The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
LIVE DISCUSSION: The MARKS of Grace (Part 3 of 4)
What if the loudest battles you’re fighting aren’t the real war at all? We open with a blunt reckoning: many of us mistake online arguments and performative zeal for spiritual warfare, then wonder why we feel empty. Our focus shifts to the battlefield Scripture names—sin that clings close, pride that craves applause, and false teaching that fractures the church—and to the quiet courage that actually costs something.
We walk through 1 Corinthians 9 and the image of the race, where pressing forward isn’t about earning salvation but living like the prize is real. Then we get honest about evangelism: when someone turns to Christ, resistance comes fast. That’s why we prepare people for hardship and hope in the same breath. From 1 Peter 4 we draw a steel-spined vision of suffering that forms obedience, patience, and compassion. Trials aren’t strange; they are training, and God’s Spirit rests on the faithful.
Galatians becomes the anchor. Paul opens and closes with grace, turning our eyes from outward performance to the inner life of the Spirit. Circumcision, law-keeping, even good rituals like baptism—none of these save. Grace does. And note Paul’s strategy: he doesn’t chase Judaizers; he strengthens believers. We adopt that strategy today. Instead of endless debates with false teachers, we build resilient disciples who can answer from Scripture with clarity and humility. Simplicity is power here: Christ crucified, risen, and sufficient. Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
A raw testimony from prison reminds us what happens when conversations center on Jesus instead of camps and labels: people believe. That fruit shapes our vision of church as true family, a place where we become students, servants, and stewards of truth and of each other’s burdens. If you’re ready to trade noise for nurture and performance for presence, press play and join us. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s tired of shallow battles, and leave a review to help others find the show. Where is grace training you to fight today?
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But the modern Christian doesn't understand that we are actually and really at war. They don't understand it. Right. And then and then those who pretend that they do, they think that their understanding of Christianity and warfare as a Christian is to attack other believers. They don't go where it really costs them something. They don't go where it really cost them something. We just don't get it. Every Christian who has the strength in them to go and engage in this whole thing is going to be to understand, go out there into this battlefield and go to war. And it's not like the type of warfare that we're talking about in these countries. We're talking about us speaking against sin, speaking against the wickedness in the high places, us speaking against wickedness among men, is speaking against sin. It is being, it is having that Baptist spirit, that John the Baptist spirit, that Elijah spirit, that Elisha spirit, that David spirit. These people who believe like us, our brothers and sisters have gone before us. These are people who didn't shy away from the trouble that is apparent in this world. They didn't. They fought against it. They fought against it. They didn't need to take breaks. They may have wanted a break. They may have needed a break. They might have liked to want to have had a break, but they don't go around going, well, you know, I'm exhausted. I'm worn out. Our idea today of being worn out is spending too many days on TikTok. And we really think we're doing something great by like we're really trying to communicate this whole idea that we have really put it all out there because we spent 10 consecutive days going into 40 different lives fighting with people who have no chance of believing what we're talking about anyway. I need a break. I'm worn out. This is what we're dealing with today. Oh, oh, I, you know, these people, they're not listening to me. Oh, really? What did you think they were gonna do? This is this is this is what goes on. This is I I I hear from somebody probably every two or three weeks. I'm not knocking it. I'm not knocking it. You know, so what I'm saying, what I'm saying is, you know, you know, people have all these ideas about what you know, about their they need rest, they need a break, they need to rest, they need a vacation. This is too much.
SPEAKER_02:Go ahead, Jake. I'm just looking at uh 1 Corinthians 9, 24. And it says, No, know ye not that they which run in a race won all. Well, one received the prize, so one that you may.
SPEAKER_08:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:So he spread like then there's another verse that says I run for the high as I um it's for the higher calling of God. Now that verse, I do this for the higher calling of God. So we as a Christian, we won the race. The prize is eternal life. It's not that we have to earn our salvation, but we have to keep on pressing forward. That's right. That's right. On pressure forward, right?
