Timeless Truths: God isn't Satisfied with a Little Godliness

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Timeless Truths: God isn't Satisfied with a Little Godliness

July 11, 2024

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God is good, which means that He wants nothing less than the best for us. But it also means that He won't be satisfied until we are fully mature men and women of God. That's what we'll look at in this "Timeless Truths" segment.

Host: Rose Colón has joined me in the studio. Rose as we continue our discussions on "Living in Victory", we want to talk today about the subject, “God is not satisfied.” And we'll get into a little bit about what we mean by that. But let's start off by talking about this. So often, especially in Western culture, we have this idea that Christianity is solely about accepting Jesus into our hearts. And then unfortunately, we go on thinking we can just live life however we want to live it, in whatever condition we're in. But that certainly isn't what we find true in the Word of God, is it?

Rose: No. When we come to the Lord, we're little babes, but the Lord wants us to grow. You don't leave a little baby in that state. You give a baby what it needs to be able to grow and mature into a young man or young woman. So, there's that continual growing process that should be happening in believers’ lives when they first come to the Lord.

Host: As we see in a natural sense, we also see in the spiritual sense as well.

Rose: Right. And sometimes when we come to the Lord, we come with the mindset of, “I'm a sinner and I know I need to be saved.” But we stay there in that infant stage. We don't grow and mature into what God wants to bring us into.

Host: For those who are listening, who may have started out their Christianity that way, let’s lay out three stages of a believer's life to give our listeners an idea of what the goal may be. First, what might we see in the life of a new believer.

Rose: Usually when a new believer comes to the Lord, they have not been in the Word of God and they don't have a prayer life. So, they have to start from ground zero. They need to at least begin to see their need to be in God's Word to let the Word of God speak to their hearts and teach them His ways. The Word of God instructs us. It teaches us. It shows us where we're wrong. And it's very important when we first come to the Lord to establish that habit of being in the Word of God every day and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts, cleanse our hearts and instruct our hearts. Then we need to develop a prayer life.

Also, when we first come to the Lord, getting plugged into a good church and fellowshipping with other believers is very important. And we need to learn to cut off old things from our past life. Maybe the old friends we used to hang out with or places we used to go. There's a form of outward obedience that we need to start participating in.

Host: Amen. Let's look at a second level of what might be seen in the life of a more mature believer.

Rose: For someone that is more mature in the Lord, you will see them getting out of themselves more. What I mean by that is that they are entering into the needs of others. They may be looking to see how they can volunteer in a nursing home or in a hospital or do a kind act. Something to get them out of their own little lives. You should see fruit like that coming forth in a believer's life once they've matured in the things of God. They will begin realizing that their life is not all about them, it's about others and their needs being met.

Also, there should be the fruit of the Spirit coming forth in this person's life. Let's say for example, they have an anger problem, and they are just constantly exploding in anger. Maybe their even seeing how it’s destroying relationships around them. Well they should be wanting the Lord to deal with that anger in their hearts and they should be confessing it and repenting of it. So, instead of focusing on outward things like the new believer, now they are letting the Lord come into their heart and deal with those inner attitudes. God does this because He wants to transform us or mold us into the image of Christ and help us produce the fruit of the Spirit.

In addition, after we have been walking with the Lord for some time, there should be a greater intimacy growing in our love for the Lord and our love for the things of God. We should be learning to love those things that He loves and hate those things that He hates.

Host: Amen. Ok, let's describe the third and final level here. For a truly mature Christian, what will we see in their life?

Rose: I believe the main thing you're going to see in their life is humility. This reality begins settling in to them, “Apart from God, I am nothing. Apart from God, I can do nothing. Apart from God, I don't have anything.”

Host: A genuine poverty of spirit.

Rose: Yes, a genuine poverty of spirit and a life that is totally consecrated to the Lord where they are totally separated from the world, the love of the world, and they don't want anything this world has to offer. They are so caught up with Jesus and His kingdom and they desire for Jesus to have a greater place in their heart where He is living His life through them.

