Waking Up to Grace

How do we love like Jesus without turning love into another standard we have to measure ourselves against?

In this episode, we begin with Jesus healing the man at the Pool of Bethesda and His later words, “Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” What did Jesus mean in John 5:14, and how does His command fit with the finished work of Christ?

From there, we follow the larger question of how to love like Jesus. Jesus commanded His followers to love one another as He loved them, but He never left them to produce that love through human effort. His life supplies what He commands. The Christian life grows through dependence on Christ, not through reaching a religious standard and measuring whether we have done enough.

We also examine what happens when discipleship, fellowship, and love become performance standards. First Corinthians 13 exposes how quickly those standards condemn everyone who tries to meet them through human ability. Love is not another law placed over the Christian life. Love fulfills the law because it flows from the life of Christ within us.

To love like Jesus, we have to depend like Jesus.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/073-love-like-jesus/

Why is Yeshua called Jesus? Yeshua is the Hebrew name of our Lord, while Jesus is the name most familiar to English-speaking Christians. But does using the name Jesus diminish anything about who He is, or should Christians insist on calling Him Yeshua?

In this episode, Lenny explains why he returned to using Jesus most of the time in ministry, why clarity matters when sharing the gospel, and why a name should never become another religious rule. The conversation also returns to full grace, Christ’s strength in suffering, the indwelling Spirit, and the difference between knowing biblical facts and knowing the Lord.

For the deeper study of Yeshua, Yahweh, and the power and identity revealed through His name, continue with Episode 40, Is Jesus Yahweh?
https://wakinguptograce.com/040-does-god-have-a-name-romans-1-1-7/

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/072-an-update-in-the-name-of-jesus/

What are the benefits of salvation right now? Salvation gives us eternal life, but Scripture does not present salvation as something that only matters after this life is over. There is a present benefit to what Christ has already given us.

In this episode, we look at Paul’s instruction to “work out your own salvation” and why that does not mean working to earn or keep what God has already given. God is the One working within us. As we live by the truth we received in Christ, His Spirit guides us away from destructive ways of living and into freedom, rest, peace, and love.

We also look at what happens when Christians drift away from grace and return to fear, religious performance, or a works-based view of fellowship with God. Salvation is already ours in Christ, but the same belief that saved us is also meant to sustain us. The benefits of salvation begin now and continue into eternity.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/071-is-there-a-benefit-of-salvation-now/

How does the Holy Spirit guide us, and how can we know when we are actually following His leading rather than our own feelings, fears, or opinions?

In this episode, we look at Jesus' promise that the Spirit would guide His people into truth and consider what that means in everyday Christian life. Being led by the Holy Spirit is not simply a matter of inner impressions or emotional experiences. If the Spirit directs us toward truth, then knowing Christ, understanding His words, and allowing Scripture to shape our thinking are essential.

We also consider the fear of people, the temptation to live for approval, Peter's mistake at Antioch, and the difference between following the Lord and allowing culture, religious institutions, or our own desires to determine our direction. The Christian life is not about earning God's acceptance. It is about using the freedom we already have in Christ to trust the Lord, ask for His will, and walk in the truth He has given us.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/070-is-jesus-working-in-my-life/

Scripture repeatedly calls believers to stand firm, hold fast, and endure. But where does the strength to persevere actually come from?

In this episode, we continue through the imagery of John 15 and connect abiding in Christ with standing firm in the faith. We look at what Scripture says about remaining faithful through suffering, persecution, weakness, and pressure—and why endurance is not something we manufacture through our own strength.

Christ is the vine. Our strength comes from Him. Even in the hardest circumstances, believers can depend on the life and power already given to us in Christ, trusting that our Father is for us and not working against us.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/069-stand-firm-john-15-1-6/

Jesus said that every branch bearing fruit is pruned so that it may bear more fruit. But what does that pruning actually mean for a Christian?

In this episode, we look closely at John 15:2 and the difference between God’s pruning and punishment. The Father is not condemning believers for their sins. He is the gardener who lovingly shapes fruitful branches, helping us depend more fully on Christ and bear lasting fruit.

We also consider why abiding in Christ is not passive, how difficult seasons can strengthen our dependence on Him, and why our security rests in Christ’s faithfulness rather than our own performance.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/068-pruning-for-fruit-bearing-john-15-1-6/

Jesus said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” But what did He mean?

In this episode, we look at John 15:7 in the larger context of abiding in Christ, bearing fruit, and depending on the Father. We also connect Jesus’ promise to ask in His name with the New Covenant access believers now have through Him. Because of Christ, we do not come to God through the old covenant system of Temple and priesthood. We come to the Father through the Son.

We also consider how this promise relates to the coming of the Holy Spirit, asking according to God’s will, and Paul’s unanswered prayer concerning his thorn in the flesh. Prayer is not a formula for getting whatever we want. As we abide in Christ, our desires are shaped by Him, and we learn to depend on the life and access already given to us through His finished work.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/067-ask-and-it-will-be-done-john-15-1-6/

What do the vine and branches in John 15 represent, and who are the branches Jesus said would be thrown into the fire and burned?

John 15:6 is often used to teach that Christians can lose their salvation, face punishment from God, or be cast away for failing to produce enough fruit. But Jesus did not introduce the imagery of a vine and its branches without context. Israel had already been described as a vine throughout Scripture, and that background helps us understand what Jesus meant when He called Himself the true vine.

In this episode, we trace the vine imagery through the prophets, consider the connection between John 15 and Romans 11, and examine what belief, unbelief, the faithful remnant, and the warning of the burned branches reveal about this difficult passage.

Read the companion study and join the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/066-thrown-into-the-fire-and-burned-john-15-1-6/

What does abiding in Christ really mean? In John 15, Jesus describes Himself as the vine and His people as the branches. But what does it actually mean for a Christian to abide in Him?

In this episode, we look at John 15 in light of the cross, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and John’s later explanation in his first epistle. We explore the connection between abiding, believing, eternal life, prayer, love, and spiritual fruit, and why abiding in Christ should lead us toward confidence in Him rather than fear that we are constantly falling out of fellowship with God.

The heart of the discussion is wonderfully simple: abiding is rooted in believing Christ, and the Holy Spirit given to us provides assurance that He truly abides in us.

Read the companion study and join the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/065-what-is-abiding-in-christ-john-15-1-6/

What does Romans 14 mean when Paul speaks about food, stumbling blocks, and those who are weak? Many readers assume Paul had left Jewish practice behind and was teaching others to do the same. But when we follow Paul through Acts and his letters, that assumption becomes much harder to maintain.

That raises an important question for Romans 14: if Paul did not simply reject the Law of Moses or Jewish practice, who exactly are the “weak” he is describing, and what is really dividing these believers?

In this episode, we follow Paul through Acts 21, Acts 28, Galatians 2, and Romans 14 to examine his relationship to the Law of Moses and the first-century relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers. Paul defended justification by faith apart from works of the Law while also denying that he taught Jewish believers to abandon their customs.

That background changes the way we approach Romans 14 and the identity of the “weak.” It also helps explain Paul’s concern for table fellowship, the relationship between Jew and Gentile, and what grace meant during the transition into the New Covenant age.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/064-paul-rebukes-peter-part-2-galatians-2-11/