SPEAKER_08:Yep. Absolutely, brother. I appreciate that. Absolutely. Sister Joni, go ahead.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, finally, no. I just wanted to say that uh, like you look at the word evangelism, right? People go out there and evangelize and they talk to people and they forget one main thing. They don't, they may not say it's easy, but they don't say it's hard. Like, you know, if somebody is coming to Christ and we don't allow them to understand, it gets hard, and it gets hard fast because the enemy starts throwing darts immediately.
SPEAKER_06:Right.
SPEAKER_03:To bring them back to not being where they are. But um I think it we should tell people hey, this isn't gonna be easy, but with Christ, you can do it.
SPEAKER_06:Right. That's exactly right. You're right, sister. You're absolutely right.
SPEAKER_03:I don't talk a lot, but when I do, I try to be on it.
SPEAKER_09:And you are, you are as always. Well, Jeffrey, you're gonna say something too. Were you gonna say something too, or are you fending for Joni?
SPEAKER_02:Me?
unknown:No.
SPEAKER_09:No, you're no encourage and serving.
SPEAKER_05:I just put a message down there. Ha ha ha. She does talk a lot, but here's the thing.
SPEAKER_06:I don't.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, she's always speaking truth. So that's what it is.
SPEAKER_09:All right, brother. You got anything you want to say? Add to it or no? I'm good. All right, Sister Candy, go ahead.
SPEAKER_08:Sister Candy, you there?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it's hard for me to click on my thing and it's touched when I try to hit the mock. That's all right. Man, first Peter, you know, first Peter be on this. But um, I guess I'm gonna go with uh chapter four. Cause what I even said before, like when I gave my um testimony, like there's no pain that I can suffer in this world that he's not suffered ten times, a hundred times worse. Right, like like growl, growling, growling off, you know what I mean? So um, chapter four, verse one says, Since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind. For he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. So basically, he's left us, he's left us an example of what we're supposed to do also. And then um verse 12 in chapter 4. Yeah, chapter 4, verse 12, do not think it's strange concerning the fairy trauma, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings. That when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you're reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the spirit of glory in God rests upon you.
SPEAKER_06:Right.
SPEAKER_04:And then verse 19 says, Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him and doing good as to the faithful creator. So again, we suffer for training and obedience, we suffer for perseverance and patience, we suffer for all those characteristics of who God is, um the qualities that he tries to instill in us, he teaches us his ways, he prepares us to comfort others, he gives us everything that we need in his word. Jesus God, thank you. And so all we have to do is where's it at? Is it in um is it Philippians 121? Philippians 121, Philippians 121, to um to live is in Christ and denies the game.
SPEAKER_07:Yep, I I hear what you're saying. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04:So therefore, we there is no us, man. It it's I could just feel like I'm pounded out in the mic every time, but I can't, I can't I I had to find out the hard way. And I say that, but at the same time, the growth that has been instilled and changed and for the better in me through it. Man, glory to God, glory to God for his love, patience, and just everything, man.
SPEAKER_07:I'm with you, sister. I I know exactly what you're feeling. I know exactly what you're feeling.
SPEAKER_04:Um there was another verse that had to do with um, and I'll find it again and say it later, I guess, but um that had to do with you having to kind of speak the truth. And I found it, but I'm sitting here like just he's got me all over the book right now.
SPEAKER_09:Well, just if you find it, just we'll I'll call you and we'll bring you back up. Don't worry about it.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, so sometimes though, brother man, you you you can't you can't you can't grieve because you're doing what's good for the for God, right? You know what I mean? It stinks, yes. But get out your feelings, brother. Yep. Easier said than done, I know.
