Righteousness, in a Biblical context, is to be right with God at the core of your being. It means that on a scale of 1-10, you’re an 11! No human is righteous through their own efforts (Romans 3:19-20). But through Christ, we have been imputed and imparted the very righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:21; Romans 4:25; Romans 6:18).
When we believe in Jesus, we become slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18). This means we are connected to Christ and partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4). In short, we are allergic to sin and addicted to Jesus (Romans 6:11). God has the market cornered on fulfillment, and only bearing the fruit of His Spirit will satisfy us now.
Some believe an overemphasis on God’s grace will somehow lead to more sinning in the Christian life. But Titus 2:11-12 says the opposite: Grace is what encourages godly living. So, we need more grace, not less, if we want to overcome temptation. Being afraid of too much grace is like being afraid of too much victory over sin (Romans 6:14).
Many have tried to create a friction between the concepts of grace and obedience. However, grace and obedience are related and beautifully compatible. Romans 6:17 states that we believers have become “obedient from the heart.” By grace, we have been gifted with a new, righteous heart that is obedient to God. This is why we can afford to live under grace and watch as God grows us up as obedient children in His family.
While many promote the importance of the so-called “spiritual disciplines”, the phrase is not found in the Bible. Instead, Scripture teaches the importance of a relationship with God that flows naturally out of grace (Titus 2:11-14). So, we can choose to pray, read the Bible, etc. because we desire to, not because we have to do them.
The New Covenant began at the death of Christ (Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:16). This means Jesus lived and ministered under the Old Covenant (Galatians 4:4). This is why some of Jesus’ teachings expose the true spirit of the Old Testament law.
The Bible teaches the new covenant is a promise that God made to Himself to save completely all who believe in Jesus (Hebrews 6:13-18). It is the promise of total forgiveness for all sins (Hebrews 8:12); a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Hebrews 8:10); freedom from the Old Covenant law (Hebrews 10:10; Galatians 5:1); and adoption as God’s children (1 John 3:1; Hebrews 8:11; Galatians 4:6). It is the gospel of grace inaugurated in the blood of Jesus Christ (Luke 22:20, Hebrews 9:16-17).
We’ve all heard we need to love God more and prove our love for Him. Some of us have even heard that we are to love God more than our own families! But this concept is actually absent from the New Testament. Scripture never encourages a new-hearted believer to love God more, because we already love Him to the utmost (1 John 3:23; Romans 6:17; Ephesians 6:24). Instead, the Bible encourages believers to grow in God’s love for them (Ephesians 3:19).
Are we to give a set percentage of our income, like a tithe, or is it something different? New Testament grace giving is founded upon our freedom in Christ. We are not under the Law or any spiritual regulation requiring that we give a certain amount. Instead, we can decide from the heart how much we want to give to support the Gospel message (2 Corinthians 9:7).
At salvation, believers are crucified with Christ. As a result, we die to the Law, and consequently we die to sin. Once we’re taken out from under the dominion of the Law, sin no longer has power over us. As the Scripture states: “apart from the Law, sin is dead” (Romans 7:8). Under God’s grace, we end up living a godly life motivated by God’s Spirit within us, not by moral regulations from the Old Testament (Titus 2:11-12).
The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is often presented as a beautiful passage to inspire spiritual growth in the believer. However, the reality is that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells His audience to cut off their hands, to pluck out their eyes, and to be perfect like God. In addition, He tells them that looking with lust equals adultery and that anger is the same as murder. Finally, Jesus tells His audience to get right with others before offering their animal sacrifices and that they...
The Apostle Paul states that Christians are not under the Law (Galatians 3:19-20). The Ten Commandments (the moral law) are not an exception to this freedom. We trust Jesus as our sacrifice and as our daily source of morality and ethics. Christ within us, apart from the Law, is enough to produce the godly life we desire (Galatians 5:22-23).
Some teach that Christians need to keep the Old Testament Sabbath which forbids physical work from Friday at sundown to Saturday evening. But Scripture teaches that the Sabbath was merely a shadow of the spiritual rest we enjoy in Christ (Hebrews 10:1). All who believe in Jesus enter a spiritual rest because of His finished work (Hebrews 4:3).
People often believe they should try to love God with all their strength and try to love others as they love themselves. However, this misunderstanding results from misinterpreting a conversation between Jesus and a Pharisee (Matthew 22:34-40). An expert in the Law came to Jesus and asked Him what were the greatest commands in the Law. Jesus answered that the greatest commandments in the Law are to love God with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. But Jesus was referring to ...
The laws written on a believer’s heart are not the Ten Commandments, because we are no longer under the Law (Galatians 5:1; Romans 6:14; 2 Corinthians 3:6-7). Believers have the new commands of Jesus written on our hearts: believe in Him and love one another just as He has loved us (1 John 3:23; 5:3; John 13:34).
If so, how did Jesus fulfill the Law? Romans 8:4 says Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirement of the Law by becoming a sin offering for us. Not only did He live a perfect life, according to the true spirit of the Law, but the entire Law pointed to His death on the cross as both the fulfillment of the old covenant, and the beginning of the new covenant (Matthew 5:17; Romans 8:4; 10:4). Still, this does not mean the Law itself is dead or gone (Matthew 5:18). It is simply fulfilled. Consider this...
No, tithing is an Old Testament requirement. Instead, we Christians are called to give freely from the heart, not under any pressure (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Absolutely! We live under a new covenant, but the entire Bible – from Genesis to Revelation – is the inspired Word of God. And we can learn a great deal from the Old Testament.
Two thousand years ago, the Corinthians were getting drunk and eating up all the food at the Lord’s Supper. It was for this reason that Paul said they were partaking in an “unworthy manner” and needed to examine themselves. But the Lord’s Supper is to be done in remembrance of Jesus Christ and His finished work, not in remembrance of our recent track record of sins. So, we can keep the focus on Jesus and celebrate the Lord’s Supper with joy!
Is 1 John 1:9 meant for Christians? While 1 John 1:9 is often interpreted as a formula for believers to get more forgiveness of sins, the verse is actually addressing sin deniers known as Gnostics. So, John is not prescribing a “daily bar of soap” to help Christians get more forgiveness and cleansing from God. Instead, he is inviting unbelieving sin deniers to acknowledge the reality of sin and find forgiveness and cleansing of all unrighteousness (past, present, and future!) through Jesus Chris...
Fellowship with God is synonymous with salvation in the New Testament. When we believe the Gospel, we are invited into an intimate and unending fellowship with the Trinity (1 John 1:1-3; John 17:21).
Repentance for salvation is a change of mind from unbelief to belief in Jesus (Acts 19:4; John 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:8-9). After salvation, repentance becomes about maturing in the faith through an exchange of sinful mindsets and behaviors for righteous mindsets and behaviors (Romans 6:2, 12, 18). For the believer, repentance from sins doesn’t make us more forgiven by God, but it does help us to express more fully our new identity in Christ.
James 5:16 states that confession of sins to other believers is an important part of the Christian life. Admitting wrongdoing helps us support one another in prayer. However, it is important to remember that we do not confess our sins to other people in order to get more forgiveness from God. He has already forgiven us – past, present, and future (Hebrews 10:14).
Some teach that Christians should recite the Lord’s Prayer, but Jesus warned against meaningless repetition of the same prayers (Matthew 6:7). Furthermore, in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus describes a forgiveness from God that is conditioned upon us forgiving others first. Here, Jesus wants the Jews of His day to imagine what it would be like if they received from God the same treatment they’ve been doling out to others. In short, the Lord’s Prayer exposed their hypocrisy and their need for unconditi...
In the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15), we see a forgiveness from God that is conditional and based upon forgiving other people first. But when we read the passage in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, we discover that Jesus is wanting His Jewish audience to imagine receiving only the same type and degree of forgiveness that they’ve given to others. In this way, Jesus is pointing out their hypocrisy, their slavery to bitterness, and their inability to merit God’s forgiveness. Ultimately, thi...
James 5:15 does express the believer’s forgiveness using future tense. However, James is simply presenting a hypothetical situation (“if he has committed sins”) and assuring his readers that such a person will be forgiven in that scenario. This passage is intended to be comforting for anyone who might be afraid of a future struggle. Any sin committed will be forgiven because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, once for all (Hebrews 10:14).
Many have wondered whether a believer is capable of committing the “unforgivable sin” (Matthew 12:31-32) or the “sin unto death” (1 John 5:16). Both of these refer to unbelief in Jesus or rejection of the Gospel message. Therefore, these warnings are not for believers. We have already received the Gospel, and we are completely forgiven of all our sins (Hebrews 10:14). In addition, we possess eternal life and will never experience spiritual death (John 5:24).
Some believe that teaching total forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ will lead believers to sin more. But 2 Peter 1:9 says the opposite: We will sin more if we forget our total forgiveness! So, teaching believers their total forgiveness of sins will promote godly living, not sinfulness. In Luke 7:47, we see Jesus affirm this reality as He tells us that whoever is forgiven much will love much.
Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. To forgive someone is to release the offending person of any relational debt they might owe you. This happens as you assess the damage (how they made you feel), cancel the debt against them (releasing them from anything they “owe” you, even if they do it again), and then, going forward, counting on the choice you made to forgive them.
No, a believer does not need to ask for forgiveness for each sin they commit. The phrase “ask forgiveness” or “ask for forgiveness” is not found in any New Testament letter, and for good reason. Remember that Jesus announced from the cross: “It is finished.” Christians are not being forgiven progressively when we ask for it (after all, what if you forget a sin?). No, Christians are totally forgiven people for all time (Hebrews 10:14).