Host: Yes. And it might sound strange to some people to hear this, but a truly mature believer is going to be walking in the presence of God. Some people may have never even considered being able to walk in the presence of God.

Rose: Right. And I've seen it in the lives of other men and women of God that have been walking with the Lord for 40 plus years. They walk with God. They bring the presence of God with them wherever they go. And when they speak, you just hear Jesus coming out of their mouths. You don't even see the person. You just see the Lord because the presence of the Lord is so evident in their lives.

Host: And this isn't something you can fake. You know when you are in the presence of someone who has that kind of relationship with the Lord.

Rose: Yes. They're so in love with the Lord and they have the joy of the Lord and love just permeates out of their being. You can just tell the difference.

Host: Well, ok. So that's kind of a scenario of perhaps where we begin and where the Lord wants to take us. But of course, inevitably Rose, we try unfortunately, a number of ways to get there that aren't going to get us there. There are things we may do that are just not going to be enough to bring us to that level of relationship with the Lord, as hard as we may try at it. And we want to discuss three examples of that today, starting with this idea of being upright. And apparently what we can glean from Scripture is that just being upright, is not enough.

Rose: That is correct. We see the reality of that in Job's life. Job was upright. He was a godly man. Scripture said he was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

Host: And yet there was something missing in Job's life.

Rose: Yes. And the only way for Job to see what was missing in his life was for the Lord to allow a series of events to occur in his life to bring him to a place where he saw how desperately he needed God in a greater way.

Host: For those who may not be familiar with the story of job, maybe in a nutshell explain what happened to him.

Rose: The story of Job is so amazing to me because you see all that the Lord allowed to come into his life in one day. He lost his children. He lost his business. He lost his livelihood. He lost his home.

Host: He basically lost everything.

Rose: Everything. Everything that was in his possession. Everything that was dear to him. He lost it all. And what is so amazing to me is that Job said, “Naked, I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21, ESV) And then it says, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” (Job 1:22, ESV) You read that and you see, wow Job was upright. He was a godly man.

Yet, as you read the rest of the book of Job, you see that although Job was upright, he was very self-righteous also. He had a lot of spiritual pride and that was the thing that the Lord was after in Job through these calamities. God allowed them to come into his life to show him that He wasn't satisfied with where Job was at. At the end of the book of Job, we see that Job got a greater sight of the Lord. And he said, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6, NKJV) And when he said that God was pleased.

Host: And again, for those who may not be familiar with the story, God allowed this. In fact, Satan had come to God saying, look at your servant Job. If you weren't blessing Him, he wouldn't be worshiping you. And God allowed Satan to sift Him. And then of course, there was all this dialogue between Job and his friends and all of them spoke while none of them knew what was going on in the spiritual realm. They didn't know that God was allowing this for the purpose of doing something in Job's life.

Rose: Right. It was for the Lord to do a deeper work in Job's heart. And when you see that, you just see how much we all need that. We need a deeper reality of God and a deeper reality of how much we need Him. When we can see that, we can have the right attitude as we go through trials. Where we can say, “Lord, this is from your hand. And I need to learn how to kiss the hand that has allowed this to come into my life.”

Host: What a wonderful lesson to learn because it really does give us an entirely new attitude on the circumstances that come into our life. None of it is by chance. As you said, for the believer, it has all come through my loving Father's hands.

Okay now, next we want to look at a second area of maturity needed in our walk and that is in the area of faith. We can have tremendous faith in our lives and yet God may not be satisfied with where we're at.

Rose: Yes. For example, we look at David's life and see that he was a man of great faith. You just see it displayed when he faced Goliath. God had given him victory in the past over a lion and a bear, so when he faced Goliath, he knew that this giant was coming down. He knew who his God was. Yet you look at what the Lord allowed in his life with King Saul pursuing him and David was basically on the run for 13 years living in caves and receiving death threats. Also, David’s own son turned against him. God allowed trials to come into David’s life because He was wanting to do a deeper work in David's heart. He wasn't satisfied with where David was at. The Lord wanted David to have more of Himself dwelling inside of him and He wanted David to have a greater knowledge of Him.

