Hank’s Place

The Gospel means Good News. Crafted by God. God is GOOD, and His news is ALL Good News — not mostly Good News with some Bad News thrown in. There is no price tag found in God’s free gift of salvation — unless you are hearing a counterfeit gospel.

Does the God of the gospel you hear remember a wrong suffered? Does your forgiveness come at a price you pay? That’s not God’s true love found in 1 Cor 13. It is not the genuine Gospel.

Some preachers thunder from the pulpit: “Beware of greasy grace and those who preach it! We have got to have rules to obey. Guard rails on the roadway of life to keep us on course.” “Greasy grace is nothing more than a license to sin,” they explain.

Going back to the rules is – wrong. Don’t you remember, friend?
• the Law is not of faith – Gal 3:12. No faith in it. Following the rules is not of faith.
• the Law inflames sin – Ro 5:20. Rather than HELP you be godly, it promotes ungodliness!
• the Law was designed to lead us to Christ – Gal 3:24. A tutor. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor – Gal 3:25. 

Don’t go back to rule keeping. ”Follow all the rules, all our rules, and you’ll be blessed of God” is a counterfeit gospel! Rubbish! “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Gal 5:1.

Adding rules to the Gospel means you have fallen from GRACE — you attempt to be justified by the law. It’s a counterfeit gospel, and you have become estranged from Christ.

The Counterfeit Gospel is the one with the RULES IN IT. Jesus gave us the Gospel of Grace! Walk by faith. Walk in the Spirit – don’t worry, just do it!

Adding rules to the Gospel means you are saying Jesus Christ did NOT DO ENOUGH at Calvary, and there remains “your part” to perform. Rather than experiencing the joy of the Lord, you live in a shadowland where you have never done enough.

Friend, if this has been you, has been your life, it’s time to stand in the liberty, in the GRACE given you in Christ Jesus – firmly, and — COME ALIVE!

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul declares of first importance in the Gospel is “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” While we were still sinners, separated from God, out of His great love, Jesus died for us, in our place, canceling out the debts we accumulated, paying the penalty for all our sins, transgressions, Colossians 2:14.

If we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior, then, by the grace of God, not our works, we are saved. Eternally. 

That is super Good News. It’s the Gospel. Paul calls this Good News the Gospel of His grace.

One of the elementary principles of this world is that if we do good we will be rewarded; do bad and we will be punished. Many people think it works this way with God. I recently discovered that Mormons, those nice clean cut people with nice families believe they have to do good works in hope of approval by God. By obeying the Commandments and doing good works. No room for the grace of God in their so-called gospel. 

I’m calling out Mormons only in that their reliance upon their works also permeates the believing of many church goers, even genuine Christians. To help you today, listen to a few Bible verses concerning the grace of God. 

John 1:14, 17 Jesus, the Word, became flesh, full of grace, the favor of God, and truth. Grace and truth were manifested, that is became obvious, became clear, through Jesus Christ. Grace and truth.

Paul and Barnabas were preaching at Pisidian Antioch, and Acts 13:43 says, “many of the Jews and the God-fearing proselytes followed them, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.” Not the Commandments or do good works, but continue in God’s favor. His grace.

In Acts 14:3 at Iconium, Paul and Barnabas spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be performed by their hands. Miracles, because of the grace of God. 

From Miletus Paul sent word to Ephesus and called to himself the elders of the church. In Acts 20:24, he stated his ministry which he received from the Lord Jesus: to solemnly testify of the gospel of God’s grace. And in verse 32 Paul adds, “And now I entrust you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

These are just a few verses concerning God’s grace my friend. Today, stop climbing. There’s no stairway to heaven. Working your way to heaven — doesn’t work. Stop. We can’t get there from here. 

But by God’s amazing grace, He can take us there. Believe it. Receive it. And COME ALIVE!

Today’s word is “doting.” Written out it looks like dot-ing, as in dot the i’s and cross those t’s. But when pronounced ‘doting’ it means ‘excessively fond,’ ‘adoring,’ affectionate,’ ‘showing that you love someone very much.’ One web source asked the question, “How do you know if someone is doting on you?” And answered, “If someone you know adores you beyond all reason, only seeing your good points and completely disregarding your faults, they’re doting. Your doting uncle might offer to fly you to Disney World for spring break, and your doting older sister might wake up early to make your favorite breakfast when you visit her.”

My granddaughter Violet is doted upon by her parents. And you know what? She just receives all that love and attention, care and affection, they give her. She is quite young, and has no trouble receiving. She just — receives. And blooms with life!

Is God a doting Father? Do you think He adores you beyond all reason, only seeing your good points and completely disregarding your faults? Or does He wear a frown when looking at you?

