Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Praise God. I want you to stand to your feet. We honor the reading of God's word. Romans, chapter eight.
[00:00:07] Last week I began a series entitled life in the spirit, and we're really beginning to dig into some of the identity, the inheritance that God has for sons and daughters. Do you realize the Bible says that the world is crying out? The world is literally groaning for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God, for people to acknowledge and understand. This is my identity. This is who God has called me to be, not a people who are just gonna hunker down and, boy, times are getting rough. Jesus, take us out. We're not doing that. We're gonna take over the world. We're gonna see the kingdom of God come. You say, that sounds militant, Pastor Jacob. And that's exactly what Jesus came to do. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, not take us to heaven so we can escape the pollution of the world. No, we're going to see heaven come to earth and see this place transform. You realize every time I'm like 30 seconds into my sermon, I'm getting so excited over this. This is serious, though. Every time you see an earthquake or a volcano, you see tornadoes on Molokai. What in the world? This last week was crazy. Every time you see the earth crying out, the. The Bible says that it's literally the world crying out for sons and daughters to rise up. The Bible says that even people are crying out. When you hear the cry that comes out of the world, whether people recognize it or not, they're waiting for something real to rise up. Sons and daughters of the most high God. And then this is all in romans eight, by the way. The Bible even goes on to say that the spirit of God himself groans.
[00:01:57] It groans for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. And so this is what we're going to move into over the next number of months. I'd encourage you begin to dig into Romans chapter eight, but we're just going to begin to break it down verse by verse, and this is going to help us today. Are you there in your Bible?
[00:02:14] Romans, chapter eight. And look with me at verse one.
[00:02:18] So this is what it says. There is therefore now no condemnation. Everybody say no condemnation.
[00:02:27] There's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. God did. By sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. Someone say, thank you, Jesus.
[00:02:58] Verse four. Then the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. His law, his purposes, will be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Now, God's going to help us in that. We're all fleshy, whether we recognize it or not. That's why we fast and pray. Death to my flesh. I'm going to follow the spirit of God, and he's going to help us be more sensitive. Can we just pray and ask the Lord to speak to us through his word today? Lord, I ask you now to speak to us through your word. I thank you that your word is light. It's life. It's instruction. It's correction where we need it. And I pray this morning that your word would accomplish all that you desire it to in our lives. Lord, I. I pray for a great anointing to be released in this place. Come on, church. Pray for a mighty anointing to be upon your life. Pray that he would speak to you, the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Holy spirit, we ask you to come. We ask you to speak to us a word that would change us, that would transform us as you desire us to be. Give us eyes that see, ears that hear, a heart and a mind that perceives what your spirit is speaking. Jesus, I pray the same anointing that was on your life. To preach good news, the gospel of the kingdom, to every open heart. I pray that same anointing would be upon me. And I bind the works of the enemy. He would seek to distract, to distort, to confuse or uproot the word as it comes forward. Give us liberty in receiving your word today. In Jesus name, I pray. Everybody say amen. Amen. You may be seated.
[00:04:46] I don't know about you, but as I read that passage in Romans, there are some really great things that I'd love to grab ahold of. You'll notice that he talks about no condemnation. How many of you would love to live a life with no condemnation? Hallelujah. I know I would. And for the four others. Man, God's gonna do that for you. He talks about how we have life in Christ Jesus. We have freedom. We have righteousness. I mean, I don't know about you, but life and righteousness, freedom, no condemnation. Man, that sounds like a pretty good life, walking with Jesus. Can I get a witness on that. Hallelujah. Now this, by the way, this is a special verse for me. I'm going to give you guys some insight into the history of Pastor Jacob, whether you want it or not this morning. But this was actually one of the first verses in the Bible that I ever memorized. And the reason was, is, man, I got saved. I came out of the world of drugs. Many of you know my story. I came out of drug addiction. I had a DuI, got fired, got expelled from high school. I mean, my life was a wreck. I got radically touched by God. I had an encounter with Jesus where he quite literally raised me from the brink of death, set me free from my drug addiction, and I ended up in bible school not but a couple months later. And while I'm there in bible school, God's just, I mean, he's pouring into me, working in me, and it's awesome. I go home my first summer after break, and I am like, I am hair on fire, man. I go back to my southern Baptist church and I just assume the reason these guys don't have miracles is because they just never heard about it. So I go into it there and I'm preaching about miracles and sharing the testimonies. I go into the prayer meetings and we start seeing demons manifest. And then it happens every prayer night. People began to bring for real the demonized into those meetings. So we would pray for them and cast out devils. And it was awesome. It was powerful. We, I got the opportunity through a life group leader. You know, the reason I stayed saved in those first months was because I got connected to a life group. And there was a group. I was a part of a young adult life group. And after I'd gone a semester in Bible school, I came home and my young adult leaders then began to say, well, give us some of that bible school stuff. And so they had me stand up and so I'd preach and I'd teach, and boy, it was an awesome time. But there were a number of things that happened that really almost derailed me early on. I remember I had a friend who died that first semester that I was in bible school, and I ended up going to her funeral. And I felt, you guys, I don't know if you can relate to this, but I'm like, like radically on fire for God, okay? And I remember going into her funeral and I felt like I should try and raise her from the dead.
