- James Barron

Jesus was laid in a tomb after He died and a great stone covered the tomb. But three days later, the stone was rolled away. Jesus was not in the tomb. He rose from the dead! The power of His Life rolled away the stone! His Life!

The law was written on stone. Our hearts were as stone. But a new day has dawned with Him, and law and death has been rolled away and a New Creation arises with Him, never to die again! Never to be separated from the love of God again! Never again!

Never again! Behold the dawning of a new day! Behold the eternal morning! Behold the face of the Son of God. Believe only and rest!

The stone that God rolled away, the law and death, was replaced with another Stone. The Chief Corner Stone! Of which the builders (Pharisees) rejected! And whosoever shall trust in that Stone shall not be disappointed!

- James Barron

- Curious Saint

Hello:

Thanks for your question and words of encouragement. Glad the teachings on www.seeinggrace.com are blessing you.

Briefly, this is what I see Jesus teaching in His parable about the unjust steward. In the parable, the owner praises the unjust steward, not for his dishonesty and theft of the owner’s property, but for his shrewdness.

The steward used money to bless people, the customers of the owner, by discounting their bill and thereby saving them tons of money. He knew he was about to get fired by the owner so he used the owner’s money to bless a lot of people so that when he was out on the street without a job he would have lots of friends who would help him out too.

Jesus said the sons of the darkness are wiser than the sons of the light because the sons of the light should use money and material things of this world to bless people so that they become not just friends, like with the unjust steward, but so they might come to see the goodness of God in a believer’s generosity and believe on Jesus. When they become believers, they are then brothers and sisters, now a part of the eternal family of God and they will welcome us in heaven, into eternal dwellings, when we pass from this temporary world and life.

I see the reality of this truth almost every week. I will be moved by God to give a gift to someone who is not a believer. It could be money, tickets to a game, gift card to a restaurant, etc. and they will be amazed that someone would do that for them. Then at the right time, I will speak of God’s love and what Jesus accomplished, and they are all ears. Seeds are planted and God will water and give the increase. As Jesus said, “a man cannot serve two masters.” Don’t serve money but serve God and use money to show his goodness to people in random and Spirit-led acts of kindness. I have lived like this for years by God’s grace and He has always given me a generous supply for my needs and my family’s needs and for giving away to bless others.

Use money and the things of this world to bless unbelievers (as well as believers) and they will listen intently when you tell them of God’s love in Jesus.

James

Religion tells us to do. Jesus tells us it is done.

Religion tells us to focus on sin in the flesh in order to modify our behavior. Jesus tells us to focus on Him in the Spirit in order to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

Religion says our heart as a believer is evil still. Jesus says our heart as a believer is new and good, with no evil.

Religion is all about the outward and seen. Jesus is all about the inward and unseen.

Religion tries to repair and fix the old creation. Jesus made us a New Creation!

Religion’s yoke is hard work. Jesus said His yoke was easy.

Religion uses fear to manipulate people to act. Jesus’ love compels people to act, with joy!

Religion is proud. Jesus is humble.

Religion says we must continually confess our sins to stay cleansed and righteous. Jesus says our sins have been taken away, past, present and future, and they are no longer being counted against us!

Religion says that sins are being counted against the believer. Jesus says His righteousness is being counted for the believer!

Religion is blind. Jesus gives us new eyes to see the unseen.

Religion is all about the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus is all about His Life in us!

Religion is boring. Jesus is an unexpected journey and adventure!

Religion is an old cell phone where the service has been cancelled. Jesus is a new cell phone with new service!

Religion is insecure. Jesus is confident and secure.

Religion is competitive and envious. Jesus is a rest.

Religion says we must love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength first! Jesus said He first loved us and that we are to believe first that He loves us with all His heart, soul, mind and strength!

Religion thinks itself wise. Jesus thinks Religion is foolish.

Religion is a dead end. Jesus is an open door to endless possibilities!

Religion is man-centered. Jesus is God-centered.

Religion wants to control other men. Jesus wants to set men free to live by Him.

Religion is death. Jesus is Life!

Religion is depressing. Jesus is joy unspeakable and full of glory!

Religion keeps people in a boat that is sinking. Jesus empowers people to walk out of the boat onto the water to Him!

Religion’s gospel is “fear the Lord and obey His commandments!” Jesus’ gospel is “believe on Me and fear not, for I give you my righteousness!”

Religion is about rules to keep. Jesus is about His love to receive.

Religion tries to get people to keep God’s laws so that the people will be righteous. Jesus tries to get people to see that He kept all the laws for them and they need only believe in Him to be righteous.

Religion is bondage. Jesus is freedom!

Religion needs money to exist. Jesus’ life needs no silver or gold to live and prosper!

Religion is mean to you when you do not agree with it. Jesus is kind even to those who nailed His hands and feet.