SPEAKER_09:No, it's true. It's but what you're saying is true. So now we come to the final verse of the book of Galatians, and then after we get done with the final verse and talking about this, then I will talk about what the next book of the Bible is gonna be. And we're gonna go through. So in verse 18, Paul says this Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. This is how he closes. This is how he closes. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. I'm gonna tell you what's beautiful about this. Because Paul essentially open or closes the book of Galatians with the very same way that he opened it. When you go back to Galatians 1, he says Paul in verse 1. Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. Notice this. Verse 2. And all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of Galatians, Grace be to you, peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 18, what I just read is how he opened. So in verse 18, he says, Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. He opened and he closed the same exact way. That's the bread of the sandwich. Grace, brethren, and grace. And he addresses them by by calling them his brethren. And so he opens and closes with grace and urging them to continue in his grace and thereby exemplifying the Christian life. One that is led and governed by grace. That unmerited, that sweet, unmerited favor. Lean into that. Trust in that. And so in this benediction, as he closes, notice that he says this. He says, May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. So when he says, be with your spirit, what is he emphasizing here? Be with your spirit. Sister Meg, go ahead. You want to, you, you got your hand up. Go ahead. What do you want to say?
SPEAKER_00:I I was just thinking what you were saying, but what I think is beautiful about this is that Paul is emphasizing, because remember, in the whole book of Galatians, we were talking about the law, which is the outer part, what people wanted to do to clean themselves. But when Paul says your spirit, it's the internal spiritual focus that he was concluding with. As opposed to what? As opposed to what? As opposed to the law. So Paul was emphasizing the heart and the spirit rather than the outward conformity to the law.
SPEAKER_09:But I want you to be more specific in terms of the context of this particular book. What was Paul specifically addressing in the opening passage, in the opening chapter of this book? What were the Judaizers trying to compel the Galatians to do?
SPEAKER_00:To get circumcised.
SPEAKER_09:To get circumcised. And so how is he contrasting be, you know, uh may uh the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you in spirit? How is he contrasting that to the circumcision? What is the contrast?
SPEAKER_00:The contrast is the law is according to you and what you do. The the grace is nothing of human effort, it is simply God's unmerited favor. So he is at first, it was the outward man that he was talking about. What are you guys doing in regards to circumcision? But Paul is then ending the book, taking it inwardly to God's grace, which is not of human effort. He's taking it to the heart and the spirit rather than the outward conformity of the law.
SPEAKER_09:Right. Yeah, that's exactly right. He's saying, he's saying here, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you in your spirit, in your spirit. And that emphasizes the inward work. The inward work. And what he's been driving the Galatians away from is that outward work or that or that perceived external favor that they believe is coming from God, which is circumcision. And Paul's saying, away with that.
SPEAKER_00:Can I say one more thing? Go ahead. So when when when he says amen, like in there's so many passages like where Paul does end it with amen, but I love the word amen because it means so be it. And so that is it's the believer is in agreement with the blessing that Paul was giving.
SPEAKER_09:He's saying, he's saying, so be it, but he's also saying, and it is so, or like Lisa said, and let it be so. And that's what that's what he's saying, so be it, and it is so. And and so, and what he is trying, you know, so he's really doing, he, he's Paul was a when you if you read Paul's writings, you will understand. If you really read Paul's writings, you will understand that he was a master of language. A master of language. And so there's not a single word, especially and particularly with respect to the him him speaking things that are the result of divine inspiration. So when he says to them, he goes, he goes, he goes, let he goes, brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. He's directing them to focus on the spiritual. And they had to have had some understanding of the distinction between the spiritual and the fleshly or the carnal. And so circumcision is fleshly. It is carnal, it is not spiritual, no matter how you look at it, no matter how you slice it. Water baptism, it is not physical. I mean, it is physical, it is