[00:07:43] I truly did. I felt like I should. But instead of praying, instead of saying anything, I walked right on past the casket. And as soon as I stepped foot outside of that church. I remember standing on the steps of that church. And feeling the weight of condemnation.
[00:08:00] How could I not have faith to pray for her?
[00:08:04] I remember I was walking out of a time playing basketball with my brothers and some other friends. And I was walking out, and a buddy that I used to party with, a buddy that I used to do drugs with. I saw him there in the basketball court. And I remember him asking me, Jake, what have you been up to? I mean, last he knew, we got a DUI together. We'd been partying together. And then we went our separate ways. He went to culinary school. I went to Bible school. But I never told him. I'd severed the ties. I had deleted the number. I had had no content. This was the first that I saw him. And when he asked me what I'd been doing church, I was ashamed. I don't know if you've ever been ashamed. I was only beginning to learn how to witness. I knew how to do church with church people. But when I was now standing face to face with somebody who I had been so worldly with, I became ashamed. In that moment, I did not share my faith with him. I did not share what I had been doing. And again, this weight of condemnation just came upon me. And I remember feeling so guilty. Even when I went back to Bible school. Then for my next semester, I'd be in worship. And all I could think was, I didn't pray for that lady. I didn't witness to my friend. I'd have these moments. You heard the f word when you watched that movie. I'd have these moments where my failure or my lack of faith. Would be thrown right back upon me in the weight of condemnation. I'm telling you, I would beg God, Lord, give me another chance. God, forgive me for what I've done. I'm sorry. But this weight of condemnation continued to rest upon me.
[00:09:46] Am I describing anybody's walk with God right now? Have you ever felt that way? Like you pray, pastor, I'd love to fast and pray with you. But every time I pray, I just feel that condemnation over what I did or I didn't do.
[00:10:00] I know many of us feel this way in church. I'm going to tell you what set me free. Do you want to know what set me free from that? Because I do not walk in that type of condemnation any longer. But I had this sense, and this was truly my belief. If I do good in what is approved of in God's eyes, God's happy. With me.
[00:10:23] But if I fall short, if I fail, if I deny him, I don't witness, I don't pray. If I don't do what I'm supposed to do. Then God is displeased with me. And I was living my life well. If I did good today, then he's good with me. And if I fail, then he's not good with me. And probably won't be until I beg him and beg him and beg him. And beat my flesh. And repent. And cry and confess. And I still feel the weight of condemnation. I don't know if I'm describing anybody else but me.
[00:10:53] But if you pay attention to what I'm saying.
[00:10:58] You may understand that what I was dealing with in those moments in my young faith. Was law based legalism.
[00:11:09] I was deeply gripped in a performance mentality. The condemnation that I was feeling was the overflow of my legalistic mind. And I'm telling you. If you live your life with how can I perform for God? You will always fall short, and you will remain under condemnation. I'm just telling you. And so what I began to do. Bring up romans eight one. I began to pray every day there is no condemnation. I would claim this over my life. Because I felt condemned. And so I would claim this and pray this over my life. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. And I would claim it, and I would declare it. But I still felt that weight of condemnation. And I wish I could say I caught this earlier. But I don't know if you noticed when I just quoted that a moment ago. But I skipped a phrase.
[00:12:15] I said, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. But I skipped a very important word. One of the first things I was taught when we were in homiletics. How do we I'm sorry. Hermeneutics. How to study and interpret the Bible. And it's that third word in that verse right there. There is therefore.
[00:12:41] Everybody say therefore.
[00:12:44] If you ever if you have an interest in theology and growing in the word of God. You need to begin to look for the therefores.
[00:12:52] And find out what the therefore is there for.
[00:12:57] Why is it there? Because obviously he's building on an idea. There's a reason you feel condemnation. There's a reason, if you're walking with Jesus, if you're in the spirit, why do you feel the weight of condemnation? Well, let me give you what the there for is there for you as you go through. And I'm not going to preach through all of this, but you probably realize how many of you have heard the Romans road to salvation? Have you heard of that? It's a great witnessing tool. You literally can read through the book of Romans. And you can find, well, here's where man is before Jesus. Here's our need for a savior. Here's what Jesus did. Here's how I believe by faith. And here's what God. I mean, you can truly walk through and understand God's work in our lives and where we are without him. And it's wonderful. But you must realize that what Paul is dealing with is he's writing to a jewish audience.
[00:13:53] Now, for those who don't know, you might think that the Jews, they live by the Ten Commandments. No, they live by a lot more than that. In fact, you hear, and I mean, I've heard Jews today talk about how they have to memorize and live by 613 laws above and beyond the ten Commandments. 613 laws. How many of you think, if I tried to live by 613 laws, how many of you think you would do a good job? That's tough. And some of these are. I mean, I'm just telling you, some of these are crazy. Like shrimp.
[00:14:31] You fail. I looked at the tag on my shirt today. And it's half cotton and, like, elastic polyester. I don't even know what that is. But do you realize me wearing this shirt, I have failed in the 613 laws? And even beyond that, Jesus was dealing. The Pharisees took this thing to a whole nother level. I don't know if you've ever looked at some of the outrageous laws that the Pharisees tried to institute. But they would do things like, you're not allowed to look ladies in a mirror on the Sabbath.
[00:15:06] Imagine ladies, even men. I know some of you. Some of you guys are more concerned than your wives. And how you look before you came to church today. But imagine you're not allowed to look in the mirror. And here's the reason why. You may look in the mirror and you see a gray hair, and, oh, I need to pluck that hair. And the moment you pluck that hair, you have violated Shabbat. You have broken. You have worked on the Sabbath.
[00:15:31] You violated the law. This is true. This is the kind of stuff that the Pharisees would holler at people about. Why are you carrying your mat? This guy just got healed of his paralysis. And they're going to holler at him about carrying his mat on the Sabbath. It's ridiculous. That drove Jesus crazy. You realize that, like, anybody use vinegar as a remedy for everything.
[00:15:55] This is my wife. I don't know. Is that Filipino? I don't know where that comes from. And so you got a cough. Drink vinegar.
[00:16:03] Do you remember she was, like, trying to introduce this to our southern Illinois church on one occasion and, like, no, just. Just drink vinegar. And here's the key. You're supposed to drink it slowly. This lady, like, took a shot glass and just about died when she did this. It did not help her cough at all. It made it worse. But, you know, vinegar. You need to lose weight. Drink vinegar. And so here's the thing. Even back in Judaism, they would use vinegar as kind of a. As a cure all. But here's the key. You can drink vinegar, but if you gargle vinegar, that's work. And you violated the law. That's true. I mean, this is the kind of standard they would hope. Let me give you one more. You are not allowed to eat an egg that was laid by a chicken on the Sabbath unless you take that egg. You can eat that egg if you are determined, I'm going to kill that chicken the next day because it broke the Sabbath.
[00:17:03] This is the kind of stuff. This is why Jesus said, like, you put weights on the necks of people that nobody can carry. And so you realize. And they're like, and these guys, by the way, they'd be like, you know, you give a tithe on everything that comes in a piece of grain you will tithe off of, but you won't take care of your parents that are aging and in need. Jesus said that you will strain a gnat and you'll swallow a camel. That's how off you guys are.
[00:17:33] That's crazy. So Jesus and the apostle Paul, they're coming along, trying to undo this overbearing legalism. If I want to be right, I need to do more. And I'm telling you, that is law based performance.
[00:17:49] But let me just give you what the Bible says. Here's the big idea. I want you to write this down.
[00:17:55] We don't live under law based performance. I'm going to give you the Bible on this. You and I don't live under law based performance.
[00:18:05] We live under God's grace filled favor.
[00:18:11] We do not live under law based performance that'll bring condemnation in your life. We live under God's grace filled favor.
[00:18:23] Romans 614 says that sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law. But you are under grace.
[00:18:33] What then? Shall we sin? Because we're not under the law, but under grace? Certainly not. Or I like the way that King James says, God forbid.
[00:18:43] You see, many people will hear the message of grace and think, like, wow, that's too good to be true. And, guys, I'm just telling you, if you have a proper understanding of God's grace, your response actually should be, that's too good to be true. How is that possible?
[00:19:02] I was in addiction. I was abusive. I was hurtful. I was rebellious. I was blasphemous. And you're telling me that all I have to do is come to you, Jesus, and believe you, and you'll wash me and forgive me and cleanse? That's too good to be true.
[00:19:19] And that's exactly right. If you understand, you cannot perform for it even one bit. Not of your works, lest any man should boast. No, it is purely the goodness of the accomplished work of Jesus being released over your life. It's too good to be true.
