Paul warns Timothy to be aware of the “teachings of demons” (1 Tim 4:1). What would this sound like? A half gospel. In this episode, Jon explains how Satan has many believing they are only saved from their sin, but not unto perfect righteousness causing believers to attempt to earn their own standing before God by good works.
Picking up from last week, when we don’t understand our connection to Christ from all scripture, we learn the bad habit of faking our faith. We pretend to love church and the things of God because we don’t want to feel left out. If you are tired of this feeling and want to truly see the Bible for what it is, God’s living words, Jon helps start this conversation in today’s episode.
Many Christians need help with what they read in their Bibles. The parts about the gospel and Jesus are wonderful, but the rest feels closer to modern fiction than reality. In today’s episode, Jon helps you peel back the layers that cause this feeling toward scripture and enables you to start thinking differently about relying on God’s word in your everyday life.
The world laughs at weakness, but Paul says it’s his secret weapon. When we are weak, then he is strong. Paul tells us to stand in the strength of the Lord, not in our might. There is no reason to be courageous if we must rely on our own abilities. Paul gives the image of the breastplate of righteousness to defend us against Satan’s attack. This is Christ’s righteousness, not our own. We can stand confidently, knowing we are accepted by Christ’s obedience, and fight against the darkness with his strength. We would never stand in our own ability to obey, but we have all the strength of the universe when we stand in God’s power, in Christ’s righteousness.
In this world, it is hard to be weak. The Bible properly diagnoses all sinners to be powerless when it comes to fixing the title of “enemy of God” by our performance. We are not strong enough to overpower the sin in our lives. This does not change once God brings us to life. Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” How do we find strength in our weakness? How does the gospel empower us to continue to fight in the spiritual war against the forces of darkness?
The world pressures people to find their identity in their gender, sexual orientation, career, weight, and political party. The list seems endless. We are told we are the sum of our actions or accomplishments. Truth? The Bible tells us the truth about ourselves. If we are in Christ, our identity is given to us in our new birth. We are described as a child of God. In this episode, Jon explains how the belt of truth can help us understand our identity in Christ.
God’s purpose in writing down truth is not to fulfill our passions, but to enjoy his love and grace. Truth sets us free from sin and opens our eyes to the glory of Christ. Satan desires to blind us and enslave us with lies. In this episode, Jon provides three benefits to all believers who embrace God’s word as truth.
Truth is subjective today. Whatever you want your reality to be, if it feels good, do it! Truth has become the same as appetite. Whatever you are craving at the moment is right and your truth. In this episode, Jon explains where truth comes from and how we should look to the Bible for our definition. Without truth, we will never truly know if we are living under a lie. God wants us to see the truth and be set free. This is part one of a two-part series on knowing the truth from God’s word.
Many struggle with the idea that God requires nothing of sinners to be saved by his grace. Even their faith, which points to their salvation, is gifted to them by God (Eph 2:8-9). Sola fide “faith alone” is more about the object of our salvation than the one with faith. Jesus saves sinners. This is what we are putting our faith in. It is not faith in our faith. How do good works then play into “faith alone?” In this episode, Jon walks the listener through several passages of scripture connecting our relationship with Jesus by faith alone.
We can often live this life assuming our minds are not under attack. When this happens, we slip into the habit of not renewing our minds in the grace of God. We then sacrifice our bodies for pleasure and gratification instead of laying them down as sacrifices for our King. In this episode, Jon walks through Romans 12:1-2 explaining how we should renew our minds in the gospel and protect ourselves from Satan’s lies to draw us away.
Both men and women fall under the pressure of lustful thoughts. Sometimes we justify it or ignore its existence because it is common among humans. Lust robs us of the true joy of relationships and causes us to use other people for our gratification. In this episode, Jon explains where this comes from, how the Law exposes us to our sin, and how the gospel is the only way to freedom and joy.
Do you feel that you have strayed too far from God? Is there a point when God would not accept a sinner back into forgiveness? How far is too far? In this episode, Jon helps the struggling believer who has found themselves trapped in sin think through God’s perspective of their situation. Is there anyone in the world that God never forgive if they are his child?
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