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As counterintuitive as it may seem, truth and grace actually work together. This week, John Bailey and Mark Renfroe talk about how believers can become more like Christ and grow in truth and in grace.

Key Points from the Podcast

  • As Christians, we aren’t 50% truth and 50% grace, but 100% truth and 100% grace.

  • Many in modern culture perceive truth as subjective rather than absolute.

  • Truth is not just a belief system. It is the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Bible, and Jesus himself, tell us that he is the way, the truth, and the life.

  • The Word of God, the Bible, is truth because it points to, and shows us, the character and nature of God.

  • Mature Christians should be able to distinguish between opinions, beliefs, and convictions; but immature believers will group them all as convictions and impose them others.

  • Sin will deceive you and lead you into deeper sin and deception; but repentance from sin will renew your mind and lead you into truth and righteousness.

  • We must learn to accept the truth of scripture rather than using scripture to reinforce our own ideas.

  • Biblical grace is freely offered to the believer, but it came at the great cost of Jesus giving his sinless life for sinners.

  • If we live by truth alone, without grace, we all fall miserably short of God’s glory and standard.

Bible Verses Referenced in the Podcast

John 1:17; John 14:6, Psalm 119:43; Hebrews 3:13; Romans 7:11; Titus 3:3; Galatians 3:3

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

About John Bailey

Pastor John Bailey serves as the Chief Operating Officer at World Challenge. John came to know Christ in jail after some difficult struggles as a young man, and God has done a powerful work of transformation since! Spending 13 years in Next Gen ministry, he excelled in discipleship and helping young leaders discover giftings to serve God. John was called next to serve as a missionary and pastor in Western Europe. John and his family then returned to plant the Springs Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Today, the church is a thriving body of believers excelling in outreach and missions. John has now brought his giftings and vision to World Challenge, accelerating the spread of the gospel in America and around the World.

About Mark Renfroe

Mark married his college sweetheart, Amy, with whom he has four adult children—one girl and three boys. The Renfroes have been involved in field missions work for 30 years. They served in the Arab community of San Francisco for four years before becoming foreign missionaries in 1995. Mark was asked to serve as the Area Director for Assemblies of God World Missions in 2007. As part of his role, he led missionaries and interfaced with national church leaders in the 18 countries of the Arab World. In 2017, Mark created Reaching Africa’s Muslims, an initiative to mobilize, equip, and deploy indigenous African missionaries to reach Muslims on the continent. Mark has graduate degrees in Intercultural Studies and Executive Leadership. He currently serves as the Chief Missions Officer for World Challenge in Colorado Springs.