Religion says to change you must see your sin! Jesus says to change you must look away from your sin and see Him!

Religion is Satan’s tool. Jesus is God’s Son!

Guess who wins in the end! : )

I choose Jesus!!!

Love in Him,
James

(Jeremiah 33:3)

Three huge lies promoted by the darkness are out there in this world and they relate to a view of the Law, a definition of Grace and a theory about Aliens from other worlds.  All three lies have as their goal to destroy faith in Jesus.  The enemy knows that the shield of faith will quench every missile of darkness and that faith in Jesus is the victory that overcomes the world.  So his strategy is to replace faith with something else thus destroying faith.

The first lie relates to a view of the Law.  Satan tried to obtain the body of Moses (Jude 9) so that he could have a place on earth where people of all religions would come to honor the law-giver and the law.  He wanted a shrine to Moses to promote the law.  The law is the weapon of first choice of Satan.  He knows, unlike many believers, that the law is the strength of sin, as Paul taught.  That’s why Jesus “disarmed” the powers of darkness by nailing the law itself on the cross itself, Paul tells us in his letter to the Colossians.  He took the law out of the way through His death.  His death was the judgment of the whole world because the whole world had transgressed the law of God.

The Satanic secret is that Satan is persuading people, unbelievers and believers, to try to keep God’s laws in order for them to be righteous.  The secret of God is that He is trying to persuade people to believe that He has already kept all the laws for us through Jesus!

The second lie involves a distorted definition of Grace, and it comes in two flavors.  The first flavor is the teaching that God’s grace can be accessed only by faith plus obedience to commandments, or works.  Faith plus works gets you God’s grace.  Paul taught in Romans that this kind of grace is not grace at all.  

The lie about grace also comes in another flavor and it is a teaching that says that a gift of faith is part of the definition of grace.  In other words, God believes for the believer so that it’s all of grace and even the faith of the believer is not really from the believer but from God.  The problem with this thinking is huge and far-reaching.  This teaching says that God only gives this gift of faith to a certain few, called the elect, and He withholds this gift of faith to all others thus sending them all to hell.  It’s pagan fatalism disguised as an intellectually stimulating view of Scripture.

The Scripture is clear that God is not willing that any person perish but that all would believe His good news.  John wrote that Jesus died not only for the sins of the believer but for the sins of the whole world.  Jesus wept over Jerusalem saying “I would” but “you would not” let me save you!  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life!

The truth is God has given every human being the gift of the ability to believe.  Every human being has this gift from God. Animals, birds and fish don’t believe.  They respond to stimulus.  They learn.  They have instincts.  But they do not have the ability to believe.  Neither do plants.  Man is made in the image of God and the ability to believe is a God thing.  God sees what is not and calls it into being.  That’s how faith works in man too.  As birds were made to fly in the sky and fish were made to swim in the water, so has God made man to believe and live in the unseen realm of the Spirit, calling those things that are not as if they were!  So anyone can be forgiven, they need only believe and exercise the God-given gift of an ability to believe.  

The true definition of grace or “pure grace” is God giving Himself to us, His righteousness and His life, through Christ, in a union made possible only by the gift of His Spirit and that gift of His Spirit is given freely when we simply believe.

The third lie is about Aliens.  As someone said, the lie about aliens has been incubating for decades in books, movies and so-called “eye witnesses.”  The lie is that there is no God and that the human race was engineered by a superior alien life form millions of years ago.  One day they will return to earth to see how we have evolved or perhaps we will go to them and find our creators in deep space in a galaxy far, far away.

More and more people, especially the youth, are embracing this lie, replacing the old-fashioned lie of Darwin’s evolution with a new lie that’s more hip.  Paul said that in the latter years a strong delusion would come on the earth and those who would not receive the love of God that is revealed in the truth of the finished work of Christ will believe a lie and perish.

Those three lies about Law, Grace and Aliens seek to destroy simple faith in Jesus and many, unbelievers and believers, have adopted those lies, or some of them, as their own personal view.  The prophet Isaiah foretold of a time when gross darkness would cover the earth in the thinking of men, but that those who believe would arise and shine and present a stark contrast to the madness around them.  Jesus is the light of the world and those who follow Him will not walk in the dark lies of the enemy but have the light of life!  His life!  His freedom!  Let God arise and His enemies be scattered!

