lukewarm

Are You Lukewarm? Take the Test

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Lukewarm is what you get when you mix hot with cold. It’s mixing the white-hot love of God with the stone-cold commands of the Bible. It’s mixing the new and everlasting covenant of grace with the obsolete covenant of law. Are you lukewarm? You might be if… 1. You think Christians need the law The law is [...]

Are You Lukewarm?

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UPDATE: This is an old article. An updated and expanded commentary on this passage can be found in Paul’s book Letters from Jesus. Here’s a favorite question of some preachers: “Are you a lukewarm believer?” You’d better have a good answer because if you’re not sure – “Am I lukewarm?” – Jesus [...]

How to Recognize a Mixed-Grace Gospel

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In churches every week, you will hear one of two messages. You will either hear a mixed-grace gospel or you will hear the hyper-grace gospel. Do you know how to tell the difference? A mixed-grace gospel combines the unmerited favor of God with the merited wage of human-effort. “You are saved by grace but you [...]

Two Gospels?

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In modern Christianity there are two gospels competing for the hearts and minds of hearers: 1. Mixed-grace gospel: You are saved by grace but sanctified by works 2. Hyper-grace gospel: You are saved by grace and sanctified by grace What is a mixed-grace gospel? It’s the message that you are saved by grace but [...]

What is the “Whole” Gospel?

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Heaven forbid that we preach half a gospel, but what is the whole gospel? Your answer to that question says a lot about your views on the finished work of the cross. For instance, whenever I proclaim the good news of God’s unconditional love as revealed in Jesus, I can just about guarantee that some serious [...]

How Do We Pervert the Gospel of Christ?

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If you were on a sinking ship and had a choice of going into the water holding an anchor or a life preserver, which would you choose? Silly question? Yet this is the same choice we make when we choose which gospel to be believe. Choose a gospel? Isn’t there only one? Many so-called gospels are preached, but [...]

Laodicea, Part 2: What Makes Jesus Sick? (Rev 3:16)

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UPDATE: This is an old article. An updated and expanded commentary on this passage can be found in Paul’s book Letters from Jesus. God never makes us sick but did you know it’s possible for people to make him feel sick? Now there’s a staggering thought. Yet this is exactly the reaction the Laodicean [...]

Laodicea, Part 1: Are You “Hot” Enough for God? (Rev 3:15)

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UPDATE: This is an old article. An updated and expanded commentary on this passage can be found in Paul’s book Letters from Jesus. The letter to the Laodicean church may be the best known of the seven Revelations letters. But it is also the most troubling letter for many Christians. The difficulty stems from [...]

Forsaking Your First Love: What Was the Ephesians’ Problem? (Rev 2:1-7)

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UPDATE: This is an old article. An updated and expanded commentary on this passage can be found in Paul’s book Letters from Jesus. Camilla and I are celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary today. We were married on Easter Monday in 1999 and because Easter moves every year, this is our first anniversary to [...]