Extra Virgin Grace

The Olive Tree vs. the Fig Tree

Chapter by chapter Summary:

Chapter 1: The Olive Tree vs. the Fig Tree.

The Olive Tree and the Fig Tree are two themes that run throughout Scripture having their origins in the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Olive Tree represents Christ, His gift of righteousness, faith, grace, The Spirit and the New Covenant. The Fig Tree represents flesh, self righteousness, works, legalism, human effort, unbelief and the Old Covenant. This chapter is a call to the Church to not repeat Adam and Eve's sin of trying to be more like God in eating from the Fig Tree but to rest in the Olive Tree and see the fruit of grace manifesting in your life.

Chapter 2: Re-defining What Renewing The Mind Is.

This chapter challenges the traditional idea that says that renewing the mind is all about lining your mind up to the Word of God. It shows that, actually, renewing the mind goes beyond that and is about getting back to that place where our minds were once when in subjection to our spirit, like Adam and Eve before the Fall. Renewing your mind is essentially about learning how to surrender your mind to your reborn spirit so that you become "spirit-led". Transformation is becoming "spirit-led". When you are led by your reborn spirit in fellowship with the Holy Spirit then you will walk in the perfect will of God manifesting all the riches of your salvation here on earth.

Chapter 3: A Moment Within God's Eternal Grace Covenant.

Jesus Christ was the "Lamb slain before the foundation of the world." In other words the cross was not God's plan B. It was plan A. In this chapter you'll find out how predestination and election actually refer to the way that God has chosen for mankind to relate to Him for all eternity. That is, through the gift of righteousness that comes by grace. If you've ever struggled with understanding why God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden or why Israel suffered for so long under the Law covenant then this chapter is for you, and makes it very clear. You'll discover how grace has always been Gods intent for relationship with Him and how the Law is but a brief moment in time and for a very clear and specific purpose. Without knowing clearly what that purpose was, you will become dangerously vulnerable to legalism and self righteousness.

Chapter 4: The New Way Of The Spirit vs. The Old Way Of The Letter.

The spirit and the letter represent two completely different ways of life. The letter is a religious system of external pressure and motivation to get you to serve God whereas the spirit is an internal transformation and empowered ability to serve God. Under the letter you are forced to serve God. Under the spirit it becomes your desire to serve God. The letter is the old way of being motivated before the new way of the spirit came. For born again believers it is no longer , "Do this in order to be blessed, or don't do that in order to avoid punishment." Now it is, "This is who you truly are, perfect and complete in Christ" and "This is what is available for you now, a miraculous and victorious life!"

Chapter 5: Galatians 5 Explained In Context.

Without a rich revelation of Grace, Galatians chapter five will leave you confused about your salvation and how you are supposed to live now. The confusion comes from not understanding what the chapter means when it talks about "flesh" and "spirit". The key to understanding this chapter is to simply gain revelation on what it truly means to walk in the Spirit and what it means to walk in the flesh. In short, "flesh" is speaking about the law/works covenant and "spirit" is taking about the grace/faith covenant. Because of the confusion around this chapter, many Christians have been taken into fear and legalism, but this is a glorious chapter that God is once again shining His brilliant gospel light on to reveal what it truly means to walk in the Spirit. And that is to walk in the spirit covenant by your reborn spirit in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 6: The Beatitudes Are For The Self Righteous!

Matthew 5:1–7:29 is the "Sermon on the Mount". Is this sermon intended for the church? Absolutely not! It's intended for the self righteous. It's a pre-salvation preach that exposes self righteous pride and performance and reveals the need for God's righteousness as a gift through faith in order to see the Kingdom and become children of God.
Unless you really understand grace, don't go near the Beatitudes. They will mess you up! Teaching the Beatitudes to Christians produces legalism and religious pride or condemnation in them. We must rightly divide the covenants in the Word of God to see what Jesus was saying and trying to achieve here.

Chapter 7: Re-defining What Holiness Is.

