The gospel frees us from this pressure to perform, this slavish demand to “become.” The gospel liberatingly declares that in Christ “we already are.” If you’re a Christian, here’s the good news: who you really are has nothing to do with you—how much you can accomplish, who you can become, your behavior (good or bad), […]
The Enslaving Pressure of Measuring Up to Others
I was learning the hard way that the gospel alone can free us from our addiction to being liked–that Jesus measured up for us so that we wouldn’t have to live under the enslaving pressure of measuring up for others. -Tullian Tchividjian, Jesus + Nothing = Everything
The Only Thing that Brings Peace: Grace
Grace means that no person is beyond redemption, no human stain beyond cleansing…no mistake we make disqualifies us from God’s love Grace teaches us that God loves because of who God is, not because of who we are The opposite of sin is grace, not virtue God seeks not to crush me but to liberate […]
What Happens When We Get Grace & Works Backwards…
Is Jesus leading us to do our good works, or are we attempting to lead Jesus by our good works? Is Jesus’ power what is drawing people to God, or is it our attempts to convince people Jesus is powerful? Are we trying to get people to follow Jesus, or to follow our methods of […]
The Message of the Gospel: You Don’t Need to Improve
I remember hearing an interview with Derek Webb several years back where he was talking about grace and what the Gospel actually is. He said something to the effect of, “We can’t make God love us any more or any less that He already does.” When I first heard this, at that point in my […]
Preaching the Freedom of Grace, While Living The Opposite
I teach and preach about the grace of Jesus. About the freedom it brings. I then say “follow me as I follow Christ.” Yet for those who’ve been around me a while, I don’t think they’d describe my life as one marked by freedom.