From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve discover that Jesus is not a one sided Jesus.

Speaker 2

Miller Beer had an ad campaign. They always had the same tagline. It was light beer for Miller. Tastes great, less filling.

You know what we have today? So many pulpits across America, they're preaching light Jesus. He tastes great, he's less filling, but he doesn't save because he's not real.

Because the real Jesus is full of grace and truth. And by loving kindness and truth, iniquity is atoned for. And if you try and come any other way, you will not have your sins forgiven and you will find that God will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

Speaker 1

Well, it's a sobering and somber beginning to today's From His Heart broadcast with Pastor Jeff Shreve. Today, an important topic that really can't be ignored. In a world where there's such a great imbalance about how people perceive Jesus, many have a distorted understanding of who he is, and it causes great deception.

It's imperative that we have a correct understanding of both grace and truth in balance so we don't fall off the high wire into theological heresy. Are you willing to get to know the real Jesus?

Let's catch up a bit from yesterday's start and then hear part two of the message: A One-Sided Jesus. Here again is Pastor Jeff.

Speaker 2

In the New Testament, when John in his Gospel tells us about Jesus, he lets us know that the God of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament. And in John chapter one, he opens his Gospel this way: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by him, and apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being." The Word is obviously Jesus Christ, because he clarifies in verse 14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." John bore witness of him and cried out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, he who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for he existed before me. For of his fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace."

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained him. Lord, show me your glory. Moses prayed, and God passed by, declaring that he was full of loving kindness and truth. John lets us know that Jesus, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, is full of grace and truth. You and I must maintain the proper theological balance between grace and truth so that we don't fall off the theological wire into heresy. We must not believe in another Jesus who is not the real Jesus, because the real Jesus of the Bible is full of grace and truth, full of loving kindness and truth.

Today, we want to discuss this important issue. The question is: Do you have a proper balance in your understanding of Jesus? Let me share with you three important insights associated with that. First of all, very simply, Jesus is full of grace. That's what the Bible says. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He is full of grace. I like to think of grace this way: Grace is God's undeserved love and kindness in action. It's unmerited love from God and kindness from God mixed together—loving kindness in action.

Grace is what saves us and sustains us. It's how you come to know the Lord—by grace. Ephesians 2 makes that clear: "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, lest any man should boast." It's by God's grace that you're saved, and it's by God's grace that you continue in your Christian life. Grace came to Peter in John chapter 21 when the Lord Jesus restored him to his place of leadership with the disciples—all because of grace. Jesus is full, overflowing—replete—with grace. Just as it says in the Old Testament, "The Lord, the Lord, compassionate and gracious, abounding in loving kindness."

The second insight is that not only is Jesus full of grace, but he is also full of truth, abounding in loving kindness and truth. He is full of grace and truth. In John 14:6, at the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." He didn't say, "I am a way and a truth and a life." No, he said, "I am the way and the truth and the life." He is the embodiment of truth. In John chapter 17, during his great high priestly prayer, he prayed to his Father, saying, "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth."

So, what is truth? The Lord Jesus Christ is the embodiment of truth. It's the Word of God that speaks to us about Jesus and tells us about Jesus. That is truth. If I am going to know the truth, then I have to spend time in this book. Mark it down: Truth is not moldable or situational; it is absolute. We live in a world today where people say, "Well, truth is situational." They want truth to be the way they want it to be. But truth is not moldable or situational.

We have truths in mathematics—mathematical facts. Two plus two equals four; it doesn't equal three, and it doesn't equal five. I don't care what century you live in; two plus two equals four. A thousand years from now, two plus two will equal four. That's just the way it is. God, when he designed this world and set up the moral code, didn't do it willy-nilly. It's all based on his character and nature. What did Jesus say? "I am the way and the truth."

Why is this so important? Because truth is what sets you free. Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." If you don't have truth, how are you going to be set free? The Bible makes it clear that it's by loving kindness and truth that iniquity is atoned for. Here I am, a sinner, and I need God to forgive me. How does that come about? Just by grace? No, by loving kindness and truth—by grace and truth. Iniquity is atoned for. Those things go together, as Forrest Gump says, like peas and carrots, like peanut butter and jelly. You can't separate them and say, "Well, I like the Jesus that's just grace. I don't like this truth stuff because I like to make up the rules as I go along."

Ephesians chapter one, verse 13 says this: "In him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise." Truth leads us to God's grace. The truth that I'm a sinner and I'm in trouble and I need a savior—that's the truth. And that leads us to God's grace. God's grace says, "Yes, you are a sinner, and you are on the highway to hell, and you're in trouble, pal. But I sent my son—the Word became flesh. I sent my son for you. He's full of grace and truth."

If you'll just come to him—the Lord, the Lord, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth, who forgives iniquity, transgressions, and sin—there's forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. Truth leads to grace, and grace leads to truth. They are connected; they are Siamese twins. You can't disconnect them. Jesus is full of grace and truth.

Notice it doesn't say that he has half truth and half grace. He has overflowing grace and overflowing truth. He is completely balanced in truth and grace, loving kindness and truth. Truth is what sets you free. It works in conjunction with grace, and that reveals God's glory.

Now, insight number three: Jesus wants his followers to be balanced in grace and truth. This is really important. What does it look like to be balanced in grace and truth? You have this little teeter-totter looking thing. You and I need to keep grace and truth in proper balance in terms of who Jesus is and the Christian life so we don't fall off.

Truth-heavy Christians might be those who gravitate toward truth. Maybe you have a little bit of trouble with grace. You focus on the rules and the laws, and that just kind of floats your boat. You tend to be a truth-heavy Christian. I tend to be a truth-heavy Christian. I'm not ashamed to say that I work on keeping proper balance, but my default setting, if I'm not careful, is to go off into truth.

What happens if you do that? Truth-heavy Christians can be legalistic and judgmental. That's the downfall of being truth-heavy. If you fall off the wagon and become so truth-heavy that grace is non-existent, you become a Pharisee. The Pharisees were all about legalism and rules. Jesus had many run-ins with the Pharisees because they had lost their ability to care for people and to love and have compassion. All they cared about were the rules.

When Jesus healed the man who had been at the pool of Bethesda for 38 years, he told him, "Arise, take up your pallet and walk." It was the Sabbath when he did that. The man was excited, but the Pharisees saw him carrying his pallet and said, "You can't carry your pallet; it's the Sabbath. How dare you?" The man replied, "The guy that healed me told me to rise, take up my pallet and walk."

Jesus also healed a woman who had been bent over for 18 years because of a demon spirit, and it was the Sabbath. The synagogue official said, "There are six days in which you can do healing, but don't do it on the Sabbath." Jesus rebuked them, saying they were hypocrites. They had a skewed view of truth, but grace was absent. They had taken it off the teeter-totter; everything was law, legalism, and judgment, and it was awful.

Truth-heavy Christians can be legalistic and judgmental, while grace-heavy Christians can be morally weak and licentious. There's a big problem with that. To be morally weak and licentious means to be shameless, unprincipled in morality, decadent, and corrupt. Licentiousness is essentially saying, "I have a license to sin." The Scripture warns against this.

In Jude chapter one, verses three and four, it says, "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write you, appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith, for the truth which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed—false teachers who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation—ungodly persons who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." This is serious sin.

When you turn the grace of God into a license to sin, it matters how you live. We must maintain proper balance because we can fall on one side and be truth-heavy and grace-light, or we can fall on the other side and be grace-heavy and truth-light.

One last point, but it's very important: The big issue facing us in the last days is the lack of truth. What's going on in the church today is not a dearth of grace; it's a dearth of truth. The Bible foretold that this would happen. When Paul told Timothy in the last chapter he ever wrote, in 2 Timothy chapter four, he said, "I solemnly charge you: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires and will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths."

They will say, "We want a Jesus who is just mushy and gooey and doesn't care about how we live." It's like in Isaiah's day when they said, "Ah, don't tell us anymore about the Holy One of Israel; just prophesy to us illusions. Speak to us pleasant words. Tell us how good we are."

We have many pulpits across America preaching a light Jesus—light beer for the soul. He tastes great, but he's less filling. But the real Jesus is full of grace and truth. By loving kindness and truth, iniquity is atoned for. If you try to come any other way, you will not have your sins forgiven, and God will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

It's a balancing act for every Christian on the theological wire between grace and truth. May you and I never fall off.

Speaker 1

This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. And as we've said so many times, if your sins are truly atoned for by your faith in the real Jesus, God sees you through the righteousness of His Son. He does not view you through the eyes of your sin. But the truth is, if you don't know Christ in a personal way, you've never surrendered, all of you, to all you know of Him.

Then we invite you right now to turn from your sin and surrender your life to Jesus in repentance and faith. He will save you. That is God's promise. Then you'll want to thank Him for saving you. If you'd like more information about what that really means and how to apply it to your heart and your life and how you can really know peace, joy, and forgiveness through Christ, then we invite you to go to fromhishheart.org and click the "Why Jesus" link. That will begin to answer the questions that are probably on your heart right now. Again, go to fromhishheart.org, click the "Why Jesus" link. It's right there on our homepage.

You can also download some free materials to help you in your journey. You'll also be able to download some free messages and written materials from Pastor Jeff that will help you. Today's lesson, "A One-Sided Jesus Part Two," is from Pastor Jeff's series we're in now called "Encountering the Real Jesus." He knows that revival is needed so badly in our churches today, but it won't happen until the people of God in the church encounter the real Jesus.

You see, if a Christ follower either strays from the Lord or, through whatever circumstances, has gotten kind of cold and lukewarm, a personal revival can and will set a Christian's soul on fire for God once again. Now, for a true Christian, are you at a point in your life that you want to say to the Lord, "Lord, I could really use a fresh touch from you"? I want a life of passion and surrender so I can exhibit the real Jesus to others. I want you to help me to strive to set others' hearts on fire for you and you alone. If that is your heart's desire, God will give it to you.

And this month, for your support of any amount to From His Heart, we'd like to say thank you by sending you Pastor Jeff's seven-message series, "Soldiers of the Cross," and the companion booklet, "The Lord's Army," both for your support of any amount to From His Heart. You can request it on a USB flash drive, CDs, DVDs, or MP3 digital download. You pick. And when you do make that gift, you'll also be contributing to this effort to reach the world with the good news through the preaching of Pastor Jeff Shreve.

Today, call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or simply go to fromhishheart.org and make that gift today, and you'll receive the "Soldiers of the Cross" series and the companion booklet, "The Lord's Army." Thanks for joining us today on From His Heart. I'm Larry Nobles inviting you to be here tomorrow for the next lesson in Pastor Jeff's series, "Encountering the Real Jesus." The message is called "Ready, Willing, and Able." That's on Thursday right here on From His Heart.

From His Heart is the listener-supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember that no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Find out more when you go to fromhishheart.org.