This foundational message will clear up any confusion about the character of God. There seems to be a discrepancy between the God of the Old and New Testaments. There is no contradiction...only a misunderstanding. God has never changed. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. God is good. He always has been. A law-oriented mentality causes Christians to question God's goodness and thus undermine their faith in Him. The devil can hide his attacks if you believe that it's God's punishment. Understand how good God really is and you'll be free from all fear, timidity, and uncertainty. You have been set free from the curse of the law!

What is the standard of living that God has called us to? What kind of life has been made available to us through Christ? What is grace? Who are we in the sight of God? Do we see ourselves the way God sees us? These questions are answered in this first sermon of a new series from Pastor David Grams about the foundations of biblical Christianity.

Jesus didn't die to merely forgive sin, but to purge us entirely of its effect on our lives. Jesus died so that we could die...die to sin and be free from the grip of the old nature. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, but in order to experience that reality, we must wholeheartedly believe what the Bible says about us. We need to be filled with the Spirit through the truth of God's Word and then freedom from sin and guilt will be an aftereffect.

As a church, we must learn ministry as individuals through relationship with Jesus. Unless our doctrine has originated from the life of Christ, we'll perpetuate a God of opinion or tradition and not the God of truth. Jesus calls us to simply be with Him -- sit at His feet and hear His Word. Until we see and hear Him for ourselves, our testimony to the world will be as a second-hand witness, and not as a direct representative. Intimacy must be our priority.

We are to be the generation that refuses to stay in a wilderness of complacency and purposelessness. We are to be a generation that crosses the Jordan River with the intention of taking possession of what God has already given us through Christ. God has given us power in the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses -- healing, deliverance, the gifts of the Spirit, etc. His promises over us call us to a lifestyle of outreach, in winning the world over for the gospel's sake.

If you don't love the Bible, you cannot say that you love God. When God wants to reveal Himself, He does so primarily through His written and spoken Word. To know the Bible is to know God. To be ignorant of what the Bible says, and still call oneself a "Christian", is to follow a god of one's imagination and not the God of truth. Jesus Himself is called the "Word made flesh". To abide in His Word is to be a true disciple. God has exalted His Word above all His name (Psalm 138:2). Therefore, the highest calling of a Christian is to shut up and listen!

We called are not called to DO something with our lives. We are called to BE someone. We're called to BE like Jesus. That's our created purpose. Be empowered by this message to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. Learn about the true gospel, which will recreate you into someone holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight. Let God show you off to the world as His very own child, who represents Him accurately. Jesus has called us to more than just "believers"...we're called to be His disciples -- to mimic Christ, not just confess His name.

There is a form of Christianity that has been accepted as normal around the world, but it's far short of what the Bible says Jesus shed His blood for. Jesus died so that we could become people like of His nature, who walk like He did and do what He does. That's the standard of normal that's supposed to be our daily reality. The only thing that stops Christians from walking like Jesus is the willful belief that that kind of life is impossible.

The foundation of peace and unity in the Body of Christ is unconditional love from one believer to another. If we don't know what it really means to love people, we'll sow discord in our community and make unity in the church impossible. Love is the bond of perfection (Colossians 3:14). Love is the foundation of obedience, purity, and holiness. If we cannot love people, we cannot say we have fellowship with God.

God calls us to be people who are after His own heart. If we don't treasure intimacy with God, we'll make favor from people our source and compromise God's will for the sake of relevance or tolerance. The only way we will experience all that God has promised for our lives is if we make it the sole purpose of our existence to chase after His heart and know Him intimately.