Welcome to HIS
EMBASSY,
the teaching and missionary ministry of Dietmar Scherf. We hope that
you'll enjoy the content of our Website as we explore the Word of God.
HIS EMBASSY is a
nondenominational evangelical Christian ministry. Let's grow in the Grace
and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
GRACE is
so beautiful! HIS Mercy and Grace invite us over and over again to get to know the Lord Jesus
Christ as He consistently expresses and demonstrates Mercy and pure Grace
toward us!
Please visit each page often
as these articles and studies are being expanded from time to time and as we add
new articles. The
HIS EMBASSYWebsite
is intended to be a helpful resource for everyone who is interested in the
Word of God. All articles with its Scripture references are very useful
for Bible Study groups and Pastors have used these articles as seed
thought material for some of their sermons. Please feel free to print,
copy and distribute these articles to your Bible Study group, Church,
neighbors, co-workers and friends. So far, hundreds of thousands of people in
over 90 countries have been reached
through the HIS EMBASSY with the amazing Grace message.
Note: You can click on
indicated Scripture references and a new window will open with
the pertaining verse(s) and study tools, etc.
TheEssential Christian
Teachings have been misunderstood since the early times of Christianity.
Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul were frequently confronted by religious
Anti-Grace zealots.
People often think that we
have to do something in order to obtain or attain something as the
Anti-Grace concept is one of merit, exchange or barter. We have the Word of God--the Holy Bible--to discern if what we hear (e.g. interpretation of
Scripture passages, philosophies, opinions, preaching and all teachings,
etc.) truly comes from the throne of God as it is pure Grace, or if it
is something else from somewhere else. The Word of God is the absolute
source for objective truth and the Holy Spirit provides us with the
understanding of His Word.
It is truly sad that
God's message of pure Grace is rarely found and preached in the world
today. While some pastors claim that they preach Grace and even use
"Grace" in the name of their churches, too often they
teach a system of works, approval and conditional acceptance, etc.,
even denying the pure Grace of God in the context of their messages and their
lifestyles. Of course, we also understand that even a basic understanding
of pure Grace is a blessing and an illumination that only God can
provide, and He will give this illumination of pure Grace freely to
anyone who's seeking Him and who's available to hear from Him.
The Christian life
is a process of growth as we get to know our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ step-by-step on a personal level. As we listen to the Grace
message, the Holy Spirit will provide fresh illuminations of the
Grace of God. Therefore, we must be very careful not to judge a
brother or sister in Christ as each person, including Pastors, are at
various stages of growth in Christ and their understanding of Grace, as
we just don't know God's specific timetable for their lives.
In our studies of the Word
of God, specific light will be
shed on Scripture passages which will result in a Grace viewpoint
and attitude for practical application in everyday life. On
this Website we'll explain the essential premise to all true
Christian Teachings, and we'll explore details of the Grace of God
in practical application for daily living.
n
As a
basic definition of Grace we can use the term "unmerited favor." Grace is a benefit or
gift that we receive from someone. True Grace tells us that we cannot earn
such a favor, but it's something we don't deserve. In fact, the one who
awards true Grace upon another does not expect anything in return for his
gift and/or gracious act.
nGrace is
differentiated from Mercy. In its basic definition Mercy can be
defined as us not getting something that we do deserve; e.g. if we deserve
punishment for something that we did, an act of Mercy would pardon us and
we no longer receive punishment. Therefore Mercy e.g. takes care of the
consequences of negative actions, while Grace on top of an act of Mercy
provides us with additional benefits. As an illustration: When we
rightly deserve punishment, Mercy provides relief for us so that we do not
receive punishment, and on top of it aside from the pardon (act of
Mercy) we receive gifts and benefits (act of Grace) which we
don't deserve, but such were bestowed upon us by the provider of Grace.
