Author: Hank

Welcome to Hank’s Place

Listen to Paul writing in 1 Cor 3:7, 9 “So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.…” Paul makes it clear that all the credit for growth belongs to: GOD. But notice the verse goes on to say, “…we are God’s fellow workers….”

That’s marvelous! He reminds them again in 2 Cor 6:1-2, “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. There are 2 amazing concepts here. When can a person receive this grace of God? Behold, NOW is “the acceptable time,” behold, NOW is “the day of salvation”—” 

The past is over, the future is yet to come. We live in the NOW. The NOW – when God IS LISTENING TO US, and working with us. TODAY is the day when anyone can turn to the Lord and be saved by grace through faith.

Second, Paul says we are working together with God – that’s amazing! We may share the Gospel, but God makes things happen, causes the growth. However many people, including pastors, are burning out, or are burnt out, families a mess, and worse because of their exhausting labors. Why is that? Perhaps they are believing the mixed Gospel message and are busy working for GOD, not with Him, and struggling to hold up their end. 

Tormented by thoughts of, “Have I done enough? Can I do more?” Maybe you have been working like this for GOD too, my friend, not out of personal ambition, but fear of failing God? Measuring yourself and coming up short? It can happen if you listen to a mixed grace gospel. You know, grace + your works.

Take a deep breath. Relax. We are not salesmen with territories. God is not our CEO. There are no yearly performance reviews. He’s our FATHER! And we are family, and you have come home!

So, relax. As a fellow worker with God, share the Good News of salvation found in Jesus Christ with others. Pray they open their hearts to Jesus. Or pray healing for others. Whatever. Give space for God to do His marvelous work in people’s hearts. Yes, when God is at work, you’ll see people – COME ALIVE!

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Here there’s no bad news in the Good News of the Gospel. Many folk subscribe to the notion of preaching hellfire and damnation. They say, “turn or burn” sermons are necessary to scare people into repentance – you know, scare the hell out of people!

Well, check out the words of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus never preached “turn or burn.” He preached “Repent – turn to God – for God’s kingdom has come near” and you can be a part of it. Mk 1:15, Mt 4:17, 23. It is about inviting people IN, not scaring the hell out of them. And they are drawn to God by the Holy Spirit. 

God does not delight in seeing people get what they deserve. God IS ABOUT SAVING US from what we deserve. Jesus has rescued us from the coming wrath. We do not live in fear of becoming unsaved or being abandoned or unadopted. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ro 8:38-39.

Some say preaching on the grace of God makes people lazy. But Paul said just the opposite.“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10.

Corrie Ten Boom once quoted from a poem attributed to John Bunyan. “‘Run John run’ the Law commands, but gives us neither feet nor hands. Far better news the Gospel brings, it bids us fly and gives us wings.”

Rest in the Lord. And He will begin to bear His fruit in you. The unconditional love of God inspires you to take risks and be generous with your life. You do not have to do anything for God. It is about you and He working together! In the mixed grace Gospel you will feel the pressure to perform, to get it right. But in grace – you have the freedom to be who God made you. It’s the freedom—to COME ALIVE!

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People who have a craven fear of Grace declare it a GREASY substance that discourages obedience and holy living. True, I have not challenged you to be obedient or to live a lifestyle of obedience. Why not?

Because the issue is not whether you will obey the Holy Spirit. The real issue is, do you trust God—Father who gave up His Son for you, Jesus who gave up His life for you, and the Spirit who has come to dwell IN you. 

If you trust Him – LISTEN – obedience to Him WILL follow. Theologians have said that obedience is the FRUIT of the grace of God and its blessings. It’s also said that obedience is the evidence that His love has been made complete in you. When we rest in the unconditional love of Jesus, we will trust Him and we will do what He says – without conscious effort on our part. Again, without conscious effort on our part.

This side of Calvary, rules that tell us what to do, are no longer the key to godly living. My friend, we’ve been given a new and living way – for God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us in life. John 16:13. This is a completely different way to live than what the world knows or what a mixed grace person thinks they know. 

Yes, God wants us to be holy. The Old Covenant demanded it: “Be holy for I am holy.” Says it 5 times in Leviticus. So guess what? God has made us holy, cleansing us in His blood! A done deal. 