As wonderful as the Psalms that David wrote are, we see that the Lord still had so much more work to do in David throughout his life. And sometimes God is trying to give us more of Himself by using the dark times that we go through to give us more of Himself. When we are in the wilderness and everyone is against us and we are asking ourselves, “Who can I turn to?” It's in those times when we turn to the Lord that He's able to come to us and reveal Himself to us in a greater way than He could have had we not gone through a particular trial. Sometimes we want the trial to be over quick, but David was in the wilderness 13 years. But it was hard for him to. He even said, “How long, O Lord.”

Host: Amen. Well, let's look at one final thing. That is this path that we pursue for great revelation. No doubt, God has given many men and women wonderful revelations. And yet even for those, He wanted them to go deeper in their walk with Him.

Rose: Yeah. We look at the apostle Paul who started many churches and he was even caught up in the third heaven receiving revelation from the Lord. And yet the Lord allowed a thorn in his flesh to remain that he had pleaded with the Lord three times to remove. And God said, “My grace is sufficient for thee in your weakness.” And you look at Paul's life and you see, wow, if the Lord allowed him to go through that to keep him humble so that he wouldn't rise up in spiritual pride, then of course he's going to allow some thorn maybe to stay in our lives as well to keep us humble. And He will do that so that we don't rise up in pride and so that we see how much we really need the Him. That’s just His grace.

Host: Yes. And not only the thorn in his flesh, but the beatings. All of the difficulties he suffered.

Rose: Yes. It’s amazing what Paul went through, all of which God allowed.

Host: Yeah. And the natural reasoning mind would say “Now, wait a minute, God. Obviously, you don't know what you're doing here. Couldn't Paul be more effective? Couldn't he reach more people? Couldn't he build a bigger church? Lord, if you just blessed him, if you just took all these things away?” And yet, as you said previously about David, God was more interested in what was in Paul’s heart.

Rose: And people could look at Paul's life and say, well, something went wrong that he went through all this. But you see how now because Paul went through these things, what he wrote about his trials are treasures that God has used for generations for people who are going through pain and suffering to be encouraged by. And you see what God was able to put into Paul while he was going through these trials or siftings that what came out of Paul was just tremendous treasure from heaven.

Host: Well, I think that there's a string that runs through all three of these stories that you shared with us. Something that God wanted to bring about and accomplish in the lives of those that we gave examples of.

Rose: I think what it is, is not to be satisfied with where we are in our walk with God. When I think of my own Christian journey, the Lord is continually prodding me not to be satisfied with where I'm at in Him, or even with the fruit in my life. He wants more. He requires more. And it's right that He does require more from us because we're to be representatives of Christ here on earth. We're to be living epistles. And if you measure your life to Jesus, hopefully, if you're honest with yourself, you see that you don't measure up to Him. And seeing that lack should cause us to cry out to God. We can't lose sight of our great need. When we think we're doing good, that's dangerous. In my opinion.

Host: Right. When we're trusting in our goodness, when we're trusting in our faith, when we're trusting in revelation, that is dangerous. We could come up with a list of a dozen seemingly valid things in the life of the Christian that we can trust in, but only when we really see our need are we trusting in the right thing. And that's Him.

Rose: Yes. He's rich. He's unsearchable. He is what the Bible says about Him. There are mysteries of God and when you look at the Lord, you see that you have a long way to go.

Host: And I suppose you could look at that in a negative way. But really if we see our Father's heart, it only makes sense that it’s for our good that we never stop growing. He is a loving Father. He wants us to have as much as we can possibly have of Him. He wants to give us everything. So that's at the heart of it, isn't it? Whatever God's doing is because He wants to give us more of Himself.