nA Note regarding the term "Pure
Grace": Throughout our articles you'll find the term
"Pure Grace" mentioned. As we use the term "Pure
Grace," we do not imply
that there's such a thing as an impure grace. Because, based
on our understanding of the Word of God, it's either Grace or it's
not Grace at all (Romans 11:6). Frequently, the term "Pure
Grace" is used in the writings of such well-respected
theologians and Grace teachers like
Lewis Sperry Chafer―founder of
Dallas Theological Seminary. And in the Bible we find the term
"true Grace" in
1 Peter 5:12.
But we also realize that a
number of folks have misunderstood and misapplied the Grace of God,
and they have ascribed the term "Grace" to various
"Christian" practices, behavior, theology, etc. when in reality
these things have absolutely
nothing to do with the Grace of God. As an example, we read
about such misappropriations of the Grace of God in
Jude 4 as
some have turned the Grace of God into lasciviousness. But in such a
case the Grace of God is no longer the Grace of God, because the
true Grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts
(Titus 2:11-12).
Therefore we use the term
"Pure Grace" as an identifier for God's unadulterated
true Grace as explained throughout the Word of God and as it was and
is effectively demonstrated by Jesus Christ. We
trust that our articles are rooted in "Pure Grace" and
therefore these articles are intended to provide some practical
explanations of His pure Grace as taught in the Bible.
nDoctrinal
Identifiers of a True Grace Church
An obvious key identifier of a true Grace church is that the
leadership of a local church and at least some of their members practice the
genuine love
of God (1 Cor. 13) expressed by attitudes, words and actions of Mercy and Grace,
and that there is evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal.
5:22-23). But we must remember that we are all at different stages of
growth. Needless to say that a true Christian church will believe and teach the cardinal (principal) doctrines
of the Christian faith (for a quick basic overview please read
through our Statement
of Faith). Aside from the principal doctrines of the
Christian faith, the true Grace church with its pure Grace teachings
is usually easily identified by commonly accepted labels of certain
key doctrines.
Now, we're not too excited about attaching labels, but these labels can help to identify the teachings
of the pastor of a local church a little quicker. But we must repeat
that because of continuous growth in the Grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, each pastor with his congregation will
be at a different stage of understanding the Grace of God, and we all
need to grow into the comprehension of these divine things, which
may take more or less time with one or the other person. Anyway,
here are a few key doctrinal identifiers of a true Grace
church (we must also note that a number of churches are
affiliated with denominations that may teach otherwise, while the
attention should be given to the individual local church with its
pastor who hopefully has his personal illuminations of the
Word of God and therefore his own convictions in regards to
doctrinal issues):
>
Salvation by Grace through Faith(Salvation/Eternal Life is a gift and freely available to
every person who at one moment in time accepts Jesus Christ as
Savior by
simply trusting in Him as their personal Savior; please read our article
on Salvation)
>
Eternal Security (once a person is genuinely saved,
he/she is always saved as a saved individual has received
Eternal Life at the point of salvation; please read our article
on Salvation)
>
Eternal Rewards are obtained by Grace and not by human merit (the distribution
of eternal rewards is not based on human merit; although
a missing out of eternal rewards is possible, it is absolutely
impossible to ever lose eternal rewards; please read our article on
Christian Living especially the
paragraph regarding the Rewards
Issue)
>
Pre-tribulational
(the rapture of the Christian church will take place before the
7-year Tribulation period)
>
Premillennial (the
second coming of Christ at the end of the 7-year tribulation
period will be followed by the establishing of His Kingdom on
earth for 1,000 years)
>
Other Doctrinal Labels:
Free Grace Theology, Categorical
(Topical) Doctrine, Positional Truth
Aside from the cardinal doctrines and
these few key doctrinal identifiers for a true Grace church, there are
many more doctrines that establish the pure Grace message as the local
Pastor's task is to teach the congregation the whole counsel of
God (Acts 20:27).
To receive a deeper
understanding of the Grace of God please check
out our articles on:
