Welcome to the house of God

Article for St. Catharines Standard newspaper by Peter Youngren.

Tomorrow is Sunday, and many congregants will hear the words stated in the headline. Some pastors use this greeting as they welcome people on the front steps of the church building, and some use it as an opener for the Sunday worship.

Christianity can trace its history to a Savior born in a stable, crucified on a hill just outside the city, and ascending to heaven from a mountain. For the first two hundred years apostles and preachers conducted their services in market places, on the streets, in caves, on ships, and in the homes of their converts. There was no building called “church”, or “the house of God”, such a thought was anathema to their understanding of the Good News they had received from Jesus.

What happened? How did these two words, church and building, become so intertwined that we automatically equate the two? For many being a Christian in good standing means a weekly visit to the building referred to as the church.

Now grant it, Canada’s climate doesn’t lend itself to year around worship in the outdoors. I’m filing this article from Singapore, and frankly the humidity and heat here makes me grateful for air-conditioned buildings. My point is not about buildings, but about the annoying habit of Christians, to call a building “the house of God”.
It is deeply engrained indeed! Many think they go to church to meet God, as if He hung around the building waiting for our weekly appearance. Some even dress up; you certainly want to look your best for the Almighty.

When Christianity started it was the only religion in the world that had no “sacred areas,” no “holy” buildings. Jesus and the apostles were surrounded by religions, Jewish and Greco-Roman, that all had their sacred territories; synagogues, temples, shrines and offering places. Yet, they saw no need for these. Theirs was a message for all, preached by untrained common people, in everyday places.

By the third century Christians had began conducting worship services in cemeteries, where a martyr or an especially committed believer was buried. Soon these burial places were considered sacred. Add another hundred years and now Christianity wanted the same respectability as other religions, and to have that, you needed buildings – “holy buildings” – the kind of places you approach with reverence, and once inside you speak only in a hushed tone. Once Helen, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, returned from the “holy land”, the concept of church buildings took off. Splinters of the cross of Jesus, and bones of dead “holy people” were spread all over Europe, and each bone fragment and splinter needed a building, and it was holy in the minds of the people. Add another seventeen hundred years and today we find ourselves with many more layers of tradition.

Jesus and the apostles taught that God lives in people, not buildings; we are temples where God’s Spirit dwells. We don’t go anywhere to meet God. Why would we, since God lives in us? The meetings Christians have on Sundays are not people going to church; it is the church (the people) going to the building. The meeting place isn’t a sanctuary; it is an auditorium. We are the sanctuary. That puts a different spin to the expression “no coffee in the sanctuary”. I put at least one large cup in my sanctuary every morning. 
What’s the big deal? If we think a church is synonymous with a building we stifle our understanding. Whether Jesus talked to the devoutly religious Pharisees or to a five times divorced, now living common-law woman, his message was the same; something has to happen in you. God’s life is expressed in people, not in buildings. God is in people, not in real estate.

We call that Gospel, the Good News that God, through Jesus, has come to live in people. Imagine you can be the house of God.

The Illusion of Separation - Peter Youngren

When Faith is Frightening - Peter Youngren

The following is an article written for the St Catharines Standard Newspaper where Peter is a regular columnist.

Believers in Christ accept that something utterly amazing happened at the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once and for all, God put the punishment for the world’s sins on Jesus. The phrase “the world’s sins” is all inclusive from Hitler’s murders to a gossiping church member; all was put on Christ. To millions this carries a profound meaning for their daily life, and they believe that what happened at the cross has power to transform people from the inside out. The message of what Christ did is commonly called “Gospel”, which means “Good News”.

Here is where it gets fuzzy. What is the good news all about? Is it good news that if you do your best, God will do the rest? Or is the good news that God gave Jesus as an example of good living, and those who follow Him will be saved? Surprisingly the answer is no on both counts! The most famous verse in the entire Bible simply says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”, (John 3:16). There is only one condition, “believe”, nothing about us doing our best, or our attempts to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

“Believe” is a verb and “faith” is a noun, two sides of the same coin, and two words that to some seem weak and to others even frightening. Why? Because believing puts the focus away from our performance; faith has nothing to do with our effort, our good attitude, diligent studies, or our attempt at impressing God with our humility. Faith is not about what we need to do, but it is simply to put our trust in what God has done for us. We are relying on someone else for the payment of our debt and that can be nerve-wracking. I’m relaxed when I drive my car, but let someone else take the wheels and suddenly my anxiety level rises. Faith frightens some, because it means to rely on another.

Faith is to trust in God’s grace. Grace can have no strings attached to it, it must be free; it has nothing to do with bargains, or the idea of “you do your part and God will do His”. Grace is not a contract, or a negotiated settlement between God and man. If it was, it would depend on each of the contractually bound parties to fulfill their respective obligations. A contract is not rooted in love, but in the performance of those who are party to it. God’s idea is not to transform the world or an individual through a contractual obligation, but through unconditional love. There is no tit for tat, grace is a free gift, and yet it empowers. The unconditional grace and love of God gives us the capacity for genuine moral improvement; without it, all we can muster is polishing the outside. Grace makes us honest, vulnerable, transparent and open to change because of the good God has done for us through Jesus. No need for cover-ups or pretense. After all, we are not trying to prove our own ability; we are trusting in God’s unconditional love. This removes the idea of us earning credits with God. We simply surrender to another, and the good another has done is credited to us. Frightening? Maybe, but also totally liberating. Best of all, faith itself is a gift, not the result of our effort, that way we can’t even take credit for believing. Since it’s all free, why not ask for it? You can, if you want to.

http://peteryoungren.org/impact/blog/when_faith_is_frightening

Greasy Legalism

I have just about seen enough articles, teaching albums, etc. advertised under titles like “Greasy Grace”, “Crazy Grace”, or “Grace Gone Wild”. While I am sure that just about everything can be abused, even grace because the Bible says so. These three titles that warn against the grace message don’t have a clue and often have little or no knowledge of what the message is. Instead they build up a phantom and an attack that their imagination has created. It goes something like this: “Those who preach a radical message of God’s grace are people looking for a low commitment, a low level Christian life where anything goes because sin is tolerated (after all, Jesus paid for them).” Often writers are connecting the message of grace with general moral decay in the church and in the world. I used to have this opinion of grace teaching myself only seven or eight years ago. I had never really heard the message but just assumed that people who would preach that all sin, past, present and future had been paid for by Jesus, couldn’t be doing anything good with their sermons, in fact they must be something negative (creating a license to sin).
The fact is that it is not grace that is greasy, it is legalism. Paul writes in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” By Paul’s definition what causes greasy living is legalism. Grace on the other hand brings freedom from the greasy debt of sin. When a person receives the free gift of Christ’s righteousness in the abundance of grace, their heart overflows with gratitude (Romans 5:17). In fact, it doesn’t inspire sin but holiness. Just like the apostle Paul wrote that the goodness of God brings us to repentance.
What is greasy about legalism? It seems that when the focus is on “self” the thinking goes something like this, “Look at how much I am doing for God; praying, teaching, sharing, and suffering for Christ. No wonder the devil is attacking me. This secret sin that I harbor is a sin that the devil is really attacking me with, and after all, it can’t be that bad because look at all the good I am doing.” Notice how many times the word “I” appeared in the last two sentences. This is how legalism opens the door for sin, when one assesses one’s own good deeds weighed against the not-so-good. As long as we can put a lot of points in the positive column, whether it’s fasting, praying, Bible reading, church attendance, giving of money or whatever, surely all that must outweigh the bad. That kind of thinking is straight out of Legalism 101.
On the contrary, Gospel thinking goes likes this; “If I follow God’s commandments and do everything that God says in His Word 99.9 % of the time, what will be the result?” The answer is quite simple and found in both the books of Deuteronomy and Galatians: I will be 100% cursed. You see, the Gospel doesn’t teach a portion of the blessing, i.e. if you are 10% obedient you get 10% blessing while if you increase your obedience to 20% you get 20% blessing. No, if you are only disobedient in even .1% you get 100% of the curse. If you do everything right but in one area not, you just get everything involved in the curse. The only way is to trust in Jesus’ obedience, His righteousness, His finished work, and receive it as a free gift. Condemnation, condescension and guilt inducing sermons never made anyone holy. Falling in love with Jesus is what will produce true holiness. Get out of greasy legalism and get into the free gift available from God for everyone who believes in His imparted righteousness, and then live out of the revelation of Christ in you.
Don’t worry about God’s grace perverting people, the more of it, the better. In fact, the cure for a defeated life is an abundance of grace (Romans 5:17). To call what God has done in Christ “greasy”, “crazy” and “gone wild” is at best ignorant and at worst I don’t even want to say. Your thoughts?
Keep blogging.
Peter Youngren
http://peteryoungren.org/impact/blog/greasy_legalism

Want to live a sanctified life? by Peter Youngren

True Sanctification Through God’s Grace

Believers desire to live fruitful and godly lives, so why do we fail? What is the solution?

“But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor 1:30 – 31).

The teaching that we are righteous through Jesus Christ without our own merits often leads to a question, “How can we be righteous without doing righteous deeds first?” Let’s turn the question around, “How could Jesus have been made sin without committing any sinful deed?” After all, the Bible tells us that when Jesus went to the cross He was made sin. How is this possible? The answer is: it was the work of God. God took the world’s sins and put them on Jesus. We are made righteous the same way – it is the work of God. We become new creations in Christ Jesus without our own merits.

Some may think that we avoid the question of sin, but that’s not the case. On the contrary, we are teaching how true sanctification comes.

Truly Sanctified

How do we get victory over sin? How are we sanctified? Let me show from God’s Word the only power that sets us free from sin and sanctifies us – God’s grace. Some preachers like to use two words that Paul doesn’t mention: positional and experiential. Those teachers say that positionally we are sanctified in Jesus; He has become our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. But at the same time they say that we are not experientially sanctified.

Remember, Paul is writing this to the Corinthians, and we know there were many sins and conflicts in Corinth. Yet, the Corinthians were told, as a completed fact, that Jesus Christ has become their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He doesn’t use the words positional and experiential. He speaks about Jesus, our sanctification, as a reality. Jesus has really and truly become our sanctification. If sanctification comes through grace, no one can glory of himself, but only he who glories “let him glory in the Lord.” If we claim that we only have a position as sanctified, it becomes meaningless – because we live in the realm of experience. I’m not interested in Jesus as a mere theological position, but what Jesus Christ is in me now, in reality, that means something.

Dead to Sin

We read, “…reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:11). Notice Paul says “reckon.” This is not a mere theological point of view, but something much more real. To reckon something is to really count on it. In other words, really count on the fact that you are dead to sin. He continues, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom 8:13). If we try to be holy through our own power and might, it will only lead into death. But if we practice the New Covenant, the covenant of the Spirit, it will produce life. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. We can live this new life in Christ only if we allow the Holy Spirit to be our Helper.

When you stand before a confusing situation, be still and confess Jesus Christ is your wisdom. It doesn’t take a long time. You don’t have to pray for an hour to “have a breakthrough” or to get “wisdom anointing.”

When you are tempted to sin, be still and confess Jesus Christ is your righteousness.


Jesus Christ is your wisdom right there on the spot. You will be amazed how His wisdom will manifest in you. You will discover that by appealing to Him the answer will come very quickly even to very difficult situations.

When you are tempted to sin, be still and confess Jesus Christ is your righteousness. You don’t have to fight. When you take a few moments confessing that He is your righteousness, you will notice how His life manifests in you.

The victory is not won by saying “NO” to sin, but by saying “YES” to Jesus. The more we say “no” to sin, the more we will be aware of sin. The more we say “yes” to Jesus, the more we will be aware of Jesus, and that’s when sin loses its grip.


Our sanctification rests on Jesus Christ, and what He has done. It doesn’t depend on you - it depends on Him. Look at His finished work.

If you have low self-esteem and you feel unworthy, be still and confess Jesus is your redemption. You will experience how His life, strength and joy manifest in you.

“Man-made” methods

There are “man-made” methods, even in the charismatic world, of sanctification. One pastor said, “If you have a habitual sin, you have a demon.” That is not what the New Testament teaches. We read of a person, who did what he didn’t want to do (Romans chapter 7), but the chapter doesn’t mention one single demon. Instead, this person describes a person who is trying to fulfill God’s commandments in his own strength. The more he tried to fulfill the Law in his own strength, the worse the situation became. The only solution to this “wretched” person was God’s abundant grace. The more we see Jesus Christ revealed in us, the more victory manifests in our life.

The spiritual armor in Ephesians chapter 6 deals with God’s grace. The helmet talks about salvation – we are saved by grace. The breastplate points to righteousness – Jesus is our righteousness. The belt is the truth – Jesus said, “I’m the truth.” The sword speaks about the Spirit – we live in the covenant of the Spirit, not of the letter. The shoes symbolize the Gospel of peace – the peace that Jesus’ blood has purchased for us.

I saw a book titled Christian – Set Yourself Free. Have you ever heard anything so absurd? Is this our covenant? Should we set ourselves free? Many will try, but when they try to make themselves holy and free, they never become really free. They may feel like they are free for a short period of time, and then they are seeking freedom again.

It’s popular to use the phrase “JUST SAY NO.” This teaching emphasizes that our own willpower can make us holy. When our will wrestles with sin, our willpower will always lose. If our own willpower could produce sanctification, Jesus’ death and resurrection was in vain.

Our Part

Many will ask, “What should we do? Surely we have to do something?” Yes, it is important we understand our part. We believe and receive what Jesus has already prepared for us, and allow Him to work in us. This is so radical, that I’ll give you a few Bible verses to back it up.

“May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thess 5:23 – 24).

Who sanctifies you completely? – “The God of peace.”

Who is faithful? – “He who calls you.”

Sanctification is not based on our efforts, but it’s God’s work in us.

Sanctification is not based on our efforts, but it’s God’s work in us.

“May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb 13:20 – 21).

Who makes us complete in every good work to do His will? – “The God of peace.”

Who makes us to do what is pleasing in God’s sight? – “The great Shepherd.”

How does He sanctify us? – “Through the blood of the everlasting covenant.”

What should we do? – Give Him “glory forever and ever.”

So it all depends on Jesus. He is our righteousness, redemption, sanctification and wisdom.


So it all depends on Jesus. He is our righteousness, redemption, sanctification and wisdom.


The works of God were sometimes frightening in the Old Testament. Do you remember when God thundered in the mountain of Sinai? They were all in a state of panic, including Moses. Sinai was a demonstration of God’s holiness and it scared the people. The holiness and sanctification that manifests through Jesus is not frightening – it is attractive.

When Moses came down from the mountain of Sinai, people ran away because of fear. When Jesus came down from the mountain of transfiguration we read: “When they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him” (Mark 9:15).

The glory of the Old Testament was frightening, but the glory of the New Testament is attractive.

Don’t be discouraged if a person isn’t transformed overnight. God didn’t send Jesus to change people’s behavior, but to give us a new heart. As soon as the heart changes, the behavior will change as well.

Paul writes, “May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work” (2 Thess 2:16 – 17).

Who is going to establish us in every good work? – The “Lord Jesus Christ Himself.” When we try to become holy through our own efforts, it leads into restlessness and troubles. God’s way gives us positive results – “everlasting consolation and good hope” through God’s “grace.”

Give Him Glory

The key is to say “YES” to righteousness, faith, love and peace.


How do we avoid lusts and ungodly behavior? Paul writes, “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim 2:22). Many read only the first four words: “Flee also youthful lusts.” If we stop there, we will fail. The key is to say “YES” to righteousness, faith, love and peace.

If a baby cries, it doesn’t help if we say, “stop crying.” Instead, we try to direct the baby’s attention elsewhere by singing or shaking a key ring. Suddenly the baby forgets why he was crying in the first place! The way to the victory over sin is by not trying to conquer sin through our own strength, but “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness” (1 Tim 6:11). We will focus on Jesus’ righteousness, godliness, faith and love in us.

“The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!” (2 Tim 4:18)

Who delivers me from evil? – “The Lord.” Who preserves me? – “The Lord.”

What do we do? – “We give Him glory forever and ever.”


“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen” (Jude, v. 24 – 25).

Who is able to keep you from stumbling? Who is able to present you faultless? – “God our Savior.”

What is our part? – “Give Him glory, majesty, dominion and power, now and forever.”

Sanctification is not what we can do, but what Jesus does in us. Our job is simply to believe and entrust ourselves to Him. We can live a holy life, but not in our own strength. True sanctification is Jesus’ life in us.

JESUS’ LIFE WORKS!