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the words "be holy"? You think "stop sinning" right? If that is the first thing we think of when someone says to "be holy", then it means our minds have been programmed by the law to define what holiness is. Holiness has got nothing to do with sinning or not sinning. If that is what we think, then we think that we are the cause of our holiness. There is only one person who is the cause of our holiness and his name is Jesus Christ! And if you are in him, then you are holy. You don't have to try and be holy or get holy, you are holy!

Chapter 8: Hebrews 12: Understanding God's Disciplines Through Grace.

Many people read Hebrews 12 in a very negative way that causes fear in their hearts and in the hearts of others. But actually these verses were written to encourage believers and fill them with confidence. What is fundamentally important to see when reading Hebrews 12:5-11 is that firstly, it's not God doing the chastising and secondly, that the chastising was not coming because of moral sins but because these Hebrews were standing for the Gospel! People miss this so easily and then make up all kinds of theologies about God punishment towards Christians. This ends up in a perversion and distortion of these Scriptures. Are you ready to see Hebrews 12 in a whole new light? The light of grace!

Chapter 9: Romans 5, 6, 7 & 8 Unlocked.

I believe these four chapters are the bedrock chapters of understanding grace. They form a solid foundation of what the Gospel is, and will give you confidence to stand in the grace of God. The more you study them and understand them, the more you will be able to look at other verses that seem to pose a "problem" for grace, that contradict grace, and unlock their true meaning. Usually you'll find that the difficult Scriptures end up being the best Scriptures to support the consistent thread of grace throughout the entire Bible.

Chapter 10: Hebrews 5 & 6: The Impossibility Of Losing Your Salvation.

I believe Hebrews 6:4 is trying to show that if Christ dying once for us wasn't enough and that you could therefore lose your salvation, then in order to get it back you would have to crucify Christ again. But if we could understand and, more importantly, accept the revelation about Melchizedek then we would know how impossible it is for Christ to die again and therefore how impossible it is for us, who are in Christ, to fall away! To fall away means to spiritually die again. If Christ can't die again and we are united with Christ, it means that we can't die again. If we can't die again then it means that we can never fall away! I believe this Scripture is written to show the Hebrews, and us, how perfect our salvation is and how impossible it is to lose it, based on the fact that Christ can never die again! And it's written to help us come into an amazing confidence that God is for us, always relates to us through grace, and therefore we can walk intimately with him with boldness and confidence in this life.

Chapter 11: The Theology And Experience Of Rest.

Rest is two things. It's a theology and more importantly an experience. It's good to know the theology of God's rest. It's better to experience the living reality of it. The theology is there to bring us into the experience. It's not just about knowing that you are righteous in Christ. It's about continuously experiencing the peace that this revelation brings. Rest is about knowing where you are seated and why you are seated there. You are seated with Christ on his throne because you have become his perfect and complete righteousness. You are not standing and working but are seated and resting. And the Holy Spirit doesn't just want you to know where you are, he wants you to experience where you are.

Chapter 12: More Gets Done When You Rest!

Ever feel like you're missing the sweet spot in life? Feel like there's a better way you're meant to be living? A way that's easier, more effective and enjoyable. The sweet spot on a tennis racket is where the most power comes from. It's where the racket is most accurate and where less energy is required to produce that power and accuracy. It's such a satisfying and enjoyable feeling when you're hitting in the sweet spot. When you're not the ball doesn't go where you want it to or as fast as you want it to and it's just frustrating! Well, God's rest is that sweet spot and it applies to our life. When we're not living in the sweet spot of resting in the finished work of Christ, life seems harder, ineffective and frustrating. But when we live from a place of rest we find life becomes increasingly more enjoyable and effective. God wants us to live from the sweet spot. He wants us to enter his rest and live from that place.

Appendix: Keywords and Scriptures in Context.

This chapter is more of a study tool to help you unlock certain Scriptures rather than a read-through chapter. It focuses on a number of words like: sin, faith, lust of the flesh, fear of God etc that usually get interpreted incorrectly and explains their proper meaning. This chapter isn't thorough or in depth but will certainly assist you in your own studies by triggering helpful patterns of thought.