Oh, but isn’t sanctification a process? No, for it was accomplished when we believed in Jesus. 1 Cor 1:30 states Jesus has become our sanctification. That means holiness.

And 1 Cor 1:2 declares: “to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling. And 1 Thess 5:5–6 says, “for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness.” That means we are not getting there; we ARE there: sanctified people of the light.

Today, I invite you to walk in the truth that the precious blood of Jesus HAS sanctified you. Walk in it, be free of condemnation, and COME ALIVE!

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The Old Testament is marvelous. It is a treasure of knowledge – all pointing to Jesus. Those under the Old Covenant spoke with words of hunger and longing for a Savior, Messiah, Emmanual. But we are blessed in being able to look BACK to Calvary with gratitude, for it was there that everything changed. We speak a language of thanksgiving and praise for what God has done. 

People who do not understand this will speak of dying to self, dying to the flesh, asking Jesus to come and cleanse them. You have heard it hundreds of times I’m sure, and probably said it many times yourself. I know I did.

Then by the grace of God the lights went on to many passages of scripture, and there was the truth in plain sight. Truth such as Col 3:3 “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” 

Such as Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 

Can you see yourself there? Jesus HAS come and HAS cleansed us from sin and all unrighteousness! We cannot crucify the flesh, die to self – it is already DONE. Now RECKON yourself dead in Christ and alive to God. Ro 6:11. That means Count It As Done, because it is!

In Matthew chapter 5 we find the Sermon on the Mount. In the latter part we find Jesus talking about the law and how it was interpreted. And He says again and again, “But I say to you…” and makes a really hard thing – impossible. Men were interpreting the Law to make it easier to perform; Jesus was giving us the full impact of the Law: and it was a killer!

He sums it up by saying, “Therefore you are to be perfect just as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” That’s impossible – for us. But wait! By the grace of God—someone has stepped in to represent us—someone who IS perfect! 

Today, see the Law with its killing power—then see Jesus who has represented you under the Law. Now you are FREE to COME ALIVE!

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Let me ask you, since our sins, all of them – have already been born by Jesus at Calvary, is it all right then to sin freely? God’s grace has taken care of them, right? Yes it is true Jesus has paid our sin debt and taken away our sin, but God is concerned about our sin – because it destroys us – and destroys others. The wages of sin is death. Ro 6:23. 

Don’t let that which would hurt you and other people have free run in your life. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit. Eph 4:30. Act like a sinner and you will grieve the Holy Spirit. But He will not record your sins, for Hebrews 10:17 says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” The Holy Spirit is the spirit of grace, not the spirit of guilt. Confused? Don’t be!

I love Eph 4:31-32, and Paul’s use of the word, ‘Let.’ “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander (sound like what you find in social media every day?) be put away from you, along with all malice.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

Our new nature desires to let go of all those evil, worldly actions and reactions: they are not US any longer, my friend. NOW we have a tender-heart, a forgiving heart, let’s let IT have free expression!

Here’s something wonderful to munch on today: Romans 6:15 declares we are not under law, but under grace. Because – Christ is the end of the law to all who believe. Romans 10:4. It’s simple, and simply wonderful. The true purpose of the law was to bring man to the end of himself and see his need for a savior. If you are experiencing a mixed-grace gospel, you’ll think the law was given to help us overcome sin. The reality is God gave us the law to help sin overcome us. That’s Ro 7:10–11.

Jesus Christ is the END OF THE LAW for you and me, don’t you see? We are FREE indeed!

Enter His rest today, knowing you have passed the greatest test of all: you have believed upon Jesus – and you have COME ALIVE!

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Here’s a question you might have. If we have already been forgiven at Calvary, if all our sins have been cast into the sea of forgetfulness, never to be remembered any more, is it wrong to ask for forgiveness? 

No, it is not wrong to ask. It IS wrong to say God will not forgive you unless you first repent and confess your sins. That’s putting a price tag on the free gift of grace. Ephesians 1:7 says, “in Him we have… The forgiveness of sins.” He has already done it! Nowhere in the Epistles is there any hint that we need to ask God to forgive us. The writers were aware it was an accomplished fact thanks to the love and the grace of God. Dear friend, quit beating yourself up over sin and trying to make yourself clean. Instead, trust Jesus – rest in His finished work.

