not an indication of whether we are close to God. During those times of feeling closer to God, we are actually experiencing our union with Jesus Christ in a more tangible way than we do on other days. You might ask, "Is there a way for us to experience more of our closeness to God?" Yes! It's much like our human relationships in that the more communication and time we spend with another person, it makes us feel closer to that person. However, if we don't have the foundation of understanding and believing that we are already as close to God as we will ever be through our union with Him, these ways tend to become legalistic.

These are often called the "spiritual disciplines". I don't like that designation because I can't imagine calling the times I spend and communicate with my wife the "marriage disciplines". Yet, there is no doubt we sometimes (not always) feel closer to God through prayer, reading, memorizing, meditating in the Bible, fasting, etc. When we desire to do these, it gives us the opportunity to gaze upon the Lover of our soul. I personally love reading my Bible and praying every day. I will also confess to you that every time I get ready to read my Bible, I am tempted to watch television or read a magazine. I've come to realize this is just a temptation to try and stop me from my times of intimacy with my God.

Believe that because you are united with Jesus Christ, you can never get closer to God. And to experience more of that closeness, be creative in how you spend time and communicate with Him. There is not a right time or right way to do this. It is as unique as God has designed us.Live Free In Christ, Mark Maulding, President and Founder www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Christian Myth #1 - Get More Committed to Jesus

   Often we are under the impression that we would live a less sinful life if we were more committed to Jesus.  Being more committed to Jesus means we will try harder to live for God instead of for sin.  If we have bought into this myth, we have realized it leads to failure upon failure.  Why?  Because being more committed to Jesus actually puts us in a position to live in our own religious strength instead of His divine strength.  Being more committed to Him causes us to act as though we are separate from Him. That would be like pushing our lawn mower over our yard without any gas in the engine in hopes that it would cut the grass.  No wonder many people give up on the Christian life completely.   

   God does not want us to get more committed to Him.  What may surprise us is that the words "commit" and "committed" are used 99% of the time in the Old and New Testaments in the context of committing sin.  They are never ever used to tell us to get more committed to God.  

   Then what does God want?  For we who believe, He wants us to daily surrender to Jesus in us.  This puts us in a place of dependence on Him and not ourselves.  Rather than living as though we are separated from God, we live from our union with Him. Take a quick look at a few scriptures describing our union with Christ.  1 Corinthians 6:17 "But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him."  Romans 7:4 "...you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God."  Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."  Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ..."

   Surrendering to Christ so we can live from our union with Him is saying, "I  am willing to do whatever You want me to do today and I am depending completely on You Who lives in me to do those things through me".  Do you see how different this is from being more committed to Him?

   I have had the privilege of mentoring all three of my sons.  One said to me, "I just can't live the Christian life!"  As we talked through it, what became obvious was that deep down he believed the myth that being committed to Jesus Christ would result in living a life which overcomes sin and he was failing over and over.  You see, he was so focused on his behavior that he was missing the wonderful relationship of our union with Christ.  I encouraged him to focus more on that and in time the behavior would follow.  

   The good news for us today is that we can stop trying to be more committed to Jesus and can surrender to Him, since we are united to Him - He is in us and we are in Him.  Are you willing to begin right now?  Go ahead and tell Him.  Even if we don't feel any different or see an immediate change in our behavior, let's not give up.  Over time, we will be transformed.

  

    

 
Live Free In Christ, 


Mark Maulding, President and Founder 



www.GraceLifeInternational.com 
All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Freedom from Bitterness

 
   Hebrews 12:15 "See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."  Bitterness is our unawareness or unwillingness to deal with the offense inflicted on us by another person.  When we live in bitterness, we often fantasize about what we really would like to say or do to that person if we had a chance.  We think of how we would make them pay for what they did to us or to someone we love.  You see, it is OK to feel but it is not OK to get stuck in that hurt.  If we get stuck in the hurt, it turns into bitterness.  This bitterness eventually spills over into the relationships of those we love who haven't even hurt us. 

   On the trail where my wife and I run, there is a plant called Kudzu.  It was introduced to the USA from Japan in 1876 as a forage crop and believe it or not, as an ornamental plant.  Southeastern farmers were encouraged to grow it to prevent soil erosion.  What no one knew at the time is that the climate conditions in the southeastern United States are perfect for the super duper growth of this plant and it has no natural predator.  By 1953, the Department of Agriculture declared it a "pest weed".  In other words, it has grown out of control on millions of acres of land and there is no way to stop it! 

   Bitterness is just like that.  It was introduced by Satan to the human heart back in the Garden of Eden and there is no human way to stop it.  It will overrun your entire life!  But God has a way to kill it.  When Jesus died on the cross, we died with Him to bitterness (Romans 6:6-7)  and we were raised with Him as new creations who are "forgivers".  This is our identity. 

   God's remedy to bitterness is to live out of our identity.  This means we need to sit down with God and tell Him all the reasons we are bitter towards that person and how we feel about that person, even if we "hate" them.  We need to go on and tell God that we forgive that person though they don't deserve it, just like we did not deserve God's forgiveness in Christ.  Ephesians 4:31-32 says, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." 

