The Most Christian Thing We Do

Transcript

Edited machine transcript. May contain errors.

[00:00:01] What is the most Christian thing that we could do?

[00:00:04] I wonder how you'd answer that question.

[00:00:07] If you're like many out there, you might say, well, I would not sin.

[00:00:13] Fair answer.

[00:00:15] Certainly is a fruit of being united to the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:00:19] But Jon and I are going to offer a different answer, a different thought today.

[00:00:23] That perhaps the most Christian thing we could ever do is to confess and acknowledge our weakness and to then cast ourselves into the arms of Jesus Christ, which we think leads to all kinds of good things, including freedom

[00:00:36] and joy and peace, and actually is a path to sanctification and transformation of life.

[00:00:43] And if you're wondering how that could be the case, stay tuned and listen to today's episode.

[00:00:47] Hey guys, this is Justin.

[00:00:49] Maybe you know that you are forgiven because of Jesus Christ.

[00:00:54] But you're wondering, what does Jesus have to do with my Christian life?

[00:00:59] How is he involved in my sanctification, even?

[00:01:02] Or is he concerned at all with the ways that I struggle and the way that my life goes up and down.

[00:01:07] Is there any comfort for me in Jesus when it comes to all of that?

[00:01:11] Well, I've written a book called More Than Forgiven: How Being in Christ Changes Everything that deals with this topic from Romans chapter six.

[00:01:20] You can find this book at theocast.org.

[00:01:32] Welcome to another episode of Theocast, where our aim is to help you rest in Christ.

[00:01:40] And we're going to have conversations about the Christian life, pretty much all of the Christian life, but it's going to come to you from a gospel-centered reform perspective.

[00:01:48] So, we just want to pull off the clutter off the gospel and show you that Jesus is sufficient, all of Christ for all of life.

[00:01:54] that's the for today.

[00:01:56] Uh, your hosts are Justin Perdue, who is the pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, North Carolina.

[00:02:01] I'm Jon Moffitt.

[00:02:02] I'm pastor of Grace Form Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

[00:02:06] And we are excited to be here with you today.

[00:02:08] We've got a lot on our schedule.

[00:02:10] So, Justin, we're going to jump into this as fast as we possibly can.

[00:02:13] Two announcements for you.

[00:02:16] We have a conference coming up with Chad Bird and Mark, so not Mark, Ken Jones.

[00:02:21] Mark's my brother.

[00:02:22] Shout out to Mark

[00:02:24] and Mark Jones.

[00:02:25] Yeah.

[00:02:26] And it's going to be on April the 10th through the 12th, special hangout on Thursday.

[00:02:33] All four of us are going to be lecturing, going to have panel discussions and a podcast.

[00:02:37] Lots of time to hang.

[00:02:39] So come support Asheville, North Carolina.

[00:02:42] That's April 10th through the 12th.

[00:02:44] And another announcement is: big deal.

[00:02:47] Justin Purdue's book is out.

[00:02:49] Hey, man, give us a quick overview of what it is and where they can get it.

[00:02:53] The book's called More Than Forgiven: How Being in Christ Changes Everything.

[00:02:58] It is a treatment of a theological category called union with Christ.

[00:03:03] And what that means is that we have been united to Jesus through faith.

[00:03:07] Everything that's true of Him is true of us.

[00:03:09] And because we've been united to Him, He now conforms us to His image, He works in and through us, He keeps us unto salvation.

[00:03:15] It is very much a treatment of all of Christ for all of life.

[00:03:18] It is not just that we've been forgiven of our sins and now we go out there and try to sanctify ourselves and try to be good people.

[00:03:23] It's that the Lord actually will do that work.

[00:03:25] He's promised to do so.

[00:03:26] He is faithful.

[00:03:27] He will surely do it.

[00:03:28] That kind of thing.

[00:03:30] And so, again, Romans chapter 6, it's a great, great chapter by the Apostle Paul on that subject.

[00:03:35] So I'm kind of drawing from that, trying to be pastoral and in application and just dealing with all the things that we all wrestle with and the ways that we feel internally and the ups and downs of our

[00:03:45] lives.

[00:03:46] Where is Jesus and all that?

[00:03:48] You can get it at theocast.org.

[00:03:51] All right.

[00:03:52] Or Amazon, I trust.

[00:03:53] I don't know.

[00:03:55] If you want to buy it in bulk, you definitely want to our website.

[00:03:57] You're going to get a better discount on free shipping and all that kind of stuff.

[00:04:00] So, sure.

[00:04:02] Justin, today is, I love these weeks.

[00:04:05] These are my favorite kind of weeks when both of us are we've got something that's been brewing and we've been thinking about it a lot.

[00:04:12] And we get on the phone on Wednesdays early just to kind of get caught up and talk about life.

