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The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ is the first volume of a three-volume systematics, Christian Theology. The volume is in three parts. Part 1, Faith and History, introduces Christian Theology, explaining why it begins with Christ. It also reviews what is known about Jesus historically and the faith in which he was brought up—the faith in the God of Israel. This part concludes with an examination of the resurrection of Jesus. Part 2, Christology: The Doctrine of the Person of Christ, begins with theology as ‘faith seeking understanding'. It is faith in the Gospel that the crucified Christ is risen from the dead, and this faith in turn issues in the confession that Jesus Christ is ‘Lord'. From here, part 2 traces the logic of the Church's development of Christology, the doctrine of the Person of Christ, from Scripture and, specifically, from the apostolic Gospel. Part 3, Soteriology: The Doctrine of the Work of Christ, investigates the ‘Grace'of God seen in the doctrine of the Atonement as an aspect of Christology. Throughout the entire volume, Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Theology are integrated, drawing on major historical works of Theology and on contemporary scholarship.

Christ's Faithfulness for Our FruitfulnessAmid life's constant change and uncertainty, the call to serve in the Great Commission can often feel overwhelming and isolating. How can one maintain steadfastness and joy through the pressures and obscurities of such a calling? The answer is found not in the strength of our own efforts but in a deep, transformative truth often overlooked due to its simplicity: life in Christ. In Great Commission Spirituality, E. D. Burns skillfully unfolds the peace-giving assurance of our union with Christ. This weighty truth provides not only the foundation but also the force behind our endeavors, allowing us to labor with confidence even in barren fields. By emphasizing that Christ lives in and works through us, Burns reassures readers that true fruitfulness in ministry comes from abiding in Christ, who orchestrates our work by his Word and perfect timing. This resource offers a robust theological framework paired with practical applications. This book encourages any layperson, church leader, or missionary burdened by their vocation and calling to rediscover the joy of serving in reliance on Christ. Whatever your season of life or place of service, may this renew your vision and strengthen your soul with the unchanging truth of Christ's life within you.

Weaving her own story together with nine attributes of God's character revealed from Scripture, Anna Meade Harris speaks to vulnerable single parents and to churches who want to love them well.After the death of her husband, Anna Meade Harris discovered that single-parent families don't seem to have a place in the local church. Because she and her kids no longer fit into the Christian family mold, the body of Christ felt alien and strange when Anna's family needed it the most. Belonging, even in the most loving church, was a challenge.God's Grace for Every Family was born out of Anna's desire to help other families avoid feeling the loneliness that hers felt. This gospel-centered work addresses the single parent who needs to know that God sees, loves, and cares for their family. The book also addresses the church at large, in the hopes that Christians will come to understand the unique needs of single-parent families and do a better job of welcoming, valuing, and loving them.The book begins with Anna's story and then presents information about single-parent families in America, providing an understanding of their unique needs and complex dynamics. The chapters that follow each focus on a particular area of need and contain:Exegesis of Scripture demonstrating the character of God in relationship with his peopleShort narratives collected through interviews with single parents from a variety of backgroundsSuggestions for how the church can serve God and familiesThis book is written for all Christians, married or single, parent or childless. It's written for widows, divorcees, and those who never married. And it's written for the congregants, pastors, leaders, and church family who wants to embrace every family and learn how to serve them well. By addressing families and the church together, God's Grace for Every Family opens the door for gracious conversations and greater unity in the family of God.

•NATIONAL BESTSELLER• Encountering the incomparable, immeasurable grace of Jesus is like getting run over by a freight train: you're powerless against it, it takes you where it wants to, you can't do anything to stop it, and it dramatically changes everything. Grace is one of the most important concepts in Christianity, and it's also one of the most misunderstood, misapplied, and most abused. Run Over By the Grace Train explores the topic of grace: what it is, how we receive it, and how it changes absolutely everything about us. In this deep, spiritually rich book, Joby Martin offers nine key lessons central to understanding God's grace as the central theme of the Christian life. Joby helps readers dig deep into scripture and understand that: we are saved by grace alone grace can't be lost grace does not condemn the sinner and the saint both need God's powerful grace in equal measures Deep, rich, and life-changing, this book written in Joby's characteristic straight-talk, wry style that entertains as it teaches. Run Over by the Grace Train is an ultimately encouraging, inspiring, and fulfilling look at the power of God's grace.

