This message comes from Randy Clark, founder and president of Global Awakening.  I thought it was worth posting for those who read my blog.  So enjoy.  Tom Vermillion


If grace has no limits, how much is grace? 

Some of us have entered the Kingdom by faith, and we believe we have been forgiven. We understand we are sinners saved by grace. This is wonderful, but we will limit our victories if we camp here.

You see, grace that brings you out and causes you to be born again takes you to the door of what grace actually provides. Not only does Jesus save, but He takes the signet ring of the Father and gives it to you.

If we just come to the door and say, “I’m forgiven,” we’ll live like spiritual paupers. We need to understand that we are more than forgiven—and that is by God’s grace. Grace not only forgave us but put the ring back on our finger. Now, in the authority of the Father’s name, we can make decrees.

Jesus did not just die to forgive you but to welcome you into the Kingdom as children of the Most High with all authority and power to use on His behalf. He puts His own Spirit within you so you can walk right into the taverns now and begin to prophesy. You now have access to God as your beloved, your Father, and a best friend. More than that, He grants us the grace for impartation, spiritual gifts, and supernatural empowerment in our Kingdom callings. Healings, miracles, the five-fold ministry—these Kingdom works are the grace of God in our lives.

I really believe that if we could get a full understanding of grace, we would not need to go through most of the issues we face as Christians. If we could get grounded in throne life at the beginning of our Christian life, we could walk in victory a lot more. Too often, as Bill Johnson says, we’ve repented—changed the way we think—enough to get into the Kingdom but not enough to walk in its power. 

Don’t stop at the doorway. He loves you. We can’t comprehend how much He truly loves us. More than that—He has abundant grace for us. He wants us to rule and reign with Kingdom authority so we can go into all the world and disciple, heal, deliver, and walk in victory.

In our age of “relative truth” or “personal truth,” many churches have become quite relaxed when it comes to biblical doctrine.  When you look at recent research on churches, ministers and beliefs, there is an astonishing number of pastors and “theologians” that don’t believe or are uncertain about some essential doctrines of the faith. A 2022 survey by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University reveals the following.  Their findings are in line with other major researchers like Barna. 

Specifically, the report found that one-third or more of senior pastors believe:

• Sexual relations between two unmarried people who believe they love each other is morally acceptable.
• Determining moral truth is up to each individual; there are no moral absolutes that apply to everyone, all the time.
• The Holy Spirit is not a living entity, but is a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity.
• Having faith matters more than which faith you have.
• Reincarnation is a real possibility.
• A person who is generally good, or does enough good things for others, can earn a place in Heaven.
• The Bible is ambiguous in its teaching about abortion, enabling you to make a strong argument either for or against abortion based on biblical principles.
  

Additionally, one-third or more of senior pastors reject the following beliefs: human life is sacred; wealth is entrusted to individuals to be managed for God’s purposes; success is consistent obedience to God; people are born into sin and can only be saved from its consequences by Jesus Christ; they, personally, will experience eternal salvation only because they have personally confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.

In addition to these findings, other research reveals that high numbers of senior pastors and theologians do not believe in the miracles of the New Testament, the virgin birth, or a literal resurrection of Jesus.  Many do not believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven. We also know that entire denominations have embraced same-sex marriage as well as allowing practicing homosexuals to fill leadership roles in their church. The research finds these faith discrepancies among senior pastors., not just young, new-to-ministry pastors. 

So…is this something to be concerned about?

In Paul’s letter to the Galatian church, he responded to a group of teachers that had come into the church teaching that salvation was not only dependent on belief in Jesus but also on certain works of the Law…especially circumcision.  Their bumper stickers would have read,  ”Jesus + Circumcision[TV1]  = Salvation!” 

In response to that teaching, Paul wrote, “Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” (Gal. 1:7-9). The word translated “God’s curse,” essentially means “eternally damned.”  That is an exceptionally strong rebuke.

In Pauls’ first letter to Timothy, he warns, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:1-2). 

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he reinforced his warnings about false teachers. “I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:1-2). 

