It seems like the doctrine of God’s grace is being preached, taught, blogged and tweeted more than ever. That’s a good thing.

But sometimes what is being preached, taught, blogged and tweeted about grace is misunderstood, misapplied and misinterpreted. That is not a good thing.

Recently Victory hosted its second Every Nation Worship Writers’ Workshop with 25 worship writers from Singapore, India, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Guam and the Philippines. Don’t worry, I was not singing or writing. I was teaching the Bible in order to give our writers ideas for worship songs.

One topic I talked about was God’s transformational grace. I tried to communicate that grace not only forgives us, but it also transforms us from the inside out. I challenged our writers to compose worship songs about the power of God’s grace to change us. They wrote some great songs that I am sure you will sing in your church and in Every Nation conferences over the next few years.

Why write songs about God’s transformational grace? It has become common to hear a grace preached and sung today that has little resemblance to biblical grace. Modern grace erases the guilt of sin but does not break the power of sin. Biblical grace forgives and transforms.

Here are a couple of verses about God’s transformational grace:

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age" (Titus 2:11-12, NIV).

According to Paul, grace not only forgives sin; it teaches us to say no to sin. It also teaches us to live self-controlled and godly lives. Grace is not a license to continue in sin but a license to arrest sin.

"For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!" (Rom. 5:17).

In this passage, Paul is teaching the Romans that they can “reign in life” not by human effort and religious affiliation, but by receiving “God’s abundant provision of grace.” God’s grace is abundant, and it empowers us to reign, to overcome, to be victorious.

Grace is supposed to change us. Is His grace changing you?

Steve and Deborah Murrell went to the Philippines in 1984 for a one-month summer mission trip that never ended. They are the founding pastors of Victory Manila, one church that meets in 14 locations in Metro Manila and has planted churches in 60 Philippine cities and 20 nations. Currently, Victory has more than 6,000 discipleship groups that meet in coffee shops, offices, dormitories and homes in Metro Manila. Steve is co-founder and president of Every Nation Churches and Ministries, a family of churches focused on church planting, campus ministry and world missions.

For the original article, visit stevemurrell.com.

Get Spirit-filled content delivered right to your inbox! Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Dr. Mark Rutland's

National Institute of Christian Leadership (NICL)

The NICL is one of the top leadership training programs in the U.S. taught by Dr. Mark Rutland. If you're the type of leader that likes to have total control over every aspect of your ministry and your future success, the NICL is right for you!

FREE NICL MINI-COURSE - Enroll for 3-hours of training from Dr. Rutland's full leadership course. Experience the NICL and decide if this training is right for you and your team.

The NICL Online is an option for any leader with time or schedule constraints. It's also for leaders who want to expedite their training to receive advanced standing for Master Level credit hours. Work through Dr. Rutland's full training from the comfort of your home or ministry at your pace. Learn more about NICL Online. Learn more about NICL Online.