It has been news to me that still, 2000 years after Jesus walked on this green earth, people don’t know the difference between religion and faith. Actually, I am shocked to realize again and again that people still think Christianity is about following rules instead of following Christ. Is this news to you? Boy, do I have good news for you! For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually…
The Bible is very clear that we are all called to be holy like God is holy. It does not happen without effort but by God’s grace it is possible. To be holy is to be transformed into the image of Christ. What bothers me is the fact that people think that holy people are boring, repressed, stiff-necked,and self-righteous. But Jesus was not at all that kind of person! What’s gone wrong here? We are called to be like Jesus,…
The Bible is the Living Word of God and it does surprise us time and time again. Sometimes I wonder who has added a story there because I have missed it before. But the Word of God speaks to us when we are ready to listen. We pass things that puzzle us or are somehow irrelevant to us and later on we cherish exactly those verses like new gifts. The key into reading the Bible is prayer. We need to…
Do you remember the Bible story of Jesus coming back to separate people from each other like a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-)? At the first glimpse it looks like the reason why some are saved is based on their works when Jesus reveals ‘I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you…
Legalism is one of the worst enemies of grace. It tries to steal the joy of salvation. It tries to make us believe that somehow our salvation is depending on something we should do or leave undone. Legalism tries to tell us that if we follow certain set of rules we will be somehow saved. As human beings we were born sinful; there’s nothing we need to do to stand in need of salvation. There’s nothing we can do to…