A close reading of the New Testament emphasizes again and again that doctrine matters because salvation depends on what you believe about Jesus.  In Galatians, Paul asserts that if you add any kind of works to grace, you have stepped outside of grace. He wrote, “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (I Tim. 5:4).  Anything other than Jesus alone, makes his sacrifice insufficient for our salvation.  Any salvation that depends on anything other than the blood of Christ and grace of God, places you back under a system of law which will ultimately condemn you.  Any number of churches today preach a salvation based on a system of faith and works. 

In addition, the entire New Testament admonishes believers to live righteous lives as evidence of their salvation.  We are not saved by righteousness, but we are called to be righteous.  Those who say they believe in Jesus, but continue to live lives dominated by sin without remorse, are warned that those who live in such ways will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  God does not require perfection, but a heart that wants to live a righteous life for Jesus.  Those who change the word of God to embrace cultural values, place themselves in great danger.

This is not to say that all believers must be in lock-step on doctrine and understand all scripture perfectly.  In Romans 14, Paul says that we can disagree about some biblical doctrines and still be good with God and one another.  For instance, he says if a man wants to count all days as the same and does so unto God…he is good with God. If another man wants to keep certain days holy and does so unto God…he is good with God.   But Paul warns these positions cannot be made conditions of salvation and we must not judge one another about those matters…keep the Sabbath if you wish, keep Christmas if you wish, or consider all days the same.  If you do either out of faith, it is acceptable.  

Many beliefs are not salvation issues. Thankfully, understanding the book of Revelation perfectly is not required for salvation.  We can read scripture honestly and come away with different views on the gifts of the Spirit, end-times prophecies, whether we should celebrate Christmas, what blasphemy of the Spirit truly means and be saved and still fellowship with one another.

What we can’t compromise is the truth about Jesus, his divinity, his coming in the flesh, his sinless life, his death and resurrection and his ascension to heaven.  John tell wu us that those who bring unbiblical views of Jesus into the church and try to teach them, must be separated from the church ( 2 Jn. 7-11).

The second non-negotiable is holy living.  We are called to be holy even as He is holy.  Anyone or any church who tries to use grace as a “get-out-of-jail -free-card“ for sinful living, is in a dangerous place with the Lord, because it makes  a mockery of the cross.  John declares, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning, No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him” (1 Jn. 3:6).  John is not saying that if we ever sin after coming to Jesus, we are not saved.  He is saying that, after coming to Jesus, we should have a heart that pursues righteousness, even though we fail at times, rather than still having a heart that pursues sin.

In summary, doctrine (what we believe about Jesus and righteous living) matters.  We must be careful with God’s word and be careful not to let culture dictate our understanding of the Word.  After all, Paul declares that without the Spirit living in us, we cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14).  The world and the systems of the world cannot give us insight into God or his truth.

When Satan can teach “doctrines of demons:” within the church, he has found a powerful strategy for deception. We must study the scriptures for ourselves and test what we hear in church with the scriptures.  I’m not advocating distrust, but we are told to weigh prophecies, test the spirits, and Paul called the Bereans noble because they searched the scriptures daily to see if what he was teaching lined up with God’s word.  The end-times are to be marked with deception, so be careful with the Word of God so that Satan cannot twist it, change it, or dilute it and lead you away from God’s truth.

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One of the recurring questions throughout scripture is, “Why do the wicked prosper?”  I(f there is a just God in heaven who rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked, why do the wicked seem to fare so well in this world.  If you are wired in a way that justice is a strong theme in your life, it is even more troubling.  

We live in a world now where the rich and powerful seem to be able to get away with anything.  People acknowledge corruption at the highest levels of government and yet little seems to be done in concrete ways to deter that corruption.  No one goes to jail.  And yet, scripture cries out for justice.

Through the prophet Amos, God declared to Israel, “Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings, I will not accept them, and the peace offerings of your fatted beasts I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:22-24).  For God. justice has a higher value than sacrifices at the temple. 

The psalmist brought this complaint before the courts of heaven: 

But as for me,  my feet had almost slipped, I had nearly lost my foothold. For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. for they have no struggles, their bodies are sound and sleek. They are not in trouble as other men are; they are not stricken like other men. Therefore, pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out with fatness, their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore the people turn and praise them; and find no fault in them. And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken, and chastened every morning (Ps. 73:2-14).

