Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas

The Village Chapel - Nashville, TN
  • 4.9 (30)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Semiweekly

Join us for Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas. Each episode is a verse-by-verse study from the Bible—unique in its source, timeless in its truth, broad in its reach and transforming in its power. This podcast is a resource of The Village Chapel in Nashville, TN.

  1. 1d ago

    The Purpose of God's Law | Galatians 3:15–25 | Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas

    Paul holds up the Law of God and the promises of God side by side throughout Galatians 3, letting us see what each was actually built to do. This episode asks the question underneath the whole chapter: what was the Law for, if it was never meant to save us? What Holds Us Back: The Law is like a compass or a thermometer — both are diagnostic instruments, not curative ones. A compass doesn't create true north or carry you there; it just shows you when you've drifted. A thermometer doesn't cure a fever; it tells you one exists. Religious legalism is trying to climb the compass like a stairway to heaven, or swallowing the thermometer hoping the fever will go away. The opposite error — dismissing God's Law altogether — is just as destructive; true freedom was never "anything goes." The Law is good precisely because it's diagnostic. The cure is grace, found in the person and work of Christ. How Christ Sets Us Free: No one is justified by the Law (3:11) — no one keeps it in full. The Law says "Do this and live"; the promise says "Christ has done it all — believe in Him." The Law was never meant to replace the promise; it serves it. This is the great exchange of 2 Corinthians 5:21 — Christ took on our sin on the cross, and robes us in His righteousness in return. Where We Can Stand: "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (3:25). The Law did its job — it brought us to the end of ourselves and to the beginning of Christ. That's not failure; that was the plan. Our confidence isn't in our observance of the Law, but in Christ alone. My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. — Edward Mote, "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less" (1834) How We Should Walk: Where are you still using the Law as a ladder to climb rather than a thermometer to read? This week, dwell on what Christ has already done — his faithfulness in your past, his strength for your present, his hope for your future — rather than on your own religious performance. Support the show Connect With Us: Biblical Resources: Browse our 25-year study archive of sermons, podcasts, studies, worship resources and more: thevillagechapel.com/resourcesVisit Us: Join us in person in Nashville: thevillagechapel.com/visitRequest Prayer: We would love to pray for you: thevillagechapel.com/prayerSupport The Mission: Your support enables us to share the Gospel in Nashville and beyond: thevillagechapel.com/giveThe Village Chapel exists to glorify God through the teaching of His word, through heartfelt worship, and by connecting people with opportunities to live lives of real significance, serving God and their neighbors as a local community of faith.

  2. 5d ago

    Receiving the Promises | Galatians 3:1–14 | Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas

    We live in a world that runs on performance. Your value is your output. Your worth is your record. Your acceptance depends on what you've achieved, acquired, and even what you've avoided. Most of us have absorbed this logic so deeply that we've brought it straight into our relationship with God without even noticing. We believe in grace. We just don't quite trust that grace will be enough. What holds us back: There is a slow, almost imperceptible slide from trusting God completely to begining to act like we can achieve spiritual progress on our own. Disciplines that started as expressions of faith quietly become the source of our faith. We wake up one day not trusting in Christ alone but in Christ plus religious performance.  The hymnal of the Judaizers might have Paul and Barnabas singing…not “Amazing Grace” but rather, “Amazing circumcision” Not singing “In Christ Alone” but rather, “In Christ plus works, my hope is found” “They were telling Gentile converts that faith in Jesus was not enough, not sufficient for salvation: they must add to faith circumcision, and to circumcision observance of the law. In other words, they must let Moses complete what Jesus had begun, and let the law supplement the Gospel. The issue was immense.” —John R.W. Stott, The Message of Acts How Christ sets us free: God’s solution isn’t more religious activities, it’s a reconciled relationship with God through faith in Christ. Christ took our sin upon Himself at the cross. He became a curse for us. The promises come by faith — and they always did. You don't have to achieve what God has already promised as a gift that you simply receive. “Only grace can work to remind us that faith in God is a resting place and trust in self is a minefield. It is grace and grace alone that empowers us to follow and to rest.” -Paul Tripp, New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional Where we can stand: The promise came first. The blessing is already ours in Christ. Grace is for the guilty and undeserving.  Mercy is for the helpless and needy.  All of us are all of that, so all of us need grace and mercy. How we should walk: Identify one promise from God you're still trying to earn rather than receive. Practice open-handed prayer over it this week — not asking God to reward your effort, but thanking him for what he's already secured. A version of the Jesus prayer: Lord Jesus Christ Son of God Have mercy on me, A sinner “When religion has said its last word, there is little that we need other than God Himself. The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation. In the ‘and' lies our great woe. If we omit the ‘and', we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.” —A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God “I used to think that understanding him was the main thing. It isn’t. The main thing is being loved by him. And that I know.” –Steve Brown, What Was I Thinking? Here's the thing about the Galatians' mistake — it wasn't that they stopped believing in Jesus. It's that they stopped believing Jesus was enough. Receive the promises of God and rest in the love of Jesus Christ for you. Support the show Connect With Us: Biblical Resources: Browse our 25-year study archive of sermons, podcasts, studies, worship resources and more: thevillagechapel.com/resourcesVisit Us: Join us in person in Nashville: thevillagechapel.com/visitRequest Prayer: We would love to pray for you: thevillagechapel.com/prayerSupport The Mission: Your support enables us to share the Gospel in Nashville and beyond: thevillagechapel.com/giveThe Village Chapel exists to glorify God through the teaching of His word, through heartfelt worship, and by connecting people with opportunities to live lives of real significance, serving God and their neighbors as a local community of faith.

  3. Sep 29

    Authenticity in the Gospel | Galatians 2:11–21 | Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas

    What holds us back: We’ve drifted from authenticity when we start living in one way out in public and in another way when nobody’s looking. Hypocrisy is that wretched admixture of pretending and posing, striving to be seen in the best light possible. “The divine punishment of hypocrisy is fatigue.” —G. K. Chesterton, “The Blunders of Our Governments,” Illustrated London News, June 13, 1914. There’s no fatigue deeper than soul fatigue. Good News: As disciples of Jesus, there is another way. Let’s become intentional about living lives of Gospel authenticity and integrity. How Christ sets us free: Paul pivoted to his most personal and perhaps most memorable statements in Galatians: v. 20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."  So, authentic gospel living isn't about trying harder, becoming more legalistic, or ginning up more willpower. It's about living in union with Christ; resting in our Divinely given identity that runs so deep and is so settled that the old performance based religion loses its grip on us.  “Essentially salvation means living our lives in union with Christ, being one with Christ. We have been crucified with Christ - 'I am crucified with Christ', says Paul. 'All that has happened to Him has happened to me. I am one with Him.” —Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure Where we can stand: That last half of v. 20 says "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Here’s the ground upon which we stand. We’re standing on the rock and foundation of our faith, Jesus Christ — who loved us and gave himself for us!  What a wonderful Savior He is! “The Christian's life is a matchless riddle. No worldling can comprehend it! Even the Believer himself cannot understand it. Dead, yet alive! crucified with Christ, and yet at the same time risen with Christ in newness of life!” —Charles H. Spurgeon, “Christus et Ego,” Sermon No. 781, preached November 17, 1867 How we should walk: Authenticity itself is not the ultimate goal; nor is it the new holiness. There are plenty of times when the people around me could use a little less of my authentic self, and a little more of my living in union with Christ self. We need to get back to the fundamental confession of our faith that we now live in union with Christ and as we surrender all of who we are to Him, it is then that Christ lives in us! “Our neglect of union with Christ explains the gaps between our faith and our lives. When the work of Christ for us becomes abstracted from the person of Christ within us, is it any wonder there is a chasm between our heads and our hearts or between our beliefs and our experiences? Is it surprising that we feel frustrated and cynical or tossed to and fro?” —Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ  May the good seed of God’s Word take root and bear fruit in our lives today. May we walk with Gospel authenticity in all our relationships and in the way we approach our work this day!  Support the show Connect With Us: Biblical Resources: Browse our 25-year study archive of sermons, podcasts, studies, worship resources and more: thevillagechapel.com/resourcesVisit Us: Join us in person in Nashville: thevillagechapel.com/visitRequest Prayer: We would love to pray for you: thevillagechapel.com/prayerSupport The Mission: Your support enables us to share the Gospel in Nashville and beyond: thevillagechapel.com/giveThe Village Chapel exists to glorify God through the teaching of His word, through heartfelt worship, and by connecting people with opportunities to live lives of real significance, serving God and their neighbors as a local community of faith.

  4. Sep 25

    The Fellowship of Freedom | Galatians 2:1–10 | Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas

    What holds us back: Religious traditionalism is not the same thing as tradition itself. Tradition can be a good gift. It hands down to us the faith of those who came before us; it roots and grounds us. Their problem was, they were being handed traditionalism — when tradition stops pointing to Christ and starts substituting itself for Him. The historian Jaroslav Pelikan put this about as well as it's ever been put: "Tradition is the living faith of the dead, while traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” You see, healthy tradition remains alive because it's still pointing you to Jesus. Traditionalism, however, is dead because it's asking you to trust in some religious practice instead of trusting in the Person of Christ. If we're honest, some "ism" — some religious performance, the Jesus-plus some extra religious requirement, the invisible scorecard — still holds a lot of us back today. How Christ sets us free: This wasn't a power struggle that Paul happened to win. It was possible because Paul wasn't fighting for himself. He wasn't protecting his ego or his reputation. He was contending for the glory of Christ and for the integrity of the gospel message. That's what gospel freedom does — it takes the fight out of our hands and puts it in service of something bigger than us. Where we can stand: As we come to believe the good news of God's grace, offered as a gift through the finished work of Christ, we're brought into a fellowship of freedom — and that fellowship keeps returning, again and again, to the grace of God in Christ. Not to our performance. Not to tradition. But to God’s amazing grace. And standing there, in that grace, we are set free — free from the penalty of sin, because Christ has already paid it in full at the Cross; free from the power of sin, because His Spirit lives within us and is constantly reforming and reshaping us. And although we're not fully there yet, we're looking forward to the day Christ returns to set the whole world right, and when we'll be free even from the presence of sin. Penalty, power, and one day, presence. That's the ground we get to stand on — not earned, only received. How we should walk: What would being part of the fellowship of freedom — God's truth believed and expressed in love — actually look like in your life? How would it change the way you understand God's grace, mercy and forgiveness have been at work in you? How would it change your attitude toward other believers — especially the ones who annoy you, the ones who see things differently than you do? And how would it change the way you look at people who haven't yet even come to faith in Christ? May the Lord give us eyes to see ourselves as totally loved and forgiven in Christ; to see others that same way; and may He make our hearts a mirror — reflecting that same heart of Jesus toward everyone we encounter this week. Sources referenced: Jaroslav Pelikan, quoted in The Christian Tradition, Vol. 1 (University of Chicago Press) and The Vindication of Tradition (Yale University Press). Scripture read: NASB 1995, © The Lockman Foundation. Support the show Connect With Us: Biblical Resources: Browse our 25-year study archive of sermons, podcasts, studies, worship resources and more: thevillagechapel.com/resourcesVisit Us: Join us in person in Nashville: thevillagechapel.com/visitRequest Prayer: We would love to pray for you: thevillagechapel.com/prayerSupport The Mission: Your support enables us to share the Gospel in Nashville and beyond: thevillagechapel.com/giveThe Village Chapel exists to glorify God through the teaching of His word, through heartfelt worship, and by connecting people with opportunities to live lives of real significance, serving God and their neighbors as a local community of faith.

