“For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” – Jude 1:4

Be careful who you listen to, read, watch, and follow! Nobody’s perfect but be careful of anyone calling themselves a Christian pastor, preacher, teacher, influencer, or expert while presuming on God’s amazing grace to excuse sin. From the beginning of the church to the present day, there have always been false teachers who claim that grace means God no longer calls His people to holy lives. This is a lie!

As followers of Jesus, we ARE saved by God’s amazing grace. Then we are repeatedly commanded to crucify our sinful desires, to fight for our personal holiness, and to reject the sins of the flesh. God’s grace isn’t an excuse to sin as often as we want. God’s grace is our invitation and power to truly be holy because our God is holy. While there is always grace available when we sin and repent of that sin, we must not intentionally abuse God’s grace. To do so is to think like someone who probably hasn’t actually been saved by that grace. To teach it is to be condemned by God.

If a teacher won’t teach about sin… if a teacher won’t say that things like sexual immorality, greed, uncontrolled anger, division, and idolatry are sins… if a teacher won’t speak of growing in holiness… then they are probably one of those Jude is warning about. Don’t follow them into the sinful desires of your heart. Always #FollowJesus instead.

“You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?”
– Isaiah 29:16

We do turn things upside down! This is such a great illustration of God’s perspective on so many of the conversations taking place in our so-called modern world. Many today imagine and argue that they weren’t made by a Creator. They claim they simply exist, a purpose-less product of random chance or the inevitable outcome of chemistry and biology. This is as arrogant and ridiculous as a hand-formed pot convincing itself that it simply came into existence without anyone making it. Such beliefs aren’t the result of advanced knowledge but rather profound ignorance. The more our understanding has increased of the extraordinary complexity of human life from our largest structures to the microbiology operating within our individual cells, the more clear it is that nobody is an accident. No human life is the product of random chance or biochemical inevitability. We have each been made, crafted by the Master Craftsman, the God of the Universe! You have been made and don’t let anyone’s confident ignorance and/or pseudo-intellectualism convince you otherwise!

Then, we have the frequent statements (and consequences) of those claiming that God made a mistake in the way He made them. They imagine He made them other than as they truly are. They claim He doesn’t understand what it’s like to be them, etc, etc, etc. Statements like these are used to justify all manner of ungodly activities. They are just as false and nonsensical as a pot claiming its potter had no idea what he or she was doing when making it. Once again, we have each been made, crafted by the Master Craftsman, the God of the Universe! He knew exactly what He was doing when He made each person and He did not make a mistake. You are as God intended. Rather than chafe against that, resist it, or pretend it isn’t true, embrace the elegance and wisdom of God’s work and His love for you as you are.

In our cultural conceit, it’s uncomfortable to think of ourselves as clay in the hands of a potter. It feels humiliating to be clay. We’d rather be potters. We don’t like to think about how infinitely above and beyond us God actually is. Too bad! This is just how it is. For all our learning and accomplishments, God’s thoughts and ways are still infinitely above and beyond ours. His knowledge and wisdom are perfect and He always works for what is best. Rather than hate or resist these truths, learn to find comfort in them. Let God love you as you are. Trust God’s presence, power, and goodness in your life no matter what. Submit to His will, authority and design for your life. And #FollowJesus

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” – 2 John 1:7

Understanding Jesus as the Bible reveals Him to be is challenging for us. However, it’s critically important! The Bible clearly demonstrates and teaches that Jesus is the eternal Son of God and one being with God. The Bible also reveals that Jesus took on a human body and nature, becoming one of us to live a perfect life before dying in our place on the cross and rising from the dead. Jesus is fully God and He is fully human. We can’t understand exactly how this works but the Bible is both explicit and implicit about this. If Jesus were anything less, in either nature, then His work on the cross couldn’t have completely dealt with our sins on the cross.

For 20 centuries, Christians have had to be careful about people teaching falsely about Jesus. Members of cults, people enthralled with human philosophies, and those who would limit God to what they themselves can explain or understand. People who would like to wreck your faith with words that sound plausible. Don’t let anyone diminish your understanding of Who Jesus is. Don’t let anyone reduce Him in your mind to just a wise teacher, moral example, revolutionary, or prophet. Don’t listen to those claiming Jesus is a created being, a spirit being, or a mere human being. Likewise, don’t let anyone reduce Him to just being a god who didn’t fully experience human birth, life, temptation, and death.

Those who teach falsely about the nature of Jesus aren’t harmless or misguided people who hold a different perspective. John teaches they are operating in the spirit of antichrist! They deceive the followers of Jesus and deny His fundamental work on our behalf. Even if you don’t like to think much about heady matters of theology, make sure you get this part right! Understand Who Jesus is and don’t entertain those who teach otherwise. #FollowJesus

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” – 1 John 2:1

This verse perfectly encapsulates the lifelong challenge and abundant grace of the Christian life. All those who have been saved as a gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ are called to live holy lives of genuine, heartfelt obedience to the commands of Jesus. As a new creation in Christ, you have the power to not sin. The power to choose joyful obedience over sinful disobedience. The Holy Spirit lives in you and you have the power to crucify your flesh’s sinful desires. It is expected of Christ-followers that we exert serious effort to living a life that pleases God. And so, John wrote this letter to encourage exactly that, challenging every believer to pursue holiness and resist sinful temptation.

And yet… we all stumble and fall into sin from time to time. None of us will be completely perfect on earth until Jesus returns. So, John makes clear that there is always abundant grace available when we do stumble back into sin. When we sin, we aren’t rejected by God. We aren’t renounced by Jesus. We aren’t abandoned by the Holy Spirit. No! To the contrary, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, the Father invites us to confess our sins and turn away from them, and Jesus intercedes on our behalf when we do. Because Jesus already paid the penalty for our sins on the cross, when He speaks up as our Advocate, we KNOW our latest sins are just as fully forgiven as our previous ones.

This isn’t God’s permission to live a sinful life, continuously presuming upon His grace. Far from it. John makes clear in other verses that if that’s our mindset, we most likely aren’t actually saved and forgiven in the first place. This is the tension of life in a fallen world after we becoming new creation in Christ. We are holy in God’s eyes and empowered and commanded to live holy lives. However, when we fail, we must not believe the devil’s lies and live defeated, guilt-ridden lives. Instead, we simply need to turn back to our Advocate, our Lord, our Savior and #FollowJesus