Dr Michael Brown, who wrote a book about the dangers of Hyper-Grace, appears to struggle with the magnitude of God’s grace. From his viewpoint there are limits, and the gap is for us to fill with right behavior! Dr Brown begins his book by relating a story of before he was a Christian, and doing drugs. He stole some money out of his dad’s wallet. After becoming a Christian, this theft weighed heavily upon him. He determined he had to confess his sin, tell his father. 

When he did get the story out, his father said, “I knew what you had done the moment I opened my wallet. And I forgave you right then and there.” What a picture of the grace of God, His mercy, His compassion. Dr Brown was forgiven, yet he did not realize it, nor was he able to walk in it. Did his confession accomplish forgiveness? Not at all! But when he did bring it out, he did experience a release of a burden he was needlessly carrying.

What’s the takeaway? If we sin, it’s a good thing to admit it to God, not to hide it behind our fig leaves. Homologeo. Agree with God, that it was not a right thing to do, and agree with God in thankfulness that you have already been forgiven. There is nothing you can do to earn forgiveness. It is the grace of God and it is a done deal.

Got a sin burden today? Speak it to God, and COME ALIVE!

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When we last spoke about repentance we saw the huge difference between knowing we have been saved and kept by God’s grace – versus thinking we have to work to stayed saved. Friend, we don’t have to keep up our end of the bargain – because it’s not a bargain and we can’t keep even one little aspect of any of God’s commands. Surely the entire Old Testament teaches us that, right?!

We have no strength to offer to God. And repayment — well, we have no means of repayment, either. All that we are, all that we have, comes from God, by grace. 1 Corinthians 15:10. Turning TO Jesus your punishment bearer and sin taker away when something’s gone wrong in your life – is Divine!  

We find another word that is often misunderstood: confession. Many people believe you have to tell God your dirty, evil, ungodly hidden secrets before you can hope to get any help from the Almighty. You can’t keep secrets from God! If you are committing sins, He knows. The best you are doing is practicing deception and denial. 

The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo, which means “to say the same thing as” and then “agree, admit, acknowledge.” Context determines the precise emphasis of the word. Thus, it can mean to acknowledge sin as well as to confess or acknowledge someone as something, like Jesus as your sin sacrifice and substitute.

1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins…” you know the rest. Well it’s written primarily to unbelievers (read the whole context carefully), but if the Holy Spirit is letting you know something is not right in your walk my friend, it’s a super thing to “homologeo.” Verbalize faith in His goodness. Acknowledge the foolishness of your disobedience. Thank and praise your Heavenly Father that at Calvary you have already been forgiven.

Because of Jesus, God is no longer counting our sins against us. 2 Corinthians 5:19. As a believer, you have already been forgiven. That doesn’t mean it’s ok to continue in disgusting stuff my friend. With your new nature, you’ll find you are agreeing with God – that stuff you thought was great – once the light of the Holy Spirit illuminates it – well, you’ll see it for what it is, and you’ll be loudly thanking God for His grace and forgiveness! Homologeo today my friend, and COME ALIVE!

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The 2010 movie, The King’s Speech, relates the story of King George VI of England, his impromptu ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure, timid monarch overcome his stammer. He grew up in the shadow of this elder brother who became king when their father died, but then the brother abdicated in favor of marrying a twice divorced woman, a big no-no for royalty at that time. 

Now – suddenly he was king. He was shy, withdrawn, and didn’t walk – talk – act like a king – he had a difficult time with being a king. England then enters the war with Germany. An exceptionally difficult time. It needed heros. And somewhere in those darkest of times, King George BELIEVED he was who he really was: King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth. He and Winston Churchill led the UK to victory against impossible odds. With help from God and America of course!

Whether he believed it or not, he truly was the king. But it made a huge difference when he believed it. Just like us dear Christian friend!

We ARE new creations 2 Cor 5:17. We ARE righteous and without sin 2 Cor 5:21. Do YOU believe it? It’s the TRUTH, but it will do you NO GOOD unless you believe it!  In the Progressive Sanctification school we are kind of holy thanks to Jesus and gradually becoming more holy and like Him. IF we work at it. Broken vessels (that’s a popular expression) gradually being made whole.