  5. Sep 22

    God's Amazing Grace | Galatians 1:10–24 | Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas

    Grace isn't just the moment we first come to faith — it's an ongoing power at work in us for a lifetime. This episode closes out Galatians 1 by looking at Paul's own testimony as living proof of the gospel's power, framed by the story behind the hymn "Amazing Grace." Scripture Read: Galatians 1:10–24 (NASB) The Story Behind "Amazing Grace" John Newton, an English slave ship captain, converted to Christianity in 1748 after nearly losing his ship in a violent storm at sea. But grace didn't finish its work instantly — Newton continued captaining slave ships for six more years, and it would be nearly a quarter-century, in 1772, before he wrote "Amazing Grace." His transformation was slow and messy, not an overnight event. Main Points 1. Paul Was Not a People-Pleaser Paul opens this section by making clear he wasn't seeking human approval — a signal that what he preaches carries divine, not human, origin. 2. A Radical Transformation Paul's biography is the evidence: from Saul the persecutor to Paul the preacher, from a murderer to a missionary. He was living at the height of religious prowess and zeal, yet was fundamentally at odds with Christ. 3. Set Apart Before Birth God chose and set Paul apart before he was even born — his calling wasn't a reward for good behavior but a sovereign act of grace. 4. Independent Confirmation of the Gospel Paul deliberately did not consult with anyone at first, staying away from the Jerusalem apostles for three years — underscoring that his gospel came from the risen Christ Himself, not secondhand from other people. 5. The Purpose Behind It All God was working through Paul's transformed life to bring glory to Christ. What Holds Us Back The quiet suspicion that grace is for people whose story isn't as complicated as ours — that our past, whatever we've done or whatever's been done to us, has created damage even the gospel can't reach. How Christ Sets Us Free Paul's own story is Exhibit A for the gospel's power. He wasn't transformed by religion or self-improvement, but by the intrusion of Christ's divine revelation. Christ came to Paul at his worst, not after he'd cleaned himself up — and the change wasn't just behavioral, it reoriented his entire life from the inside out. Where We Can Stand The same grace that reached Paul can reach us. Our worst chapter is not our final chapter. The power of salvation rests in what Christ has done, not in what we do. How We Should Walk Stop editing your story — whether to sound more broken or more deserving than you are. Grace is amazing precisely because it's a gift to sinners who don't deserve it. We can't lose what we never earned. God loves us simply because God is love, and He holds us fast by grace. Reflection Question How will you respond to Paul's claims about the divine origin of his calling — and what might it mean for the parts of your own story you assume grace can't reach? Closing Thought Just as Newton's transformation unfolded slowly over decades, God's amazing grace is still at work in us — growing us from grace to grace, long past our conversion. Because Christ rose from the dead, He has the power to keep writing our redemption story too. Coming Up Next Read ahead! Episode 4 moves into Galatians chapter 2! Support the show Connect With Us: Biblical Resources: Browse our 25-year study archive of sermons, podcasts, studies, worship resources and more: thevillagechapel.com/resourcesVisit Us: Join us in person in Nashville: thevillagechapel.com/visitRequest Prayer: We would love to pray for you: thevillagechapel.com/prayerSupport The Mission: Your support enables us to share the Gospel in Nashville and beyond: thevillagechapel.com/giveThe Village Chapel exists to glorify God through the teaching of His word, through heartfelt worship, and by connecting people with opportunities to live lives of real significance, serving God and their neighbors as a local community of faith.

