Articles for tag: Grace

March 1, 2023

Christian Standard

The Grace-Filled God of the Entire Bible

The Grace-Filled God of the Entire Bible

By Marty Solomon The idea that the God of the Old Covenant is a God of law, while the New Covenant shows us a God of grace, is a common concept that often undergirds our reading of the Bible. This is likely made worse by the idea that the Hebrew Scriptures depict a God that is full of wrath. Even if we reject this idea on principle, it seems to have affected so much of how we read the Bible.  I think most of us, whatever our opinion of the Old Testament God vs. New Testament God, would affirm the

March 1, 2023

Jerry Harris

The Gift I Need the Most

The Gift I Need the Most

By Jerry Harris  It was October 21, 1999, my 40th birthday. That’s the birthday when many people start thinking they’re heading over the hill and begin contemplating their own mortality. Well, I was definitely contemplating mortality . . . just not my own. That was the day we buried my father.   We headed to the same spot where we had buried my mom five years earlier. The family had picked out an oak casket for my dad, and it was heavy for the pallbearers. I was officiating and walking in front of the casket when I saw my brother buckle

March 1, 2023

Christian Standard

An Example Worth Following: A Tribute to Ben Merold

An Example Worth Following: A Tribute to Ben Merold

Ben Merold, 96, a beloved minister in Christian churches and churches of Christ for almost three-quarters of a century, died November 16, 2022.  _ _ _ By Doyle Roth Ben Merold lived his life fully committed to Jesus. He served God by serving many churches over his ministry career and touching the lives of millions of people. Ben truly was a man of God.   Don Sanders, leadership development pastor at Harvester Christian Church and director of The Merold Institute, said this about Ben when he introduced him at a graduation ceremony not long ago:   Ben is a church consultant, a

March 1, 2023

Rudy Hagood

Good + Grace = Great (Marriages)

Good + Grace = Great (Marriages)

By Rudy and Osharye Hagood  There is something wonderful about a perfect gift. When God created vegetation, day and night, wild animals, crawling things, he declared each of those things to be “good.” Yet God outdid himself when he gave us a spouse. God even got an “amen” from Adam, who said, “Now this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). In his own image, male and female, God created them, giving them dominion (care and management of, concern for, and rule over the earth), and God declared it “very good.”  Husbands and wives are

March 1, 2023

Christian Standard

Grace Is Amazing

Grace Is Amazing

By James Estep  “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” Penned in 1772 by John Newton, the message of “Amazing Grace” resounds into the 21st century. The tune as originally written is a favorite of many believers. In 2007 Christian musician Chris Tomlin updated the words to say, “my chains are gone, I’ve been set free” . . . but the message remained the same. Grace is amazing! My home church for a while described itself as “An Amazing Grace Place,” which represented them well. But why is grace so amazing? Paul explained why in

March 1, 2023

Doug Crozier

Living by Grace in a Challenging World

Living by Grace in a Challenging World

By Doug Crozier   In his 2012 book titled Grace, Max Lucado wrote, “Grace is God’s best idea. His decision to ravage a people by love, to rescue passionately, and to restore justly—what rivals it? Of all his wondrous works, grace, in my estimation, is the magnum opus.”   Our challenge as Christians in today’s world and culture is to live and breathe and exhibit God’s grace. We will do so by following the roadmap God gave us in the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is the inerrant Word of God!   In my work with The Solomon Foundation, borrowers have a

March 1, 2023

Mark E. Moore

What Is Grace?

What Is Grace?

By Mark E. Moore  Question: What do we have to do to be saved?  Every religion has its own answer to this question. Some encourage sacrifice; others, service; others, rituals of purification or meditation. What all (but one) have in common is some human effort to achieve favor with God. This may include knocking on doors with pamphlets, giving away wealth, self-flagellation, or confession and restitution. The common thread, however, is human effort to reach God’s height.   Grace Is God’s Salvation  Christianity alone moves in the opposite direction. Rather than us climbing upward, Christianity asserts that God moved downward. Salvation

February 27, 2023

Doug Redford

Breaking News

Unlike TV's typically tragic "breaking news," the church's breaking news is still “good news that will cause great joy” (Luke 2:10).

January 1, 2023

Billy Strother

biblical truth

What Is Truth?

A word study traces the Bible’s primary terms for truth—emet in the Old Testament and aletheia in the New—showing truth as lived faithfulness and embodied in Christ, with a call to “don’t adjust it; trust it.”

January 1, 2023

Christian Standard

The Story That Changes Lives

By Megan Rawlings   “I don’t feel like God can effectively use me because I don’t have an amazing testimony.”   I remember saying this like it was yesterday. I was in Bible college, and the number of stories people told of how they came to meet Jesus despite extenuating circumstances left me feeling “less than.”   I was born and raised in the church and, frankly, I felt my story was boring compared to others. Those who were freed from addiction were able to minister to addicts in a way I could not. Those born into situations without clean water or adequate

January 1, 2023

Michael C. Mack

I May Be Wrong

By Michael C. Mack  What is truth? We seek to answer that big question in this first issue of 2023 because truth is foundational for our faith, our lives, our churches. This issue is like a seminary course on biblical truth; we seek to answer the most important questions about what it is, how to discern it from untruth, how to live it out, how it affects our worldview, how it relates to grace, how to respond when people question or reject truth, and more. If you don’t usually read Christian Standard cover to cover, you’ll want to do so

January 1, 2023

Christian Standard

Truth and the Bible Worldview

By Bobby Harrington and Daniel McCoy  This article could well have been only a paragraph long. We could simply have written this:    A “worldview” is your overall view of the world. Having a biblical worldview means that the teachings of the Bible fill in your answers to the big questions about reality. For example: Why do we exist? If you have a biblical worldview, your answer will include how God created us to bear his image and rule over his creation. What’s the source of our deepest problems? According to the Bible, our misery stems from our decision to mistrust

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