Subscribe to the RSS Feed
  • Featured Posts
  • All Posts

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies-in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." I Peter 4:10-11

Does grace lead to unrestrained sin? Does freedom from the Mosaic Law mean freedom from any kind of obedience? The apostle Paul faced these kinds of questions recurringly, and the consistency and clarity of his answers ought to make the answer plain to us. "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!" "What then? Are we to sin because we are not under Law but under grace? By no means!" It is only the most serious misunderstandings of grace that use grace as an excuse for sin. Grace is abused and misused if we ever think of it as a reason to live unrighteously. Grace is actually the only power for holiness. Rightly understood, there is no greater or better motivation for holiness.

"Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me And before I'd be a slave I'll be buried in my grave And go home to my Lord and be free"

Throughout the book of Philippians, Paul celebrates the unique Gospel partnership he shared with the Philippian church. Paul opens the books by explaining that even his prayers were marked with thankfulness and joy because of their partnership in the Gospel. And in the closing of his book, Paul again praises the Philippians for being the only church who partnered with him, joined his suffering, and met his needs. In the Great Commission, both "senders" and "goers" matter. It's our privilege to partner with the Staniscis to spread the Gospel in Italy. Lucio's birthday is on Thursday, and the Staniscis are our Seeds missionaries for the month. All these seemed like good reasons to remind you about the Staniscis' ministry and a few key prayer requests.