Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] One evening when I was a small child, my parents told me that I couldn't do something.
[00:00:10] Now, I don't know if that's ever happened to you kids in the room. Your parents have said, no, you can't do something. For me, I think it was staying up and watching a TV show, something that was on tv.
[00:00:23] And I did what many kids may do.
[00:00:28] I declared to my parents, because they would not allow me to do this. You don't love me now, kids. Have you ever done that?
[00:00:36] No, you haven't. I was a weird kid, I get it.
[00:00:40] But I declared, you don't love me. And then I went a step further.
[00:00:45] I said, I'm leaving this house.
[00:00:48] My parents have recounted this story. It's a funny story from my childhood. I think I saw this on Diff'rent Strokes or Webster.
[00:00:57] And I'm going to be like that. And I'm going to go pack my little red suitcase in my room and I'm going to leave this house.
[00:01:06] And I'm sure my parents were laughing the whole time, especially when I came back through the house and out the side door with my suitcase and into the backyard. And we had a really small backyard. But on this night it seemed like a mile long as I walked across this yard in the dark. I finally made my way to the edge of some woods. And I've often thought about, why did I go that way? Why didn't I just go down the road? Why am I going in the back toward nothing, toward the woods?
[00:01:42] And I remember getting to the edge of the woods and standing there alone and scared and looking back into my house. My parents were probably looking out the window where all the lights are on and thinking, this was really dumb.
[00:01:59] This was not smart. What am I going to do now? And I remember being overcome with fear, running back into the house and going to bed that night.
[00:02:10] Well, Paul, when he writes Galatians, he wants the Galatians to understand how dumb they are.
[00:02:20] At one point he calls them foolish Galatians.
[00:02:25] And it's foolishness because they are adding to the gospel. They are beginning to believe that they must add to what Jesus has done. And he says, that's foolish.
[00:02:38] It's like going your own way.
[00:02:40] It's like running from your parents house.
[00:02:44] You are moving from your Father in heaven. If you are convinced you can make it to heaven by something you do, even adding to what Jesus has done, you're going to end in a very scary, dangerous place, all alone, away from God.
[00:03:05] Remember In Acts, chapter 13 and 15, we talked about and we're going to talk about as we move through this book. This is where Paul and Barnabas are preaching the Gospel to Gentiles.
[00:03:16] And many Gentiles believe the gospel. And we talked about last week what the gospel is at Our Ashland Church BFG or/Blog page. You can find the gospel in Galatians. But I want to summarize what we've said about the gospel, what the gospel is now by saying this.
[00:03:39] The good news is Jesus has done everything so that by faith in him alone, we might be accepted by God. That is the gospel that Paul was preaching to these Gentile believers. That is the gospel that they believed. They. That Jesus has done everything.
[00:03:59] That Jesus is enough to be accepted by God, whether you're a Jew or whether you're a Gentile.
[00:04:07] Well, after Paul left this area of Galatia where he's preaching the gospel, there were some false teachers who came in. A false teacher is someone who teaches something contrary to the gospel. And they come into these churches and they say, you know, Paul, he's this new apostle and he's gotten some things wrong.
[00:04:31] It's not just Jesus. Yeah, yeah, you should believe in Jesus, believe in Jesus, trust in Jesus. But that's not all.
[00:04:41] You've also got to add some stuff that you do.
[00:04:46] Circumcision, you've got to adhere to the Sabbath. You've got to go to the Jewish festivals.
[00:04:54] In essence, you've got to become a Jew and begin to obey the law the way a Jew would obey the law. So it's not just Jesus, it's Jesus plus the law.
[00:05:07] And as we talked about last week, that's not the gospel.
[00:05:10] Jesus plus nothing equals everything.
[00:05:14] Jesus plus anything equals nothing.
[00:05:17] Jesus has done it all.
[00:05:21] But this false gospel begins to take root in this church. And Paul writes this letter from panic almost.
[00:05:29] He's disturbed, he's irritated. There is a tone of frustration throughout the letter.
[00:05:37] Paul's saying to these believers, it is as though grace has brought you to the Father's house.
[00:05:44] And I, Paul, I'm inside the house saying, come on in.
[00:05:49] And the way you come in the house is through Christ.
[00:05:52] And inside this house, we live by grace. It's all about the grace of God in Christ. Come on in.
[00:06:00] The grace of God in Christ secures you. This is great.
[00:06:05] But the Judaizers there on the outside saying, no, no, no, no, no, you can't go in yet.
[00:06:11] You got to do some things before you'll be accepted in that house.
[00:06:16] You got to obey in some ways, Jesus, he might get you to the house. But Moses gets you in the house. And Moses keeps you in the house. Come on out here and get your Moses stamp so you can go in.
[00:06:33] And Paul says, no, no, no, that's a false gospel. And you, Galatians, you came in, for just a moment, you believed in Christ. But now you've turned from Christ and you're headed back out into the yard to a place of loneliness, despair, to a place of insecurity.
[00:06:54] And he begins in verse six by explaining there is no other gospel that secures us notice. Verse 6, he says, I am astonished. I am shocked, shocked. My mind is blown. This is bizarre to me, that you would believe in Christ and the grace of God and then turn from it and notice he says, that you are so quickly deserting him.
[00:07:24] Now, the word used here is of a soldier who betrays his country.
[00:07:29] He's saying to the Galatians, you are turncoats.
[00:07:33] You are traitors, turning from the grace of Christ that has saved you and now believing that you can add to that.
[00:07:43] This is severe and harsh. But notice you are traitors, not just in general, but toward him. You are deserting him. Notice who called you. And he's referring here to the Father, who calls us to Himself by the Holy Spirit. The word called is summoned. It's more than just invite. He has brought you in notice to the grace of Christ.
[00:08:12] You are deserting the One, the Father in heaven, who called you into the grace that is in Christ. Now remember what grace is.
[00:08:22] It is God's unmerited favor, blessing despite what we deserve. What does that mean? You, because of your sin, deserve hell. That's what you deserve. But God has been gracious. He's given you unmerited favor. Nothing you've done, despite what you deserve. But notice here, in the grace of Christ, that's so important.
[00:08:50] God's grace, defined by Christ.
[00:08:55] God's grace in the gospel is defined by Christ.
[00:09:00] There is no grace from God apart from Christ.
[00:09:05] Christ is God's grace to us.
[00:09:12] The grace we have in Christ is amazing, mind blowing, overwhelming.
[00:09:22] And it's this.
[00:09:24] We who deserve judgment get what Christ deserves.
[00:09:28] You deserve judgment for your sin, but you get what Christ deserves. What does Christ deserve?
[00:09:35] Love and affection and acceptance from the Father. You get that you don't deserve it.
[00:09:43] Jesus is the one who deserves it.
[00:09:46] But why do you get it?
[00:09:48] Because at the cross he got what we deserve.
[00:09:52] We get what Christ deserves. Because at the cross he got what we deserve. And that is God's grace to us. And God has called you into that grace through the gospel.
[00:10:08] And this is the grace that secures us in the love of God. You are only secure in God's love and acceptance in Christ because he has died for you on the cross. That's the only way.
[00:10:20] And so to turn from Christ to yourself, to your works is to turn from grace, but it's to turn from God.
[00:10:34] The extent that you are turning to yourself and your works and what you do, you are turning from God.
[00:10:41] You only get to God through grace in Christ.
[00:10:45] And Paul says, why in the world would you turn from this?
[00:10:51] Why in the world would you do that?
[00:10:54] And notice he says, and are turning to a different gospel. And then verse seven, not that there is another one. Now, this is a crucial point in this book, why it's important.
[00:11:09] Why is adding to the gospel another gospel, not the gospel? Because some of us would say this, believe in Jesus. Yes, you get to go to heaven.
[00:11:25] And why would we not add our works to that? Why would we not be more secure? Why would we not give God more good things? We why would that not be a part of this all?
[00:11:37] Because when you say, I have to do something myself to get to heaven, even if you're saying, I just want to be sure I get there, what you are saying is, Jesus hasn't done enough.
[00:11:51] In your attempt to add more to Jesus, you are taking away everything Jesus has done.
[00:11:59] He has done it all.
[00:12:01] He has provided everything you need.
[00:12:04] This is the grace of God in Christ. And to add to it is to create and preach and teach another gospel.
[00:12:16] It is to say, Jesus isn't enough. And the degree that some of you are believing this and living by it is the degree to which you are insecure.
[00:12:27] The degree which you're saying, jesus is enough, I got to do more. You're insecure in your faith.
[00:12:34] And Paul says, this is the reason you're insecure in your faith. Galatians notice as the verse continues, but there are some who trouble you. There's not another gospel. Because if the gospel isn't, Jesus has done enough. That's not good news, that's really bad news.