This is not true! Once Jesus has touched you, you are no longer broken. Jesus has made you wholly whole, and holy besides! 1 Peter 1:14-16, 1 Corinthians 1:30 We are instructed to renew our minds to the truth; that’s called working out your salvation. Phil 2:12. Choose to “think different” – think in line with the truth, this glorious truth. 

Paul starting in Eph 4 describes Christian conduct, putting off the old, putting on the new. And in Col 3. And Peter, why almost all of 1st Peter is devoted to how we can and should live as new creations, God’s precious possession, in this world, now.  

Dear friend, NOW, in these tumultuous times, believe upon Jesus, believe you truly are adopted, a son of God – NOW walk in it. People will say, what’s happened to you, you have COME ALIVE!

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Some folks have concerns: are they listening to a mixed-grace Gospel and don’t know it? Well, it’s really not that hard to detect, my friend.

• where is the focus? Is it upon you and your works – or Jesus and His matchless grace?
• is there anxiety and uncertainty in your relationship with God? Are there suggestions that if you don’t toe the line, get it right, that you’ll be on the outs with Jesus? And that bad things might happen to you as you get “disciplined” by God?
• or how about, “Jesus died for you; so what will you do for him?” Feeling a sense of obligation? As if you should pay God back? The issue is not what you will do for God, but what you will let him do for you? The only work required of you is that you believe in the One whom He has sent. John 6:29.

On the other hand, if what you hear sounds like boasting about Jesus, causes you to fix your eyes on Jesus, causes you to shout for joy and give thanksgiving and praise to God for what He has done; then it is likely that you are listening to the real gospel.

What about repentance? For ‘works’ oriented people it means you turn from your sin. The focus is always your sin. Then you must feel bad for your badness, feel remorse and such. And there’s the fixing what you broke, if possible. Atoning for your sin in some way. 

A friend of ours went through a 12 step program at least a dozen times: our friend loved writing down all their sins and feeling really really bad. Declaring themselves a bad person made them feel good. Go figure. They could not get past the past!

But faith based repentance is in response to what God has done. It is the change of heart and change of mind that happens when we encounter His grace. Repentance means a change of mind. Turning from something and toward SOMEONE. Emphasis upon the SOMEONE!

Preaching on it will not work! But experiencing the kindness of God does work! Preaching Jesus and His goodness is a good thing to do. Why? Romans 2:4 says, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”

Dear friend, help someone experience the lovingkindness of God – it will lead to repentance as needed, and they will COME ALIVE!

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Here at Hank’s Place we emphasize God’s wonderful grace: His unmerited favor and lovingkindness directed toward us – for no other reason than that’s Who He is.

Jesus never defined grace. He IS Grace: loving us unconditionally, and forgiving indiscriminately. If you are in a works oriented church or listening to mixed-covenant messages, you made find these words – scandalous – SURELY God has requirements for us to meet – before He will bless us. 

Nope! All the blessings of God are found in Jesus Christ. Eph 1:3. Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. Doesn’t that tell you something?

Some say God never promised to meet our wants but only our needs. They get this from Philippeans 4:19 where Paul thanks them and says, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” That’s fine, but i wouldn’t make a general axiom out of it! God has adopted us as sons, forgiven us out of the wealth of His grace, and gives us lavishly out of His riches, not in accordance to our needs, like some stingy accountant. Read Ephesians 1 the first few verses.

Suppose you are thirsty and ask the Lord for a drink — and He gives you Niagara Falls. Get the picture? And don’t forget Matt 7:11 where Jesus says, “if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give to those who ask Him.”

Instead of battling jealousy and envy when you see someone being blessed, why not thank God for His goodness and ask for some of the same for yourself?

Now there are 3 general views of salvation:

First – the works Gospel – you labor to earn your salvation and then you get sanctified, made more holy, by further works.

Second – is the Mixed Grace Gospel. It’s the most popular. We are saved by His grace, but then we work at holiness – progressive sanctification it’s called. Slowly become more like Jesus. If we work at it. And sometimes God puts us in the corner until we learn our lessons. It’s the anxiety gospel in my opinion!

Third – is what some call the Hyper Grace Gospel. We are saved by Grace, and HAVE BEEN sanctified — by grace.

Notable people like Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon and others agree it is the grace of God, not us, that truly matters. “Not what we have been, not what we have done, but the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.” That’s D. Martin Lloyd-Jones.

Believe it my friend, and COME ALIVE!

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