Simply By Grace Podcast Dr. Charles Bing

This third section of the epistle addresses practical living issues. Charlie explains from his family heritage personal reasons why freedom means so much to him. Not only must we stay away from legalism, but we must also take a firm stand in and for grace. Legalism is depending on our works to find approval with God instead of trusting in His grace. If we resort to legalism, we will fall from grace and not benefit from God’s free blessings. We see in this passage four marks of a Christian growing in grace. Grace means that we do not turn to legalism, nor we do we turn to license. We have freedom, but it is a freedom that our love for others should control. This love and other fruit of the Spirit come by walking in the Spirit. We should not live like unbelievers who do not know God’s grace but live under the control of the Spirit.

There is a world of difference between a slave and a son. Through our faith in Christ, we become sons of God and heirs of the promise of blessing that God made to Abraham. We should not attempt to go back under the slavery of the law or a system of performance. Grace and law do not mix. Those who have been saved through faith in God’s grace should not try to mix in the law or works. They must make a clean break and rely on the grace of God.

This section of chapters 3-4 enters a theological discussion of the Spirit’s work in us, faith, and the law. Faith allows us to become a part of God’s family, but the law only brings a curse. It shows us our sin. It impossible to keep all the law, therefore it cannot save us. The law leads us to Jesus Christ who frees us from the curse of the law. We are saved by the Spirit of God given to us in the gospel and that same Spirit helps us live a godly life.

Sometimes there is a temptation to compromise the gospel of God’s grace not only doctrinally but practically in how we behave. The gospel does not need our embellishment. We are justified before God by His grace through faith and nothing else. Our behavioral performance cannot earn God’s grace. Those who compromise the gospel need to be confronted as Paul did Peter. Peter was behaving inconsistently with the gospel, but Paul took a firm stand against his behavior. The key to living for God is to identify with Jesus Christ and by faith allow Him to live His life through us.

In this introductory message to Charlie's 6-part series on Galatians you will learn the setting and a simple outline for this important epistle. The Apostle Paul is amazed at how quickly the Galatians turned away from the grace of the gospel they received from him. What was the gospel that Paul preached? It was a gospel of grace, which means works have no role in the reception of salvation. Today, many pervert the pure gospel of grace. Only the true gospel can produce a godly change in a person’s life. This series was recorded at the Gulf Coast Bible Conference.

Calvinism has characteristically argued for limited atonement (the "L" in TULIP), but can they attribute that to John Calvin? Dr. Allen will prove from Calvin's original statements that he held to unlimited atonement without exception. Only later, through the revisions of Theodore Beza and the ecclesiastical councils of the Synod of Dort and the Westminster Assembly, was limited atonement adopted as representative of genuine Calvinism even though there was significant disagreement within those assemblies. Limited atonement is a theological extrapolation from a system based on a faulty understanding of total depravity. As Dr. Allen says limited atonement is a doctrine in search of a proof text. Dr. Allen received his PhD from the University of Texas and now serves at Mid-America Seminary in Memphis. He is currently a candidate for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention. He also has a unique ministry coaching preachers in their preaching skills (see PreachingCoach.com). He has written extensively on the atonement in his lengthy book, The Extent of the Atonement, as well as a chapter in Calvinism: A Biblical and Theological Critique. Share this episode with your Calvinist, and non-Calvinist, friends and leave a comment with your thoughts.