[00:12:51] But there are some who are telling you this and what they're doing. Notice that word trouble.
[00:12:57] It means to agitate or shake.
[00:13:00] They are trying to shake you from the security that you have in Christ.
[00:13:07] They want to notice, distort, change, the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as they do so, they are shaking you from all the security that you have in Christ. They are convincing you you have to add to Christ, He's Insufficient. And what that does for you is it shakes your security in Christ. You believe he hasn't done enough and so you start working to do more. And you live in insecurity.
[00:13:37] Now this is a warning to avoid false teachers who agitate your security in Christ by adding something to Christ.
[00:13:48] But we have to be warned.
[00:13:51] Why?
[00:13:54] Because we are prone to believe their false teaching.
[00:13:57] We are prone to believe what they say.
[00:14:01] Why?
[00:14:03] Because deep in our hearts we're all little agitators ourself.
[00:14:09] We are false teachers. We are judaizers.
[00:14:13] We say, it can't be just Jesus, I need to do something.
[00:14:21] You're saying Jesus has done it all and out of pride and self righteousness I need to do more.
[00:14:28] It can't just be that good. The news can't be that good that Jesus has done it all.
[00:14:36] And we have to be warned of teaching ourself a false gospel. And how does this go when our minds and our hearts, we say, I would be more secure if I would just do more.
[00:14:50] I would be loved by God more if I just did more for God.
[00:14:57] What are you saying in that?
[00:14:59] Jesus hasn't done enough to secure my love.
[00:15:03] God's love for me.
[00:15:05] Jesus hasn't done enough to secure what God wants for me in Christ.
[00:15:16] What you're saying in essence is Jesus isn't loved enough by the Father.
[00:15:24] I got to do something to achieve. No. Jesus is loved by the Father, the Father loves the Son, and in the Son he loves you as the Son.
[00:15:36] Jesus doesn't need to do more to be loved. Neither do you. And so this is a false gospel. I'd be more secure if I did more.
[00:15:46] And you begin to pray more or try to pray more, you begin to do the things of God with more intensity. And what happens in your life is not security, it's insecurity.
[00:16:00] Some of us are paralyzed in doing nothing because you say, if I have to do more, I'm out.
[00:16:09] I can't do more.
[00:16:12] And we live in this insecurity. We live in this agitation.
[00:16:17] We live in being disturbed because we are convinced Jesus has not done enough. And what you've done is, is you have moved from the security of the gospel, saying I've got to do more to self. And what that's like is if you got on a plane today in Lexington and said, I'm flying to Orlando, Florida today, and you got halfway there and you said, this plane's not going quick enough, I don't feel safe in this plane. And you jumped out and started flapping your Wings and said, I can get there quicker.
[00:16:54] That's what you do. When you turn from Christ to yourself, you're going to die.
[00:17:01] It makes no sense.
[00:17:03] You can't get to the Father's love apart from Christ.
[00:17:08] You can't get to the Father apart from the gospel. And so if you want more security in your faith, you want to be secure, you. You don't move away from Jesus towards self, you move toward Jesus away from self. That's where your security is because that's where the grace of God is.
[00:17:32] What you do is you lean back into the gospel.
[00:17:36] That's got to be your reflex.
[00:17:39] When I doubt, when I lack assurance, you don't move toward doing more.
[00:17:46] You move toward Christ.
[00:17:49] How do you do that? You preach the gospel to yourself.
[00:17:53] And some of you have asked, what does that look like? It looks like preaching the gospel to yourself.
[00:17:59] If you have to get a mirror to do it. Get a mirror.
[00:18:03] Go stand in front of that mirror and say, hey, look at me.
[00:18:09] You are a sinner and you deserve hell. Look yourself in the eyes.
[00:18:16] You deserve hell.
[00:18:18] But God sent his son to live a perfect life for you.
[00:18:25] God sent his son to die for you.
[00:18:28] And because you believe in him, you are covered in his death and you are covered in his righteousness. And you have everything Jesus has from the Father. He. He loves you. Believe it, self.
[00:18:42] Sometimes I'm driving in my truck and I look in the rearview mirror and have to tell myself that you have to practice preaching the gospel to yourself, confessing the gospel to yourself. And for bfg Today we have a list of verses at the end of our discussion questions. I want to encourage you to read through these verses that encapsulate the gospel. I want to encourage you to memorize these verses that encapsulate the gospel. Where you are hiding the gospel in your heart. Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. God shows his love for us that in while we were still sinners, we, Christ died for us. And you have to look yourself in the eye and you have to remind yourself of those things, the truths of God's word. And so don't move to self, move to the Savior through the truth of the gospel.
[00:19:47] Because no other gospel will give us security. No other gospel should be preached. Notice verse eight.
[00:19:53] They're trying to distort the gospel.
[00:19:56] And he says, but if we or an angel, this would be a messenger. And I think he's referring to the creatures around the throne of God.
[00:20:08] These angelic beings that protect the throne of God, and they do God's bidding. And what he is saying is, in the hierarchy of messages, there would be no higher messenger than someone directly from the throne of. Of God.
[00:20:26] And he says, if we, myself or one of these messengers should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach, what's the gospel we preach? Jesus has done it all.
[00:20:38] Let him be accursed.
[00:20:41] And the word accursed is to be cut off.
[00:20:45] And then if you didn't get it, he repeats himself in verse nine. Notice he says, as we have said before, zero in, listen to me. I mean, Paul is fired up in Galatians.
[00:21:00] Not an angel, not myself, not anyone. And listen again.
[00:21:05] If anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to the one we receive, let him be accursed.
[00:21:12] Now we would say, well, Paul's just getting carried away.
[00:21:15] Remember, the Holy Spirit is writing through the Apostle Paul these things.
[00:21:21] God himself takes this very seriously.
[00:21:26] The Holy Spirit says through Paul, be anathema, which means be damned to hell, be devoted to destruction, cut off from God forever.
[00:21:41] Paul doesn't see this as a matter of opinion or misunderstanding. You, your truth. My truth? No.
[00:21:47] If you're preaching a gospel different than the one you received from me, be damned.
[00:21:55] Why?
[00:21:57] Because people are being damned by believing that gospel, by believing that Jesus is not enough. That's not genuine faith. That's not the real gospel. Our only hope is the gospel. And the gospel must be protected at all cost.
[00:22:15] And we must protect the gospel at all cost.
[00:22:19] It's important for us to call out those who preach a different gospel, those who change the nature of God and specifically the person and work of Jesus.
[00:22:34] Oneness. Pentecostals who deny the Trinity, Mormons who deny the deity of Jesus.
[00:22:46] Satan and Jesus are brothers.
[00:22:48] They're theology or Jehovah's Witness who believe that Jesus was created.
[00:22:54] Or the Word faith movement, the prosperity Gospel, which I want to be as clear as I can, is a false gospel. It is a totally different gospel and it is a scam.
[00:23:08] Those who are poor, that's what it is.
[00:23:12] Why it changes the gospel altogether. Faith is power to be blessed, and it's fake and it's false.
[00:23:23] Catholicism, which says by faith, you participate in the grace of God through the sacraments.
[00:23:31] Jesus hasn't done enough.
[00:23:33] You've got to participate through these things.
[00:23:37] And then you go to Purgatory for all of the things you didn't cover.
[00:23:42] Greek Orthodox, which is becoming very popular among young men. They teach Very similar to what Catholicism teaches. But they believe you are becoming one with God or you're taking part in the divine, the theosis through the sacramental life. You are adding to what Jesus has done. He didn't do enough.
[00:24:03] And then I want to be very clear about this.
[00:24:06] Any church that teaches baptism saves you.
[00:24:10] That's a false gospel.
[00:24:13] It's essentially the same thing Paul is combating in Galatians, why Jesus didn't do enough. You got to do something to get in.
[00:24:25] Or a church that teaches you can lose your salvation.
[00:24:28] What's going on there?
[00:24:30] Jesus didn't do enough to keep me saved.
[00:24:33] I've got to add to what he did.
[00:24:36] A church that says you can lose your salvation is essentially saying to you, you are keeping yourself saved, not God.
[00:24:44] Jesus didn't do enough.
[00:24:46] And here's the point with that. If I can lose my salvation, I will.
[00:24:51] I'm that sinful, and you are, too. What happens in those situations is people make up the list of things you must do to keep yourself saved. Again, it's another form of judaizers here.
[00:25:03] But these are religions that say, Jesus hasn't done enough and you must add to what he's done. And I want to get to this point here and say, this is why local church accountability is so important.
[00:25:17] We think, why should I join a church? And we think, well, I need that fellowship.
[00:25:23] I need that fellowship and accountability so I don't fall into sin.
[00:25:27] Equally important is that you don't fall into false doctrine.
