Why Grace & Truth?
We recently started a Christian podcast named Grace & Truth where we discuss matters affecting the life of an ordinary African Christian from a biblical perspective. The Grace & Truth ministry is not new though. It has been a publication ministry of Trinity Baptist Church Nairobi for more than 30 years now. The launch of this podcast would be therefore a good opportunity to remind you of the purpose of Grace & Truth. We trust it will be for your increased spiritual benefit and so for the glory of God.
The Scriptures tell us that it is Christ who brought in Himself the fullness of grace and truth (John 1:17). We believe that we must pay very close attention to both these words as they are the very foundation of the Christian faith.
Grace refers to the source of all the blessings of salvation that we receive in Christ. We receive nothing except by the grace of God (Romans 3:24, 5:20–21, 1 Cor. 15:10, Ephesians 1:6–7, 2:5, 7–8, 2 Timothy 1:9, etc.). This means that we have these blessings only because God decided to give them to us and not because we have deserved them in any way. Therefore Grace & Truth seeks to firmly lay before you that salvation is not dependent upon man but on God — beginning with election, fulfilled in time in calling and regeneration, and finally consummated in glory (Rm.8:30). It is our desire to wean you away from that man-centred religion that emphasizes that God cannot fully bring a person to salvation because it depends upon the free-will of man. This false emphasis on man has robbed God of His glory, and His people of their comfort in a God who is sovereign.
Truth came with Christ because He Himself is the revelation of God (John 1:18, Hebrews 1:1-2). In Christ God has spoken His last words. We believe in the vital importance of truth (2 Corinthians . 4:2, 6:7, 7:14, Ephesians 1:13, 4:21, Colossians 1:5–6, 2 Thessalonians 2:9–13, etc.). We emphasize truth as far more valuable than the relating experiences that people have had. This truth is brought to you in two forms: a careful explanation of passages in scripture (for example, Studies in Death and Resurrection of Christ from the Gospel of Luke); and studies in particular doctrines of the Bible (for example, sin). It is so more important, in a day when many are claiming revelations from God that by-pass the Bible, that we test everything by the Scriptures and that we gain the fullest possible understanding of the Scriptures. It is our desire that you deal with the truth in the Bible as your final authority in all matters of faith and practice, because it is God’s completed Word in Christ.
May the Lord bless you as you read and listen to ‘Grace & Truth’!
Article edited and re-shared from Grace & Truth magazine, issue №73 (1995), K. Underhill