[00:04:17] And we both had something to talk about.

[00:04:19] And they were different yet the same.

[00:04:21] So, we're gonna have two episodes that are that are gonna build on each other.

[00:04:24] So, not to not to take any more of our time, we're gonna try and keep this to 30 minutes.

[00:04:29] JP, tell tell us, tell us about this subject.

[00:04:33] It's an interesting title.

[00:04:35] And what do you mean by this?

[00:04:38] Talk to us, my friend.

[00:04:39] The title is the most Christian thing we do.

[00:04:42] And the Theocast listener will be intrigued by that title.

[00:04:45] Where are they going to go with this?

[00:04:46] Where are they going to do this?

[00:04:48] I thought it was about what Christ has done, not what we do.

[00:04:51] And you would be correct in thinking that way.

[00:04:54] My aim in this conversation is a few things.

[00:04:58] I want to clarify

[00:05:00] something.

[00:05:01] So we often get accused of being antinomians, and that's fine.

[00:05:07] And one of the things that people will say about antinomians or advocates of radical grace, such as we are, apparently, is that we can fall into this trap of celebrating sin or celebrating.

[00:05:19] Please interrupt.

[00:05:20] Yeah.

[00:05:20] I just want a t-shirt that says advocates of radical grace.

[00:05:23] Bro, I'm guilty as charged.

[00:05:25] I mean, I don't know.

[00:05:26] I mean, what a shirt.

[00:05:27] Grace is radical.

[00:05:28] And

[00:05:31] one of the biggest issues we have as fallen human beings is that we despise grace.

[00:05:34] Somebody designed a shirt for us.

[00:05:36] Go ahead.

[00:05:37] Yeah.

[00:05:38] So I want to clarify something.

[00:05:40] It is not that we celebrate sin, it is not that we celebrate messiness in our lives.

[00:05:47] It's not that we rejoice in the fact that we're broken and jacked up, whatever phrases you want to use.

[00:05:54] That's not it.

[00:05:56] But we do rejoice in, and we want to celebrate the confession of our weakness and the confession of our sin.

[00:06:04] And so, not to bury the lead, perhaps the most Christian thing we do, and I'm thinking life of the church right now.

[00:06:10] We said this in our service this past Sunday, and we'll probably keep saying it for a while.

[00:06:15] Perhaps the most Christian thing we do is to come together as the body of Christ, covered in the blood and righteousness of Jesus, to confess our sins and to confess our weakness and our need of Jesus and to

[00:06:27] cast ourselves upon him and into his arms.

[00:06:29] So I want to clarify that distinction.

[00:06:32] We'll talk some about it.

[00:06:34] But then I also hope, Jon, that this conversation is freeing and liberating for people, that we can be given a better perspective on our lives, that we really are sinners who deserve judgment and wrath, but yet we live

[00:06:47] every day by the grace of our God.

[00:06:50] And we, I'll say this again later, we sit like birds in the hand of our Redeemer and we eat.

[00:06:57] And in between, we sing songs in the sunshine, to use language from the novel, The Hammer of God.

[00:07:02] And that's a very, to me, brother, is just a wonderful perspective on life and on life this side of the resurrection.

[00:07:09] So I hope that's accomplished today.

[00:07:12] And then lastly, I hope we can have some conversations about how rejoicing in the confession of our weakness or seeing and owning our weakness is a good thing

[00:07:25] is really a path to transformation of life and is a means that the Lord uses in his sanctifying work.

[00:07:34] And I think a lot of the ways that we have been conditioned to think and live in the American church, anyway, this triumphalism and the onward and upward and just always improving stuff.

[00:07:45] Not only does it hinder real, just honest, transparent, authentic, pick your word kind of living in the church, I think it stunts our sanctification, stunts our growth, and it's a hindrance to the things that I think the Lord

[00:08:01] means to do.

[00:08:01] Not that the Lord is thwarted, but I think we throw up a bunch of obstacles that hurt the saints, frankly, and make the church a less safe place to be than the Lord intends it for us.

[00:08:16] So, those are things on my mind, and I trust it'll be a good conversation.

[00:08:20] Yeah, jump in.

[00:08:21] You know, my brain always works in illustrations.

[00:08:23] You know, they're um

[00:08:26] sometimes, and I want to encourage those of you who are listening that you put a lot of effort into your Christian faith, and at times you feel as if Theocast won't acknowledge your effort.

[00:08:35] I want to sit here and say, 'Look, I want to acknowledge your effort because it comes from a heart that wants to do what is right.

[00:08:41] Right.

[00:08:41] Well, you, you've been given a new heart that loves God.

[00:08:44] Sure.

[00:08:45] And delights in his law.

[00:08:46] So, yeah.

[00:08:46] Amen.

[00:08:47] Yep.

[00:08:47] And then, secondly, you know, JP, you're a guy that's been in the gym a lot.

[00:08:52] I've been to some gyms.

[00:08:53] I talk to people.

[00:08:54] I've got friends who own gyms.

[00:08:56] And there are people who go in, and they are probably some of the most motivated people on the planet, right?

[00:09:02] And, dude, they spend all their energy and they are dedicated, but they never see progress because, well, honestly, they're putting all their energy in the wrong place.

[00:09:11] There you go.

[00:09:11] And they end up hurting themselves more than you know, they go, they go in there to get stronger and they end up hurting themselves.

[00:09:17] It's not for lack of zeal or motivation or doing good things.

[00:09:21] Like they're doing good things, they're just doing them the wrong way.

[00:09:25] Doing them the wrong way.

[00:09:26] So I think this is very true of Christianity, and that we can get really zealous, have all this energy, and start doing really good things, but yet they end up hurting us in the long run because, well, we're

[00:09:38] not applying them appropriately and we're not putting the emphasis in the proper place and we're not trusting in the power like we should.

[00:09:46] And you know, I said this to you when we were getting ready.

[00:09:50] What's interesting about

[00:09:53] what is a real Christian thing to do?

[00:09:55] The most Christian thing you can do is to admit the absolute inability for all things in when it related to life and godliness, amen, and embracing Peter's words that God has given us everything by his divine power related

[00:10:10] to life and godliness.

[00:10:11] That's the most Christian thing you could do.

[00:10:13] I am nothing, he is everything.

[00:10:14] That is literally

[00:10:16] strong.

[00:10:17] Yes.

[00:10:17] Yeah.

[00:10:18] And it takes a lot of work to do that, Justin.

[00:10:19] Like, you have to sanctification is the process of embracing your weakness more and more and putting your faith in Christ more and more.

[00:10:28] That's the process of sanctification where we have less trust in us and more trust in Jesus, every single day.

[00:10:33] People think of sanctification as I sin less.

[00:10:35] That is a byproduct, but that's not sanctification.

[00:10:38] And we've said this many times: that the Christian life is about far more than not sinning.

[00:10:43] But that's how it's talked about often.

[00:10:45] That's the impression we get, many of us is that the Christian life, the great goal of the Christian life, is just not sin or to not sin as much.

[00:10:53] And like you said, that may very well be a byproduct or a fruit or an output.

[00:10:58] It should be a byproduct.

[00:10:59] Agree.

[00:10:59] But even that, you know, we have to be thoughtful about how we gauge it because there's always sins at the level of the heart and the mind and the spiritual struggle and all that.

[00:11:08] And so there's many, many things that could be said there.

[00:11:11] But the Christian life really is about communion with God and a deepening sense, like you already said, of my need of Christ and of his love for me, his sufficiency as my substitute and as my redeemer and my

[00:11:25] mediator.

[00:11:25] And then that is going to result in all kinds of love toward the neighbor.

[00:11:29] And then it will result in me because I have been united to the Holy One and I've been given a new heart and I delight in God's law, and I don't want to dishonor God, and I don't want

[00:11:39] to sin and hurt people, then, yeah, there will be that fruit born in my life over a lifetime.

[00:11:46] Real change will happen.

[00:11:48] But we've said this many times, too.

[00:11:50] One of the great ironies in this is that you don't actually affect change

[00:11:56] most effectively by pointing at the change or by telling people to change, you actually affect change most effectively by heralding Jesus in the place of sinners, by heralding the love, the mercy, the power, and the grace of Christ

[00:12:12] as much as possible.

[00:12:14] And that will do the job.

[00:12:16] And so the most Christian thing we could do is to agree with God about ourselves, agree with God about Him, His character, and then agree with God about Jesus and what He's accomplished and who He is for us

[00:12:30] and then to cast ourselves into his arms to fall into the arms of christ who is the forgiveness of our sins and our righteousness and gives us eternal life and has told us that no one can take us

[00:12:41] from him.

[00:12:42] And I think it's sad, Jon, that for many people that I'm talking, we're talking American evangelicalism, right?

[00:12:50] Because we're in the States.

[00:12:50] If you're an international listener, I trust some of this will apply to you, too.

[00:12:55] But I've had conversations with people over the years where they have effectively said

[00:13:01] when they come to our church often that they're so refreshed by the ways that they're welcomed and greeted, even, but they're also encouraged by how one of the very first things we do every Lord's Day is we confess

[00:13:13] our sins.

[00:13:15] We confess that we are sinners and that we have strayed from the Lord's ways, that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed.

[00:13:21] We have not done the things that we should.

[00:13:23] And then we are absolved of our guilt and assured of our forgiveness on account of Christ alone.

[00:13:29] And they will effectively say, my paraphrase, that, you know, in many churches where I've been, the last thing that I felt like I could do was admit that I am a sinner.

[00:13:42] Like, not just in this generic sense, we're all comfortable to do that.

[00:13:46] Oh, yeah.

[00:13:47] You know, we're sinners saved by grace and all that.

[00:13:51] But I mean, not just to acknowledge in a general sense, I'm a sinner.

[00:13:57] I'm only human, right?

[00:13:58] I'm imperfect.

[00:13:59] I fail.

[00:13:59] But I mean to confess that I am a real sinner who's committed real sins, and it is worse than I care to let on.

[00:14:08] And this is my ongoing reality, even as a believer, because I do drag the corpse of the old man around with me.

[00:14:16] And there is a lot of weakness here.

[00:14:18] And there is a lot of, there are a lot of cravings and passions and desires that I'm frankly ashamed of and embarrassed by, but this is true of me.

[00:14:28] And I am very thankful that the Lord has done something about this and that we collectively together can gather and acknowledge this and confess it and say it out loud, and then together are assured of God's love and

[00:14:41] mercy and forgiveness, His compassion, His grace.

[00:14:44] And we're told that we're going to make it because Christ has done it.

[00:14:48] It's wonderful.

[00:14:49] It's freeing, too.

[00:14:50] We're going to get there in a minute, but it's a wonderful thing.

[00:14:53] And it's the most Christian thing we can do.

[00:14:55] Well, and it would be, I think it's the, it's a, it's safe to say only Christians do this, like, no other religions do this.

[00:15:04] They don't promote weakness, right?

[00:15:06] They promote strength.

[00:15:07] I love this Psalm - Psalm 51, right?

[00:15:10] David finds himself in the midst of his weakness.

[00:15:12] Like, wow, I am a weak man.

[00:15:14] Like, there's that final moment where the problem is.

[00:15:16] Wretched man that I am.

[00:15:18] He's like, Thou art the man, you know.

[00:15:20] Yes, and I love this.

[00:15:22] I like how you went to the King James there, Jon.

[00:15:24] That was good.

[00:15:26] Hey, man, what's that old IFB coming out in you, dude?

[00:15:29] Born and raised, man.

[00:15:30] It's funny.

[00:15:30] I quote it all the time in my sermons, not even realizing it.

[00:15:32] Oh, come on, man.

[00:15:33] It's hey, listen.

[00:15:34] Sometimes the way the King James worded it, it's one of the best translations.

[00:15:37] I will give credit to where credit's due.

[00:15:39] It did, it fell from heaven.

[00:15:40] 60 years.

[00:15:43] We all know.

[00:15:44] Now you're offending people.

[00:15:45] We all know.

[00:15:45] King ain't ain't it, amen.

[00:15:49] All right, come on, distracted.

[00:15:50] Come on.

[00:15:51] I don't even know what I'm going to say.

[00:15:52] Sorry.

[00:15:52] So, what's interesting, Justin, is that there's going back to the gym illustration, we can feel this guilt and shame.

[00:15:58] And the first thing we want to do is clean ourselves up, right?

[00:16:02] So we assume more effort creates sanctification.

[00:16:06] And man, Paul couldn't be more clear that the law cannot sanctify you.

[00:16:11] It just can't do it.

[00:16:13] And that means you trying to obey the law can't sanctify you.

[00:16:16] Listen, Justin and I think are you trying to flee from sin or whatever?

[00:16:20] Exactly.

[00:16:20] Right.

[00:16:21] So, Justin and I believe you should obey, and it's expected of the believer.

[00:16:26] I mean, Peter, literally, like, add to your faith all of these virtues, and I'm all for it.

[00:16:30] Amen.

[00:16:30] And I, and I want that in my life, and I want that in yours.

[00:16:33] But when you find yourself in the midst of failure, which is the constant experience of the Christian life, you need to have the same heart as David here.

[00:16:41] Listen to what he says when he

[00:16:46] When falls himself at the bottom of the pit, he does not say, I will clean my heart before you, and I will renew my spirit.

[00:16:55] He says, Create in me a clean heart.

[00:16:58] He's asking God.

[00:17:00] And you renew a spirit, a right spirit within me.

[00:17:04] Right.

[00:17:04] And then he says, verse 12: Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with your willing spirit.

[00:17:12] So, where all of this comes from is always our cleansing and our joy and our restoration is never in willpower of the flesh or of self.

[00:17:24] It's always by means of God and his gospel.

[00:17:26] Because why can David ask for his heart to be cleansed and our new spirit to be renewed in him?

[00:17:33] Because Jesus has promised it through what?

[00:17:36] His forgiveness in the cross and his righteousness in his life.

[00:17:39] That's how the spirit is renewed in us.

[00:17:41] The righteousness, once again, we walk by faith.

[00:17:43] We're going to talk about this next week.

[00:17:45] But I think it's so healthy to be reminded that when we find ourselves in sin, we don't fall into the trap, which Justin, I think this is how Satan keeps people in discouragement.

[00:17:56] Sure, is they keep trying to cleanse themselves out of it.

[00:17:59] And we confess this is why he says, with boldness in a time of need, run to the Father, right?

[00:18:04] Hebrews 4.

[00:18:05] Run to the Father and ask for mercy and grace.

[00:18:08] No, amen.

[00:18:08] If you're new to theocast, you may not have heard of this word.

[00:18:12] It's called pietism.

[00:18:13] Have you ever felt like the Christian life is a heavy burden versus rest and joy.

[00:18:19] That you wake up worrying about how well you're going to perform instead of thinking about what Christ has done for you.

[00:18:25] It's dread versus joy, really.

[00:18:27] That's pietism.

[00:18:28] Pietism causes Christians to look in on themselves and find their hope not in what Christ has done, but what they're doing.

[00:18:37] And we have a little book for you.

[00:18:38] It's free.

[00:18:39] We want you to download it, and we're going to explain the difference between pietism and what we call confessionalism, reformed theology, really, how it is that we walk by faith, seeing the joy of Christ, and when Jesus says,

[00:18:50] Come to me and I will give you rest, what does that look like?

[00:18:54] You can download at our website.

[00:18:55] Just go to theocas.org.

[00:18:57] We talk like this with our church.

[00:18:59] Only God does the work of sanctification.

[00:19:02] We do not sanctify ourselves because God is the only intrinsically holy being in the universe.

[00:19:07] And so, if anyone else or anything else is going to be holy, the Lord must make it so.

[00:19:12] So, we are monergistic when it comes to sanctification in that regard.

[00:19:15] God does the work.

[00:19:16] Now, we make effort.

[00:19:18] Like we said, grace is not opposed to effort, it's opposed to earning, right?

[00:19:22] That's important.

[00:19:23] And so we make effort in the Christian life unto Christian maturity.

[00:19:27] And so we'll draw a distinction between those two things.

[00:19:30] We don't sanctify ourselves, but we do put in effort unto Christian maturity.

[00:19:35] There are any number of things that we can do and apply for that purpose.

[00:19:39] So that's good.

[00:19:40] Another comment to make is that I think along the lines of things you were just saying, people get things twisted here.

[00:19:47] We think, now, this is true in the world at a common kingdom level, but it is not true in the Christian life.

[00:19:54] We think that the opposite of vice is virtue.

[00:19:58] In the world, that's true.

[00:20:00] But in the Christian life, that's actually not exactly true.

[00:20:02] The opposite of vice as a Christian is actually Jesus for me and casting myself on him.

[00:20:10] So think Philippians 3: the way that Paul, what does Paul renounce there?

[00:20:15] Philippians 3, like 3 to 11.

[00:20:18] He renounces not his vice, but his virtue.

[00:20:22] So in the world, it's like, well, yeah, I need to renounce my vice and I need to pursue virtue.

[00:20:27] And where I'm not saying don't pursue virtue, but I'm saying put that in the right place.

[00:20:31] That effort unto maturity is fine.

[00:20:34] But when it comes to being godly and when it comes to being righteous, you renounce not just your vice, you renounce your virtue for the sake of being found in Christ Jesus by faith, so that you might have

[00:20:46] a righteousness that is not according to the law, but a righteousness that is found by faith in Jesus Christ.

[00:20:52] That is what it is to be a Christian.

[00:20:54] And so, even in confessing the things that we're talking about, in confessing our weakness, and confessing our need and our inadequacy, we are reinforcing those great truths.

[00:21:04] And kind of two other places I want to take this conversation.

[00:21:08] Sure.

[00:21:08] Yeah.

[00:21:10] I don't really care which we get to first.

[00:21:12] This actually logically, in my mind, makes the most sense right now.

[00:21:15] When we get this right, and it's not about being right for being right's sake, but when we get this correct, and in the life of the church, this is the consistent drumbeat.

[00:21:25] I think that it makes the church a safer place for sinners.

[00:21:29] Like we can be honest about our frame and we can live openly with one another as brothers and sisters in the Lord in a way that will be used of God.

[00:21:38] And I think that the result of having this kind of resting heart rate in the church, where the most Christian thing we do is what we're talking about today.

[00:21:45] I think it is actually used of God unto sanctification.

[00:21:50] It produces the fruits of godliness in the saints very effectively, because we're no longer posturing so much.

[00:22:01] We're no longer living behind facades.

[00:22:03] We no longer feel the need to wear a mask and have it all together and say the right things because we know how to speak the Christian, the Christian talk.

[00:22:12] Like I know how to talk well.

[00:22:14] I know how to answer the questions well.

[00:22:16] I know how to say the thing that sounds really good, though.

[00:22:19] I know deep down there's a lot more going on in here that I don't even know how to approach with you because I have no idea what you're going to think about me.

[00:22:24] Like we get rid of all that stuff and we're able to actually engage at the heart and mind level and say what's really going on.

[00:22:33] And then it's amazing how over the course of years and decades, as we have relationships like that in the church, we live in the fellowship of the saints, and we apply the means of grace, the Lord does remarkable

[00:22:44] work in his people.

[00:22:45] So, this actually leads to godliness and leads to sanctification and transformation of life.

[00:22:51] So, no one out there should hear us saying this and think that, oh, well, you guys are just trying to coddle people in their sin.

[00:22:59] no.

[00:22:59] I mean, this is the path not only to freedom, which we're going to get to in a minute, and peace and joy, but it is actually the path to transformation and sanctification as well.

[00:23:11] So, I quote this verse a lot.

[00:23:12] When I preach James, this was a practice that we implemented, and it's a practice that the Reformed Church has been utilizing for years.

[00:23:22] But it's James 5:16, and this whole section is on praying for each other, right?

[00:23:26] Say, yeah, yeah.

[00:23:27] It says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you might be healed.

[00:23:32] I think he is talking about spiritual sickness here.

[00:23:35] Like, there are people who are indulging in their sins, they're hiding their sins, they're.

[00:23:39] And he says, I love this.

[00:23:40] He doesn't say confess them.

[00:23:42] He says, confess them to each other.

[00:23:44] Why?

[00:23:44] Because the admittance of weakness then draws the prayer of a brother.

[00:23:49] So at our church, a men's group will every other week.

[00:23:52] The men get together and we have time of prayer and confession where you can share a burden or confess a sin or do a prayer of praise.

[00:23:59] And we pray for you right away.

[00:24:01] So if you confess a burden, we stop and pray for you right then.

[00:24:04] If you confess a sin, we stop and pray for you right there because we want the healing and the promises that come from James, right?

[00:24:10] So it says, therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you might be healed.

[00:24:15] And then I love this: the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it's working.

[00:24:20] This is a hint for next week's episode.

[00:24:21] I don't believe he means self-righteousness here.

[00:24:24] I think he means Paul, James means the one who has righteousness by faith has powerful prayers.

[00:24:31] And it's a comfort to us saying, hey, those who are righteous by faith, your prayers are effective.

[00:24:37] Yeah, because the Lord hears and answers them.

[00:24:39] That's right.

[00:24:40] His ear is always open.

[00:24:41] Yep.

[00:24:42] So confess your sins to each other and then pray for each other, and you will experience spiritual healing.

[00:24:49] I think that's an important practice.

[00:24:50] What we're getting at is that that's part of the normal experience of the Christian life is to confess weakness, not only to our Father, but to each other.

[00:24:58] Amen.

[00:24:58] It creates equality, which is a problem in James.

[00:25:01] Yeah.

[00:25:02] And then 2 Corinthians 12.

[00:25:04] Let's talk about that a little bit.

[00:25:05] Well-known passage, Paul's thorn in the flesh.

[00:25:07] He says, to keep me from becoming conceited because the Lord had revealed magnificent things to him.

[00:25:12] And Paul, it sounds like, is a dude just like you or me.

[00:25:15] And it's like he's not impervious to sin.

[00:25:18] It's like, ah, to keep me from being conceited.

[00:25:20] The Lord gave me thorn in the flesh.

[00:25:22] And we're not told exactly what the thorn is.

[00:25:24] We do know that Paul pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away, and the Lord said, No, because my grace is sufficient and my strength is made perfect in your weakness.

[00:25:33] And so Paul ends that whole paragraph by saying, I will therefore rejoice all the more in my weakness.

[00:25:41] Now, what I think he means is not, it's not that the fact that I'm weak brings me joy in and of itself.

[00:25:47] It's not that I am a sinner that brings me joy.

[00:25:50] I actually lament my sin.

[00:25:52] He literally, Romans 7, he cries out, wretched man that I am, who's going to deliver me?

[00:25:56] It's not, and he hates the fact that he doesn't do the good that he wants to do.

[00:25:59] He hates the fact that he continues doing the evil that he doesn't want.

[00:26:03] So it's not that he is like, oh, yay, I'm a sinner.

[00:26:07] You know, like, man, it's wonderful that I sin and just mess it up six ways from Sunday.

[00:26:11] That's not what he's saying.

[00:26:12] Nope.

[00:26:13] But what is he saying?

[00:26:14] I rejoice in my weakness for what reason?

[00:26:16] Because in my weakness, the Lord is there and he's strong.

[00:26:20] And it's in seeing my weakness and confessing it and acknowledging it and owning it, that I most intimately and deeply know the strength and the saving power of Jesus Christ for me.

[00:26:36] And I know the grace of God most powerfully and pointedly in my life when I am able to acknowledge and confess and even celebrate the confession of weakness and the fact that I'm a sinner.

[00:26:48] And he's writing this in the context, remember, of the ministry of all these quote-unquote super apostles who have this obviously like earthly strength.

[00:26:57] And their ministry is shiny and it's impressive.

[00:27:00] Whereas Paul, it's like, well, Paul's weak.

[00:27:03] He's not impressive.

[00:27:04] He's not obviously strong, and he's depicting the fact that no, this is actually Christianity, this is the heart of the faith, right?

[00:27:13] And when he goes on to say, you need to examine yourselves, you know, to as to whether or not you're in the faith, I think this is what he means.

[00:27:20] Like, are you looking for something that is obviously powerful and glorious in an earthly sense, or especially since you've heard the gospel from me and I'm weak, or is this what you believe?

[00:27:30] And is this what you understand?

[00:27:32] That you're a sinner and that you're weak like me, and that you are casting yourself completely upon the mercy and the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

[00:27:40] Because that's what it is to be a Christian.

[00:27:41] Amen.

[00:27:42] And I think what this produces, kind of where I want to go with this, and I'd love to hear your thoughts and we'll bring this to a close.

[00:27:47] Yep.

[00:27:48] Um, what I think this produces when we see this, and this has landed on me in new ways.

[00:27:54] This is how it always works in the Christian life.

[00:27:55] I mean, these are things we've talked about a thousand times, and you believe them and you feel them.

[00:27:59] But then, for whatever reason, in the Lord's providence, you start having these conversations again and you start thinking about things again, and you're affected in a slightly different way.

[00:28:07] In the recent weeks, I've been just personally, I've been in a season where I have felt kind of devoid of feeling, which is very strange for me as a guy who lives in my emotions all the time.

[00:28:16] And I've been pretty flat and gray, but the Lord has been really good to me in a couple of ways in particular.

[00:28:21] One is preaching John chapter 10 that I've been affected by.

[00:28:24] But then the other is when my mom was very sick in the hospital recently, I read to her from the novel, The Hammer of God, that I had not read in years, and I was just gripped and affected.

[00:28:35] I've mentioned this, I think, in a previous podcast.

[00:28:37] But the reason I bring it up right now is that there is a scene in the final part of that Hammer of God novella where a guy who had been living in a kind of revivalistic, pietistic state of

[00:28:47] mind

[00:28:49] comes to see the reality of indwelling sin for all that it is.

[00:28:53] And he sees the sinner-saint reality that we talk about all the time.

[00:28:56] He sees it in just like striking color.

[00:29:00] And what he sees in that, and what he's trying to communicate to his friend is that, brother, in this is a gospel that we would see our weakness and we would see the depth of our sin because here's

[00:29:11] what that leads to.

[00:29:13] I now can say with joy that I am a sinner worthy of condemnation who lives now every day by the grace of his God.

[00:29:24] And I sit like a bird in my Redeemer's hand, and I eat there.

[00:29:28] And in between, I sing songs in the sunshine.

[00:29:31] And every day, I find something for my poor soul to draw from the fountain of redemption.

[00:29:38] And I'm thinking, God be praised.

[00:29:40] Like, this is where I want to live.

[00:29:43] And it gives me a different perspective on my life.

[00:29:46] It fills me with gratitude and joy and hopefulness that this is who God is for me and the way that He loves me.

[00:29:53] And this is how Jesus is with me and for me.

[00:29:56] And I'm free.

[00:29:58] I really am.

[00:30:00] Because what I deserved, I'm not going to get anymore.

[00:30:03] And what I could never earn, I've been given, and I'm secure.

[00:30:07] And the Lord provides for me everything that I need for life and godliness.

[00:30:11] And He's told me that I'll be with Him forever.

[00:30:13] And so, really, all is well, it is well with my soul, you know.

[00:30:17] And so, I think that that kind of freedom and joy is what this results into.

[00:30:22] I agree.

[00:30:23] Yeah.

[00:30:24] You know, a verse that is often quoted, and I'm thankful that it's quoted because it's mentioned in Christ, but I don't think it's used appropriately.

[00:30:32] Philippians 4, right?

[00:30:33] But I'm going to read the verse before it that never gets quoted.