Timeless Truths: We All Need Genuine Repentance

November 7, 2024

Jesus warned that on Judgment Day, He would tell many that He "never knew them” because, although they performed religious actions in His name, they were harboring iniquity in their hearts. In today’s Timeless Truths, we’ll discuss why repentance and intimacy with Christ will prepare us to stand before God. Host: Counselor Bill Lucas has joined Kathy Gallagher and I in the studio today. Bill, it's good to see you. Thanks for coming in. Bill: Thank you for having me. Host: We want to talk today about the lifestyle and attitude of repentance. We're going to begin by taking a look at three types of individuals described in Scripture that do not reflect an attitude of repentance. Those types are false teachers, those who have never repented, and the self-righteous. Let's start with false teachers. How do we recognize them and how do we recognize that they in fact are not walking in a life of repentance? Bill: Well, Jesus talks about this in Matthew. “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” (Matthew 7:15-21, NASB 1995) Just looking at this Scripture, it wakes me up to see that it's not about what you're doing so much on the outward, but it is an inward call. The inside is very important, and that's what I believe Jesus is trying to wake us up to. Kathy: Yea, they are teachers, and they are in front of a crowd of people. They're leading people. But the thing that Jesus sees is what's going on in the inside. The motivation of the heart. That's what He's looking at. Host: So, these false teachers are in the Church and they look like other believers in a lot of ways? Bill: Correct. The false prophet is one who is mainly being governed by their own evil lust. The Bible talks a little bit about this in Romans. It says that they are like slaves of their own appetites and they deceive unsuspecting people. Host: What does Scripture indicate motivates false teachers? Bill: Well, anyone that you would think of that's promoting their own agenda. They're doing it for a profit or it's a trade of theirs to a degree. They're trying to promote their own kingdom. They're building a kingdom of their own rather than building up the Kingdom of God. Host: Sounds like a politician giving the people what their itching ears want to hear. They’ll say whatever will make the people happy to get elected. Bill: Interestingly yes, there are those similarities. Host: Well, now let's talk about those who have never truly repented. I know that there are a lot of individuals in the church who surround themselves with a cloak of Christianity. They may go to church. They may listen to Christian radio programs. They may read Christian books. But the Bible does speak very clearly about who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and it's not describing those who are just doing these outward things. Bill: That's right. Of course, the Bible is very clear about who does get to come into Heaven, and that is repeatedly said to be the one that does the will of the Father. And Romans 12:1-2 is very clear to me. It says, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2, NASB 1995) And I just look at the idea of repentance. When you are convicted by the Holy Spirit, there is a change that occurs in you. It must happen and it's not something that is adaptable with the world system. You have to begin to go in a completely different direction from where the world system is leading you. Host: But on the other hand, Jesus talks about those that do not appear to have adapted to the world system, but in fact seem on the outside to have adapted to the religious system. And He talks about those in that camp that surely will end up in hell. Talk to us a little bit about Jesus's admonition about that. Bill: Yes, outwardly there is an element of Christianity in those people Jesus is talking about, but He is looking at their heart. And for those that have never truly repented, there's an element of wickedness remaining in their heart. 2 Timothy, 2:19 says, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2 Timothy 2:19, NKJV) Again, in Psalm 5:5, “The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.” (Psalm 5:5, NKJV) And I believe that the people that don't truly repent have iniquity in their heart. Jesus said that he will tell those that prophesied in His name, cast out demons and performed miracles, “I never knew you, depart from me you workers of iniquity.” So, iniquity is still dwelling in their heart that they've never truly repented of. Kathy: These people that Jesus was speaking of, they were in the Church. They were casting out demons. They were doing many mighty works. And yet Jesus said, “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you.” That's a scary thing, because I think that there are a lot of people doing a lot of churchy stuff who do not know Jesus Christ and have never been born from above. They've joined the church, they've acclimated to the system, but there's a difference between joining the Church and being born into the Church. And I think we see now in our day, a lot of people that are doing a lot of outward things, but there is no real union with Christ. Host: And there's no real fruit of repentance in their life. Kathy: Yes. There's no fruit. And outward works don’t equal fruit. That's not what fruit is. Fruit is what is coming out of your life. It's born of the Holy Spirit. It's your life spilling over into the lives of other people and people are coming into the Kingdom as a result of that fruit in your life. Host: Okay, well we've talked about the false teacher. We've talked about those who have never truly repented. What about the self-righteous? Jesus talked to the Pharisees about self-righteousness. Bill: Jesus said that your righteousness must surpass that of the Scribes and Pharisees, or you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Righteousness is the lack of iniquity. And a repentant heart is one that has departed from iniquity. The truly repentant person, and the one that is not a self-righteous person, is low in heart and humble and willing to acknowledge their lack. They're willing to see their need for God. Kathy: It’s spiritual poverty, which is what the Pharisees didn't have. Their righteousness was outward, and that's what the self-righteous do. They prop themselves up on the things that they do, their outward works and the way they even look. If they can appear righteous to people, then they consider that Christianity. But Jesus said it goes way beyond that. It's the heart that God is looking at. And when He said that your righteousness must surpass that outward ability to look like a Christian, He was highlighting that it's a heart issue. Bill: Right. The Pharisees were law-keepers. But Jesus came into the world and started representing the idea of an inward life. It's an element of faith that is being missed in our churches today that people need to just acknowledge their need for God in faith and start looking not so much at the outward but start looking at the true motives of their own heart. It’s very real to me that my character is established when I'm all alone, or when no one else is around and that tells me something. Host: Amen. Let's end this discussion by talking about what the outcome of a lifestyle of repentance is and kind of break it into the negative and the positive. What are some of the negative things from a human perspective that we might experience if we're walking out this kind of life? Bill: The word that comes to mind is persecuted. You'll be persecuted for being extreme or overzealous. When it comes to following hard after Jesus, one thing I've learned is that it's hard. Jesus throughout the New Testament seemed to make it very clear that there is going to be affliction, there is going to be persecution and there are going to be tough times for those who choose to live out a righteous life. But Jesus says to endure to the end. I've got to keep looking at the fact that Jesus, when He talks about true Christianity and denial of self, says that He's going to give us what we need as long as we endure to the end. It doesn't always feel good. It doesn't always seem to be the most popular thing to be doing. But I know one thing, I'm not going to quit. And God is getting the glory from my life as long as I don't quit this walk of righteousness. Host: Well, and that of course is part of what we want to end up on here and that is that there is a tremendous reward. There is a positive side to living this kind of lifestyle. Bill: Jesus says in Matthew 5:12, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in Heaven is great.” (Matthew 5:12a, NASB 1995) And I know that there is a peace and joy that reaches beyond the tentacles of this present world. Host: Yes, and there is great joy in that.