The problem of eternal damnation is one that should trouble all believers and impels many to seek answers to fundamental questions outside of the Church. For this reason, theologians with a missionary heart of the last century or more from across the ecclesial spectrum have sought to refashion the gospel in our own estranged image. In dialogue with one of the leading figures of this movement, Joshua Brotherton tackles the question of the plausibility that all will be saved. Sympathetic to their cause, this volume seeks to revise the way in which they envision the reconciliation of divine love and moral evil.

This book is an exploration of the role of grace in Christian thought and practise. The wonder of the Christian faith is that salvation is available as a gift, by grace, and does not have to be earned. It was a gift from God in the form of the coming and death of Jesus. This is because grace is actually at the heart of the nature of God, where the Trinitarian Persons each give grace fully to the others so that, although different, they are equal. With this background, it follows that this book argues that the way of life of Christians, in the image of God, is of grace. This is a life of readiness to give, a seeking of harmony, and a rebuttal of the aggressiveness and self-seeking that is a characteristic of normal human life.

In the course of a long and distinguished academic and civic career, the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor has been, for articulate atheists and learned believers alike, an incisive, insightful, gracious, and challenging conversation partner on issues that arise at the intersection and interaction of religion, society, and culture. Grace and Freedom in a Secular Age offers a concise exposition of key ideas – contingency, otherness, freedom, vulnerability and mutuality – that inform his probing analyses of the dynamics of religious belief and religious denial in the pervasive contemporary culture he calls a “a secular age,” within which religious belief and practice have, for many, become just an option. Those ideas provide the basis from which Rossi argues that, despite a clear-eyed recognition of the deep fractures of meaning and the pervasive fragmentation of once stable societal connections that a secular age has brought in its wake, Taylor also sees and affirms strong grounds for hope in a healing of our broken and fractured world and for the possibilities—and the importance of—active human participation in that healing. Taylor points to signs indicative of potent re-compositions and renewals taking place in religious belief and practice from its interaction with the dynamics of secular culture, particularly ones that make possible radical enactments of deeper human solidarity and mutuality, of which the one most often potent is the reconciliation of enemies. In pointing out these signs, Taylor suggests a richly expansive reading of the Christian doctrine of Creation, as it marks the radical contingency of all that is upon a freely bestowed divine self-giving: Creation is the ongoing enactment of the divine hospitality of the Triune God.

Grace for Service is a thoroughly researched, biblically grounded, personally transformational study of the Holy Spirit's enabling grace for ministry designed to equip leaders who guide the church in its stewardship of God's gifts and to enrich the understanding of Christians who want to go deeper in this important subject. This book serves up an exceptionally broad buffet of historical, biblical, and theological information to help the reader engage the many questions associated with'spiritual gifts.'In the process it offers a fresh perspective that transcends typical find-and-use-your-gift teaching and moves beyond the long-standing battles over miraculous gifts. It calls the follower of Jesus to view all dimensions of life through the lens of the Spirit's gracious equipping and enabling work. Grace for Service is a must-have resource for anyone who teaches about the Spirit's gifts in church and school settings and an essential read for believers who are passionate about the topic but dissatisfied with what they currently know.