   I have learned that we need to also confess our sin of bitterness to God so we can experience the full freedom of our forgiveness in Christ.  Without this, we may not experience complete peace. 

   So what are we going to do today?  Are we going to let bitterness grow inside of us like Kudzu?  Or, are we going to live like who we are in Christ, agreeing with Him and forgive?  The choice is up to each of us.  When you choose to forgive, schedule a time on your calendar or you may keep putting it off! 

   If you need someone to walk with you through the forgiveness process, we can help.  Contact GLI at 704-522-9026.  Also, please pray about signing up for the Lay Aside Every Weight Conference scheduled for Sept 7-8 at the Steele Creek Church of Charlotte.  You can get more information and register by contacting our office.  

Live Free in Christ,

  

Mark Maulding, Founder and President

www.GraceLifeInternational.com 
All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

The Pain of Rejection

 It is said that there are only two things which are certain in life - death and taxes.  I want to add a third one - rejection!  You don't have to live very long in this life before someone rejects you.  And when they do, wow, does it ever cut so deeply into our soul.  It really hurts!

Why do people reject us?  It is a symptom of the sins of their own flesh.  Real quickly, how should we define sin?  Romans 14:23 (...everything that does not come from faith is sin) tells us sin is any time a person is living life without depending on God.  What is flesh?  It is the patterns of sin we develop when we do not depend on Christ in us.  For example, perfectionism may arise from a desire to do things perfectly to try to control my world.  If you are a neurosurgeon, please be a perfectionist!  That is OK.  If we are parents and we require perfection of our kids, that is not OK!  It communicates rejection.  We are trying to control them.

That is just one example of how the flesh can inflict rejection on a person.  A sin can convey rejection to those around us.

How do we deal with rejection?  First recognize that you have felt rejection.  Second, sit down with God and be honest about the rejection, then choose to forgive the person who rejected you.  Finally, in prayer affirm to God that He unconditionally accepts you because He made you acceptable by giving you your new identity in Christ.

We may also need to lovingly confront the person about their rejection behavior.  Before we do this, let's make sure we have really prayed about it to make sure that is what our Father wants us to do in this situation.  Sometimes, all we need to do is forgive.  Other times, we need to forgive and confront in love.  Read Matthew 18:1-17.

If you are stuck in your feelings of rejection, we would love to walk with you to help you experience God's healing.  At Grace Life International, we have all been there and are available to help you in person, by phone or by Skype.  For more information, please call us at 704-522-9026.  You can also visit us on the web at www.GraceLifeInternational.com

Live Free In Christ, 


Mark Maulding, President and Founder 



www.GraceLifeInternational.com 
All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Identity Theft

    Every minute, 19 people have their identity stolen.  Identity theft means someone takes your identity away from you without your knowledge and uses it for their own devious purposes.  Most often, it is a way for that person to benefit financially at your expense.

   A few years ago, I was a victim of identity theft in the Amsterdam airport on my way to teach a retreat for some leaders in Central Asia.  YOU have also experienced identity theft.

   In Genesis 3, all humans had their identity stolen by Satan.  Our identity was far more valuable than billions of dollars.  The identity God had given mankind was stolen from our original parents, Adam and Eve.

   We have all been searching to recover identity ever since.  Where do we look to try to find it?  Parents, friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, sex, jobs, performance, religion, appearance, past successes, failures, opinions of others, clothes, money and to many other sources.  The problem is that none of those can adequately define us.  If we let any of those define us, we are living with a false identity.  What we need is an identity that we can not mess up and no one can take away.

   Jesus Christ came to give us back our identity.  In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that his problem is that he has the wrong identity and needs a new one.  That is what Jesus meant when He said to him and to all of us, "You must be born again."  

   Through our faith in Christ, we have been given a new identity!  We are sons and daughters of God who are righteous, holy, alive, givers, forgivers, beloved and so much more.  God does not just pretend to see us this way.  And God does not just see Jesus in us.  He sees us for who we are in Christ.

   1 John 3:1 says, "What marvelous love the Father has extended to us!  Just look at it--we are called children of God!  That is who we really are.  But that is also why the world does not recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who He is or what He is up to."  (MSG)

   Let go of all of the messages you believed to define your false identity and embrace who your Heavenly Father says you are.  At the end of the day, only His opinion counts.  Why don't you take some time to pray and tell God that you have been searching for your identity all of your life.  Ask Him to show you the source of the false identity you have been living from.  Then make a choice to accept Him as your Source for your identity in Christ even if you don't "feel" the truth of this. 

   If you have never attended our Grace Life Conference where we explain this from Scripture very clearly, I urge you to attend.  If you cannot attend a live Conference, we have it on DVD's and CD's that includes the Conference workbook.  Simply contact our office at 704-522-9026 and we will be happy to assist you. 

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com 

All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding