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The Fusion of Truth and Grace with Ryan Franklin

In this episode, "The Fusion of Truth and Grace," we unpack a transformative concept that has deeply impacted my life and ministry. Join me as I share my personal journey of struggling with the balance between grace and truth and how embracing both has changed my relationships and approach to leadership. Through biblical insights and real-life examples, we'll explore how grace without truth leads to immaturity, and truth without grace leads to legalism or rebellion. Discover how the fusion of these two powerful principles can create a healing force, guiding you to a more fulfilling and spiritually mature life.











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Transcript


Today, I wanna share with you a concept that is 1 of the most powerful leadership concepts that I've learned through the word of god. And quite honestly, I'm still struggling with it myself, but it's a concept that has literally changed my life so far. And I'd say, I probably talk about the subject a minimum of 3 to 4 times every every single week while working with people. And it's the subject of grace and truth. And before you hear that and just tune me out, I encourage you to stay tuned until the end, and I really think that this is gonna help you.


Welcome to the Christian leader made simple podcast. I really hope this episode helps you learn and master the skills you need to grow your leadership effectiveness and enjoyment. Be sure to hit the subscribe button. To get notified as soon as I post a new session so you don't miss a single episode. I'd also greatly appreciate any reviews, lot aches and shares that you can give me.


It just helps me extend my reach to more people. So leaders, I know Jake how frustrating it can feel when you're in the weeds of work or ministry, and life is chaotic. You're struggling to feel effective. It's and you're just not enjoying leadership as much as you could be. And so to help you after many years of leadership that executive coaching.


I've developed a framework called the Christian leader blueprint, they'll guide you to find clarity in your life, in leadership. It'll help you gain a better rhythm of life. It'll help you see yourself more clearly to leverage your strengths, and you'll produce more productive relationships. It's a step by step guide to leadership transformation. And I have that in 2 format now.


I have a free short guide that you can find on ryan franklin dot org, and I have a book. The christian lighter blueprint. That's and you can find that in any format, including an audiobook wherever you buy your books. I have a few more things on my website that you may be interested in, so just head going over to ryan franklin dot org and check it all out. And now, let's get to our session.


Can I admit something to you right now in this podcast? For most of my life? I've been immature? For most of my life, I've taken an immature approach to life and relationships. And I've gotten my feelings hurt many times, and I've been offended over small, unnecessary things many times, unfortunately.


And I've had unreasonable expectations of my family and of people around me, and I've been a perfection for most of my life to the point of even driving people around me crazy. Can you relate to to my perfection tendencies as well? For many years of my life and ministry. I've I've carried the mentality of its my or the highway. It's do it right?


Or else. You may get the wrath of Ryan. And I've been hard nose at times, I've damaged relationships along the way. And in some ways, you probably could labeled me as a person who fit the mode of a legal Christian. And maybe even a bully.


And I'm not very proud of these things that I just shared with you, but it's the truth. And it's just been my mentality for many years of my life. But things started shifting for me just just a few years ago, and I started seeing life through a different lens. And I started realizing that my truth only approach wasn't helping the relationships around me and if for sure wasn't helping me. But I knew that grace only wasn't right either.


Because only grace and no truth would leave a person immature. And the Lord was dealing with me about this, and and I felt like I was wrestling with with my approach to life and leadership and even parenting and my ability to be a friend. Like And finally, John 1 verse chapter 1 verse 14 just came alive for me like it never had before. And the word was made flesh and d among us, and we withheld his glory, the glory as of the only beg baton of the father, full of grace. In truth.


You see, Jesus embodied grace and truth perfectly. In his earthly ministry, Jesus was a master at giving truth, but he did it with a ton of grace. And through prayer and study and practice. I've realized something that that seems so simple yet it's so hard to live out, and something that that I sadly overlooked for almost 40 years of my life. But I realized just a few years ago if I If I can live it out the way that Jesus lived it out and still lives it out in my life.


But if I can approach life this way, than my life would be so much better, And the way that I interact and love people around me would be so much better. And here's the bottom line that I want that I want you to get from this podcast. Are you ready? Grace without truth leads to in maturity. And truth without grace, leads to legal or rebellion, but a fusion of truth and grace creates a powerful and healing force for life.


I wanna say that again. Grace only leads to maturity. Truth only leads to legal or rebellion. But a fusion of grace and truth together creates a powerful and healing force for life. And so I wanna take the time to sort of unpack this a little bit more with you today, and we'll start by talking about the nature of grace.


Grace is often defined as the unmarried favor of god. And it's the love and the mercy that's given to us by God, and it's because god desires us for us to have it. And it's not because anything we've done to earn it but it's because his love and mercy, and that is what Grace is. Ephesians 2 versus 8, through 9 for by grace or you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of god, not of works lest any man should boast. Through So grace is a gift, and grace can't be earned.


