The concept of final judgment often creates unnecessary fear among Christians, but Scripture paints a different picture for believers. The Great White Throne Judgment described in Revelation 20 serves as a clear separation between believers and unbelievers, with faith in Jesus being the key criteria. For those who haven't accepted Christ, judgment is based on works and deeds, resulting in eternal separation from God since no one can meet His perfect standard through works alone. However, for believers, final judgment transforms into a celebration rather than condemnation. Instead of facing a replay of past sins or a final reckoning, Christians experience complete acceptance and confirmation of their identity in Christ. Many misconceptions about judgment stem from misinterpreting biblical passages, particularly 2 Corinthians 5:10. The truth is that believers have already been declared righteous through Christ's sacrifice, and their judgment day will be marked by confidence, perfect love, and divine affirmation rather than fear or condemnation.

The common phrase God won't give you more than you can handle stems from a misinterpretation of scripture and can be misleading about God's role in our struggles. While God doesn't create suffering, He does allow us to face situations beyond our capabilities - not to harm us, but to teach us reliance on His strength rather than our own. The apostle Paul himself wrote about being utterly burdened beyond his strength, demonstrating that facing overwhelming circumstances is part of the Christian journey. When we reach the end of our resources, we discover God's unlimited power and presence in profound ways. Like the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, there can be beauty in imperfection and incompleteness. God often does His most transformative work in the hardships that don't get fixed, teaching us that His grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in our weakness. The miracle isn't always in the fixing - sometimes it's in the breaking, where we learn to find beauty in broken things and trust in God's purposes even when situations remain unresolved.

The familiar phrase turn the other cheek is often misinterpreted as a call for complete non-resistance to evil or mistreatment. This teaching, delivered during the Sermon on the Mount, was actually part of Jesus's larger message about God's perfect standard of righteousness. The original eye for an eye law was meant to limit retaliation, but Jesus elevated the concept to demonstrate the impossibility of achieving divine standards through human effort alone.

Rather than being a practical instruction manual, these teachings serve to highlight humanity's need for grace and point to Christ as the perfect fulfillment of God's standards. Christians are called to respond to mistreatment with wisdom and discernment, guided by the Holy Spirit. This includes living peaceably when possible, leaving vengeance to God, and responding to evil with good - all while maintaining appropriate boundaries and standing boldly for truth.

Enjoy this message from Tullian Tchividjian, best-selling author, pastor, and grandson of the late Billy and Ruth Graham, about his life and the grace of Jesus.

Against the backdrop of his own very public collapse, Tullian Tchividjian reveals how hope can find us in our darkest places. Carnage & Grace is also an unflinchingly honest memoir that explores the hard road of recovery and the mercy that finds us over and over along the way. This is a message and a book about desperation and deliverance, hopelessness and healing. It’s about how God’s restoring grace always flows downward and gathers in the low places of life—in the back alleys of our secrets, in the ruins of our regrets, and in the wreckage of our repeated failures.

We were blessed to have Stacie Tchividjian share with us at a special Women's Brunch on May 29, 2024!

Please enjoy her message where she shares her testimony of God's grace in her life. Our prayer is that you find a piece of your own story in what Stacie shares and that you are encouraged by her message!

Christian maturity manifests through three essential elements that transform our daily walk with God. First, it involves embracing true freedom in Christ rather than being constrained by religious rules and regulations. This freedom allows believers to learn and grow through life's experiences while remaining confident in God's unchanging love, leading to genuine, heartfelt obedience rather than mere rule-following.

The second aspect involves understanding and experiencing true biblical rest - a spiritual state of peace and confidence rooted in Christ's finished work. This rest comes from knowing we are fully forgiven and in perfect fellowship with God, eliminating the need to strive for His approval. The third component involves learning to enjoy God in all aspects of life, not just traditionally spiritual activities. This mature perspective recognizes that everything except sin can be an expression of Jesus in our lives, making all of life spiritual because God's presence goes with us through it all.

Our identity in Christ represents a profound transformation that goes beyond our earthly names and circumstances. According to Colossians 3, believers have experienced a spiritual death to their old selves and have been raised to new life in Christ. While this is our true identity, we may still struggle with what Scripture calls the flesh - not our physical bodies, but a self-focused mindset disconnected from God's truth.

The real challenge of the Christian life lies not in battling sin, but in fully believing and embracing our new identity as holy, beloved children of God who are dead to sin and alive to righteousness. When we genuinely accept this truth, transformation naturally follows. We begin living differently, find freedom from shame, and experience the ability to be honest about our struggles while confidently receiving forgiveness. The fruit of the Spirit becomes a natural outflow of our lives rather than something we strive to produce through effort.

Many believers find themselves caught in a cycle of trying to earn closeness with God through religious practices, rules, and regulations. This approach stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between justification and sanctification. While justification - the forgiveness of sins through Christ's work - is widely understood as God's work alone, sanctification often becomes muddled with self-effort and legalistic practices.

The truth is that those who are in Christ have already died with Him and been raised to new life, sharing in His resurrection life right now. This means believers are already as close to God as they'll ever be. The struggle to feel this closeness often comes from our natural bent toward legalism and difficulty accepting that Christ's work is truly finished. Many churches inadvertently promote a 'bait and switch' gospel where justification is about Christ's work, but sanctification becomes about human effort.

The solution lies not in more religious activities or self-made holiness practices, but in resting in the finished work of Christ. God pursues us, has made us clean through Christ, and has already made us holy. The key is to recognize when we're falling into self-made religious thinking and instead embrace the reality of our complete union with Christ.