Becoming who you were before the world told you who you had to be.You're not alone when it comes to experiencing shame or fear of not being enough. Shame isn't felt only by those who have gone through failure or trauma or been told they'll never amount to anything. Many people—even those who are considered successful—struggle with a sense that they are deficient or inadequate.Drawing on a rich variety of personal experience, Scripture, spiritual formation classics, psychology, and relational neuroscience; award-winning author and pastor Ken Shigematsu shows how a deep, experiential encounter with the love of God can heal us of our shame, make us whole again, and inspire us to fulfill our purpose by making a faithful contribution to the world.Now I Become Myself will help you:Break free of an unhealthy self-image and from jealousy of others'achievements.Discover how beauty and spiritual joy can help you overcome the unhealthy shame you're clinging to.Create space in your life to draw close to Jesus and deepen your sense of God's boundless love for you.Written with pastoral compassion and understanding, Shigematsu's stories and teachings will uplift you and help you break free from the feeling of not being enough so that you can find rest in the security of God's grace.Each chapter concludes with a prayer exercise intended to nurture your relationship with the God who formed you in love and created you in beauty.

How is the totality of Scripture to be understood? How is sinful man brought into a relationship with God? In the opening pages of Scripture, we read of God's covenant with Adam and all he represents (humanity). If Adam obeys the covenant he will live, yet if he disobeys, he and all in him, will die. Upon the fall of Adam in Gen 3 we read of another covenant, an unconditional one, of the serpent bruising the Seed of the Woman's heel and the Seed of the Woman bruising the serpent's head (Gen 3:15). We read of grace. This book operates as a primer that outlines the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace from Gen 2-3 to uncover the reality of man's ruin in the garden and his redemption in Christ.

2024 ECPA Christian Living Book of the Year WinnerEver wonder if you've stumbled one too many times for God to use someone like you? Could you benefit from an encounter with God's unending, unbending, unswerving love and devotion? If your answer is yes, it's time for you to see how God's grace transformed Jacob's life. And if you feel undeserving of God's grace, this book will serve as a refresher course on God's perfect plan to use imperfect people to do great things.God Never Gives Up on You is for the strugglers among us and the fumbler within us. For those of us who are part saint, part scoundrel; we mean well, but we don't always do well. We have breakthroughs and breakdowns, often in the same hour. We need no reminder of our failures. But where can we find examples of God's steadfast grace?No one is more suited to help assure you of God's grace than Jacob. He was less a prodigy and more a prodigal. Strong on savvy. Weak on conscience. Jacob took advantage of his famished brother and pulled the wool over the eyes of his dying father, yet God never turned his back on Jacob. And he won't turn his back on you. If you are ready to start counting on God's grace and believe he never gives up on you, this book is for you.

'Mark Jones addresses the uncomfortable topic of backsliding believers-and, to a lesser extent, apostasy-in a serious, hopeful, and pastoral work informed by wise theologians of eras past'--

'Are you distracted, weary, and unresponsive to God's grace? Drawing on the wisdom of Puritan John Owen, Kris Lundgaard shows how to find life and peace by cultivating a spiritually devoted mind'--

Are the gentiles under the law in Paul? This question has three possible answers: (1) Paul understands that gentiles are not under the law because they do not have the law; (2) conversely, and although it appears to be ironic, Paul puts gentiles under the law even though he acknowledges that they do not have the law; or (3) he reveals his confusion concerning the relationship between the law and gentiles by saying gentiles are under the law in one place and then saying gentiles are without the law in another place. This book investigates the literature of Second Temple Judaism and the Greco-Roman world to uncover the possible background of Paul's understanding of law and its relationship to the gentiles. This book then engages in exegetical studies on key texts of Paul relative to the law and gentiles by way of historical-grammatical research. The thesis of this book is that, although Paul acknowledges gentiles to be without the law (Rom 2:14) and Israel as having the law as her privilege (Rom 9:4), Paul paradoxically places gentiles along with Jews under the law which gentiles never possessed. For Paul, gentiles not having the law are under the law and its curse. Christ's sacrificial death on the cross redeemed Jews and gentiles from the curse of law.

