announcement: 0:01

Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace podcast, where we celebrate and explore the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Tune in to the Waking Up to Grace podcast on every major platform. You can also listen to our episodes and read our full transcripts at wakinguptogracecom. And now here's Lenny.

Lenny: 0:22

Welcome back to the podcast everyone. So I think we'll be moving on from the first seven verses of Paul's letter to the Romans after today. We've talked about apostles and Paul's apostolic ministry. We've touched on the sovereignty of God and those called to be saints. We learned that God is not Yahweh's name, jesus is not a very good translation for Yeshua and Christ is not Jesusweh's name. Jesus is not a very good translation for Yeshua and Christ is not Jesus' last name. We also learn that the meaning of name as used in scripture goes much deeper than the name itself and that the meaning can be found within the names. When we look at the original Hebrew language, we found that the obedience of faith that Paul describes is not what we might think. It's actually a gift given and not a work performed, and holding tightly to that gift and cherishing it with our life is an attitude that will bear much fruit in Christ.

Lenny: 1:15

The last two episodes were in regards to the unseen spiritual battle that was coming to its climax during Paul's ministry, but was not over yet, as he went from nation to nation with the gospel of grace. And speaking of grace, have you ever wondered why Paul says grace and peace to you when he's addressing the saints in Rome who are born-again Christians. Shouldn't they have already received grace through faith? Wouldn't that have given them peace? Let's read our Romans passage for some quick context here before we get started. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets and the holy scriptures concerning his son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name, among all the nations, including you, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's Romans, chapter 1, verses 1 through 7.

Lenny: 2:36

I think it's worth noting here that words can take on different meanings based on context. I think it's also worth noting that being obedient to faith in the way that Paul describes in this verse does not make you automatically keep that gift in focus. If having faith like the Apostle Paul was necessary to prove obedience, I think we'd all be in a little bit of trouble. If having the grace that was given to Paul with his apostleship was supposed to be given to each and every Christian, then where are all the Christians? If we begin to base our fellowship with Yahweh on anything we do or don't do, we fall into a false paradigm ourselves. We often have to remind ourselves and I say this mostly to those who have found themselves far outside of mainstream views in their search for truth we often have to remind ourselves that the reason so many are lost in bad doctrine is not because they're not Christians, at least here in America. Many are born again and simply never come to realize that mainstream teaching is leading them away from grace.

Lenny: 3:37

Double talk creates cognitive dissonance. In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is described as a mental phenomenon in which people unknowingly hold fundamentally conflicting cognitions. In other words, they're holding to two truths that are completely in opposition to each other at the same time. I think as humans, but even more as Christians, we must be constantly training our minds to resist this trap. The gospel of grace is the cure for cognitive dissonance. That's what I believe, but the gospel of grace in the mainstream has been damaged beyond recognition.

Lenny: 4:16

In mainstream Christianity we're told that Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins. Then we're told we have to ask God for forgiveness when we sin. Is that not double talk? Of course, like all things, we're supposed to believe that we just need to understand better. If we had the education of our pastors, deacons, priests and bishops, we would surely solve this puzzle. But then, as we seek this knowledge, we only sink further into the dark abyss. Next thing you know, you're walking around in darkness, but not because you're not in the light, but rather because you're walking around with your eyes closed. The only way children of the light can walk in darkness, as described in John's first epistle, would be to close their eyes to the truth. It's dark when we close our eyes, isn't it? Why are so many Christians walking around with their eyes closed? From my vantage point and this may upset some people, but what I see is that many of the attitudes and views of those who were infiltrating the churches in the days of the apostles are now operating the churches.

Lenny: 5:20

The doctrine Paul was up against in the Galatian church was a doctrine of Jesus plus works. They were being trained to maintain their salvation by the works of the law, and if you go back to the law, you would also have to go back to needing more forgiveness. This is a point that Paul tries to make to them. They were suffering from a cognitive dissonance similar to that of our day, that says you are forgiven, that you have to ask for forgiveness to maintain fellowship. To that mindset, paul said I am astonished. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. Paul writes in Galatians, chapter 1. In his letter to the Galatians, paul refers to these people as his brothers. Even Peter was among those who were partaking in this error that had made its way into the church.

Lenny: 6:19

From this we can learn just how easy it is to fall into the cognitive dissonance of legalism and, as Paul points out in his letter to the Galatians, it happens even to those who are called into grace. In his rebuke, he brings Peter back to his foundation. Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. By faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. Paul is saying to Peter in Galatians 2. And in regards to grace, paul continues his argument to Peter I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Lenny: 7:08

It's easy for most to brush off these passages and say well, they were following the law. That situation was specific to the law of Moses. Well, just as those who proclaim Judaism today don't follow the law of Moses, modern-day Galatianism does not involve the law of Moses either. The permanent end of the law of Moses that was the result of the AD 70 destruction of the temple was not enough to stop mankind from continuing to distort the gospel of Christ Yeshua. Now we just cherry pick rules and regulations and impose those on others in the name of maintaining fellowship with God, in the name of making ourselves holy to God.

