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    <title>Pleading the Case - Episodes Tagged with “Unequally Yoked”</title>
    <link>https://www.pleadingthecase.org/tags/unequally%20yoked</link>
    <pubDate>Mon, 06 Aug 2018 15:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
    <description>If a tune-up can’t fix a car engine because what it really needs is for the entire engine to be rebuilt, then why would we, in the Christian faith, perform tune-ups on the form and function of our churches when what they may really need is to be completely overhauled? Join the host of Pleading The Case, Andy Mendonsa, where in each episode, he will peal back the culture and traditions that have come to define much of the Church in America today in order to accurately assess whether all that is needed is just a good tune-up, or as he has become convinced, a compete overhaul. 
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    <itunes:type>episodic</itunes:type>
    <itunes:subtitle>"Stand Before The Mountains, Let The Hills Hear What You Have To Say"</itunes:subtitle>
    <itunes:author>Andy Mendonsa</itunes:author>
    <itunes:summary>If a tune-up can’t fix a car engine because what it really needs is for the entire engine to be rebuilt, then why would we, in the Christian faith, perform tune-ups on the form and function of our churches when what they may really need is to be completely overhauled? Join the host of Pleading The Case, Andy Mendonsa, where in each episode, he will peal back the culture and traditions that have come to define much of the Church in America today in order to accurately assess whether all that is needed is just a good tune-up, or as he has become convinced, a compete overhaul. 
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      <itunes:name>Andy Mendonsa</itunes:name>
      <itunes:email>andy@widows.org</itunes:email>
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  <title>Episode 12: Law Vs Grace</title>
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  <pubDate>Mon, 06 Aug 2018 15:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
  <author>Andy Mendonsa</author>
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  <itunes:subtitle>In Matthew 5:13 Jesus says “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. The lines between the law and grace, not unlike 2000 years ago when Paul addressed this in his letter to the Galatians, may be equally as blurred, if not more so, for much of the church today, thus creating a hybrid Christian faith, if you will, that has become dangerously close to losing its saltiness.  </itunes:subtitle>
  <itunes:duration>1:39:01</itunes:duration>
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  <description>&lt;p&gt;Is there any reason to pursue a deeper understanding of the law vs grace?  There is if we truly believe that Jesus was the promised messiah, and that he came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  Yes, we need to know what that means for us, now, in our daily lives in him.  Otherwise, we will blend the law and grace creating a hybrid Christian faith that blurs the lines between the 2; Thus, blurring our understanding of Jesus and what it means to follow him as well as to look like him.  Perhaps the confusion comes, on one level, because we claim salvation through Jesus, but at the same time we have lost sight of what it looks like to live out our lives based on his own life's example. And for Gentile followers of Jesus, this is particularly concerning since gentiles were never under the first covenant (under the law) to begin with.  It was only after Jesus fulfilled the law, thus rendering the first covenant null and void, that the second covenant, under grace, was extended to include gentiles as well. In that the new covenant was established on better promises, though, why would anyone ever choose to be subject again to such a yoke of slavery (under the law)? &lt;/p&gt;
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  <itunes:keywords>Christian, Salvation, Works, Deeds, Sacrifices, Pharisee, Galatians, Romans, Matthew 5, Ephesians, Flesh, Grace, Law, Unequally Yoked, Israel, Judah, The Promise, Righteousness, Gentiles, Jerusalem, Old Covenant, New Covenant, Abraham, Enmity, Seed, Offspring, High Priest, Shadow and Copy, Superior Ministry, Sanctuary, Tabernacle, Holy of Holies, Sacrifice, Worship, Spiritual Israel, Jews, Middle East, End Times, Obsolete, </itunes:keywords>
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    <![CDATA[<p>Is there any reason to pursue a deeper understanding of the law vs grace?  There is if we truly believe that Jesus was the promised messiah, and that he came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  Yes, we need to know what that means for us, now, in our daily lives in him.  Otherwise, we will blend the law and grace creating a hybrid Christian faith that blurs the lines between the 2; Thus, blurring our understanding of Jesus and what it means to follow him as well as to look like him.  Perhaps the confusion comes, on one level, because we claim salvation through Jesus, but at the same time we have lost sight of what it looks like to live out our lives based on his own life&#39;s example. And for Gentile followers of Jesus, this is particularly concerning since gentiles were never under the first covenant (under the law) to begin with.  It was only after Jesus fulfilled the law, thus rendering the first covenant null and void, that the second covenant, under grace, was extended to include gentiles as well. In that the new covenant was established on better promises, though, why would anyone ever choose to be subject again to such a yoke of slavery (under the law)? </p>]]>