not spiritual. It may be a derivative of that which begins as spiritual and shows itself, manifests itself in uh in an open sense as something that is done internally, but it has nothing to do with that which is salvific. There is no scenario, for instance, where you can look at salv, or you can look at water baptism and go, this is what I need to do in order to be saved. Anyone, Christians, let me tell you all and make it unequivocally clear. And I will not worry about what you say or care what you say. I will take the position that Paul says in verse 17 from henceforth, from now on, let no man trouble me. Let no false teacher trouble me. I'm not going to subject myself to the harassment of false teachers anymore. This is why I'm not going into these debates with people anymore. I refuse to do it. I'm taking a page out of the Apostle Paul's epistles, and I'm focusing my efforts like he did on the people, the believers, building them up, bringing them to the faith, nurturing them, nurturing them in the faith, not focused on those who oppose the truth. In the book of Galatians, you don't see Paul going after trying to convince the Judaizers. You don't see that. Paul is not going after the Judaizers, he's going after those who he taught. Those who he taught the truth and who believed it, to the degree that they would, if they could, have given him their very own eyes. This whole book is to the Galatians. He started it speaking to the Galatians, the body of it was to the Galatians, and the end of it was to the Galatians, believers. He wasn't trying to reach out and to sway the the uh Judaizers in any way. And I'm saying this because I want to to convey to you all here that I know that there is so much going on in social media and on the internet. But we cannot lose sight of what we're here to do. Our efforts are to build up our brothers and sisters in Christ in this most holy faith. You might think that the battle is for those people who oppose us. It is not, it is for us to ensure that we have the wherewithal and the desire and the and the and the vigilance to insulate God's people, our brothers and sisters, you, my brothers and sisters, in each of us to insulate us from giving in to falsehood. To falsehood. Because when we do when we do what we need to do for each other and to ensure the certainty that each of us has faithfulness and assurance in Christ, then what we're doing is we're creating more soldiers to go out and combat the rest of the world. There's so much here that I wish I could be more articulate about. But what we need to understand is that we, Paul here, spent this six chapters that we've gone through. And by no stretch of the imagination would I be content with believing that I have exhausted every possible thing. There's no doubt that every verse in here could probably be a sermon that could go on for a year. And I'm not being hyperbolic. But there's so much here, and what I hope that I have been able to do for you is to lay out this template for understanding the truth contained in this in this glorious epistle, so that you can go on and take this and build upon it, add to it, improve upon what I hope I have conveyed to you. Because I certainly don't haven't cornered the market on all truth and understanding. I haven't. But the reason why we are supposed to sharpen one another is so that other minds will be inspired, other Christian minds will be inspired to dig deeper and to look into these things and to bring out truths that have yet to be extracted. I wish to some degree that I could be 25 again or 22 again. I wish, knowing what I know now, going back and starting all over again with what I know. But he brought me to this place for this reason in this particular time. And Lord willing, however long he lets me live, as long as my mind and my faculties are about and are available to me, I will continue to do what I what I uh what I want to do. And what I want to do is to help build up my brothers and sisters in Christ to become students, studious, to be servants, to be better servants, to be better stewards over not only their personal stuff, but their mental capacity to embrace the truth, to understand it, and to sift this truth out in ways that people can digest it. Studios, servants, stewards, this is what I hope that we can all continue to build upon. Brother Jeffrey, man of God, go ahead.
SPEAKER_05:Jonathan, if what you've taught us and brought to us from the book of Galatians in this study, if people don't get this, and then you have to question to the very core, what is it then that they believe about Christ? And are they really actually walking in fellowship with him? If they don't get this as plain and simple and basic as it gets, what Paul has said here to the church at Galatia, and what he's saying to us in his word. Okay. If we add anything to grace, we've diluted it completely. Yeah. So again, we we have to ask ourselves, what do we believe and why do we believe it? Amen, brother. That's the point I want to make.