- James Barron

Now to get back to the point (sorry I went off on a rabbit trail) the enemy is still saying “Did God REALLY say THAT?? For example in 1 John 4:17 we read an almost unbelievable statement that says “as He is so are we in this world”. The thought the devil would like you to think is “ Did God really say you are like Him? That can’t be true because your behavior today and this last week looks nothing like Him’. One secret I will let you in on is the devil will never say “you are dirty or unholy, or whatever. He will convince you to say to yourself “I am dirty and unholy.” See the difference? This is where the back and forth in and out of fellowship mindset comes from. Also, a lot of teaching out there will lead you to believe that “one day you will be like Him if you obey perfectly, and confess every sin you ever commit so you can stay in fellowship”. Once you get to heaven THEN you will be like Him. Here is a truth for you to meditate on…everything you will be THERE you already are HERE!! God is not going to do a last minute polish before you go to heaven. What is true there is true here NOW!! You are not waiting to be sanctified there, you are fully sanctified here (Hebrews 10:14) You are SEATED WITH CHRIST in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) Here are some more unbelievable truths that are actually in the Bible! See if you can see why the enemy would TRY and say to you ” Did God REALLY say THAT?”

John 3:17-18- For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged ; he who does not believe is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Colossians 2:9-10- For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.

1 Peter 3:18- For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

Let me end with this. Remember the game many of us played as kids where we sat in a circle and one of us was given a sentence or phrase? We would then say it to the next person and it would travel all the way back to the original person? What was originally said sounded nothing like the original statement! This is exactly what has ben going on for centuries, and it continues today when it comes to the gospel. Rather than saying something or teaching something that sounds like the gospel, why don’t we just go back and read the ACTUAL words of Christ and the apostles. Be encouraged today that WHO you ARE in Christ is REALLY true RIGHT NOW!!!

Jeff Fitzgerald

The riddle of Samson (Judges 14:2-3) is an awesome picture of Jesus and His work in bringing righteousness to mankind through faith. The gift that was given to those who could solve the riddle were wedding garments for Samson’s wedding, a picture of the robes of righteousness which every believer receives when they believe on Jesus for the forgiveness of all sin.

Yes, the wedding gift for solving the riddle is the garment of righteousness!

But what is the answer to the riddle: Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet? In the story of Samson the answer in natural terms was: “Honey coming from the body of a dead lion.” What is stronger than a lion? What is sweeter than honey? They answered Samson with these words after finding the answer only from being told the answer (it must be revealed because it cannot be discovered otherwise).

In the spiritual I believe we can see the mystery or riddle of Christ in this story. Honey seems to speak of “mercy” in the scripture so what is the opposite of mercy? Justice! I say “opposite” because the heart of the riddle, which makes it a riddle, is that something completely opposite and unexpected happens. The eater, the lion, should have eaten and devoured Samson, but Samson ends up eating something
from within the dead lion, something “hidden” from plain sight: honey. Out of the eater, something to eat!

I see Samson as a type of Christ. His strength is a picture of the perfect righteousness of God. Only Christ could have faced the justice and wrath of God for us in the epoch battle which culminated in the cross. (I say “culminated” because the battle was on the moment He entered earth’s atmosphere on that night in Bethlehem.) We would have been eaten alive by the wrath of God (like a lion devouring his prey) because of His holiness, but His love for us and burning desire to be with us caused Him to take the wrath due us.

The Lion of the tribe of Judah was stronger than the lion of God’s justice and He prevailed because it was God Himself settling the score and declaring that He Himself is enough! So now out of the justice of God a strange thing is found, a riddle unfolds, and because of Samson (Christ and Him crucified), honey or mercy is given. That which would have eaten us (justice) has given us something to eat (mercy) because of Samson’s work, because of the finished work of Christ. And from the “strong” and unapproachable and unrelenting (justice) comes something “sweet” and approachable and and also unrelenting (mercy).

Behold the riddle of Christ and receive your wedding garments, your robes of righteousness, for the King has paid a great price for them and for you, and He is determined to have a party!

- James Barron

To “follow” means to come or go after, move behind in the same direction: to come or go with; to accept the guidance or leadership of; to adhere to the cause or principles of; to be governed by; obey; comply with (John 10:27-29, Romans 10:9-10,13).

When a person first comes to Jesus, it is impossible to know everything that following Jesus entails. No one, however, should be fearful of making a total commitment to Him because of some imagined problem that may never come to pass. There should be a willingness to forsake everything to follow Jesus. Once we make that decision, then Christ Jesus begins to live through us and we find a strength that is not our own, and is equal to whatever test we may encounter Galatians 2:20).

It is Christ Jesus living through us that is the secret of victorious Christian living. It is not us living for Jesus, but Jesus living through us. Failure to understand this simple truth is at the root of all legalism and the performance mentality. The law focuses on the outer man and tells it what it must do. Grace focuses on the inner man and tells it what is already done through Christ Jesus. Those who are focused on what they must do are under the law. Those who are focused on what Christ Jesus has done for them are walking under grace.

Just as the life of a root is found in the soil, or a branch in the vine, or a fish in the sea; the believer’s true life is found in union with Christ Jesus. The Christian life is not just hard to live; it’s impossible in our human strength. The only way to walk in victory is to let Jesus live through you.

God loves you ! There is nothing you can do about that. Talk to Him today, He’d love to hear from you. You are an important part of God’s plan.