Timeless Truths: We Need the Mind of Christ

October 24, 2024

If we approach Scripture or life's challenges through human logic, our perspective will be devoid of spiritual wisdom. In this "Timeless Truths" segment, Steve Gallagher urges us to stop relying on our own understanding and instead turn to the Lord, so that He can impart the mind of Christ to us. Host: Steve Gallagher has joined me in the studio today. Steve, we want to talk today about the wisdom of “kosmos.” You discussed this at some length in your book, “Intoxicated with Babylon.” And in that chapter where you discussed the subject, you talked about the Western mind and how it has permeated so much of Christianity in America today. What did you mean by the Western mind? Steve: Well, Paul differentiates in the book of 1 Corinthians between the Jewish mindset and the Greek mindset. The Jewish mindset tied up in a nationalistic fervor regarding the Messiah and the temple and other elements of their cultural heritage. But the Greeks had a different way of approaching life, and it was through what they would call wisdom which was their Greek term “sofía.” Athens was the cultural center of Greek philosophy and their approach to looking at spirituality came through the processes of different theories that they would spin as they sat around and discussed things. So, to put it in a nutshell, the Western mind is simply a way to describe people who approach the Word of God and life’s problems through human logic rather than through what God has accomplished in their heart. Host: Well, God did give us a mind, so what's wrong with approaching life’s issues using the natural reasoning mind? Steve: We have to remember that Paul said, “The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.” (Romans 8:7, NASB) There is a very profound truth in that statement. We have a nature that is fallen because of our sin disposition. Left to ourselves our minds are going to revolve around self and selfishness. It will revolve around the way we want things to be and it will revolve around pride. So, when we're approaching spiritual matters, for us to just depend upon the logic of the human mind is dangerous because it's founded upon a faulty foundation. The only difference between a discerning spirit and a critical spirit is brokenness. Both use the human mind to look at a person’s faults and weaknesses and struggles, but an unbroken person looks at those faults through a self-righteous perspective. A person who has undergone the processes of God's discipline and knows what it means to be broken, who has gone through Calvary and has had his own sin issues dealt with, that person is going to look at another person's faults and struggles with a completely different mindset. It's going to be the mind of Christ that he is going to look at those problems through. And therein lies the difference between godly discipleship and most of the therapy that is being utilized under the guise of Christian Psychology in the United States today. Host: Well, you jumped right to the next subject. We do also want to talk about psychology, especially psychotherapy in the church today. Many people think about psychology with some form of the following logical trail of thought: if I break my finger, I go to the doctor. If my car is not working, I take it to the mechanic. So, if my mind is broken, why not go to the psychologist who is supposed to be the expert in the mind? What are your thoughts on that? Steve: Well, the mind isn't the problem, the heart is the problem. And until you get the heart straightened out, you can't straighten out the mind. The problem is that we all have faulty minds. The psychologist has a faulty mind. And if that psychologist hasn't truly been to the cross and gone through a repentance process himself, then he's in no condition spiritually to lead someone else to that place. You cannot lead another person spiritually any further than you've gone yourself. You can spend 20 years studying all the different nuances of psychology and the different theories and therapies. You can become the world's leading expert on all those things, but if you haven't surrendered at the cross and you don't know what it's like to have the mind of Christ, you're not going to have the ability to help Christians live a victorious Christian life. Host: And that really is the goal. The goal isn't for a person to feel better; the goal is to be victorious in their walk with Christ. Steve: The only way a person's really going to have fulfillment in life is to find it in Christ. The problem is that a lot of people don't want to go to the cross and surrender to the Lord, because they want to stay in control of their lives. They don't want to give up anything. They want to fit their lives around their worldly pursuits. And the truth is that for the most part, psychology teaches a form of life that says you don't have to go to the cross and surrender anything. It's an alternative to going to the cross, really. Host: In fact, you've said it is a false substitute for going to the cross or it is a line of thought that loves self as opposed to denying self. Steve: Yeah. And so, if you don't want to deny self and you don't even want to go in that direction, psychology is a great option for you. Host: And there is such a tremendous movement to accept that psychologized view in the church and very often we see this in the form of what we call “integrationism.” This is the perspective that we ought to integrate this worldly philosophy with the Word of God. What is the problem with that? Steve: Well, the problem is that the two are completely conflicting in what they're teaching. You're either going to the cross with your life, with your teachings, with what you are sharing with others, or you're going away from the cross and finding some way to comfort people in their sin. That's really the difference. You can't combine those two opposing philosophies. It's impossible. Host: They really are oil and water. I know that you go into this at great length in the rest of your book, “Intoxicated with Babylon,” but what is it about God's people today that opens us up to the acceptance of these kinds of ideas? Steve: Well, when you are in large part lending your mind to the voice of the world through television, through the internet, through school and worldly friends or coworkers, when your life is being much more influenced by the spirit of the world than it is by the spirit of Jesus Christ, you are just simply going to be much more vulnerable to their solutions, their ideas and their answers. You are just going to be very open to those kinds of teachings. Host: You've been helping men and women in sexual sin for over 20 years now. And despite the fact that some look at Christianity and look at the Word of God as being too simple to handle what they call the deep emotional problems of man, it's your experience that there is a true power in Christ to overcome those problems. Steve: Yes. And I had enormous emotional problems myself. But I have found this to be true not only in my own life, but in the lives of many that I've dealt with over the years, that when Jesus Christ has his rightful place in a person's life; when a person has really gotten a good sight of the Lord; when a person is really connected with the Lord through a strong devotional life; when a person has gone to the cross, and so on, those problems that may have seemed like a mountain before quickly become nothing more than a mole hill. It's just true that when God is big, our problems become small. But one of the greatest challenges that we have dealing with people who are struggling is that all the attractions and pleasures of the world have been huge and God has been tiny in their perspective. So, of course their problems are going to be huge as well. And our job at Pure Life Ministries is to turn that equation around and make God very big in their minds and hearts. And when we are able to help a person accomplish gain that perspective, then their problems are going to be very manageable. Host: Amen. Well, Steve, I hope that will be an encouragement to those who may be listening. To those who may have bounced back and forth from all kinds of worldly wisdom looking for an answer to know that there is an answer for them. There is hope for them and it is found at the cross in Christ. Steve: Absolutely. Host: Amen.