[00:25:32] Equally important is that you don't believe a false gospel.
[00:25:36] We, as a church, we come together and we say we have a doctrinal statement. And you know what that is?
[00:25:42] That is us taking the scriptures and saying, this is what the gospel is, and we believe it and we protect it, and we preach it, and we don't move from it.
[00:25:56] You have pastors that are accountable to you, and you're accountable to our doctrinal statement that defines what the scripture says about the gospel. And we live in this accountability.
[00:26:11] Our doctrine is on display all the time as pastors. We're always talking about it. And you have a responsibility to hold us accountable.
[00:26:20] And I plead with you to fulfill your responsibility. As Paul says here, if we, or an angel from heaven preach another gospel, if I preach another gospel, first of all, plead with me and then fire me. Well, fire me anyway. That's probably just start with the firing and then plead with me, do not go to hell.
[00:26:43] But every church member that comes in here, we make sure they can articulate the gospel by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We say that at our affirmations. Why, that's the gospel we believe, and that's the gospel we're all accountable to. We are in covenant together by what we believe and what we say about Jesus. And it is important, and in this day and time, it's very important. And I want you to lean in and listen to me right here.
[00:27:11] I see a lot of brothers and sisters drifting, and here's how they drift.
[00:27:18] If someone says something that you agree with politically, they could have abhorrent theology, but you will sit at their feet as a sage.
[00:27:29] If someone just simply agrees with you on social issues, it doesn't matter what they say about the gospel, you will give them all authority, all credibility, and you will promote them.
[00:27:42] That's dangerous.
[00:27:44] Even more so dangerous is this.
[00:27:48] The Internet is full of counselors and therapists and everybody TikTok and everybody telling everybody how to live and what's right.
[00:27:57] And if someone helps you with your marriage or your kid, they may have the worst theology ever, but you will sit at their feet as a sage and you will give credence to everything they say.
[00:28:09] And I've seen too many believe you can get wisdom from the world, but I've seen too many believers buy in hook, line and sinker and deny the gospel over those things.
[00:28:24] Be careful.
[00:28:26] Come to your pastors. By the way, not every podcast is something you should be listening to and promoting.
[00:28:36] Not every book that just addresses your issue is one that you should be reading.
[00:28:44] You can gain wisdom, but so often the end is destruction. And I believe that's how Satan is working.
[00:28:53] I want you on my team, okay?
[00:28:56] You deny the Trinity, You're a Mormon.
[00:29:00] That's okay. We vote for the same person.
[00:29:03] Do you know how dangerous that is?
[00:29:07] And by the way, all of that's just distraction anyway.
[00:29:10] Let's get to the gospel. Let's be accountable to one another.
[00:29:14] Let's dig in together and live our life as Christians together around the gospel.
[00:29:22] Because no other gospel gives us security. No other gospel should be preached, and no other gospel pleases God. Notice verse 10.
[00:29:30] Paul says, why is this? Am I now seeking the approval of man or God?
[00:29:35] Or am I trying to please a man? Now, this word approve, it means to be. We might be, say, accepted or given rights, the rights from a man or from God. The word please means to appease.
[00:29:51] And it's the same thing as appeasing a king.
[00:29:54] A king that's going to judge you and destroy you. And you just do whatever they say to appease their wrath.
[00:30:01] And Paul is saying, I'm not scared.
[00:30:05] I'm not scared to call out these false teachers. Why not Paul?
[00:30:10] Because I'm not trying to please man.
[00:30:14] My approval comes from God.
[00:30:17] And he says, continue in verse 10. If I were trying to please a man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
[00:30:25] If I was trying to please the agitators, the judaizers who have added to the Gospel, if I wanted to please them, I could not be, I couldn't serve Christ.
[00:30:37] If they were my king, I was trying to please, I wouldn't be following Jesus, who is my King.
[00:30:44] You see, Judaism used the law to exalt man's ability.
[00:30:49] And what always happens in any religion that does that, any form of spirituality that exalts your ability, eventually there becomes a hierarchy of status in that religion.
[00:31:02] And your status in that religion is determined by how well you adhere to, to the law, to the things of this spirituality that emphasize your ability.
[00:31:15] You have more ability than others, so you rise in status.
[00:31:19] And Paul says, when it comes to Judaism, I was at the top.
[00:31:24] I was the logo of their system. I don't care about pleasing them anymore. I forsook that. And why?