Grace isn't deserved. And grace is the empowerment from God that helps us to live a holy in a righteous life. And grace is the foundation of our salvation and and without grace, there wouldn't even be hope for salvation. But Grace is not only about forgiveness, but it's also about transformation and empowerment, Titus 2 verses 11 through 12 for the grace of god that bring us salvation at the peer to all men teaching us that denying un god and and worldly lust, we should live sober righteous and godly in this present world. And so it's clear here that the purpose of Grace is to teach us to say no, to un god and worldly passions and to live self controlled and upright and and mature, in godly lives in in the world that we live in today, and that's a that's a tough thing to do.


And so Grace gives us exactly what we need to live according to god's will and to grow in h and to produce the fruit of the spirit. And I want you to think about the prod sun. This is a really strong example of God's grace in Luke chapter 15. The younger son demands his inheritance. And then he leaves home, and he goes out and he sq his wealth and living like a wild man, And you probably know the story.


Eventually he hits rock bottom. He spends it all, and he hits rock bottom, and he decides to return home. And he fully expected to be received as a person that's lower than a servant. But listen to luke chapter 15 versus 18 18 through 24. I will arise and go to my father, and we'll say unto to him father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and I'm no more worthy to be called thy son, made me as 1 of the hired servants.


And he arose and came to his father, but when he was yet a far away office father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissing. And the son said to him father, I have sinned against heaven. And then I side, I am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said in to servant bring forth the best robe and put it on his on on him and put on a ring on his hands and shoes on his feet and bring hit the fat calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry. For this, my son was dead and is alive again.


He was lost and is found, and they began to be married. And so the father's reaction here was such a powerful picture of what grace really is. Instead of condemnation, which he probably deserved it in this situation instead, The father runs to the son and he embraces him, and he restores him to his place and the family. And this shows that no matter how far we may stray from God. His grace is available to bring us in close and to forgive us and to restore us to our rightful place.


And then there's the woman called an adultery. You may remember that story. This is a powerful scene in the bible. It gets me choked up every time I every time I read it or or hear about it. And the religious leaders bring a woman to Jesus and she was caught in the very act adultery.


And it was intended to be a trap for Jesus because the law of Moses commands that an adult woman should be stoned. And so they asked Jesus in John 8, verse 5, what say is thou? In other words, what do we need to do here? Jesus, and Jesus responded with such grace and wisdom. And he challenges those without sin to cast the first stone, and 1 by 1, likely because of the conviction that they felt on their own sin, they dropped their stones and they began to leave.


And then Jesus spoke to the moment with compassion and grace in verses 10 to 11, John 08:10 to 11. When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none, but the woman he said into her woman? Where are that accusers? Hath no man condemned me? She said no man Lord.


And Jesus said to her, neither do I condemn me? Go? And send no more. And I want you to notice here that Jesus doesn't just ignore the sin but he responds with grace. And he gives the opportunity for this woman to have a...


Transform life and and his grace doesn't excuse the sin, but it provides the power to overcome the sin. You see, Grace is the un uncharted favor of god that brings salvation. And it empowers us to live a transformed life. And Grace is always available to us. Regardless of what we've done in our past, we're regardless of what our lives may look like in the present, and it provides the forgiveness that we need and the power to make a change in our life.


You see? We must understand and embrace God's grace if we wanna be successful on this Christian journey. There's another side to this though that that I wanna pull out now. I wanna dive into this a little bit. It's the truth side.


So let's talk about the truth side, the nature of truth. From a biblical perspective, truth is defined as the ultimate reality. And the fidelity to what is real. In other words, truth is not an illusion, Truth is a false hood, truth is an a lie. Truth is reality.


John chapter 17 verse 17. San them through thy truth, thy word is truth. And so this verse highlights the fact that God's word is the ultimate standard of truth. Truth is not subjective? Truth is not relative?


Truth is absolute. Truth is un changing because it's grounded in the very nature. In the character of God. And without truth, as a christian, we have no foundation for our faith and we have to start our quest of truth with knowing the truth about God and his nature and his promises and his commandments and and this shapes our belief about our life, and it shapes our values, it even shapes our behaviors. Right?


And with truth, we can live in a way that honors god in aligns with his will in our lives. And so walking in truth means that we're living in integrity. And honestly, we're living in transparency before God and before others, and it just builds a firm foundation for our relationship with God and and our relationships with others. And it helps grow us in the spiritual and relational maturity. And truth, is actually what sets us free.


John ate 32, and you shall know the truth in the truth shall make you free. And it's this freedom that super seeds sin, and it surpasses deception, and it goes beyond spiritual bondage in the relational hurts and pains of life that we all have, and it brings us into the light, and it brings us to live in the fullness of God's plans for us. And in John chapter 8, Jesus engages in a in a conversation with the Jews about their heritage in their relationship with god. And Jesus challenges their assumptions and even confronts their un belief and That's where he speaks that verse, John 08:32, and he says, you shall know the truth and the truth, shall make you free. And then in verse 58, he he makes a really bold claim.