That text certainly seems to describe our world.  Men and women go to Washington to “serve their country” but soon are worth millions of dollars and their only concern is maintaining power.  There is a huge amount of corruption being uncovered now, but it is hardly being reported on by most news agencies and many doubt that anyone will actually be punished for wrong doing.

That was the psalmist’s complaint.  Not only did he complain about how the wicked thrived but that because of their affluence, many people praised them and wanted to be like them.  On top of that, the psalmist was a man who was trying to live for God and his life was difficult every day,  So, what do we do with this paradox?  There is a just God in heaven, but he seems to keep his hands off the injustice in the world. 

The psalmist went on to say, ” When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply 

till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin” (Ps. 73:16-18).

What the writer understood was that justice would be served inevitably and perfectly when these men stood before God in the final judgment. Some will certainly reap what they sow in this life, but all will face judgment in the end. One of our frustrations is that we want God to do what he has assigned us to do. Psalm 115:16-17 declares, “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.”  

The Lord commissioned Adam and Eve to take dominion over the earth. He has given man authority in this world.  He does intervene, but often only in response to our prayers.  It is up to us to ensure that justice is done. The kingdom of darkness is not interested in justice, only in power.  The kingdom of light is the domain of justice and so as the kingdom of heaven spreads across the globe, so will justice.  Bringing the world to Jesus is the sole cure for injustice.  To be sure, there will be pockets of culture now where Christians have influence that will dispense justice, but we cannot depend on the systems of the world to express the values of heaven.  We must bring those systems under the influence of the kingdom.

Our frustration is that we want to see justice now.  That is a worthy goal.  So we need strong believers sitting on judicial benches, making laws in Congress, imparting godly values in universities, and pointing out injustice in the media.  The wicked will continue to prosper in this world until the kingdom of heaven engulfs them.  If our frustration begins to affect our faith as we ask where God is in all of this, we need to adopt an eternal view of life.  God lives in the eternal.  He knows justice will be dealt out.  Paul says. “God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to those who are troubled. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire” (2 Thess. 1:5-7).

God calls on us to work for justice in this world, but he also promises that whatever has been left undone, he will see that justice is done at the return of his Son. Again, Paul says, “¹ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord” (Rom. 12:17-20).  

God does not ignore injustice or wickedness or betrayal or those who have unjustly persecuted or wounded you.  All things will be set right when Jesus returns.  Should we strive for justice in this world?  By all means, that is our assignment.  But those who seem to be beyond our reach, will not be beyond his.

When we think of King David, we most often envision him as a boy shepherding his father’s sheep while facing down a lion and a bear, a young man slaying the Philistine champion Goliath, a friend of Jonathan running from an insane King Saul, or a poet penning the words to great Psalms we have committed to memory.  To most of us, Davis is an heroic figure.  He was, after all, a man after God’s on heart.  

But then there was the episode with Bathsheba and her husband Uriah.  As you recall, Uriah was one of David’s mighty men who served as the king’s guard and who fought his battles.  In the Spring of the year, David’s troops went to war but, for some unstated reason, David stayed behind.  While walking on the roof of the palace in the cool of the evening, David saw Bathsheba taking a bath in her courtyard.  I’m certain it was behind a wall with no thought that someone might be on the palace roof where he could see over her privacy fence.  You know the rest of the story.

David had Bathsheba brought to him.  Before the evening was over, they ended up in each other’s arms committing adultery.  We don’t know if Bathsheba were a willing party or simply felt she could not sway not to a king. He most likely sent her home apologizing for what had happened with assurances that it would never happen again.  However, she soon reported she was pregnant. David found himself in a contorted dilemma.  He was responsible for what had happened.  Adultery was a crime punishable by death for both the man and the woman and, in this case, an innocent child.  Even if the law were not enforced, David would lose the loyalty of his men who were off risking their lives while he was at home trifling with their wives.

Satan had sprung the trap.  One moment of unguarded passion had led to unthinkable consequences for David, Bathsheba, and the kingdom.  In a desperate effort to cover up the sin, David called Uriah home from the front to “report on the battle.“ While there, David encouraged him to go home and be with his wife.  Later, they could explain the pregnancy as a result of his brief visit in Jerusalem.  However, Uriah would not go to his wife while his men slept in the field away from their families.  