[00:31:33] Because in Christ I was approved by God. So I don't need man's approval anymore. I am free from that.
[00:31:42] So I can preach the gospel and not be scared of men.
[00:31:47] I can declare what's true and not be fearful of what man thinks. I'm not working up their ladder anymore.
[00:31:54] But here's the danger.
[00:31:57] We can use Christianity the same way they use the law.
[00:32:01] Judaism, we can use it the same way.
[00:32:05] All of the good things that are a part of Christianity we can make into a law in and of itself.
[00:32:11] You come to church and you see kind of this Christian Jedi ladder of status you got to move up.
[00:32:21] You go to the campus ministry and you see kind of in that bubble or in that ministry, it's not just a bubble.
[00:32:28] I didn't mean negative about that. You see in that context, sort of a hierarchy of what it means to move up.
[00:32:38] And you say, if it means being at the top, I'm going to be at the top.
[00:32:43] I'm going to serve, I'm going to volunteer. I'm going to show people how smart I am. I'm going to show people what I think so I can get to the top of that ladder. We do that in the church, we do that in ministry.
[00:32:56] We have all the awana badges and crosscon stickers that we can have just to Prove it.
[00:33:01] Look how smart I am. I'm moving up this ladder. I quote the right books, I embrace the right brand of theology.
[00:33:12] Look at me.
[00:33:14] And here's the danger.
[00:33:16] Some of us are doing all of this to impress others.
[00:33:22] We're not serving God.
[00:33:25] We serve food. We go on mission trips, we preach sermons to impress others.
[00:33:32] And we've made Christianity into a law in and of itself.
[00:33:38] And how well we can adhere to those laws is how good we're doing before God.
[00:33:44] And it's so dangerous.
[00:33:46] Listen to this.
[00:33:48] If you're only trying to impress men, you are not genuinely serving Jesus.
[00:33:56] If you're only trying to impress men by what you do, you are not genuinely serving Jesus.
[00:34:04] If you are always looking over your shoulder to see who, who is looking at you, watching you or even looking up, making sure God notices. You're not genuinely following Jesus.
[00:34:17] You're not even looking at Jesus.
[00:34:20] You're not genuinely serving the people in front of you.
[00:34:24] If everything you're doing, you're looking around saying, hey, y' all see me?
[00:34:28] Y' all see what I'm doing?
[00:34:31] You're not looking at Jesus.
[00:34:33] If you're always looking at God, please, please notice what I'm doing, then you're not serving the people in front of you.
[00:34:43] It's not real, it's fake, it's artificial.
[00:34:47] It's a man pleasing religion that you've created in your mind and your heart.
[00:34:52] And Paul says, I am free from that. And it is the gospel that frees me from man's approval. I have been proved by God. And this is where we are freed up to genuinely serve for the glory of Christ and the good of others.
[00:35:07] When we say, God has accepted me in Christ, we're able to serve from that acceptance, to serve from that security, not for it.
[00:35:18] That means the things I'm doing, I'm not doing so God would accept me. No, I'm accepted by God. So then I'm really free to exalt Christ.
[00:35:28] I'm really free because I'm not earning anything.
[00:35:32] And so I'm able to look around and say, don't look at me, look at Jesus. This isn't a PR campaign.
[00:35:39] This is joy and this is delight in the gospel that is overflowing from my life.
[00:35:46] Look to Jesus and we can mean it because we've already been accepted by God and we're not trying to prove anything from others.
[00:35:58] People are not props anymore.
[00:36:02] They're people that you love the way God has loved you.
[00:36:07] They're also not gods that you're fearful to tell them the truth.
[00:36:14] No, you're able to tell them the truth. You don't fear them. You fear God. And he's accepted you. He's pleased with you.
[00:36:22] You see, what we see from this passage is the way to please God is not to look to self or man's approval, but to look to Christ, who is sufficient.
[00:36:35] He's done enough this week.
[00:36:42] Your security is not in how many quiet times you will have, how many chapters in your Bible reading plan that you will get through, how many things at church that you attended, how much you gave. Your security in Christ is not determined by that.
[00:37:05] It flows from your security, but it doesn't determine your security. Do you hear me?
[00:37:13] I need you to hear me.
[00:37:16] Don't agitate your soul this week by looking to something other than Christ.
[00:37:21] And the degree that you do, I want you to envision yourself as that little kid who talks big and says I'm leaving and who's going to end up in a place alone and dark and even more insecure than you are right now.
