Reckless Grace Study Guide

By Bill Vanderbush and Brit Eaton

Encounter the relentless, radical, and reckless grace of God.


In Reckless Grace, Bill Vanderbush and Brit Eaton challenged our understanding of forgiveness using powerful biblical evidence and showed us how to step into the fullness of grace, bringing reconciliation and restoration to our relationships.


Take one step further and put the Christ-centered teachings of Reckless Grace into practice with this Reckless Grace Study Guide. Engaging chapter summaries, new and expanded thought-provoking questions, and ample space to record responses make this study guide an interactive experience and the perfect companion for individual and small group studies alike.


Begin your journey toward hope, healing, and spiritual transformation.


 

• Language: English
• Publisher: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Release date: Sep 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781424562190

Book preview

Part I

The Grace Message

The joy that comes with being a steward of God’s relentless, radical, reckless grace is simply too good not to share.

BILL VANDERBUSH

Grace Redefined

If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them: if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.

JOHN 20:23

Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried. Three years of ministry ended brutally. Kingdom hopes of many were crushed. Shell-shocked disciples gathered in the upper room to pray, cry, and pray some more. Jesus’ death shouldn’t have come as a surprise. He predicted it often enough, but they didn’t understand. Maybe it was the brutality of his death. Maybe it was their secret hope that Jesus’ Father in heaven would save him, but no, now it was over. They huddled behind locked doors fearing for their own lives. Would the Jews murder them also?

Suddenly Jesus was there … in their midst, saying Peace to you. He was there with them! He was back! What thoughts must have been racing through their minds. Were they Nothing can stop us now thoughts? Or were they, Oh no, the Jews will try to kill him again? We don’t know, but we do know this much: when Jesus showed up, everything changed!

In the midst of the shock and awe, Jesus did something totally unexpected. He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. God breathed on them! Only one other time in the history of mankind has God breathed on humans—when he first formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into him. By breathing on his disciples, Jesus, the last Adam, restored God’s image and likeness back into his creation.

What Jesus said next is completely overwhelming: If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained (John 20:23). This passage is the scriptural linchpin for God’s gift of grace to us. It can change your life and the lives of those around you who desperately need God’s grace. But isn’t God the only one who can forgive sins? How could God give us ordinary mortals this gift?

Before his death, Jesus had already given his disciples the power to perform miracles. Peter walked on water. Philip traveled great distances instantly. Other apostles healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead. Everything Jesus did, a disciple also did, except for one thing—the forgiveness of sins.

Releasing forgiveness of sins through the love of God is the greatest supernatural gift Jesus imparts to us. After creation, we fall into sin. After the resurrection, we are restored to our original identity. Out of that identity comes power and authority in the spirit realm. The resurrected Jesus invites us to represent him in everything, including his grace. You see, Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross erased your sins (past, present, and future). All we have to do is come into agreement with him by surrendering our will by faith and receiving his grace. This is what it means to align our heart and mind with his redemptive