SPEAKER_09:Amen. I appreciate that. That's that's you know, and and you know, my brother Jeffrey is saying something that I like to say over and over again, you know, because you have so many people out there in the world, whether they're on the internet or whether you meet them in person, so many Christians, so many of you, you know what you believe. But let me ask you this question: Do you know why you believe it? Do you know why it makes sense? Can you construct the argument to explain why it makes sense? Why? I know what I believe. I know you know what you believe. But one way I can always tell when somebody doesn't know what they believe is when they tell me it, when they want to dispute what I'm saying, when they want to tell me to go look at a video, or go Google this, or go here, go there, go that, listen to my pastor, go to my church. That tells me they have no idea what they're talking about. I'm gonna hear from you. And see, the thing about it is we as believers should always be ready, like the scripture says. No one denies this. Every Christian knows the scripture says this. Be ready to give an answer to anyone who would ask you. Be ready to give an answer for anyone that would ask you. And the answer is not go Google it, go do your own research. That is not what the scriptures is talking about. Go, let me send you this video. Go to the go to this, come to my church. No, you be ready to give an answer. And if you don't have an answer, then shut your mouth because you disparage the word of God, because so many people, when they don't have an answer, they don't want the person to know that they don't know the answer, so they lie and make up stuff. And that is not caring for a person's soul. My emphasis, I don't care what anybody says, I will never have to defend myself to anybody for this because the Lord knows my heart. My emphasis is always going to always be on being biblically precise. If I say something, it is because I believe with all my heart it is true. Does it mean that it is always true? No, it does not. It does not. But I can tell you, a great majority of the Christian community today, even if I am wrong, they will never be astute enough to know it. Because so few people put the time in to study the playbook. The Word of God, the Christian playbook for life and living and for bringing people to faith, to winning souls for Christ. That's what we're here to do. The reason why we believers are still believing today and still breathing today is because we are called to be soul winners. That's what we're called to be. That's why we're still here. Sister Candy and then Jeff, man of God. Candy and then Jeff.
SPEAKER_04:He just put me on fire. Second Corinthians chapter 11. I don't know if Jonathan, if you a jealous person like this is talking about. But in a way, I think all of us should be. So chapter 11, verse 2 says, For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, for I have betrothed you to one husband, and that I present you as a chastened virgin to Christ. But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit, which we have, which you have not received, or a different gospel, which you have not accepted, so what are we supposed to do? They may as well put up with it.
SPEAKER_09:Amen, sister. Right? That was 2 Corinthians 11, right?
SPEAKER_04:Uh yeah, 2 Corinthians 11.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. The simplicity that that was one of the that was one of the first three or four verses that I memorized, and I always love that verse. The simplicity that is in Christ. And and and and I and I'll tell you, uh, brethren, listen, we have to, like what Candy just read, we have to make sure that when we when we preach the truth, when we share the gospel. And we make it as simple as possible. I know some of us love to talk about eisegesis and exegesis and the Greek and all that kind of nonsense. But here's the thing make the gospel simple. Make it simple. Trying to be overly profound, especially if you're not, is only going to leave people bewildered and bewitched. And so keep it simple. Brother Brian, go ahead.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you, Brother Jonathan. I just want to share this. A lot of times I just try to keep it like biblical base. And sometimes you don't like to get too personal. But on the night I wanted to I wanted to share outside of God, the most influential people in my life is my pastor and Jonathan. You need it. Yeah, that's that. I don't know if you notice no matter how we bump heads, I can't stay off this panel. So now watch this. So it was some things that me and you talked about that I had enough nerve to ask my pastor on the night right before I came home. He came over to the house. And he said, It's funny that you asked me that about this that whoever it was you talking about, because uh uh a young lady asked, How did y'all how did y'all do that? You know what I'm talking about. You asked me, how y'all two do that? Right. What I I do wanna wanna share this with everybody. It was it was around 17 years ago. I was I was just an old dope dealer that was a gangbanger in the penitentiary. I wasn't looking for God, he came looking for me. 16 years ago, I was I was in the hole because because I was trying to figure out, you know, I gotta say, but I was a dope dealing gangbanger. And I had a position in the penitentiary. I was a gang banger, but I was one, I was one of those people that I was a gangbanger, but I love the Lord. How am I how am I gonna do do this? So I I had some Bachelor's