  6. Sep 18

    True Freedom | Galatians 1:1–9 | Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas

    Galatians has been called "The Magna Carta of Christian Liberty" (John Stott). In this episode, we slow down to walk through Galatians 1:1–9 verse by verse, uncovering why Paul opens his letter the way he does — and why he responds with such startling intensity when the Galatians begin drifting from the true gospel. Scripture Read: Galatians 1:1–9 (NASB) Main Points 1. Why Paul Leads with His Credentials Paul opens by defending his authority: "an apostle — not sent from men nor through human agency, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father." False teachers had suggested Paul was a second-tier apostle preaching an incomplete gospel. Paul's response: his message came directly from Christ, not from human tradition or institution — so tampering with it isn't a minor adjustment, it's placing a burden on people and denying that salvation is a gift of grace. 2. Grace and Peace — The Whole Letter in Two Words Grace — God's unearned, unconditional favor. Not a reward for behavior or a head start we build on, but the entire foundation. Peace (Greek eirene, echoing Hebrew shalom) — not merely the absence of conflict, but deep, settled wholeness and flourishing. The order matters: grace always comes first. Grace is the root; peace is the fruit. You can't have the peace without first resting in the grace. 3. A Relational Defection, Not Just a Doctrinal Error In verse 6, Paul says the Galatians are deserting "Him who called you" — not a doctrine, not Paul, but God Himself. For Paul, walking away from the true gospel is fundamentally relational, not merely intellectual. 4. "Different Gospel" Is No Gospel at All "Gospel" means good news. The moment good news gets a list of added requirements attached, it stops being good news and becomes a conditional transaction. Illustration used: a gift stops being a gift the instant someone says "there's just one more thing you need to do first." 5. Paul's Strong Language — Anathema Verses 8–9: anyone preaching a different gospel is to be "accursed" (Greek anathema — cut off, devoted to destruction), stated twice for emphasis. This isn't personal offense — it's the fierce, protective love of a parent watching a child being deceived. What's at stake is the freedom of real people, who get placed back into a religious cage when the gospel is turned into a performance system. 6. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the Church's Perennial Trouble Referenced idea: the recurring trouble in every generation of the church is a failure to truly grasp the doctrine of grace. Whenever the church drifts from grace toward performance, real people lose their spiritual freedom. Reflection Question Is there any version of "Jesus plus something" you're currently living under? It rarely announces itself — it often hides as a quiet assumption that God's pleasure with you rises and falls with your spiritual performance that week. Featured Quote "Don't get lost at religion's cost when simple faith will do." — Brant Huddleston Closing Thought The gospel Paul defends here has no fine print or addendums. Christ gave Himself for your sins to rescue you — full stop. Not a down payment on a process you must complete, but a finished gift, yours for the receiving, regardless of how the week went. Coming Up Next Episode 3 turns to Galatians 1:10–24, where Paul tells his own story — a complicated past that God rewrote. Described as one of the most encouraging passages in the letter. Support the show Connect With Us: Biblical Resources: Browse our 25-year study archive of sermons, podcasts, studies, worship resources and more: thevillagechapel.com/resourcesVisit Us: Join us in person in Nashville: thevillagechapel.com/visitRequest Prayer: We would love to pray for you: thevillagechapel.com/prayerSupport The Mission: Your support enables us to share the Gospel in Nashville and beyond: thevillagechapel.com/giveThe Village Chapel exists to glorify God through the teaching of His word, through heartfelt worship, and by connecting people with opportunities to live lives of real significance, serving God and their neighbors as a local community of faith.