When Scottish lay theologian Thomas Erskine's book The Unconditional Freeness of the Gospel was published in 1828, it provoked a storm of controversy throughout his Calvinist homeland. The ideas expressed in the book were violently attacked as being radical, unwarranted, and heretical, and yet, by the turn of the twentieth century, those same ideas that had been so heatedly condemned when first presented had become common stock in the Christian world--ideas such as the universal Fatherhood of God, the universal atonement of Christ, and a gospel that was meant to be proclaimed freely to all people. This new and unabridged edition of Thomas Erskine's classic work has been fully and helpfully annotated. It includes an introduction to Thomas Erskine and his theology by the editor, Richard Leimbach, and a final chapter consisting of further readings from Erskine's letters and books. The book will surely be a welcomed addition for anyone interested in the development of Christian theology in the early nineteenth century.

The purpose of this book is to communicate as clearly as possible Paul's gospel of God in its depth, from what I have learned over five decades of studying Paul's letters and theology. But, regardless of how much I have gained from teachers past and present, the bottom line is that'the things freely given us by God'in Paul's gospel can only be known by the Spirit of God, through comparing Paul's Spirit-taught words with Spirit-taught words (1 Cor 2:12-13). Luther's grasp of how justification in Christ--and thus faith in Christ--is central, is verified by what Paul says in Rom 1:16-17; that in the gospel, God's saving righteousness is revealed, from Christ's faith to our faith. The message of this book can be summed up as follows: The life of the person in Christ is to be one of trust in Christ for righteousness before God, and, through that faith, obedience to Christ as Lord. This life is possible because Christ believers have died with Christ to the lordship of the Sin and the law, and are alive to God in Christ Jesus--owned by him as Lord, being one spirit with him.

An updating of virtue ethics for modern pastors and the souls they care for, this book proposes innovations for the craft of ministry in the theology of grace--how virtues radiate to tame strife and other destructive behaviors. It presents a comprehensive alternative to the top-down proclamations of'biblical counseling'approaches that try to impart, from an eclectic biblicist lens, cognitive authorities for consequential change. Instead, Christ's bottom-up practice of virtues heals and fulfills by focusing on neighbor first and subordinating the ego's strategic considerations--more graciously spreading God's will in ministry through participatory and experiential knowledge. Virtuous pastoral ministries integrate the common grace of humanist learning to address the range of the care seeker's contemporary context--her upbringing, struggles, and affiliations. This book presents more the'how'than the'what'of pastoral theology: more how the dance of mutuality and chivalry enters the spiritual flow of healing metaphysical grace than the'what'of right'belief.'Even so, pastoral care from the virtue ethical approach inevitably reconsiders'vending machine'theologies, destructive doctrinal boundaries, and context-lite biblicisms. This presentation introduces how virtue ethics apply to ministry, the household, individual trauma and addictions, and the contemporary political and cultural arena.

OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD!It's the most powerful force in the universe, our only hope for love and forgiveness, and a foretaste of eternal life: amazing, radical, life-changing grace.Millions of lives have been changed by award-winning author Philip Yancey's startling exploration of grace at street level. Grace is the one thing the world can't duplicate, the healing force we need, and the key to transforming a broken world.In this revised and updated edition of his personal and provocative book, Yancey offers true portraits of grace's life-changing power. These stories, set in the midst of life's stark realities, evoke such questions as:If grace is God's love for the undeserving, how do I get it?How well are we dispensing grace to a world that knows far more of strife and unforgiveness than it does of mercy?Can grace make a difference in the midst of such atrocities as the Nazi holocaust, and how can it withstand the brutality of hate? With powerful stories, rich theology, and practical suggestions, Yancey challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately needs to know, What's So Amazing About Grace?

All of Grace is a theological study by Charles Spurgeon who is known as the'Prince of Preachers'. Grace is the hallmark of Christianity which is often out of the focus of the Christian church. Spurgeon suggests that the grace is the central glue of faith, redemption, and repentance. He argues that through grace, repentance gets a meaning. A gospel centered study tells about the greatness of Jesus and the Lord's redemptive heart towards his own. Spurgeon deals with the sin that entangles us by showing us Jesus. He reminds us that the Lord knows very well that we can't change our heart, but he can, when we submit to him by faith in Jesus. And with faith comes repentance.