I want you to hear it here. Before Abraham was, I am. And you see... He was declaring the truth of his d. And so this passage of scripture just shows that Jesus consistently spoke the truth.


Even when it was difficult. And even when it was provoked hostility, he spoke the truth. And so you have to understand that his truth was unwavering, and he called people to recognize and embrace the truth about himself. And about their own spiritual condition. In truth is the ultimate reality that's revealed in god's word.


And truth is crucial for our spiritual and our emotional and our relational well being. Truth guides us in our relationship with God, and it guides us in our relationship with other people. And as followers of Christ, we're called to live in truth. We're called to allow the truth to shape and to mold our lives and and to even set us free from the bondage that may come against us. And if we'll truly embrace and practice truth, then we'll experience the fullness of God's freedom.


And we'll live a life that reflects his character. And so we've talked about the nature of grace, and then we talked about the nature of truth, Now I want us to unpack this fusion of grace and truth that I mentioned earlier. And what that actually looks like. The fusion of grace and truth. We had a perfect example of of of the balance of grace and truth in the earthly life of Jesus.


He was perfect in that. John chapter 1 verse 14 in the word was made flesh. And dwell among us, and we be held as glory, the glory of the only beg forgotten the father, full of grace and truth. And you see this verse encapsulates the essence of Jesus nature. And he fully embodied grace and truth in perfect harmony.


And most of our human tendencies will will lean more towards 1 or the other. But Jesus never compromise truth for grace and he never hell he never withheld grace for the sake of truth. And so he fully embraced and infused grace and truth. And I love the story of grace and truth with the woman at the well, such a powerful, story, and I've referenced this many times and in and teaching on my podcast. But John, chapter 4 of our sixth through 7 Now Jacob's well was there, Jesus therefore being wear with his journey, sat us on the well.


And was about the seventh hour, they're come at the woman of sam mary to draw water. Jesus said to her, give me to drink. So Jesus starts this conversation with the woman at the whale, the Samaritan woman by asking her for a drink, which you have to understand. This broke several of the societal societal norms of that time. You see, jews...


Just didn't associate with some samaritan during this time. And on top of that, men didn't typically speak to women in public. And so just by engaging in conversation, Jesus was showing her that he accepts her, just as she is. And so Jesus goes on. He he informs her that he's fully aware of her life and hover sins He knew about her 5 husbands that she had and the man she was living with yet, even with this knowledge.


He didn't withdraw from her, He didn't condemn her instead, he continued to engage with her and to draw closer to her in the conversation. And the woman was deeply impacted by Jesus acceptance and in fact, she was so strongly influenced. That she went through the town and told everyone about it. Listen to verse 29. Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did.


It's not this the Christ. She was excited about it. It wasn't, and it wasn't just his knowledge of her sin that grabbed hold of her in that moment, but it was his grace. It was his acceptance that she felt And it was the way that he drew closer to her despite the knowledge of the sin in her life. And he very very easily could have just given her the truth of the matter and shunned then condemned her for the sin and her life.


But instead he gave her grace. And he offered her a living water. And this literally changed her life. It transformed her life. You see?


Truth only would have likely just pushed her into more sin. With shame and guilt to follow. And on the flip side, if he would have just had grace only, grace only would would not have brought her into a healing in a transformative place. But it was the combination. It was the fusion of grace and truth that made all the difference with the woman at the will.


The woman at the well experienced firsthand that she could be loved and accepted. Even with her bad parts in her life. And it was this realization that moved her to a place of repentance, not out of fear or or guilt, but from the fusion of grace and truth that was experienced with Jesus Christ. And as followers of Christ as Christians, You and I are called to emulate this balance in our relationships as well. So before we continue on with the podcast, This episode is brought to you by Christian leader community coaching.


Are you a Christian leader experiencing low productivity or chaotic lifestyle? And maybe you're overwhelmed and just unsure of what it's gonna take to create growth in your life. And so wanna introduce to you our Christian leader community coaching program. Through our step by step framework, you're gonna discover a better rhythm of life, you'll see yourself more clearly leverage your strengths and build more productive relationships. With our full archive of courses, our supportive community of peers, a powerful leadership assessment to get you quickly focused.


We also have live community coaching and so much more. Can And I've personally seen its huge impact with leaders from all over the world, experiencing laser, focus growth in their lives. And now, through this community, this experience is open to you. And we wanna help you implement these simple frameworks, and then celebrate with you as you experience significant results in your life. Don't wait any longer.


