Acceptance grace and Empowering grace

Rob Rufus says, "Every revival has ended up crushed by condemnation - every move of God through church history has ended up crushed in dead religious formalism because they gave into the spirit of legalism. They formulated rules and lost their freedom through grace."

That is why i am so convinced that preaching acceptance grace WILL bring about revival and sustain it (as long as you stick with acceptance grace.) So many Pastors today are trying to preach empowering grace without the message of acceptance grace (the gospel) and are driving their churches further into legalism without even realizing it. i believe its a scheming ploy of the enemy...

In doing this (preaching empowering grace at the expense of acceptance grace), there is a negative "double whammy"for these churches. Not only are the believers feeling condemnation for doing what they know they shouldn't be doing, and that is, sinning against a holy God, who constantly judges their unholy actions, counting those unholy actions against them and threatening to withhold blessing until they stop, they also feel condemnation for not doing what empowering grace says they "should" be doing everyday, and that is, signs, wonders and miracles. This drives the believers deeper into conformism or rebellion! But acceptance grace tells me God counts my sin against me no longer, forever gone, and if i never "do" signs, wonders and miracles He will love me still, bless me still, protect me still, be my Father still!

We need to preach acceptance grace and empowering grace WILL flow naturally. Empowering grace is something that happens when we as believers (sons) realize who we are IN CHRIST. Nothing will stop the believer from "doing" when they have a revelation of who they are. How do we get believers to get that revelation?...Keep on keeping on preaching acceptance grace, start a series on it, when the series is finished start from the beginning again. Paul the Apostle spent his WHOLE life laying the foundation of who we are in Christ, as a matter of fact he fought to keep that teaching in the church when those of the circumcision group tried to pervert the message, and eventually died because of it...His favorite saying? YOU ARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS...NO MATTER WHAT...

Acceptance grace - the message of who i am and will always be through what He has done.
Empowering grace - the message of what I can do because i am a Christian.

The Older Brother Syndrome

"The older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son had outer life conformation. So he conformed to what he thought the rules and regulations of the house were. He worked in the Father's house but received nothing of the Father's inheritance. All he knew was confirmation not supernatural transformation. But the prodigal son came home and instantly transformed into sonship in the house while the older brother living for years in confirmation receives nothing. Many in the church are full of "Older Brother Syndrome".

GRACE, GRACE, GRACE !!

Hey guys. I am back in South Africa from Hong Kong. Got back yesterday, feeling the lag a little but what an extraordinary time. There is so much i could say, but what i will say for now is GRACE, GRACE, GRACE !! I believe God is moving the entire church into freedom by the revelation of the gospel as spelled out in the New Testament. That is the grace of God, pure and undiluted, forever having our sins washed away, holy, righteous and blameless before the Father because we are IN Christ, no matter the behaviour!!

So i will endeavor to continuously expound on this in my blog. Hong Kong for me was a reinforcement of the writings and quotes from this blog. For those of you that disagree, i pray that God too will open your eyes :-)

So here's Rob...

"If you give in for a moment something of the Gospel is lost - the truth of the the Gospel is diluted the only expression of the power of God - the only agency for the power of God is through the Gospel. We are talking about a daily battle where spirits come into your mind and try and bring you into condemnation and bring you into guilt, trying to intimidate you and manipulate you and make you feel unworthy. Don't give in for a moment!

The reason why we can't give in for a moment is that too much is at stake (2 Corinthians 3). It's not just your personal happiness that is at stake although that will also be stolen. But it is also the destiny of millions of people."

I'm off to HK too...

For those of you going to the Hong Kong, Glory and Grace conference...look out for me...i'm about 5'9, got dark hair (with some grey!) and i go by the name of Craig...yeeeehaaaaaaaa

Ps.. so i wont be posting for the next 2 weeks or so...

see you when i get back

Does the mercy of God put the justice of God in jeopardy...?

Take the cross of Christ, for example. The death of Jesus Christ is the ultimate expression of divine love: "God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Yet the Bible also says that the aim of the death of Christ was "to demonstrate [God's] righteousness, because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed" (Romans 3:25). Passing over sins creates a huge problem for the righteousness of God. It makes him look like a judge who lets criminals go free without punishment. In other words, the mercy of God puts the justice of God in jeopardy

So to vindicate his justice he does the unthinkable - he puts his Son to death as the substitute penalty for our sins. The cross makes it plain to everyone that God does not sweep evil under the rug of the universe. He punishes it in Jesus for those who believe.

John Piper

What the law CANNOT do...

"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20).

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Gal. 2:16).

"I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (Gal. 2:21).

"But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith" (Gal. 3: 11).

"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom. 8:3).

"And by him, all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:39).

"For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God" (Heb. 7:19).



How's about we do a series on this...that in our day and age, Christian Rules And Principles has now replaced the law of Moses as a rule of life...but the effect is still the same...death

...Law kills...grace makes alive...

Law shuts every mouth before God;
Grace opens every mouth to praise Him.

Law puts a great and guilty distance between man and God;
Grace makes guilty man nigh to God.

Law says "do and live";
Grace, "believe and live."

Law never had a missionary;
Grace is to be preached to every creature.

Law utterly condemns the best man;
Grace freely justifies the worst.

Law is a system of probation;
Grace, of favour.

Law stones an adulteress;
Grace says, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin (disbelieve) no more."