[00:30:36] Paul says, I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.

[00:30:41] And in any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need.

[00:30:48] And I love how he says it's a secret because it's a secret in that, like, people just aren't paying attention.

[00:30:55] You know, it's like there's the secret that's rumbling around in Christianity.

[00:30:58] It says, and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

[00:31:01] And that's kind of what we're getting at.

[00:31:03] The most Christian thing to do is walk by the strength of Jesus.

[00:31:06] That's the most Christian thing you can do.

[00:31:08] And to always admit, forever and ever to each other and to your king, I am nothing, I have nothing, I can do nothing.

[00:31:15] He is everything, all of Christ for all of life.

[00:31:17] That's the most Christian thing that you can do, which is why our singing and our prayer, our confessions, and sermons should be about Jesus.

[00:31:23] Yeah.

[00:31:25] Well, bro, imagine too.

[00:31:26] I mean, you pastor a church, I pastor a church.

[00:31:28] Both of our churches are imperfect.

[00:31:30] Like, lest anybody be.

[00:31:32] You don't have to remind me of that.

[00:31:33] No kidding.

[00:31:33] I mean, pastors know the Warts and the flaws of churches as well as anyone.

[00:31:37] And so that's not a shock to anybody that Grace Reformed Church, Covenant Baptist Church are imperfect churches.

[00:31:44] But honestly, if we take these things to heart, the things we're talking about today.

[00:31:50] And if this is where we live, confessing this, owning this, acknowledging it, and throwing ourselves into the arms of Christ, remembering, here we go, remembering that we are always debtors to grace and that there is never a moment

[00:32:04] in the Christian life where I am not in need of God's grace.

[00:32:08] I will never arrive to the place where I am now sufficient on my own and I don't need the grace of God.

[00:32:14] If that's where we live consciously all the time, imagine the kind of fruit that would bear in a local church.

[00:32:20] Imagine how that would affect relationships in a church.

[00:32:23] Imagine how that would marry.

[00:32:25] Oh, sure.

[00:32:26] But imagine how that would stamp out division.

[00:32:28] Imagine how that would promote humility and charity and every good fruit.

[00:32:32] You know, I mean, it's like the Lord knew what he was doing in giving us this gospel and in teaching us these things in his word.

[00:32:39] And this is part of the Christian life that the Lord continues to teach, he continues to work in us, he continues to show us things.

[00:32:46] And we have these light bulb moments where it's like, oh, I think I see more clearly now.

[00:32:51] And we're helped.

[00:32:53] And thank God for it.

[00:32:54] Amen.

[00:32:55] One last verse to throw in here.

[00:32:58] This is Ephesians 3:16.

[00:33:00] That according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being.

[00:33:08] Remember, the strength doesn't come from you as much as we want it to be.

[00:33:13] It doesn't.

[00:33:14] So that's where we walk by faith, which is going to be next week's conversation.

[00:33:19] Justice, what a great habit.

[00:33:21] What a great conversation today.

[00:33:24] People then say, Well, what about obedience?

[00:33:26] What about righteousness?

[00:33:27] Doesn't God call us to be godly?

[00:33:29] Call us to be righteous.

[00:33:31] Yes, that is true.

[00:33:32] And then, yet, Peter uses this weird illustration we're going to talk about next week called Lot and Noah.

[00:33:39] He calls them righteous men.

[00:33:41] How dare he?

[00:33:42] Because I'm telling you right now, bro, those guys wouldn't be elders in my church.

[00:33:47] Y'all read Genesis, right?

[00:33:48] That's right.

[00:33:49] You read Genesis?

[00:33:50] Genesis 9 and 19 are rough.

[00:33:52] Let's just say.

[00:33:53] All right.

[00:33:53] Hey, guys, thanks for listening.

[00:33:56] We're so thankful.

[00:33:56] There's a growing community.

[00:33:58] If you want to be around other people who are enjoying conversations about this topic and many others related to reformed theology, theocast community is where you want to be.

[00:34:07] Over 2,000 people in there, it's safe from social media battles that just are worthless.

[00:34:13] So, we'd love to see you guys in there.

[00:34:15] Justin and I dip our head in there once in a while and say, Hey, love you guys, and we'll see you next week.

[00:34:19] Hey, guys, real quick, some of you are listening to this, and it's encouraging to you, but you have questions.

[00:34:24] So, where do you go?

[00:34:26] How do you interact with other people who have the same questions and share resources?

[00:34:30] We have started something called the Theocast community, and we're excited because not only is it a place for you to connect with other like-minded believers?

[00:34:37] All of our resources are there: past podcasts, education materials, articles, all of it's there, and you can share it and ask questions.

[00:34:44] You can go check it out.

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