Brothers, he said he said you you gotta choose God or you you can't do both. You can't do both, bro. I said, how come I can't? I was in I was in that place. And then there's another uh Bachelor's Brothers or whatever. You don't, if you don't make the choice, God gonna make the choice for you. So I found myself in the hole. I found myself in the hole. And all of a sudden, this guy also came in the hole. He was a reform brother. See, I was behind the walls, he was in the camp. But he had messed up, so now he behind the walls, now I'm in the hole behind the walls, and and and I'm out there, it's Easter. It's Easter. I believe this was 2009, it's Easter. And so he started telling me about uh John MacArthur, R. C. Spross, and then I ain't trying to hear you know, I'm a Pentecostal. I ain't trying to hear, I ain't trying to hear none of that, man. That ain't the truth. That's that's that's how I'm in, that's how I'm telling, just I walk away from this is on Easter. I'm just being transparent. And the Lord, I I don't know if some you know some people don't uh don't believe the gospel, but that day the Lord said, you go back to that brother, you get it right with him. So I started talking about it. He said, You just talk about me. And so I just start encouraging that brother about the Lord. I stay away, I stayed, I stayed away from the from the from the from the argumental stuff, and we just was talking about Jesus, how Jesus saved us and how we love the Lord. Do you know? In that hole, it was like 20 people in there. Four people because the conversation me and him had, they got saved that night. Wow. So my my whole point is I don't know what God doing. I don't know. I know I can't stay off this panel. I know I love the Lord, I know I love God's people. And so I just wanna I just wanted to wanted to share that with the with the people. I don't understand. Yeah, I'm an old knucklehead, old, old, old dope dealer. There was a gang banger that God decided to say. Amen. God bless y'all.
SPEAKER_09:Brother Man, look, look, see, let me I I'ma say this. I'm gonna say this, man. I talk about people being soft, and then I'm I'm more soft than everybody right now. But this brother Brian, see, I know what he's talking about because I know what we spoke about, and he knows that. And I won't say what we talked about doesn't matter. Because I understand this, there is not a problem. I don't care if I have a problem with something that we're talking about, we can disagree on a on some things, but if a person wants to be around you, and you want to be around them, then do it. Because the Spirit of God is going to make it work out for you. This guy, Brother Brian here, like he's been on here, some of you guys know his voice, and you've heard him before, you know what I mean? And from the time you first been on here, I can't, I can't I I I don't know how to I don't know how to say it. I don't know how to put it. But there are some people that no matter what, I won't say no matter. Yeah, even no matter what you you agree or disagree on, for some reason, the Lord puts it on your heart to love him. And I love this guy, Brian. I want you to know that. And I and I believe that you do know that. I was like, well, we we had one of our conversations, brother, and I was like, oh, I'm gonna block this dude. And I was like, I can't. I love it. I just I just love it. We never met in person, but I know and believe with all my heart and soul that we're gonna sit at the Lord's table together in glory. That's what's gonna happen. That's what's gonna happen. And I'll tell you something else. Like he said, I know it, because we I know what our conversation was. And so when I when I see him come up in the in the in the chat or the or come up here, I'm like, I it's like God gave me this blessing to know that this brother and me are we are in fact brothers in the Lord. And so, and what he said really penetrates my heart to the very depths. To the very depths. So, Brian, I want you to know that. I really do. And you know, and uh it's just it's just special. And I and I know that that that you have, and listen, everybody bear with me for a little bit because these these this talks, these these discussions that we have, they're not just about uh expositing the scripture, but it's about building each other up. It's about showing and expressing Christian love to one another, because Christ said that it is this whereby the world sees what the Christian world is supposed to be like, what the Christian community is supposed to be like. I have my own blood brother, my own blood sisters, and whatever. You know, and I love my brothers and sisters, and I will go, I will die for them. And that is in spite of the fact that we have had and maybe often do have differences of opinions about things. You Christians in my heart are elevated above my own blood. Some of you might say, that's crazy. I don't care what you think. The body of Christ, this is our true family. You are my true family. The worst of you is better than the best of my blood family, and all of you should feel the same way about me and about each other.
SPEAKER_04:I have to second to you on that one because I talk to y'all probably more than I talk to 98% of my entire blood relative family. And I I feel bad for that sometimes, like it's my fault because I should reach out. But even when you feel when you reach out, and then it's like nobody ever reaches out back to you, I struggle, I struggle with that. I do, I struggle with that. So if y'all will keep that in prayer for me.