Go to ryan franklin dot org. And join the Christian leader community coaching today, and I look forward to seeing you inside the community now back to our podcast. And this is what has transformed my life drastically. The past few years. And I'm I'm not perfect by any means.


I don't claim to be perfect, But I have made some very intentional steps to attempt to infuse grace and truth into my life and into my relationships and into my interact with people around me, especially the most important people in my life. Functions Chapter 4 verse 15 says but speaking the truth and love may grow up into him all things, which is the head even Christ. And this means that we absolutely have to be honest with our communication, but it also must be rooted in love, speaking the truth, but in love. And this involves being direct and honest with people, but also without being harsh and judgmental, and the goal is to build up 1 another rather than tear tear down. And when we accomplish this, the verse says that we will grow up into all things.


And so let me just say this, this is maturity. And when I can do this well with my wife. And my kids and my friends and my work relationships and my leadership relationships, this, is what maturity actually looks like. C 03:13 says for bearing 1 another and forgiving 1 another. If any man have a quarrel against you even as Christ forgave you so also, do you?


To bear with each other. To forgive 1 another. The lord forgave us to to show grace to be patient and understanding and compassionate, especially when others make mistakes. And so from a practical standpoint, This can help us in all areas of our life as we're interacting with people. And it can help us in conversations in general where we're striving to be truthful yet kind in our words.


We need constructive conversations that that encourages growth an improvement instead of just pointing out the faults of 1 another. And when we have conflicts in our in our relationships, It's approaching is approaching this conflict with a mindset of grace and not just truth. And is seeking to understand the perspective of the other person. That is grace. And also it's clearly communicating your own views and boundaries.


That's the truth part. And it's when we combine and we fuse the grace part and the truth part, that we walk away from conflict where I win, but where they also win. We both win. And if you're a leader in someone's life, We wanna do our very best to balance discipline, with understanding. We wanna correct and guide the people we we lead with love, and we want the truth of God's standards but we wanna combine it with the grace of god's forgiveness.


And folks, that's not an easy thing to do. Especially when we feel triggered by someone or or when we're angry or our emotions are sort of out of whack and and that's when we'll usually gravitate to a ton of truth towards someone in very little grace. And this even goes for our engagement and in whatever set setting we may find ourselves in the community and our church and small groups at our jobs, wherever you may find yourself, we can operate with a fusion of grace and truth. And you have to understand that grace without truth leads to in maturity. And truth without grace leads to legal or rebellion.


But a fusion of truth and grace, creates a powerful in a healing force for life. Jesus As I mentioned, he was our perfect example of the fusion of grace and truth. By speaking the truth and love and extending grace. And forgiveness to everyone around him. And we have...


We have the opportunity to reflect his character and literally transform our relationships. And embracing this balance allows us to navigate the complexities of life with integrity, and with compassion for others and ultimately pointing others also to the hope and the redemption that that's found in Jesus Christ. First Peter 05:10 says, but the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. After you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settled you. In this scripture, I'm I'm hearing grace, and I'm hearing truth.


And I'm also hearing that it may even hurt a little. The truth may hurt a little, but when it's done in grace, it results in a perfect and an establishing and a strengthening and a settling within you that just can't come any other way. And when I look at my own life and I think back on all the years that I had little little grace and had a ton of truth in my life with my kids and my wife and my... Family and other relationships, and I have to be honest with you. I've sort of grieve at the relationships that I've harmed over the years.


And the heartache that I've personally caused to others. But in this new season of my life hopefully, a more spiritual an emotionally mature season. First of all, I'm giving myself grace, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to move forward with a renewed, and a biblical approach to the relationships in my life with a fusion of grace and truth. And I'm telling you today it works. Grace without truth will just lead to in maturity.


And truth without grace will just lead to legal or rebellion, but a fusion of truth and grace creates a powerful and a healing force for life. And listen to this and I'm done There's nothing that Satan would desire more than to get you and I to speak grace only to someone. Or to only speak truth to someone. Because only grace leaves a person immature. And only truth leaves a person wounded.


Because Satan knows that the combination of grace and truth is lethal to his plans. So choose grace and truth. And I promise it'll create a powerful and healing force for your life, and for the relationships in your life. Lord, you know the individuals that may be listening or or maybe watching this today that that needed to hear this word. And I pray that it would be received with truth when with grace.


And Lord, I pray that every single individual under the sound of my voice. I pray that you would empower them to take on this mindset that you took on for us. Your god that scripture says this is full of grace and truth. It's so help us to be full of your grace and your truth. Help us to extend grace and truth to all relationships around us, but especially the relationships that are most dear to us, empower us lord.


To be more like you, Jesus. In Jesus name, I pray. Thank you so much for joining us today On the Christian leader made simple podcast, God bless you.


Copyright © 2024 Ryan Franklin. All rights reserved.

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