En este libro, Moisés y Betsy Gómez abren la Biblia y sus corazones para relatar cómo su jornada hacia experimentar lo extraordinario de Dios tomó un giro inesperado. Todo cambió al ellos someterse a la autoridad de la Escritura y al vivir cada área de sus vidas a la luz de las buenas nuevas. Ese era el camino que los llevaría a la vida extraordinaria que tanto anhelaban. Los autores desafían a sus lectores a descubrir el poder transformador del evangelio en la vida real y enseñan cómo aplicarlo en los aspectos ordinarios de la vida. In this book, Moisés and Betsy Gómez open the Bible and their hearts to recount how their journey towards experimenting the extraordinary of God took an unexpected turn. Everything changed when they conformed to the authority of the Scripture and lived every area of their lives under the light of the gospel. This was the way that would lead them to the extraordinary life they longed for. The authors challenge the readers to discover the transforming power of the gospel in real life and teach how to apply it to everyday life.

'Joshua's tone and message communicates a wisdom that can only come from first-hand experience. The grace and poetic writing within this book will stay with you for ever'- Propaganda, Author, Poet, Political Activist'Joshua Luke Smith has given us a beautiful book. With the skill of an artist, the heart of a disciple, and the vision of prophet, he invites us to encounter the grace of God in a way that stokes the deeper fire our hearts are aching for in these broken time. What a gift.'- Jon Tyson. Author and Pastor The culture today tells us we can be whoever we want to be. So, why do so many of us feel stuck? Throughout this book, pastor and poet Joshua Luke Smith invites you into a'selah'moment - an opportunity to quieten the noise – and to see that the clarity you are longing for may be closer than you think. Something You Once Knew will remind you of what you always hoped to be true and rekindle the wonder you lost along the way. With thoughtful reflections on following curiosity, building true community and reclaiming your creativity, this book will help you to rediscover the vision and vibrancy installed in you from the very beginning.''Joshua Luke Smith writes with an electric heart-on-sleeve honesty that makes me feel like I'm reconnecting with a long-lost friend. Page after page I feel the stirring of a mysterious wonder that I'm afraid I'd long forgotten.'- John Mark Mcmillan'Every human should read this masterpiece (and I don't call it that lightly) as I honestly think it has the ability to make us all better people.'- Zoe Clark-Coates MBE

What Is God's Grace—and What Does It Mean for You? Grace. It's a word we've heard since the very first step in our faith journey—but do we really believe in God's grace? Grace raises eyebrows. It begs questions. Grace turns everything upside down. The Grace Message invites you to discover the best flavor of Christianity and celebrate the good news of the Gospel to the fullest. Here, you'll learn: • how to abandon rule-based living and stop trying to measure up • why your new identity in Jesus matters more than you can imagine • how you can now enjoy God's New Covenant way of grace Bestselling author and radio host Andrew Farley's no-nonsense straight talk will awaken you to a revolutionary perspective every healthy Christian should have. Life is too short to miss out on God's best—and what you don't know can hinder you from experiencing Jesus in every area of your life. So if you've been weighed down by ruthless religion, or you've been searching for that high-octane version of the Gospel that you know must be out there somewhere, here it is. This thought-provoking book will challenge you to dismiss the lies you've believed and to make up your own mind about how big God's grace really is. “Andrew Farley shows why the good news is actually great news. This extraordinary, battle-tested message of hope and freedom has a proven track record of transforming lives. The Grace Message is bursting with truth. The love of God practically drips from its pages. Read it and see for yourself!” —Bart Millard, singer/songwriter for MercyMe

What is the apostle Paul's message in his Letter to the Romans? And how does it apply to us today? Is there more to learn about Romans, and is there more for the church to hear today? Keith Stanglin takes this familiar epistle and makes sense of its author's original intent and its meaning for believers now. With attention both to the historical background and to our contemporary situation, he offers thirty-one meditations that take readers through the entire letter, beginning with the ancient arguments and arriving at modern exhortation. Each chapter is accompanied by discussion questions for use in classes and study groups. For scholars serving the church, this book is a welcome supplement to a technical commentary. For non-specialists, it is an introduction to Romans and an invitation to seek its wisdom. All readers will see Paul's message of God's grace in fresh ways.