[00:19:39] So does that give me a license to sin? This is where people automatically go. But that's why Paul immediately shoots that down. No, you need to understand grace. We talked about how grace is the greek word charis. Everyone say Charis.
[00:19:55] It's the same word that's used for favor. And Charis literally is God's empowering upon your life to do what he's called you to do. So people look at that woman who was caught in adultery. Five time adulterer. Bring her to the feet of Jesus. She broke the law. The law says that she should be stoned. She has one encounter with grace, and Jesus said, I don't condemn you. Go and sin no more. See, people, they look at, like, one half or the other. They look at the I don't condemn you. And, boy, we like that part. Right? Wow. Now she can go and do it again. But you realize that it was her encounter with grace that actually empowered her to go and sin no more.
[00:20:49] So that's charis, that's grace. That's God's favor that comes upon your life. And the Bible says, you are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. That's Ephesians two eight. You are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. That'd be a good phrase to memorize. Can we all say it together? You are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. Let's say it again. You are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. This is like Gospel 101, just so you know.
[00:21:23] Saved by grace through faith in Jesus. So we then begin to look into. I'm giving you the therefore, how can we live a life free from condemnation? Well, here's what you need to understand. Romans talks about how, first of all, the law convicts of sin.
[00:21:42] The law convicts us of sin, and we all need that. That's for believers and unbelievers alike. Romans seven. Seven says, what shall we say then? Is the law sin? No, on the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. So there's these moments, and we've all experienced it, where you do something that's contrary to scripture, contrary to the spirit of God, and you feel that pit in your stomach. Everybody know what I'm talking about. We've all experienced that. I mean, from infancy, the smallest child knows that moment. And they feel bad when they do something that is bad, right? And so we all have those moments of conviction, and that's what the law of God reveals to us. Exactly. It convicts us of sin. It shows us what's right and what's wrong. I mean, I was reading, and it's just crazy. I was reading through those commandments this last week, and I'm just like. I'm praising Jesus as I'm reading Leviticus.
[00:22:48] If you sin unknowingly, kill a bird, don't twist its head all the way off. Just, you know, twist it enough to separate. And then you come in and wave it. And I'm just like, I'm sure glad we don't have to wave around dead birds in church. Anybody with me on that? Like, I'm just reading through Leviticus and I'm just like, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for taking us out from under this. But it really does. It shows the nature. It shows the of heart of God. Secondly, I want you to write this down. The law reveals the need for a savior.
[00:23:23] Why do we need the law? The law reveals the need for a savior. You see, Galatians chapter three and verse 24 says, the law was like a schoolmaster to bring us unto Jesus so that we might be justified by faith. It's like a school teacher that's leading you, hey, you need a savior.
[00:23:46] That's what the law does. You read this, you begin to understand how far we fall from what God's standard is, and we all need to understand that. This is like, I preached a message. DJ asked me if I'll preach it again sometime, and maybe I will. I preached a message called bad news, good news. And see, what I did is I just began to establish how rotten and broken and lost and every one of us without Jesus, headed straight for hell forever. That's real, friend like, you got to work through your sin. You got to work through your offense. You got to work through your separation with God. You need to, because eternity hangs in the balance. The problem is we live in a culture where it's just like Jesus said. He said one of the signs of the end times was that people would be prone to offense.
[00:24:39] Anybody notice people are very quick to be offended these days? Even me asking you. Somebody got offended just then. I know it. We're quick to get offended. You believe you like that candidate and not this candidate? I can't even believe you read that version of the Bible and not this one. You married this person and not that one. We get offended over everything Jesus said. That was a sign of the end times. It should be an evidence. And the fact of the matter is, we need to understand the bad news before you can really appreciate how good the good news of the gospel is, we must understand.
[00:25:18] See, people just want to hear, well, just tell me about the snuggles and the kisses of God. And he's my daddy, daddy God. And I don't like that kind of stuff, friend. I'll just tell you. I'll be honest. That stuff makes me sick. Don't pray, daddy God in my presence. We'll stop that.
[00:25:36] Tell me about the snuggles of God. Like, that's wonderful. And we're going to dig in over the next weeks into the identity in sonship and what Abba is. And, boy, it's wonderful. You are an heir with an inheritance, but you'll never appreciate how good that is until you begin to understand the wrath of God, the judgment of God, how serious he is about sin.
[00:26:05] See, there is you guys, many of you know, my wife even shared a testimony just a couple weeks back about her triathlon journey.
[00:26:12] And did you share where that all began? She did. So maybe you've heard this, but for those who didn't know, a little over a year ago, she was at the doctor. They were running her blood work and all that. And the doctor tells her, leah, your blood pressure is very high, and you're at a pivotal moment right now. You can either one change your lifestyle, the way that you eat, the way that you exercise, or we're going to have to put you on blood pressure medication. And she's 35 at the time. She's 36 now, but she's thinking, I'm way too young to go on blood pressure medication. And so what happened? That's bad news. Friend, you have high blood pressure. If you don't take care of this, you're going to die early.
[00:26:57] So she takes that bad news, but there's also good news. There's a solution. I'm going to start running. I'm going to start swimming. I'm going to start exercising. Her 65 year old pastor friend calls her the same day and says, hey, there's a triathlon in Kona. Would you do this with me? And she's not about to tell her 65 year old pastor friend, no, that's too hard for me. Like, if you can do this at 65, I can do this. And so she does. And many of you know, we put together a video for it. She completed the lava man last year, the Olympic distance triathlon. It's awesome.
[00:27:34] She's even inspired me. I'm going to do that this year, and a number of others are going to do that.
[00:27:40] But it's amazing. Like, here you're at this valley of decision. Here's the bad news, but you can change it. She went back to the doctor, and that doctor says, I don't know what you've been doing, but you have the blood pressure of an athlete. My wife, oh, boy, she was happy. I mean, that's like testimony from the doctor. It's amazing.
[00:28:00] But in the same way, we must understand what is life without Jesus. You need to understand the bad news. And I'm not a heavy handed preacher. I used to be pretty angry. Hellfire, brimstone. Praise God. It was my spiritual father. I mean, my spiritual father, he'd say things, you know, he'd turn this on. You'd like, you know, when he's given the altar call, nobody look around. You don't want to come down here because you think everybody's thinking about you. Nobody's thinking about you. They're thinking about their own sin.
[00:28:31] He say things like, the reason you're not happy is because God's not happy.
[00:28:38] And it's true, man. And he talk about. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that got into me. I just tell you, you look and, you know, you think everybody's judging you. Nobody's judging you. I mean, I used to walk into stores, like, stoned out of my brain and think, anybody know what the paranoia of that feels like? Don't raise your hand. I would think, everybody's looking at me right now. Everybody knows what I did before I came into this store. Nobody knows what I did. I'm walking in my own guilt. I'm walking under my own condemnation. Nobody cares nobody cares about your sin.
[00:29:14] God cares about your sin. Nobody's thinking about you. What you think. Is somebody else judging you? Is not somebody else judging you?
[00:29:24] All right, I know. I know this can come off heavy, but we got to understand the bad news before you can appreciate Jesus, who lifts all condemnation, who forgives us our sin, who cleanses us wider than snow. He gives us grace. He gives us favor. Every day his mercies are new. That's too good to be true. Yes, it is. That's grace, my friend.
[00:29:54] Number three. I spent too much time on that one. Number three.
[00:29:57] The law cannot deliver anyone from sin.
[00:30:03] So if you live in law based legalism, you will not be delivered from sin. The law cannot deliver anyone from sin. If you look at the latter part of Romans chapter seven, there's a common passage. Many of you might know it by heart, or maybe you've gone there when you've been struggling in a season. But the Bible, Paul, is kind of going through like God. The things that I want to do, I find that I'm not doing it. And I know that this is bad and I don't want to do it, but I find myself doing it. And he's wrestling within himself like, lord, I love you and I hate my sin, but I find myself doing things that grieve you and. And I find myself doing things that I don't want to do. And he makes this cry at the end of Romans chapter seven. Who will deliver me from this body of death? Who will deliver me from this body of death? Now, what I've given you I shared at the very beginning. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is therefore. I've just given you the therefore.
[00:31:13] The therefore is ultimately leading us to this place. I see my sin because of the law.
[00:31:21] I know my need for a savior because of the law. And I cannot be free because of the law.
[00:31:29] That's what the therefore has done in each and every one of us. You understand?
[00:31:35] So listen, let me summarize it this way. If you remain in legalism, you will remain in condemnation.
[00:31:44] If you remain in legalism, you will remain in condemnation.
[00:31:49] But if you abide in the spirit, you will abide in freedom.
[00:31:55] If you abide in the spirit, you will abide in freedom. So I've got. I've given you what the law does. Now I'm going to give you what Jesus does. Are you ready for this? A couple ideas. This is going to help you a lot.
[00:32:09] First of all, with Jesus, there is no condemnation.
[00:32:16] With Jesus, there is no condemnation. You have been adopted. Romans eight will go on to describe how we are an heir to God with an inheritance from the father. We no longer have a fearful expectation of judgment, according to Hebrews chapter ten, but we have a joyful expectation that God is bringing good things into our life. Romans eight even goes on to talk about how even when bad things are happening in your life, God is able to turn all things for good if you love him and are walking according to his calling on your life. So there's this identity. I'm telling you guys, I, for about 18 years have not walked under a sense of condemnation.
[00:33:03] I would beg God for freedom, and I was doing my best doing the works of God, but I did not understand this idea right here that by doing more I could earn the favor of God. Never. I was deeper in condemnation than ever. But when I understood total surrender to Jesus, how he has received me as a son, it's like, you know, I saw this thing on social media the other day where someone says religion says religion says I messed up, I need to hide from my dad, but relationship says I messed up, I need to call my dad.
[00:33:44] You understand the difference. Like, there's a totally different perspective. It's not that you won't ever fail, but you have this relationship with God that's, listen, I'm going to pick you up. I'm going to help you. I'm going to empower you. I'm going to walk with you in this. And so there's no condemnation. Everybody say no condemnation.
[00:34:04] Number two.
[00:34:06] With Jesus, there is power to be free from sin.
[00:34:13] There is power to be free from sin, the law of the spirit of life. Romans eight two. In Christ, Jesus has made me free from the law, sin, and the law of death. You realize our position in Jesus brings freedom into our lives.
[00:34:35] What I tried to do in Romans chapter seven, and I cannot do now in Christ, I'm free.
[00:34:43] In Christ, no condemnation and freedom from sin. So you realize, like, I don't want you to spiritualize this.
[00:34:54] When I talk about how I got set free from drug addiction, do you know how many times I've gone back to drug addiction?
[00:35:02] Zero.
[00:35:04] Zero. It's not like, well, I'm claiming it by faith, and one day I might have it. No, like, friend, I haven't gone back there.
[00:35:12] I haven't touched it.
[00:35:15] Truly set free. Why? Look at this second Peter one three. One of my favorite verses. I shared on this a bit last week. His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue by which you have been given, you have given us exceedingly great and precious promises. Now watch this. That though through these you may be partakers of the divine natures, you may be partakers of the divine nature. Let me say it again. You are may be partakers of the divine nature. Divine, by the way, means like God, you have been brought into the body of Christ whereby you have everything you need for life and godliness, and you may become partakers of his divine nature. You may become, and I'm just telling you, most people within Christendom have not yet begun to lay hold of this divine nature.
[00:36:21] I'm just telling you, most people operate so much in the flesh, so much in the natural. They've got their faith in Jesus, but they have not yet begun to grab hold of. Lord, you have given me all things and I can become a partaker, a receiver. It can be integrated into my life. Your godlike nature.
[00:36:46] You want to know why people get healed when we pray in these altars? Because God's divine nature is being made manifest in these altars. You wanna know why demons come out when we pray? Because God's divine nature is flowing in and through us. We don't know why people get born again when we pray because God's divine nature is being made manifest.
[00:37:13] Most ministries are built around people who have in part begun to grab hold of this revelation.
[00:37:25] This person has grabbed hold of. There's healing in Jesus name. And so we build ministries of healing around them. Somebody grabs hold of the saving nature of God and we build ministries around. And I have no problem with that. But what I do have a problem with is the fact that this is not the calling for ministers of the gospel.
[00:37:44] This is the calling for all who believe.
[00:37:48] It should not be reserved for me and our prayer team, our pastors and ministers. This is why I make everybody in this church pray one for another. Because one of these days you're going to be praying for your neighbor who's got a busted body. And all of a sudden they say the pain is gone. And all of a sudden you realize God's divine nature operates through me and my prayers. I can pray over my family. I can pray over the atmosphere of my workplace. I can see change instituted. Come on, church.
[00:38:24] This is for all of us. You may become, it's not assumed for everybody. You have to be intentional. Lord, I want to be a partaker of your divine nature.
[00:38:37] I'm going to receive it I'm going to receive it. I'm getting fired up over this, man.
[00:38:44] You realize, like Cosmo over here last Sunday, how many of you were here last Sunday when we prayed? Cosmo came down here limping down. Let me just double check. You didn't come in with crutches, did you? Okay. Praise God. So before I share the testimony, he comes limping over to me. But you know, what happened with Cosmo is he came down, he had jumped into a boat and twisted his ankle horribly. He said it was swollen up like a baseball, right? He goes to the doctor, and the doctor could not believe that his ankle wasn't broke. He's like, I can't believe it's this swollen and it's not broken. And he told him it's going to be, what, three weeks to a month? Is that right? Before you can walk on it, put pressure on it. Well, I see Cosmo crutch down here, over here last Sunday, and, you know, divine nature stuff, right? So I just go over there and I call him, can I pray for you? I pray for him. And I'm not the kind of guy who's gonna tell you, like, rip out your diabetes medicine, you know, just, I'm just, I'm not. Let's break the cast off right now. I just. I'm not that guy. Maybe I lack faith. I don't know. Maybe this week we will praise God. But. So I didn't put pressure on him in that moment, but I actually came over. I began praying for somebody else, and then all of a sudden, somebody points out, like, look, and Cosmos standing over here on his busted ankle.