I’ll let you draw your own conclusion, but consider, if you are a Christian, the blood of Jesus of cleansed us from all unrighteousness, has washed us whiter than snow from our sins, has removed all condemnation (it fell upon Jesus, remember?), and prepared us perfectly as a new creation, a son or daughter of the Living God, fully accepted in the Beloved — fellow heirs in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Zephaniah 3:17 KJV says, “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.” Sure sounds like someone is doting over us, dear friend! The word picture here is full of emotion. God the Father is the One who holds His daughter Jerusalem and sings joyfully in her presence. Just as a loving parent cradles a child and sings out of love, so God’s song over His people is born of His great love — and this was written at a time when Israel of old was very rebellious and unbelieving. And of course the result was their not receiving, either.

But a time was coming when it would all change for them. My friend, that time has come — Jesus has made the difference. Stop trying to prove your worth before God. It’s not our performance; you and I have already been accepted in the Beloved — thanks to Jesus’ blood.

So like my granddaughter, why not open up and freely receive ALL that your Heavenly Father has for you? It is beyond what we could ask or think. Beyond what our ears have heard or eyes have seen. All that He has prepared for us who love Him. 

Don’t wait till you get to heaven my friend. Don’t resist your Heavenly Father’s doting. Open up — you’ll COME ALIVE!

Hank’s Place is a place — of God’s grace. A place where we have ceased striving with our feeble attempts to prove our acceptability before God, and now KNOW that He is God, the God who justifies and makes righteous as a free gift by His grace — all for putting our trust, our believing into whom He has sent as Savior: Jesus Christ. 

That’s a mouthful, and it is all true! Today let’s look at Galatians, chapter 5. Paul declares in the first verse, “Stand fast therefore in THE liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” 

Jesus HAS made us free. If we live in bondage to a legal relationship with God, it isn’t because God wills it. God pleads with us to take His strength and walk in that freedom, and to not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Notice that it is Christ who has made us free. We don’t make ourselves free. Freedom is a gift of Jesus, given to us — received by faith. When we struggle to free ourselves, we just become more entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Paul made it emphatic: THE liberty. Not the false liberty of doing whatever we want, and never denying any desire. THE liberty is our freedom from the tyranny of having to earn our own way to God, the freedom from sin and guilt and condemnation, freedom from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and eventually freedom from the presence of sin. We cannot thru struggling, free ourselves, nor gain TRUE liberty.

Recently I heard a preacher, 20+ years of pastoring, speak on Galatians 5, 16 thru 24, the works of the flesh contrasted to the fruit of the Spirit. Somehow he missed the huge point that fleshly actions are WORKS, efforts. And the actions of the Spirit through us are FRUITS. He spoke of struggling daily to perform all the fruits of the Spirit. Laying one burden after another upon the listeners, more “to-do’s” in a never ending ‘to-do list’ if we WORK at being Christian. We can STRIVE in the flesh or choose to YIELD to the Spirit. 

Verses 16-18 in the Passion Bible read, “As you YIELD to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. When your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit, you hinder Him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your self-life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self-life of the flesh and the NEW CREATION life of the Spirit.

Isn’t it time to abandon our Christian “to-do” list, but YIELD to the life of the Spirit of God within us? We will soar — and COME ALIVE!

Hank’s Place is a place of grace — God’s grace. Not to worry if you are ‘good enough’ or have ‘done enough’ or ‘repented enough,’ or ‘sacrificed enough’ to join in — you are welcome because the blood of Jesus has cleansed believers from all unrighteousness, from every failure, from every missing of the mark. Because of Jesus, we now receive God’s mercies, lovingkindness, goodness — good things — He loves us beyond measure and can demonstrate it towards us — thanks to Jesus our Savior.

Some people stumble over the goodness of God, insisting there are rules that must be kept in order to receive from God or get closer to God. It’s not about the rules. A focus on rule keeping keeps us from exploring the riches of God’s grace – Galatians 5:4 says rule keeping causes a person to ‘fall from grace’ — not that God’s grace is no longer available, but that they are choosing to live at a much a lower level than God intended.

Such a person might bring up Romans 2:13 saying, “Well, didn’t Paul say, “For it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”” And add, “See, we must keep all the rules in order to gain God’s approval.”

Doers of the law will be justified?! Wait. What’s with Paul? That’s the opposite of what he said in Romans 5:1, “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And Galatians 3:12, “However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.””

So why does Paul say doers of the law will be justified? Check the context; he was saying, “just hearing the law is not enough, you have to keep it – and none of us can!” Isn’t it clear; we are justified by faith, not law. If we try to impress God with our law-keeping, we fall from grace and cut ourselves off from Christ.

Like us today, those Romans knew about laws. Like many believers, they had been raised on a diet of rules. They thought if they heard the rules, studied the rules, and hung them on their walls, God would be impressed. Nope. You have to KEEP all the rules — and no one can.

Paul is not calling us imperfect souls to attempt the impossible; he’s trying to get us to admit defeat. Doers of the law will be justified, but we are not that person. Jesus was the perfect Doer of the law — and Jesus offers us this same justification, this same righteousness, as a free gift — by faith.

Let’s not focus on ‘the rules’ but let’s see JESUS offering us the gift of righteousness. By faith receive today — and COME ALIVE!