  7. Sep 15

    Intro to Galatians | Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas

    In this opening episode, we introduce the letter of Galatians and its central theme: the freedom we have in Christ. This isn't freedom to simply do whatever we want, but a deeper freedom — freedom for something, not just freedom from something. It's a freedom that reshapes not only what we do, but who we are. Key Verse "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." — Galatians 5:1 This verse serves as the compass for the entire series. Scripture Read: Galatians 1:1–5 (NASB) — Paul's opening greeting, where he identifies grace and peace as flowing from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, "who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age." Main Points 1. The Opening Tells Us Everything Paul's salutation isn't small talk — it sets the theological tone for the whole letter. He leads with grace, not religion, effort, or moral obligation. The mission of Christ was to rescue us — language of someone reaching down to pull another out of danger, not a call to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. 2. The Historical Occasion Paul planted the Galatian churches around 48 AD on his first missionary journey (Acts 13–14). After Paul moved on, other teachers arrived preaching "Jesus plus something" — insisting that faith in Christ needed to be supplemented by circumcision, Mosaic law-keeping, and Jewish dietary laws. This wasn't outright rejection of Jesus — it looked like a plan for deeper discipleship. But Paul recognized it as a fundamental distortion: grace turned into a ladder to climb, gift turned into transaction. 3. Paul's Urgency Unlike his other letters, Galatians has no opening thanksgiving. Paul moves straight into confrontation in verse 6 because he loves the Galatians too much to be polite about what's happening to them. 4. Echoes in Church History — Martin Luther Centuries later, Martin Luther, exhausted by religious striving that produced no peace, discovered in Galatians a righteousness meant to be received, not achieved. That discovery helped spark the Reformation. The Three-Part Structure of Galatians Chapters 1–2 — Paul defends the origin of the gospel (received by direct revelation from Christ, not human invention). Chapters 3–4 — Paul defends the content of the gospel (righteousness by grace through faith, not law-keeping). Chapters 5–6 — Paul describes the fruit of the gospel (freedom expressed in love, Christlike character, and transformed relationships). Featured Quote "The gospel is not good advice to men, but good news about Christ; not an invitation to us to do anything, but a declaration of what God has done; not a demand, but an offer." — John Stott, The Message of Galatians Closing Thought The longing we feel for more freedom, more grace, and more peace is a signal that we were made for gospel freedom — and Galatians reminds us that what we've been searching for has already been secured for us in Christ. Coming Up Next Episode 2 picks up at Galatians 1:9, exploring Paul's astonishment at how quickly the Galatians turned to a different gospel — and his fierce warning for anyone who preaches it. Intense before it's warm, but rooted in love. Support the show Connect With Us: Biblical Resources: Browse our 25-year study archive of sermons, podcasts, studies, worship resources and more: thevillagechapel.com/resourcesVisit Us: Join us in person in Nashville: thevillagechapel.com/visitRequest Prayer: We would love to pray for you: thevillagechapel.com/prayerSupport The Mission: Your support enables us to share the Gospel in Nashville and beyond: thevillagechapel.com/giveThe Village Chapel exists to glorify God through the teaching of His word, through heartfelt worship, and by connecting people with opportunities to live lives of real significance, serving God and their neighbors as a local community of faith.

  8. Aug 14

    Forever & Amen | Rediscovering the Lord's Prayer | Episode 14

    In this final installment of our study of The Lord's Prayer, Pastor Jim Thomas unpacks the beautiful and triumphant conclusion to the prayer Jesus taught us: "forever and amen". Explore the human longing for eternity and why the Bible tells us that God has uniquely placed "eternity in our hearts". Pastor Jim shares how an eternal perspective infuses our temporal lives with profound significance, purpose, and hope. Discover how closing our prayers with a hearty "Amen" is not just a polite sign-off, but an active, revolutionary alignment with God's truth and a declaration of ultimate trust in His enduring Kingdom. Support the show Connect With Us: Biblical Resources: Browse our 25-year study archive of sermons, podcasts, studies, worship resources and more: thevillagechapel.com/resourcesVisit Us: Join us in person in Nashville: thevillagechapel.com/visitRequest Prayer: We would love to pray for you: thevillagechapel.com/prayerSupport The Mission: Your support enables us to share the Gospel in Nashville and beyond: thevillagechapel.com/giveThe Village Chapel exists to glorify God through the teaching of His word, through heartfelt worship, and by connecting people with opportunities to live lives of real significance, serving God and their neighbors as a local community of faith.

See All (428)

4.9
out of 5
30 Ratings

About

Join us for Timeless Truth with Pastor Jim Thomas. Each episode is a verse-by-verse study from the Bible—unique in its source, timeless in its truth, broad in its reach and transforming in its power. This podcast is a resource of The Village Chapel in Nashville, TN.

Information

You Might Also Like