[00:40:05] He walked out last Sunday carrying his crutches in his hands.
[00:40:14] I'm telling you, this will work. But see, see, what most people will do is, and I've had this, and I understand we're all growing in our faith, but I've prayed for people on many occasions, and my encouragement is always the same. Like, try and do something that would have hurt you a moment ago. And I've had people respond to me, well, I'm receiving it by faith. And then you just go back to their seat. Don't try and do anything. Don't try and stretch it. Don't try and anything. And guess what? They're still walking around busted.
[00:40:45] But when there is a. I'm going to lay hold of this. No, I believe that that prayer could work for me. And he puts his weight on the thing, and next thing you know, he's walking around and he's getting around. He needs it too, because his wife's about to give birth. Praise God. He's got to be able to carry that baby around. And so that's, you know, people hear this kind of preaching and, like, pastor, you think we can really live righteously? You really think we can live free from sin? This is not just a declaration of faith. And, you know, by faith, I'm forgiven. No, guys, like, I'm really free.
[00:41:20] I'm really forgiven. I really don't get hit with bouts of condemnation any longer because I really am abiding in Christ. And you can too.
[00:41:31] You can too. We can be partakers of the divine nature. Now look at verse three.
[00:41:40] Verse three says the law could not save us because of our sinful nature.
[00:41:45] And that's why Jesus came in a body like ours. He lived perfect. He fulfilled the law. He died as a sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world. That's the gospel. And look at verse three. Romans chapter eight. It says, the law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. Remember I said, the law will not deliver you. God did what the law could not do. He sent his son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body, in Jesus body, God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for sins. In his body, there is freedom.
[00:42:34] In his body, there is free. This is why I don't go around declaring, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. Why I was a sinner. And Jesus came in a body like the body that we sinners have. But now I have been brought into his body, and now sin does not have control over me because I am his son. He gave himself for our sins in his body. This is like, you know, romans six says, when you're born again. I declare this every time I baptize somebody. This is not just some religious act where you get wet. This is not merely an external declaration of your inward faith. That's not in the Bible.
[00:43:18] You got real quiet there. I did not miss what I just. I did not misquote what I said. The Bible never says that water baptism is an outward expression of your inward faith. What the Bible says that baptism is, is you being immersed into the body of Jesus Christ. And you begin, you know what begins to happen? You become a partaker of his divine nature, his nature, his righteousness, his power. His characteristics now begin to flow in and through your life. It's not just a faith declaration.
[00:43:55] It's your new reality. You have been immersed into the body of Christ, and now you are partaking of the very things that are in him.
[00:44:06] Wow, that's. That's new for some of us. That's new for some of us. Pull up that colossians verse. This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. Oh, this is so cool. Colossians three and verse three. You died, praise God.
[00:44:22] And your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. You need to get this in Christ. Revelation. I'm just telling you. You want to know how you make it into heaven? How you, in your sinful, fallen human nature, who could never earn your way into heaven, you want to know how you make it into heaven?
[00:44:48] You got to be smuggled in.
[00:44:53] He sneaks us in. I mean, it's like that trojan horse, right? They hollow out this giant horse, put the soldiers inside and what's was it, Troy? Is that right? They go up to the city, offer it a gift. They let them in, and all of a sudden open it up and surprise their soldiers there. Take the city. This is what Jesus does. Like, we can't earn, we can't inherit heaven, but he did. And so what he's done is he has immersed us into his body, baptized us into his body, and one day he's going to go into heaven where he will appear. You're in glory. And surprise, I brought a bunch of people with me, and that's how you and I are brought into heaven. That's our position. We're seated with Christ in heavenly places. Ephesians, chapter one. Oh, my goodness. Anybody else getting excited over this?
[00:45:51] All right, here's the last one, and then I'm going to pray for us, okay?
[00:45:56] Number three.
[00:45:59] Number three. With Jesus, we have a new nature.
[00:46:06] With Jesus, we have a new nature. And you'll notice I put in parentheses there the word genes.
[00:46:14] Genes.
[00:46:16] This is building off of what I shared last week. This is, again, this is the reason I don't declare that I'm a sinner. No, I am. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. According to second corinthians, chapter five, I am.