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  <itunes:summary>
    <![CDATA[<p>Is there any reason to pursue a deeper understanding of the law vs grace?  There is if we truly believe that Jesus was the promised messiah, and that he came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  Yes, we need to know what that means for us, now, in our daily lives in him.  Otherwise, we will blend the law and grace creating a hybrid Christian faith that blurs the lines between the 2; Thus, blurring our understanding of Jesus and what it means to follow him as well as to look like him.  Perhaps the confusion comes, on one level, because we claim salvation through Jesus, but at the same time we have lost sight of what it looks like to live out our lives based on his own life&#39;s example. And for Gentile followers of Jesus, this is particularly concerning since gentiles were never under the first covenant (under the law) to begin with.  It was only after Jesus fulfilled the law, thus rendering the first covenant null and void, that the second covenant, under grace, was extended to include gentiles as well. In that the new covenant was established on better promises, though, why would anyone ever choose to be subject again to such a yoke of slavery (under the law)? </p>]]>
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  <title>Episode 11: Calling All Citizens</title>
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  <pubDate>Sun, 22 Jul 2018 09:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
  <author>Andy Mendonsa</author>
  <enclosure url="https://aphid.fireside.fm/d/1437767933/dc393591-8538-457d-9994-a5d0ecd86258/0ec69b84-bc53-4d1f-9245-0fbffcc66c69.mp3" length="96853832" type="audio/mp3"/>
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  <itunes:author>Andy Mendonsa</itunes:author>
  <itunes:subtitle>In Philippians 3:20 Paul tells us "Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ..."  Clearly, if our citizenship is in heaven then why do we try and make our earthly citizenships' the greater priority for bringing the kingdom of God to bear?  Is this Biblical? </itunes:subtitle>
  <itunes:duration>1:39:01</itunes:duration>
  <itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
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  <description>&lt;p&gt;For 430 years Israel existed without the law after God made his covenant with Abraham. So why was the law given?  According to Galatians 3:19 "It was added because of transgressions until the seed (Jesus) to whom the promise referred had come.  The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator."  After the law and the high priestly system of rule was established, Israel remained a theocracy, "a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God, or a god," "from the time of Moses until the election of Saul as King."  Since we know, based on scripture, how that turned out (just as God said it would in I Samuel 8:11-22), why do we, now citizens of heaven, already seated with Jesus in a heavenly realm, still demand a king? &lt;/p&gt;
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  <itunes:keywords>grace, the law, unequally yoked, deception, desolate, citizenship in heaven, covenant of grace, politics and the Christian Faith, deceit, the fall, condition of the church, Pontius Pilate, Herod, High Priest, Seven Woes, Beatitudes, Christian Job description, worry, Kingdom of God, love, hate, fear, perfect love, </itunes:keywords>
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    <![CDATA[<p>For 430 years Israel existed without the law after God made his covenant with Abraham. So why was the law given?  According to Galatians 3:19 &quot;It was added because of transgressions until the seed (Jesus) to whom the promise referred had come.  The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.&quot;  After the law and the high priestly system of rule was established, Israel remained a theocracy, &quot;a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God, or a god,&quot; &quot;from the time of Moses until the election of Saul as King.&quot;  Since we know, based on scripture, how that turned out (just as God said it would in I Samuel 8:11-22), why do we, now citizens of heaven, already seated with Jesus in a heavenly realm, still demand a king?</p>]]>
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  <itunes:summary>
    <![CDATA[<p>For 430 years Israel existed without the law after God made his covenant with Abraham. So why was the law given?  According to Galatians 3:19 &quot;It was added because of transgressions until the seed (Jesus) to whom the promise referred had come.  The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.&quot;  After the law and the high priestly system of rule was established, Israel remained a theocracy, &quot;a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God, or a god,&quot; &quot;from the time of Moses until the election of Saul as King.&quot;  Since we know, based on scripture, how that turned out (just as God said it would in I Samuel 8:11-22), why do we, now citizens of heaven, already seated with Jesus in a heavenly realm, still demand a king?</p>]]>
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