My thoughts on: Being overtaken and captivated by radical grace or radical righteousness.

I hear so many people saying that they're praying for this person or that person or for me to be overtaken and captivated by radical grace or radical righteousness, to be captivated by grace in its most extreme form..... I have a problem with such statements.
I just don't see, after 25 years of growing in the knowledge of the word, where such statements have biblical foundation.... Yes, we are to grow in grace, but we are also to increase in faith, love extravagantly, study the word diligently to prove ourselves unashamed workmen, to labour together with Christ, to preach the Gospel, lay hands on the sick, preach deliverance to the captives, disciple believers to help them grow up spiritually, and much more! There's much more to successful christian living than simply the traditional view of grace (God's unmerited favor) that is being forced as the ONLY view or definition of Grace.

I've listened to the most popular of the grace teachers, and everytime I come away with an unsettled feeling, that something just wasn't "right" and wasn't biblically sound. We've got to get past these "faddy" messages and quit building our ministries on only that one topic from the Bible! Where that's the only teaching we listen to, teach/preach on, and where we think everything else is useless in light of our pet doctrine.

I may upset some people with this, but I am very concerned with this unbalanced teaching and the error that is being propagated by my peers, by leaders, and many in the church who are just caught up in a whirlwind of "Grace" .... I am thankful for grace, there is much study to be done on that portion of scripture, as it is a deep and broad topic which I have devoted a lot of study to particularity in the past 5 years, but so many are focusing on a small portion of the topic of grace and teaching it as the whole gospel.... Oh how small-minded we are when we limit the gospel to merely that! There's much more to New Testament living!

Don't put God in a box because that's the only part of the gospel you want to teach, be open to the WHOLE entirety of the scriptures and what God has for us in the new Covenant, don't let Satan cripple you with getting you off track! ..... Study the WORD!

JRT