A Biblical View of Work in Light of the Gospel For many people, their job is merely'the daily grind'needed to provide for family or pay the bills. Yet our work is a vital means for fulfilling God's purpose for our lives and displaying his grace to those around us. We bear God's image in our workplaces, experiencing his blessings and expressing his nature through our efforts, integrity, creativity, generosity, and excellence. No earthly chore is without the opportunity to observe his divine hand. No challenge in task or relationship is without opportunity to represent God's heart. In this ebook, author and pastor Bryan Chapell shares this biblical perspective of vocation, explaining how God gives purpose to our work by making it an instrument of his grace to our own hearts, as well as a way of bringing his goodness and glory into our world. Chapell explains how we can worship God by our work, rising above drudgery, duty, or self-interest with the understanding that our jobs are unique callings for displaying God's character and care. Our work is worship when we see the glory beyond the grind, the mission in the mundane, and the grace at work. - Ideal for Christians in the Workplace: Contains encouragement for those looking for purpose in their jobs - Biblically Grounded: Chapell teaches how the gospel blesses attitudes and responsibilities relating to success, creativity, money, integrity, leadership, and even sin in the workplace - Kingdom Minded: Explains vocation in light of the grace Christ provides to and through his people for blessing our world and bringing him glory

To say that offering forgiveness is a challenge is an understatement. Forgiveness is tough! Forgiveness is often messy. Forgiveness doesn't feel good to most of us. And when it comes to the biggest, deepest hurts in life, forgiveness can seem impossible. Some hurts are the everyday, garden-variety irritations we endure for having to live in the company of other human beings who lose their tempers, get up on the wrong side of the bed, say nasty things, are ungrateful, selfish, and irritable. Some hurts are of a magnitude that far transcend these — degradation, exploitation, abandonment, rejection, humiliation, racism, bullying, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. But with God's grace, even in those most difficult cases, forgiveness is possible. In Choosing Forgiveness, Fr. Thomas Berg and Dr. Timothy G. Lock are your guides on the way toward forgiveness through the grace of God. This book will help you discover the pathway to healing, peace, and interior freedom, releasing you and those who have wronged you from the bondage of unforgiveness.

Well known for his appearances on TV and radio, as well as for his books Finding Sanctuary and Finding Happiness, Christopher Jamison once again shows his ability to communicate spiritual insights in an accessible way. Finding the Language of Grace: Rediscovering Transcendence focuses on the transcendent experiences of grace that we struggle to talk about in today's very business-like culture. Abbot Christopher shows how the ways we listen and speak, read and write can all be channels of grace. This is illustrated through books as diverse as the medieval legend of the Holy Grail, Silence by Japanese writer Shusaku Endo, the writings of Spanish mystics and the novels of Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson. The power and the pain of grace resonate throughout the book, offering a new perspective on healing the loneliness and mistrust experienced by many, as well as on the turbulence and political extremes of today's world. How do we restore trust? How can we listen well? What is the right way to read the signs of the times? And how can we revitalise the language of grace in our day?

Meditations on grace from a biblical scholar Grace is not limited to God. If one of God's characteristics is grace, it should be one of ours also. Grace runs throughout Christian Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. But as we read the Bible, we might miss the depth of what grace truly is and what it means for us. In What Grace Is, biblical scholar Craig A. Evans invites us to look at grace throughout the Bible, going deep in examples from the book of Genesis and the Gospel of Luke. Bringing together biblical insight and personal wisdom, this short book will give readers a new appreciation for grace in action—acts of kindness and mercy exemplifying the kind of grace that can only be described as divine. We live in an angry and fractured world that desperately needs more of this grace. What Grace Is encourages us to meditate on the divine grace we have received and extend that same grace to others.