• What JGIG Is:

    Joyfully Growing In Grace engages in an examination of beliefs found in the Hebrew Roots Movement, Messianic Judaism, and Netzarim streams of thought and related sects.

    The term “Messianic” is generally understood to describe Jews who have come to believe in Yeshua/Jesus as their Messiah. Jews who are believers in Jesus/Yeshua typically call themselves Jewish/Hebrew Christians or simply, Christians.

    Many Christians meet folks who say they are ‘Messianic’ and assume that those folks are Jewish Christians. Most aren’t Jewish at all, but are Gentile Christians who have chosen to pursue Torah observance and have adopted the Messianic term, calling themselves Messianic Christians, adherents to Messianic Judaism, or simply, Messianics. Some will even try to avoid that label and say that they are followers of "The Way".

    These Gentiles (and to be fair, some Messianic Jews) preach Torah observance/pursuance for Christians, persuading many believers that the Christianity of the Bible is a false religion and that we must return to the faith of the first century sect of Judaism that they say Yeshua (Jesus Christ) embraced. According to them, once you become aware that you should be 'keeping' the edicts and regulations of Mosaic Covenant Law, if you do not, you are then in willful disobedience to God.

    It has been my observation that Christians who adopt the label of Messianic identify more with the tenets of Judaism than they do with the tenets of Christianity. Many reject the label of Christian altogether and some eventually even convert to Judaism.

    1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 says, "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil."

    Joyfully Growing in Grace examines the methods, claims, and fruits of the Hebrew Roots Movement, Messianic Judaism, and Netzarim streams of thought and related, law-keeping sects.

    To borrow from a Forrest Gump quote, “Law ‘keepers’ are like a box of chocolates - ya never know what you’re gonna get!” The goal of JGIG is to be a resource to help those affected by the Torah pursuant movements to try and sort out what they’re dealing with. Make use of the tabs with drop-down menus found at the top of this site – there’s tons of info there, and it’s very navigable.

    Be sure to click on the many embedded links within the posts here - there's lots of additional and related information for you to access that way, as well.

    Welcome, and may God grant you wisdom and discernment as you consider all of these things.

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  • Broken Links – UGH

    Do you find it frustrating when you’re directed to a link that does not exist? Me too! My apologies for any broken links you may find here.

    JGIG occasionally links to to sites that sometimes change hosting sites or remove content, forums that periodically cull threads, sites/posters that appear to ‘scrub’ content from their sites (or YouTube posts, pdf files, etc.) when that content receives negative attention, and other sites that over time, have simply ceased to exist.

    As of this writing (Sep ’23), I’ll be methodically going through JGIG and repairing as many links as I can, slowly, but surely.

    Please let me know via the ‘Contact JGIG’ drop-down menu item under the ‘About’ tab at the top of this page if you come across a link that is broken so that I can try to repair or remove it. Please include the name of the post/article where you found the broken link as well as the link itself. You may be able to find content specified by doing a search and viewing a relocated or cached page/post/video using an article title or some text content.

    Thanks,
    – JGIG

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The Gospel

~ Page updated and links repaired as of 9/16/23 ~


The Gospel 2

The Clear Message of the Gospel of Grace

Ryan Rufus 2011Ryan Rufus co-ministers with Rob Rufus at City Church International in Hong Kong.  Ryan gives one of the best presentations of the Gospel in the teachings linked to below that I’ve ever heard; very gentle and joyful yet very thorough.  There is translation into Cantonese (CCI has both English speaking and Cantonese speaking folks in their congregation), but rather than finding this to be a distraction, I found it to be 1) a beautiful reminder that the Gospel was given to all tongues and tribes, and 2) found myself reflecting on and digesting each point that was being made as the translation went on.  The audio version of this five-part series is posted here; the video version is posted on the Video Resources page.  Guys, the best way to refute HRM or any other false teaching is to have a firm grasp on Who Jesus is, What He came to do, What that actually accomplished, and Who we as believers are in Him.  The following series does all of that very gently and clearly.  I was very blessed and refreshed, affirmed, challenged, and most of all, feel more equipped in Christ to share the Truths of the Gospel with the Lost and with fellow believers who are struggling in their faith.  Highly Recommended!

  • The Clear Message of Grace Part 5 – A New Nature (appx. 32 min.) – Note:  Part 5 may have some language in it regarding the New Nature, referring to the New Nature as the ‘life-force of God’ that may make some uncomfortable.  Please understand that the primary audience is in Hong Kong, where this local church is located, and that many of the Chinese folks there have backgrounds in Eastern religions, so that choice of terms resonates with and makes sense to them.  I personally would rather that Ryan had emphasized dependence on the Holy Spirit in the last part of the teaching, however I understand the focus that he was bringing with this teaching, and that is this:  We are New Creations in Christ.  That MEANS something; we were intrinsically changed when we were forgiven of all our sins, filled with the Righteousness of Christ, and sealed with His Holy Spirit.  We’re different now.  We don’t look at and respond the same way in and to the world as we did before Christ did His Work IN us.  While we still struggle with our mind and our flesh in this life, we need to recognize that our spirit is already seated in the heavenlies with Christ according to His Work and according to the Word of God (Ephesians 2:6-7).  Overall, this series is excellent, giving a clear presentation of the Gospel and who we who believe in Christ are in Christ.  Highly Recommended!

You may find listening to the following teachings by Bob George and Rob Rufus along with the above series to be helpful, as well:

A good print resource that presents the simplicity of the Gospel and who we are in Christ is Classic Christianity by Bob George.  Available from ClassicChristianity.com and Amazon, as well as at your local library.

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For more teachings expounding on the simple Truths of the Gospel and Old/New Covenant issues, see the many free downloads/teachings available on the Audio/Text Resources Page under the Media tab above.  Remember:  The best way to refute false teaching of any kind is to have a firm grasp on

  • Who Jesus is
  • What He came to do
  • What that actually accomplished, and
  • Who those who believe in Christ are IN Him.

Grace and Peace to you in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

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  • What JGIG is Not:

    Joyfully Growing In Grace is not a heresy-hunting site, it is not an anti-Semitic site, nor does its author have any agenda other than defending the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    This site is not against the Laws of God.

    This site does not condemn believers who find joy and insight into their faith by celebrating Feasts, observing a seventh-day Sabbath or who feel they should adhere to dietary laws.

    This site does not condemn believers for choosing to not celebrate the Birth or Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    Romans 14:6 says, "He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God."

    JGIG is not about secondary disputable matters, but addresses core issues of the Christian faith and examines how the Hebrew Roots Movement, Messianic Judaism, and Netzarim streams of thought and related sects stand or fall when placed alongside the plumb line of the whole of Scripture.

    JGIG is not a site to 'expose' teachers in the HRM, as they are a dime-a-dozen. The posts at JGIG do examine teachings, however, and may, from time to time reference or quote a particular teacher for demonstrative purposes only.

    JGIG is not a place for conspiracy theories. Jesus told us that when we see certain things to not be afraid; that our Redemption draws near. He didn't say to get it all figured out and go and retreat to some bunker somewhere; He calls us to love God, love others and make disciples. So there won't be time spent on conspiracy-minded banter here.

    Welcome, and may God grant you wisdom and discernment as you consider all of these things.

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  • Copyright

    © 2008-2023

    You may copy/post articles/excerpts authored by JGIG online freely as long as you include/post a hot-link to the original article as it appears at JGIG, including the title of the post.

    You may make print copies of COMPLETE articles here authored by JGIG for individual or small group use only, provided a complete, typed web address for this site and the particular article is included on each copy.

    If you wish to make copies or copy and paste articles from the Articles Page or any other post here not authored by JGIG, please refer to any copyright rules for that article provided by the original, linked to source.

    Some in Law ‘keeping’ sects have stated their intent to ‘refute everything written at JGIG, line by line’ on their websites. To them I say, “Knock yourselves out!” Just make sure you post hot-links to both this site and the specific posts that you are ‘refuting’.

    No part of JGIG may be reproduced by any means for profit without permission.

    Thanks!
    – JGIG

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  • WARNING

    There are some sites and forums popping up authored by Hebrew Roots adherents using (some mocking) the name ‘Joyfully Growing In Grace’ in their sites, forums, or Facebook page titles that are not affiliated with Joyfully Growing In Grace.
    Read carefully, folks.

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