Under law the sheep dies at the hand of the shepherd;
Under grace the Shepherd dies for the sheep.

by C I Scofield

a failure proof righteousness

"Your obedience and my obedience never ever produces righteousness! It is the obedience of the one Man that has given us the gift of right standing with God forever! This is a fool proof, failure proof and Satan proof righteousness! Because if it depended on the level of my performance then it wouldn't be failure proof because there is not one day where I can keep the law 100% but I live in faith that every split second of every day I am right with God because my righteousness is based on Jesus Christ obedience and never on mine!"

Rob Rufus

...a definition of sin...

"The most penetrating and devastating definition of sin that I am aware of in Scripture is the last part of Romans 14:23: "Whatever is not from faith is sin." The reason it is penetrating is that it goes to the root of all sinful actions and attitudes, namely, the failure to trust God. And the reason it is devastating is that it sweeps away all our lists of dos and don'ts and makes anything, from preaching to house-painting, a candidate for sin. In the original language, this is stressed even more than in our versions: it says, "Everything which is not from faith is sin." Anything, absolutely any act or attitude which is owing to a lack of trust in God is sin, no matter how moral it may appear to men. God looks on the heart."

by John Piper

DOCTRINES OF DEMONS !

1 Tim 4 "1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer."

"As I saw this yesterday it suddenly came to me what doctrine of demons is. Doctrine of demons is any teaching that takes the focus off the completed work of Jesus and places focus on anything else, including us. If we are taught to add anything to what Christ has done, by own own human effort, or to even retain what has been given us as a gift, i.e righteousness and justification, by our own ability, good behavior, fasting, prayer, reading of the bible- as good as these this are for us to do- then it takes the focus off Christ's' completed performance.

The ploy of the devil is to sow doubt and unbelief. One of the major ways that he does this is by getting us doubt the fact that there is nothing we need to do to gain or retain our right standing with God, to walk in supernatural power of the anointing in order to minister to people, heal the sick etc. We are made to believe that we need to earn the presence of the Holy Spirit. All these things take the focus off the factual truth that Jesus Christ has performed and completed the task on our behalf.

If the focus is taken off Jesus through these teachings then it is not the gospel that is being preached, but may I be bold as to say, that it is lies, it is doctrines of demons.
Of course we need to read the bible, we would be stupid not to, same with fasting, spending time in prayer and meditation of God, but these are desires that come from a place of knowing and being and not out of a place of "earning". If we are taught to earn anything or perform in order to obtain anything, it is human effort, it belittles the work of the cross by making it seem uncompleted, not enough, it is doctrines of demons put in place to take the focus off the King and place it on to anything else, mostly ourselves."

Brad Dearlove

...empowered by the righteousness of God...

"You can’t change your own attitude......If your marriage is on the rocks, submit to God. Trust in His will and your faith will be accounted as righteousness. The righteousness of God will be the shaping factor that will change your attitude. The same is true for every area of your life. If you trust God, His righteousness will be your strength. On the other hand, if you don’t trust God and take matters in your own hands, you will sin.

Look at Hebrews 3:12 "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." Just as faith is accounted for righteousness, unbelief is accounted as sin and we depart from God when we let our unbelieving nature drive our will. God will not leave you in a neutral position. You must live your life by faith or by the flesh. To choose to live by the flesh, just do nothing and allow the world to carry you in its current. Any dead fish can float downstream, but only Jesus Christ can give you life and empower you to swim against the current. Each stronghold in your life that you surrender by faith will be empowered by the righteousness of God"

Eddie Snipes - Exchanged Life Outreach

the assurance of love

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God ... "

The word "manner" means "what sort or quality," and is from a root word which implies "what country, tribe or race." So John marvels at the foreign, unearthly, other-worldly quality of God's love for us. Surely we have never seen this kind of love apart from His! To know that He has bestowed this love as a permanent possession upon such unworthy persons as we are, and has called us, or named and confessed us, as His sons, is earth's greatest knowledge.

Paul describes it as the riches of God's glory that will make you strong in the “little” man inside. Jesus Christ dwelling in your heart by faith will securely and deeply settle you, and will enable you to take eagerly for yourself a greater confidence in the limitless dimensions of His love. You will progressively learn by your daily experience with Him the eternal security of His love for you, and earth's knowledge will fade into insignificance as He fills you with the fullness of Himself.

All your heart needs are met in the perfect love of God for you. God is for you. Who can set themselves against you with any success? He will freely give you all things that are for your good and His glory

By H.L. Roush, Snr

FREEDOM !!!!

Galatians 5:1-5
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is bound to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness.

"The text begins with a clear and refreshing statement of Christ's will for our lives. Sometimes we get bogged down in a quandary about God's will. And often we worry about decisions which are simply not a great issue with God (where to go to school, what job to take, where to live, etc.). We need to orient our lives on the clear statements of Scripture regarding God's will. And here is one: "For freedom Christ has set us free." Christ's will for you is that you enjoy freedom. Where you go to school, what job you do, where you live, etc., are not nearly so crucial as whether you stand fast in freedom. If they were, the Bible would have commanded those things as clearly as it here commands freedom. But it doesn't.

So your enjoyment of freedom is much more important to God than many of the day-to-day decisions that fill us with so much concern. A good test of your priorities in life would be whether you are just as concerned about the command to enjoy your freedom as you are about other pressing decisions in your life. Do you exercise as much diligence in prayer and study to stand fast in freedom as you do to decide about home, job, school, marriage partner? It is a clear and unqualified command: "Stand fast and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." This is the will of God for you: your freedom. Uncompromising, unrelenting, indomitable freedom. For this Christ died. For this he rose. For this he sent his Spirit. There is nothing he wills with more intensity under the glory of his own name than this: your freedom"

by John Piper