Brother Coop
Right Time—Right Place Ministries

“Do you hear that horrible sound? What is that? The grinding, shrieking, and squeaking rumble seems to be getting louder and louder by the minute. What a terrible noise! WHAT ON EARTH IS IT?”

Well the truth is, it’s possible that not everyone reading this may hear this hideous shrill sound, because it’s only heard with spiritual ears. But if you have heard it or you are hearing it, you probably already know what it is. It’s actually something we’ve been hearing for quite a while, yet it seems to be being magnified at this moment in time. It is a very harsh noise! It penetrates your soul! When you hear it, you can tell that it is something massive and mechanical, and yet it is also very human. If you listen closely you can actually distinguish individual voices that make up the collective clatter.

When you separate the sounds, you can hear a pastor and his wife who cannot handle the thought of one more day in ministry. You quiet yourself further and hear the screams of a believer who is drowning in condemnation. He is seemingly surrounded by and even being attacked by the constant reminder of his sins. Sins, that he was once promised, were buried in the deepest parts of this sea and never to be remembered. The hum is becoming deafening now. You can hardly stand to listen for another second. Just as you’re reaching up to cover your ears, suddenly the clamor dies down and settles to an almost tolerable level. You listen yet again, desperate to understand the abrupt change that just took place, yet all you hear above the sound of the original rumble is a soft whisper saying, “Grace to you.”

What I’ve just described to you is what God showed me a few mornings ago while in prayer. That morning I was talking to the Lord about how I could not understand how the church has missed this incredible message of grace for so long, and the “fallout” that has taken place as a result of it. As so many others that have come to the knowledge of this grace, I have my own story. And I know how costly the absence of the “message of grace” is in the life of a believer. I (could personally) remember sitting behind my beautiful desk in a lush office, flooded with ministry opportunities, but I was constantly frustrated with the religious message I had been “programmed” with. Something inside of me was saying, “There’s absolutely no way that we are preaching the same message that Paul preached.” I knew intuitively and understood that the sound I was hearing was the sound of the religious machine grinding its gears and wounding the Saints.
What I didn’t know was what the Holy Spirit said to me next. He said, “James, what’s happened in religion is this. Instead of trusting in the simplicity of Jesus Christ and making grace the centerpiece and power source of life, men have used grace instead as a lubricant to oil their religious machines.” I asked Him what He meant. He said, “These religious machines always break down and wear out. So whenever that happens and whenever their systems, principles, patterns, and programs don’t do the job, THEN they apply some grace in order to keep things functioning. And in a sense it has, and does, because even a little bit of grace is incredibly powerful. Tragically and typically My grace is used to manipulate things in the direction already chosen by the system.”

This immediately made perfect sense to me and settled some things in my own spirit. Recently I have noticed a spike in interest regarding the subject of grace, everywhere. It has become an extremely popular subject in churches. Grace is the “buzz-word” post 2010. Pastors everywhere are doing Sunday Schools and series on it. I have also noticed, however, that hardly anyone is actually preaching on “the finished work of Christ” with any real revelation, boldness, or impact. The potential for the transforming power of grace in the life of the believer is not being actualized. Everyone wants to say they have grace, that they believe in grace, and that they are preaching grace; but having come to a revelation of grace myself, I know that when it comes in its pure form, it leaves no stone unturned in your faith. It changes everything!

All of this brings the question, with all of the buzz—why is there no massive change or shift in the church at large? The answer is simple. Religionists have looked at the huge storage towers of heaven, filled to the brim with God’s amazing grace, which is ready to fuel the lives of believers here on earth. Then instead of connecting the church to these unending resources, they’ve grabbed a few gallons of grace and used the “oil of joy” to lubricate their own failing operating systems. No Christian group has ever been able to survive with a total lack of grace. Therefore every movement in history has believed in and instituted this truth to some measure, for without it they would be terminal. But few have seen the sufficiency of it and sadly the church for centuries has not fully believed what the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

I had the opportunity to share what I believed the Lord had taught me with James Barron. He completely agreed and said it back to me in these words- “It seems that many preachers talk about grace but it’s really just lip service. I never thought about it that way but you heard from the Master correctly. Grace is being used merely as a lubricant to keep their legalistic machines running instead of seeing grace as the source of power! I love it! Their religious machines only produce a form of godliness while they deny the very source of power of godliness which is the grace of God in Jesus!”

Grace is enough! Grace is the whisper that overpowers the screams. Grace is the oil dripped upon the religious machines that does keep them going and doing some good in the earth. Can we just imagine if they ever got the revelation that what they had been using as a lubricant was actually the fuel and that the church is an organism fueled by God’s gracious Spirit and not a man-powered machine? Oh Lord, let that revelation come; the revelation of your grace and the revelation of your Holy Spirit of promise! Amen!