Ten Signs of a Grace Church

Here’s the one question I get asked more than any other: “Paul, can you recommend a grace church in (insert small town name I’ve never heard of)?”

Usually I can’t help people so I direct them to Ted Nelson who curates the Locate Church Ministries database. But any database is going to be incomplete. What we need is a simple way to tell for ourselves whether a church preaches grace or some unholy mixture of grace and works.

Of course, every church claims to preach grace to one degree or another. But a pure grace church or ministry doesn’t mix the new covenant message of grace with old covenant law and dead works.

Here are…

Ten signs of a grace church

Grace churches and grace ministries typically proclaim…

1. Jesus and nothing but Jesus—because whatever your need, Jesus is the answer (Php. 4:19); the Son is the clearest revelation of the Father’s character (Heb. 1:3); he is the reason for everything and the meaning of life (Col. 1:15–20); knowing Christ and who we are in Christ is how we grow (Php. 3:8, 2 Pet. 3:18)
2. the unconditional love of the Father revealed through Christ and his sacrificial work on the cross (Rom. 5:8)
3. that all your sin—past, present and future—was carried by Christ on the cross, and that in him, you are eternally forgiven (Col. 1:14, 2 Cor. 5:19, Heb. 10:11–12)
4. that all God’s blessings, including salvation and sanctification, come freely by grace and are received by faith (Eph. 1:3, 2:8, 2 Pet. 1:3); the emphasis is on receiving and bearing fruit rather than striving and producing (John 15:5, Php. 1:11, Col. 1:10)
5. that living under law is a form of unbelief that leads to bondage (Gal. 3:12, 5:1), and to walk by faith means trusting God from start to finish (2 Cor. 5:7, Php. 1:6)
6. that only the grace of God can empower us to say no to sin and live holy lives (Tit. 2:11–12)
7. that in spiritual union with the Lord, the believer is as righteous and holy as Christ (John 15:5, Eph. 4:24, 1 John 4:17)
8. that your old self died with Christ and cannot be improved or reformed (Rom. 6:2–3, 6); your born-again self is one with the Lord and can never be lost (John 10:27, Rom. 8:38–39, 2 Cor. 1:21-22)
9. that every believer is part of the body of Christ and has spiritual gifts and an inheritance in the Lord (John 17:10, Rom. 8:17, 12:6, 1 Pet. 4:10)
10. that the new covenant began at the cross, rendering the old covenant obsolete (Luke 22:20, Heb. 8:13)

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More like this:

• 8 Signs of Hyper-Grace Churches
• 8 Signs a Church Doesn’t Get Grace
• What is a Grace Bible church?
• What Verse Should they Display in Churches?
• Is there a Grace Revolution?
• The Most Influential Grace Preachers of the 20th Century

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Your Christmas sorted…