Dr. Fred Chay's FGA National Conference Presentation

Readers may remember the Free Grace Alliance National Conference lecture series which I have shared paraphrases on here at my blog since last October, when the Conference took place.

I greatly enjoyed all those sessions, but this one may have been the best one, even though it's a close call. It is the only one I felt I wanted to share that I did not keep sufficient notes on. (Sometimes the best messages are the ones you can't even bother to write.) No need now! These sessions are all now available on video.

Enjoy.

Mentoring: Dr. Fred Chay from Free Grace Alliance on Vimeo.

Some soundbytes from his session:

"People need people to become people."

"You need to have the real disease and you need to be close enough to others to infect them."

"This is the pastoral work called 'The Curer of Souls.'"

"The goal is to help perpetuate faithful followers through the Spirit, the scriptures, and the saint of God. It can be a messy job, but I believe it is one we are called to do."

"The spirit of collaboration is not optional."

"it is a ministry of affiliation and association."

I found these FGANC lecture videos at this site through linking through Dr. Fred Lybrand's new blog rich with links.

John Maisel's FGA Conference Presentation

John Maisel is co-founder of East-West Ministries International. In the first five years of its inception, East-West's staff have exposed 4,362,464 indigenous people to the gospel.

The following are paraphrased excerpts with permission from Maisel. His presentation was given at the Free Grace Alliance National Conference on October 7, 2008.

GRACE DRIVEN MISSIONS MINISTRY

Scripture

Paul writes in Philippians 3:13-14....

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

To "forget that which is behind" means to forget my sins, which Satan reminds me of, but it also means my former accomplishments. I love encouragement. I take it with gratitude while face to face and then I say to the LORD afterward, "Those praises belong to you. Now, erase them from my memory." I am what I am, by the grace of God.


In East-West Ministries we have a goal we call "The 1% Factor." We have given ourselves a 10 year timeframe, and right now we are 5 years into completion of the goal of sharing the gospel with 1% of the world's population. Five billion people on the earth are represented by 24,000 people-groups. We want to reach 100 people-groups in this ten years who have never heard the gospel.


John Maisel

Ministries that spread the gospel start off great in the beginning. But as time passes they start to fail because they get cocky. In the beginning God blesses them but then they lose touch with the passion for why they were created. This flows countercurrent to Paul's example, because at the close of his personal ministry he is melancholy and serving the saints with tears.

Our theme ought to be humility, and Paul is our example who embodied this. He is our model because he knew more about grace than any other. He knew it was all undeserved. In 1 Timothy 1:15-16 Paul says of himself

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

and this at the end of his life, 20-30 years after his salvation! Grace is so precious to Paul. Is Paul just saying this about himself, that he is "the worst of sinners?" No, he said this as he died; he had it in his bones. I realize that I will never live life graciously and humbly without realizing that I too am the chief of sinners.

The woman who comes in to see Jesus with her Alabaster box - she is a woman who relished the grace of God. She is so overwhelmed with her acceptance. Jesus tells the story of one who owed a hundred and another who owed a million and then asks, when forgiven who loves Him the most?

BINGO.

This is a framework for grace.

"I've paid your bill, John." How do you respond to that?
"I've bought a stamp for you, John."
How about, "I've paid your mortgage, John." I'd fall at his feet. This is the perspective to keep.

John the Baptist is another example. He points out the Son of God and they begin to follow Him. Does John ever get frustrated and say to himself, "I'm going to go get my followers back!" No. John the Baptist knows that He who gave the ministry can take the ministry. Just as He who gives the health of a child can also take the health of a child.

Framework

I began to write down some guidelines so that our ministry could keep that grid of grace before us. So many ministries start off well, loving one another passionately, and somewhere along the way we lose awe and wonder in Jesus. We still can answer all kinds of questions about Jesus. Like a persona we may click it on as needed, but, where is my love affair with Jesus Christ?

The heart of the troops must be passionate about Christ. Then, when it's time to fight they will fight well.

Six guidelines came out of my meditations to be drawn up. I called my best friend and asked him to sit down and hear it out and give me his reaction.

POINT NUMBER ONE: Pursue Jesus.

Okay, my friend replies. What's the next one?

POINT NUMBER TWO: Pursue Jesus.

My friend laughs. He said, "Okay, I get it."

POINT NUMBER THREE: Pursue Jesus.

He laughs again and says "I got it."

POINT NUMBER FOUR: Now we can rest in His grace.

"Acknowledged."

POINT NUMBER FIVE: Now we can rest in His grace, and, we are free to demonstrate His grace.

"Good!"

POINT NUMBER SIX: Now we are free to rest in His grace, demonstrate His grace, and proclaim His grace.

"Excellent."

The Holy Spirit brings the examples in scripture to our remembrance so that we will know how to serve Him. Jesus said "Follow me." Does that mean He is walking out there in front of me? Or could that mean that He is here beside me, with His hand on my shoulder? I believe this is the best advice for all eternity, that He asked us to "Follow me... and I will _______ ." That is His heartbeat. You and I can do a lot. But a lot of it is wood, hay or stubble. There is no lasting achievement unless His Spirit is working in us, through us, and for His glory.

Sometimes we think we know what is good and right to serve God. Before I begin something that sounds good to do, I should ask God first: "LORD, is this okay?" "LORD, are you well pleased with this?"

What does it mean to pursue Jesus?

Pursuing is our love-relationship with Him. There are a lot of Christians in awe with Jesus, who then buy into this system of the law, because law has visible results. The law kills but the Spirit gives life. Jesus says to Peter, "Peter you're my guy, you know who I Am, are you going to step up?" He asks him, "Do you love me? Do you love me?" This is agape love for the Lord Jesus.

If Paul were here today he would be able to spot what is wrong with most churches today. Good theological churches can make the mistake of motivating people by putting them under a pile of things to do; give, serve, evangelize, and so on. "More, more, more!" Paul defends a different Spirit. We love Him because He first loved us. It is the love of Christ which compels me to get into someone's world and share the gospel and maybe even receive a knuckle sandwich for doing so. Loving Jesus comes before everything. In light of that, the serving, giving, and so forth takes care of itself.

If we plan to have a mission outwardly we have to have a mission internally to one another!

Resting in His grace, is "point number four." Most believers are coming out of a performance-based system. They receive the gift of salvation by grace but then are told too often, "Now you must prove to God how worthy you are so you can earn His love." This is incredible! No - we're not working for grace. We are working from grace. The father said I love both the prodigal and obedient son. Nothing we do can make Him love us more, and nothing we do can make Him love us less. When I finally learned that I said, "You mean He knows all my junk and loves me in a way like that?" I gave Him my life!

I will never surrender and trust Jesus, unless I know He loves me. In the same way those who know you will never surrender and trust you unless they know you love them.

I will never know that Jesus loves me until I see Him dying to self. In the same way those who know you will never know that you love them unless they see you dying to self.

Paul prayed that each one of us would know the love of Christ which surpasses understanding so that we would be full of the dwelling of Christ.

When I speak to others about East-West Ministries I am careful not to say that this is "my ministry," it's not "me." Amongst our staff we ought to be careful to demonstrate grace within our own walls. There is no "right way" to communicate the message unless grace is in our lives and in our personal relationships. The number one reason why missionaries come back from the mission field is because they cannot get along with other missionaries.

Hindrances

Grace models are tough! (The law kills but the Spirit gives life.) There are not too many churches you can put your finger on who are settled in grace. What we find many times is that we work with Christians and they get grace, and then they go back to their church and the older people crush them. You can't stand up for one hour and teach grace and expect them to get it. You have to teach and demonstrate it over and over and over. Demonstration helps because when we embrace the brokenness inside ourself we can permit the living water to flow out. In tough cultures with language difficulties, most people don't hear your words but they read your spirit.

[Sanctification's concluding remark: May the LORD's Spirit have the glory due to Him!]

Dr. Fred Lybrand's FGA Presentation

Dr. Fred R. Lybrand is President of the Free Grace Alliance and he currently serves as senior pastor of Northeast Bible Church in Garden Ridge, Texas.

The following are paraphrased and reviewed excerpts with permission from Dr. Lybrand. His presentation was given at the Free Grace Alliance National Conference on October 7, 2008.

"GRACE-DRIVEN DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRY"

Open your bibles to Titus.

Maybe you have heard of the man who was walking down the street with a fine suit on. But he was also leaning heavily to one side. One pant leg was 2 inches too short so he tried to compensate by walking crooked. Two men observed the man and one said, "I think there’s something wrong with that man," but the other said, "Yes, but doesn’t his suit look great?" In the same way we have beliefs that don't quite fit us in God's design, and it affects our walk with God.

We have grace-driven discipleship when we reek with encouragement. Our inspiration is our own experience of God's encouragement for us. He in His kindness has allowed me to stumble in the right direction. How can we invite others to participate in grace?

The theme of this year's FGA conference, "Grace-Driven," sounds a little compulsory to me, so instead of that I might call it "Grace-Beckoned" or "Grace Offered." How does our understanding of God's grace motivate and inform our approach to disciple-making?

In Titus chapter two I can't imagine Paul writing, "Do a demographic study and find out the non-believer's interests, then design a strategy so they will feel comfortable coming to church." No. Paul cared about a certain kind of church. The power of the grace of God will change them. Churches can get by without possessing certain things. Maybe they don't have an adequate building or they face other kinds of needs. Churches also can become large and successful operations. But honestly, if you have a small church or a large church and grace isn't in it, what does it matter?

We go back to the Word of God to get a grace-informed approach. Titus 2:11-14 -

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

It says that grace has appeared to all men, and that the kindness of God is the gift of His Son. Kindness is why we go and what we do. Titus 2:1 suggests that you be your own man, be your own personality.

There is a corporate role, a togetherness, in our thinking. In chapter two Paul addresses these three groups: women, men and servants. I make four observations of grace-beckoned disciple-making in this.

Here is a test, and I am going to play this short video in a second. But if you already know the secret of this test, don't spoil it for others, okay? In this video, your job is to count how many times the White Team passes the ball. Ready?



If we aren't paying attention we might miss an extraordinary opportunity. So the first of four observations, is this:

1 - Be present. Be there; your presence is required. "But as for you," to the elders he writes that they should minister constantly, always looking for opportunities. Sometimes we think traditionally about discipleship, and our idea of it becomes so narrow that we miss the moment - the gorilla in the room. We have virtual Christianity now. One church, many locations. If I am absent I might be successful to impress at a distance. But if I show up, and I am present, I can impact face-to-face.

2 - Learn. The grace of God is teaching us, Paul says. We've got to learn it and take it in; that is, the grace of God. We should endeavor not to teach the thing not learned because there is non-hypocrisy in that. If we are going to be smart we need information. Teachability is humility, and sometimes in order to make disciples you have to be willing to unlearn what you already know so that you can next learn what you need to know. In the scriptures God is constantly getting us at a new level. Continue to receive the grace of God in a new way by being teachable.

3 - Adorn. Adorn means to put monuments of the glory of God on your life. This is similar to what waitresses call "Flair" or "Bling" - they put it on to draw attention or to set the atmosphere. We too can adorn our lives as Christians, with doctrine. You can put on to your life the qualities that remind everybody that you belong to your God and Savior. One kind of attribute to put on is not answering back, and another is praying with someone when they are burdened.

4- Speak. Verse 15 says, "Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you." Despise may mean that you do not permit anyone to think around you. Show that you really thought through the doctrine, so they cannot dismiss you casually. Also, actions speak louder than words, so while you can tell people about grace it is better when demonstrated.

These four observations we make from the second chapter of Titus on grace-beckoned discipleship. What's the right method for you? What is the meat of this thing? Ask yourself how God uses me to impact you. Let me look at the diamond of God's grace and point out a certain facet of it. Someone else can point out another facet, though each one of us are all pointing to God, to the many variegated grace of God.

THE BEST METHOD FOR DISCIPLE-MAKING IS YOU. God sometimes uses methods, but He always uses people. If you are present, learning, if you show up, and adorn God's truth, cool stuff happens. Most feedback is not related to your main point. It's some side-piece you said in passing that God uses forever for someone else.

I'll share a story about a friend of mine. I caught up with him after a long time and he told me how sad and frustrated he was that his wife, Gail, did not seem to care very much about receiving the gospel for salvation. I looked at him and said, “Maybe God isn’t interested in working on Gail right now. He got the point. My friend gave up on insisting on her conversion. Instead he focused on his own life, she saw it, and now they labor faithfully together as co-heirs of the grace of life.

Other suggestions to consider.... Know the language of the people to whom you are sharing God's grace with. One powerful tool is the power of questions. Ask a question. Invite their involvement. I let them discuss it and then I give them a verse. This takes preaching out of it. Most people know how to make themselves smart, but how do we make ourselves stupid? We become stupid if we don't read, we don't do homework, and we hang out with the same kinds of people.

A Public Statement on Heresy

Dr. Charlie Bing, former President of the Free Grace Alliance, writes and gives me permission today to publish the following regarding "heresy":

I do believe and would say that "heresy" is a relative term [used] so often, that is, everybody is a heretic to someone who does not agree with them. There certainly is "heresy," but it all boils down to what the Bible says anyway, so let's just discuss the Bible and leave out the charge of heresy, unless of course it is a very clear fundamental issue.

I would also like to quote a paraphrase of Dr. Bing's statements from an earlier post dated October 2008:

If freedom is really freedom, it makes enough room for deliverance from sin and deception for sure but also it will permit the exercise of error. Who wants to give freedom? Who wants to take freedom away? ... Our purpose is to advance the grace message around the world, not argue about it.

You may read the entire post from the portion above, here.

Methodology of Grace

The methodology I have been using in my approach to Lou Martuneac is documented again and again both within free grace theology and without; even within Independent Fundamentalist Baptist's variety of orthodoxies. It was the (non-scripture) theme by every lecturer at the Free Grace National Conference last October. It is taught in nearly every applicable course I have witnessed, including today's on "Praise and Worship."

For your review, the finished posts on the Free Grace Alliance National Conference Lecture Series.

I will be working hard to bring said teachings here so that you may make your own mind by the resources I by the grace of God may supply.

Every message which did not concern scripture itself, given at the FGA Conference was a dictation of the method I am in-step of laying before y'all. Dr. Fred Lybrand calls it "mentoring." I called it advocacy. I don't care what it's called just so long as it's the authentic business of making disciples.

It is very clear, that unless you strive for greater awareness outside your comfort zone, you are, simply, what your paradigm tells you to be. Within that construct, any one person has the will to either run away from walking by faith, or, submit to those who can gently lead as Christ out from weakness. Which one is it; does he just not know where to start or is it that he lacks desire? Well, it's none of my business, but at any one time it may be one or the other or even a combination, actually. If he's done, he's done, and of course the ministry comes to a close and so does the intimacy of his position with the body of Christ. After all, I am seeking him and he not I. It's out of my hands.

I'll make my own assessments, which are leaning at this time to assume that our brother desires to walk in discord rather than according to the tradition of grace being established every day in the free grace movement's position on the issue of conduct. There has to be a consciousness of needing something more, declared somewhere, sometime, in order to not be assessed as intentionally stepping ahead of the tradition being handed down to us, even if not in real-time conformity for perhaps several years.

This methodology is at the heart of the free grace organization. I knew it, before I even bought my plane tickets. Free grace is rock-solid, right on in theology and in manner of practice.

For the assessment I made on this issue immediate after my return:
Pit in the Stomach

I am convinced the way to do it, is the way the FGA leadership taught among a great cloud of other witnesses. I will be publishing more of those sessions, soon.

Meanwhile I am pleased to share with you a song (not formulating my doctrine of course) but declaring Christ's victory!



Lyrics:

"Lord hide me far away from trouble
The world outside me grows darker by the day"
So I promise to stay here close beside Him
Surely God would want His children safe

Then reading, how my eyes were opened
I find that He is leading us out into the world
Into the middle of fallen saints and sinners
Where a little grace is needed most

Come take the Light to darker parts
Share His truth with hardened hearts
We are not like the world, but we can love them

Come bring the hope to hopeless men
Until the lost are found in Him
He came to save the world so let us be. . .
In it, not of it

Wait a minute
If we say we love them, why are we not in it
Why we run and hide
Entertain a stranger
Maybe entertain an angel
The danger is if our worlds don't collide

We've cursed the darkness far too long
We need to hold the candle high
We have to go and right the wrong
We need to touch the world with love.

"You give them something to eat."

Dr. Larry Moyer's FGA Presentation

Dr. Larry Moyer is Vice-President of the Free Grace Alliance, and President and CEO of EvanTell, Inc.

The following is taken from the Free Grace Alliance National Conference, on October 7, 2008; paraphrased with permission.

Grace-Driven Evangelism Ministry (2 Timothy 2:22-26): "Use a Humble Attitude, Not a Hostile Argument"

Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Verse 22 says we should "flee youthful lusts." There is a kind of lust for proving ones-self correct. Too often, younger, lust-driven evangelists back up others in a corner when evangelizing, to prove how intelligent they are. Verse 23 says that we are to "avoid foolish and stupid arguments." Why are these arguments called "stupid?" Because they are speculations. They talk about things they don't know, and it turns out that they do not know what they are talking about. On the other hand, God never talks to us as dismissive, so we ought to avoid the argument which is stupid, not the people. We avoid speculative debates, "knowing they generate strife."

What is the antidote for endless arguments? It is being gentle, to all. Gentleness is not manifest in scarcasm, nor in being rude, and not in giving up. We ought to be able to teach, as one underneath, not on top. What is patience? Someone once said that patience requires one to "count down before blasting off."

Verse 25 commands us to have humility while correcting those in opposition. We must not strive but be gentle, for Jesus was led as a lamb to the slaughter, considering how He was representing His Father. When responding to those who oppose your message, use a humble attitude, not a hostile argument. Why?

The opposition is not intellectual; it is spiritual. Verse 25 says "that they might sober up." They can't even understand what they are saying; it's as if they are drunk. Only God can change their mind, so we need meekness, not madness. It is not bringing the lost to Christ, but bringing Christ to the lost.

God sees our evangelism different than we do. We focus on the debate, but He focuses on our demeanor. We focus on what comes forth from our lips; He focuses on what comes forth from our life.

We win others toward soberness not with pressure, but with patience; not with quarrels, but with gentleness. God is requiring not just our message, but our manner in sharing the good news of Christ. God wants us to tell everyone, every lost person, no matter what their reaction may be. There are some who will be incredibly arrogant in response to us, but we ought to tell them the gospel regardless. Some in Jesus' day were also arrogant, but He got their attention directly through telling them that their father was the Devil. Others were ready to receive salvation, such as the Samaritan woman at the well, to which He offered both grace and truth.

The truth of the gospel, is that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead.

The grace of the gospel is the sensitivity to respond personally to those who are receiving the message.

Grace is so compelling, so attractive. Once there was a man who spent much time with an evangelist arguing and debating the many facets of Christianity. In the end, the evangelist told him "I see your choice and reasons for denying the truth as I have laid it before you, and I want you to know that I love you just the same whether or not you believe it."

This lost man called back later and admitted to the evangelist, "I am beginning to believe what you've been sharing with me because I could not answer your last argument."

"What 'last argument'?" the evangelist asked.

The man said, "How could someone like you, love someone like me?"

The evangelist's apparent and manifest love spoke more powerfully of Christ, than all of the answers that came through their discussion.

Dr. Charlie Bing's FGA Conference Presentation

(From the Free Grace Alliance National Conference, on October 6, 2008; paraphrased with permission.)

Introduction to the Free Grace Perspective by Dr. Charlie Bing, President of the Free Grace Alliance

I am aware that there are some five-point Calvinists in the free grace movement. There are also some four-point Calvinists, too, as well as some zero-point Calvinists [laughter all around]. There are a lot of differences in this room. There are a few things that are up for discussion within our movement, but, there are also a few core distinctives of what we believe that are essential.

Here are four distinctives of the free grace position:

1 -- Grace is an unconditional gift of God. It's elementary but it affects theology, or another better way to express "theology" is "ethic." It is this teaching of "grace" which brings us together. Grace means He "stoops" to help His people. His love to mankind is not a theology; it is an ethic, and the ethic is grace. Romans 3:24 says "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," and we camp here. The price is paid. This is why salvation is free. This is why salvation is unconditional. It requires no works, no human merit. In the same way that wet cannot be dry, works cannot be grace. Knowing this, it totally humbles us.

2 -- The sole means of salvation is faith, to receive eternal life. It is "through faith" that we are saved. "Faith" means "persuaded," not obedience, not surrender, not commitment. Romans 4:4-5 says "Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness...". Some teachers believe that salvation requires both faith and repentance. However the meaning of repentance is specifically: a change of the "inner," a change of the "heart," or, a change of the "mind." We know that not all kinds of repentance leads unto salvation. God, in the Septuagint, "repents" 76 times. There is the "Harmony with God" view of repentance, which teaches that repentance is pre-evangelistic, or also a component of maintaining fellowship with God. This teaching is consistent with the free grace gospel.

However: the teaching that repentance is required for salvation, with "repentance" meaning "to turn away from sins", whether that means every sin or personal sin, we take issue with. The issue is this: Lordship Salvation's gospel includes surrender plus commitment to Jesus Christ, of one's life, upfront. The teachers of Lordship Theology distort even Acts 16:30-32, "And he brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.' Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house." They say somehow from this passage that "You must submit to the rulership of Jesus Christ and you will be saved." But they require more than surrender to Jesus' "rulership"; they also include His deity, kingship, sovereignty, etc. Lordship Salvation adds to faith as the only condition. It confuses justification and sanctification. It confuses salvation and discipleship. This is their error. They make assurance of salvation impossible.

These teachings are our fuel to do what we're doing.

3 -- Faith is a personal response to the gospel message for salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 says "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." What is the faith being described in this passage? "Faith" is not a gift of God. Most commentators on the bible say that the word is neuter. The gift of God is describing salvation. Lordship Theology teach "divine energy" as the gift of God, resulting in inevitable, quantifyable fruit. They teach that man is totally depraved and cannot do good or seek good on his own. We, however, do not teach total depravity; we teach that free will to choose good and have faith is marred, but we are still justly held responsible to believe. We still have the ability within us to believe in Christ for salvation. The object of discussion has been misplaced from this passage. The topic should not have been whether or not we have the choice. This passage is rather only discussing the object of our faith.

Works cannot be "front-loaded" to the gospel, meaning asking commitment before salvation or in tandem with salvation. Similarly, works cannot be "back-loaded" to the gospel of salvation, either. This persuasion teaches that one must have works to prove authentic salvation. As they commonly teach it, "the faith that saves is not alone, it is accompanied by good works."

Here is what is true about the requirements of salvation: That one must believe in the good news presented in the gospel; That Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on the cross for my sin, that He rose from the dead. But not just believing this is enough, one must also understand that by believing in Him, this Jesus, they might have eternal life (be saved). As for the teaching that one must "understand" the gospel to be saved, we can discuss the nuances of that content in the gospel message, but this is generally the gospel message.

Every other gospel, every other religion leaves you on a performance-basis for security of salvation. We say that salvation (meaning the gift of eternal life) is "forensic." It is a legal definition. God declares a man justified. This does not mean that God "makes" us righteous, as if there is a process or delay in the transfer of righteousness. Assurance of salvation should be the birthright of every believer, on the testimony of His Word, not on performance, not on perseverance.

Unlike our eternal security, our own personal understanding of this assurance, can indeed be lost.

We were created for good works, but good works are not uniform in every believer. We can become legalists by trying to measure the salvation of others. 1 Corinthians 11:30 makes it clear that some Chrisitians might possibly fall asleep and even die as carnal Christians.

Can good works prove salvation? That's an interesting question.

-Good works can characterize non-Christians
-Good works are hard to define anyway
-Some good works are going to be burned at the judgement seat
-Some good works are not visible, because they are passive in nature; for instance much of the obedience we give to Christ involves not doing something, such as saying no to temptation. Or another example is prayer, which is unseen.
-Good works can be deceptive
-Good works can be inconsistent, someone can have a "bad day"

Good works are probably a supporting evidence to say that someone might be saved. However they do not determine salvation of other people. Paul says that he does not even judge himself. He says he leaves judgment to God. How then can we judge others.

Free grace theology desires to preserve the clarity of the means of salvation. We avoid using language such as "public confession," "baptism," "repent from sins," or "faithfulness," to describe how we can know we are saved.

4 -- The free grace movement teaches it is essential that we share the truths of God graciously. We can so easily undo, in writing, in preaching, in teaching, what we sought to build. Graciousness should bind over the differences remaining after these core essential distinctives. The prodigal son had a gracious relationship with his father. The same grace the son was given upon returning back to the presence of his father, was the same grace that let him go in the first place. Freedom is important. God gives us the freedom to make a mistake. We know that those we have discussions with are going stumble and make mistakes with their theology. We can disagree in a gracious tone, and with respect. The Word of God is supposed to be good news. We don't argue about it; we share it. If freedom is really freedom, it makes enough room for deliverance from sin and deception for sure but also it will permit the exercise of error. Who wants to give freedom? Who wants to take freedom away? I often use this filter to weight the presidential candidates....

"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"; this is what our founding fathers penned. They said that freedom comes from the Creator. He gives us life, and we also offer to others eternal life. Liberty is foundational too; many left England for the New World to escape religious persecution. The pursuit of happiness is also a high priority in the gospel of grace. Our purpose is to advance the grace message around the world, not argue about it.