Timeless Truths: We Are Called to Forgive Without Conditions

October 3, 2024

When Jesus was on the cross being scorned and mocked by those who were crucifying Him, He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." In this "Timeless Truths" segment, Judy Lucas talks about how, as followers of Christ, we also are called to unconditional forgiveness. Host: Judy, we want to look at an issue that is pretty common with some of the women we deal with whose husbands have been in sexual sin. It deals with the issue of forgiveness without repentance. And here's really what we want to talk about. For the person who's been sinned against, how is God calling them to deal with that issue, particularly when the person who sinned against them is not completely repentant? Judy: There really isn't a very straightforward, simple answer to that, because as you read the Bible, you do read examples where someone repents and then you forgive them. The classic verse on that is Luke 17:3, “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” (Luke 17:3, NASB) Host: Now, I can read that as saying that if you sin against me, but you don't ask me to forgive you, then I don't have to forgive you. And how often could we want to grab hold of that interpretation? Judy: Well, there are a lot of times that we want to grab hold of that interpretation. I can remember feeling that way, but this is a core issue. We can’t go off our feelings about this. We have examples in the Bible where Jesus Himself was hanging from across, looking down at those who nailed Him there and were mocking Him and He said, “Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing.” Another example is Hebrews 12:15, which talks about how we should not let a root of bitterness grow up that can cause us trouble. Matthew 5:44 says, “I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44, KJV) So, the Bible is clearly calling us to forgive even if the other person isn't truly repentant or broken yet, because when we're choosing to walk in unforgiveness, we're choosing to walk in sin ourselves. And so, what we're doing is cutting off our relationship and our communion with God. Host: It seems to me that the person who wants to read that passage in Luke 17 and say, “Well, they haven't come to me. They haven't asked me for forgiveness, so I'm not going to forgive them. I'm going to stay mad at them.” Really the difference between that person and the person who's willing to go to their brother or sister and try to help them to understand that they've been offended by them is that one person is focused on themselves while the other is more interested in helping the other person out. Judy: Very true, because the first person you mentioned is reacting to their feelings while the other is more concerned about the other person’s heart. They are asking themselves things like, “What is this person’s relationship with God really like?” And the concern should be that if the sin continues, where is that going to lead this person? There's a passage in Matthew 18:15-16 that gives directives for us to go in love with the attitude of Christ and talk to our brother about why we are hurting or why we were offended. So, there's room for that. But it needs to be restorative. If he doesn't repent, which is often the case, then you have a choice to take that next step and go to a pastor or another godly man and bring him into the situation. But that's you praying through and using wisdom on what to do next. Host: Yeah, but you must not hold bitterness or a grudge or stop showing that person love. As much as it depends on you, you should have peace with your brother or sister — even if they’ve offended you. Judy: Absolutely. And that really is the crucified life, where you are willing to deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow after Him. Host: Now we understand from a human perspective that some of the sin from one spouse toward another can be horrendous and we understand the natural response to that. So I guess to the person out there who's struggling with this, they should know we're called to a divine response, not a natural response. And I guess the best suggestion for a person struggling to forgive is to look to the Lord, put your eyes on Jesus and remember what He did for you as you alluded to earlier in our discussion. We need to remember that while we were yet in sin, He died for us. He forgave us. That's our example. That can go a long way in helping us get through those tough times when we really have been offended. To sum it up, our response needs to go beyond what comes naturally to us.