Finally, David devised a plan. He sent Uriah back to the front, but instructed his commander to place Uriah in jeopardy in the battle in the hopes that he might lose his life.  He would not be around to deny that he had gone to Bathsheba on his trip back from the war. David’s plan worked and Uriah was killed in battle.  Then, in a seemingly compassionate move, David took the grieving widow to be one of his wives.  Now he had added murder to adultery.  We are told that David sat on the throne for nearly a year before he was confronted by Nathan the prophet about his sin.  God had given him that time to acknowledge what he had done and to repent.

We can only speculate, but David was a man like other men.  Undoubtedly, he kept quiet about what had happened and what he had done both out of shame and fear. Adultery was bad enough, but if it got out that David had set Uriah up for death, he might not have an army left nor the loyalty of his people.  Like most of us, he probably rationalized his silence and, perhaps, his sin. The enemy must have been whispering that Bathsheba should have been more careful with her privacy or perhaps, Uriah wasn’t the husband he should have been.  He put his men ahead of his marriage and maybe Bathsheba was susceptible because of an unloving husband.  Secrecy and murder was wrong but it was for the sake of the kingdom…the greater good.  Besides…God had made David with his sex drive.  He couldn’t help himself.  The death of Uriah, though tragic, may have saved three lives as the death penalty was attached to the adultery.  For months, David probably pushed back against any impulse to confess because of the dire consequences that would come from his failure.  In that season he felt the absence of God because, in his heart, he was hiding from the one he had once been so close to.

Even in this state of denial, God still pursued David.  His Spirit kept stirring David’s conscience and eventually he sent Nathan the prophet to confront him.  As the prophet rebuked David (2 Sam.12), the dam broke and David acknowledged his terrible sin. Psalm 51 is the substance of his confession. We need to notice a few critical things in this Psalm as David sought forgiveness from his creator.  The Psalm is a quick read, so I encourage you to read it now before continuing with this blog.

Importantly, David begins by trusting the character of God…especially his great mercy, his unfailing love, and his compassion. Before we go to God with a big fail (sin), we need to assure ourselves that when our heart is right, God is willing and quick to forgive.  Like the father of the “prodigal son,” he waits for us and longs for us to return no matter what we have done.   

Nowhere in this psalm does David minimize or justify his sin. He does not plead his case before God by blaming Bathsheba for her carelessness or Uriah for his neglect.  He doesn’t try to make a case that it was only one time and he couldn’t help himself.  He didn’t argue that his concern for the Kingdom demanded the coverup.  He simply stated he had sinned against God and he had no excuses.  He clearly was broken and remorseful and simply wanted to be restored so that he might praise God again and point sinners to salvation.

When he confessed and repented, his sin was immediately forgiven and his relationship with the Father renewed.  There would be difficult consequences in the natural realm, but his walk with God had been restored and God would see him through the hard times ahead.

Too often, we feel as if we have to talk God into forgiving our sins by down playing them, excusing them, blaming others, or even declaring that God’s expectations are not fair. David declared that God’s standards were just and right.  The problem was on David’s end, not God’s.  God does not forgive our sins because we deserve to or make a good case.  He forgives them because he is full of love, mercy and grace and we are his beloved children.  Knowing all of our sins before we were ever born, he still covered them by the blood of his son.

What he wants when we fall short, no matter how short, is for us to fully own our sin…no excuses, no rationalizations, no deflecting.  He wants is to trust in his love and grace rather than our ability to persuade him we are actually pretty good people who warrant him letting our sin slide.  That approach suggests that God is not so good and the blood of Christ is not really sufficient. That approach brings us into agreement with Satan and opens the door to his activity in our lives.  We are going to sin…sometimes in disastrous ways, but we cannot hide it from God because he knows all things.  We cannot blame others because we made our choices. We should not excuse ourselves because sin will not be excused.  What we should do is run to our Father, knowing he is full of mercy and quick to forgive, if we indeed have godly sorrow about what we have done. He will not keep bringing it up or rubbing our nose in what we have done because by the blood of Christ, in response to our repentance, our sin and the record of our sin are blotted out.  Good news!