Lenny: 7:47

But this attitude was not impressive to Paul. In Galatians 3, paul writes Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? They were trying to perfect themselves by the law. This must have sounded very reasonable to them, but if we apply what the author of Hebrews taught about Christ, we again find that this view was just merely cognitive dissonance. In Hebrews 10 we read For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. They were trying to perfect what was already made perfect in the Galatian church.

Lenny: 8:25

The primary function of the law, according to the author of Hebrews, was to remind Israel of their sin and provide temporary atonement for that sin. Christ came to reconcile the faithful forever. But just like the Galatians, we keep finding ways to self-cleanse ourselves and deny what we've been given by the Lord. Paul describes this as falling away from grace. In Galatians 5, we read I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace. Paul speaks severely here in order to get their attention. Falling away from grace is not falling away from salvation.

Lenny: 9:09

When we study spiritual regeneration in scripture. It's not something that can be reversed. We can't change who Yahweh has made us. We can't change who we are. We are children of God Most High, we are saints, we are reconciled, but we can make Christ of no value in our lives. How do we do this? By making rules. It doesn't matter what rules you make. If you make rules, you have to follow them perfectly. Those who make rules in Christianity don't follow them perfectly. It's not possible. So, like the Pharisees, they just make up their own exceptions. The only way that those who preach that we can be out of fellowship with God as believers can see themselves as in fellowship with God is through cognitive dissonance. As Christians, when we believe we are constantly in and out of fellowship with God, we don't get proper rest. Resting in Christ is more like a deep, healing sleep, not one that gets disrupted all through the night by every little noise. We have to tune out that noise to really rest in the grace of Christ.

Lenny: 10:16

Christ Yeshua was not sent to make you stop sinning. The result of his finished work was not intended to help you focus more on your sin, as most today believe. Yeshua gave you his spirit to renew your mind and to change your focus from your works to his works. The church in Rome that Paul wrote to in his letter to the Romans did not seem to be having the same struggle as Galatians, at least not at that time. But Paul opened his letter with the same statement grace to you and peace to both of these churches, and to the church in Corinth, who was well known for their sinful lust. Paul writes Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, god making his appeal through us. We implore you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. That's 2 Corinthians 5.20.

Lenny: 11:06

Paul spoke on sin in his letters when necessary, when things needed to be addressed in the church, when his brothers were not acting like the saints that God made them. But he was fully aware, as God's messenger of the gospel of grace, that belief in a tainted gospel was not going to help anything. Nothing good comes from doubting our identity in Christ. When confusion is cast on the reconciling grace that came from the bloodshed on the cross, we drift away from grace. When we drift away from grace in our minds, we make Christ of no value to us here on earth. The only way we can truly be at peace with our Heavenly Father is to be reconciled.

Lenny: 11:46

Paul wasn't saying that they were not reconciled. He was insisting that they actually believe it. We have the life of Christ living in us now. Yeshua gave us his spirit so we could live in his grace now and forever, not just later on in heaven. So many are waiting to get to heaven in order to have unbroken fellowship with God. So many are teaching others to have that same view. Those with this mindset have missed the most amazing gift that our Lord has given to each and every person who has been given his spirit a perfect fellowship with Yahweh, a love that never ends or experiences a bump in the road, a fellowship that not a single person before the cross of Christ was able to have with God.

Lenny: 12:32

Paul the Apostle, throughout his letters to the saints, is calling on them to embrace the gift that they have received, to understand the power of grace. Paul's focus was not that the church stopped sinning. It was that they start believing. Believing in what they had in Christ already, who they were in Christ, believing in who they were to Christ. This was the message that Yahweh was pleased to send Paul with. This was the message that the ascended Christ Yeshua revealed to Paul so that the church could receive it. This was the message of grace and peace that Paul was set apart for.

Lenny: 13:14

So what more can I say in the closing of this episode and in anticipation of what we're going to learn in the rest of our Roman study? I think we can quote Paul to all those who are loved by God and called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I guess you could say that to the Christian. Christ is saying something like Redbone sang about, but in a different way Come and get your love. Come and get your love. Come and get your love. Come and get your love now. See you guys next week.

announcement: 13:47

Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to Grace podcast brought to you by the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. See you, guys, next week.