[00:46:31] This is the kind of crazy stuff that people look at you sideways when you say it, but I am today just as righteous as Jesus is.
[00:46:41] I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. If you get born again today, you may be sitting in this room steeped in sin, but if you surrender your life to Jesus, the Bible describes what we call the great exchange. He will take your sin upon himself. He died for it, and he will give you his perfect, sinless life. So you become the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ.
[00:47:11] You either, friend, either you are a hellbound sinner, or you are right now just as righteous as Jesus and able to stand before God with a clean heart and clean conscience. No condemnation.
[00:47:31] You have his nature. John three. Three.
[00:47:35] He tells Nicodemus, you must be born again. That's the greek word, Ganeo. Everybody say ganeo.
[00:47:43] G e n n a o. For those who are taking notes, you must be born again. And in John 112, it says, as many as received Jesus. To them, he gave the right to Ganeo to become. To be born again as children of God.
[00:48:00] That word Ganeo, the reason I put genes in there, Ganeo, is where we get the word genes in the english language. So when the Bible talks about how we are regenerated in Christ, it's literally that God is regene you. He's regene you. So, listen, people say it, and I don't even disagree with it. Well, it's in my genes that sin. Nature's in my dreams, in my genes. The reason I'm prone to addiction is because it's in my genes. The reason I have this sexual attraction, it's in my genes. I don't even disagree with people over that stuff.
[00:48:37] But when you get saved and brought into the body of Christ, he takes your genes and they die according to scripture. And now you receive his genes. You receive his genes. It's amazing. You're a new creation, guys. You would not recognize me. You wouldn't recognize pastor Jacob from 2003. I am not the same person that I was. I'm just not. It's the craziest thing. I spent time with my brother Jeremy. I've never spent the night with him anywhere, but we shared a room when we went to conferences last week, and there was weird stuff that I was noticing about. Like, we have the same taste for things like, do you like this? You know, someone, you know, gives us a drink and, like, do you like this? And. No, I hate that. No, me too. Wow. We have the same taste buds. I woke up one day before he did. And I don't know if this is too much information for you, but I woke up one day before he did, and I roll over and I see him laying there. He sleeps the same way that I do, like, in the same exact position. I can only really sleep one way on one side with my arms folded a particular way. He was doing the same thing. We didn't grow up together, you understand? Like, he grew up in his mom's household. I grew up. We had the same dad. But, like, I bet my biological dad, whom I don't know, probably sleeps the same way. It's in the genes. Like, we just find, like, I'm doing the same things that he does. He'll watch me, he'll walk around. He's like, man, when you do that, you remind me of my brother Justin. And I'm like, man, that's weird. Maybe I have moments like that.
[00:50:12] I know there's things in my genes. I know there's addiction, and I know there's a propensity to lie. I know that sin, nature, that's in my genes. But in Christ, in Christ, I've been regened. I am now a partaker of his divine nature. And so the Bible says that as Jesus is in the world, so are we. So everything you read that Jesus was doing the way that he loved, his power, his authority, like, that's my genes.
[00:50:46] That's my identity now, the way that he would sleep in storms, like, that's who I am now.
[00:50:55] I've been regened. I've been Ganeo. I've been born again.
[00:51:01] Wow. Worship team, would you come?
[00:51:04] Let me give you this last idea.
[00:51:08] Verse three. We read it a moment ago.
[00:51:12] He sent his own son in a body, like the body we sinners have. And in that body, God declared an end to sin's control over us.
[00:51:24] But in verse four, it says that the law is fulfilled in us.
[00:51:31] That the law is fulfilled in us.
[00:51:38] So I want you to understand, you could never earn this. If you try and perform, you will live under condemnation for him because you'll fall short every time.
[00:51:49] In Christ, he's fulfilled the law, and he's abolished the body of sin.
[00:51:57] Now, the law can be fulfilled in us. In me, that's fancy terms for. Let me just put it as simply as I can.
[00:52:13] Again, this isn't just a faith declaration that I make.
[00:52:18] I actually walk in freedom.
[00:52:22] I actually.
[00:52:24] I actually walk free from condemnation.
[00:52:29] I don't know about you guys. I am about sick to death of every other week seeing christian news and how some other major minister has fallen some horrible sin.
[00:52:42] It drives me crazy.
[00:52:44] And we can look, I don't know what it was. I don't know if they were in legalism. I don't know if. I don't know what it is. And it lacked the fear of God. I don't know. Maybe they needed to hear that bad news and be reminded. I don't know. I don't know what it is. But what I do know, I'm not going to be one of those.
[00:53:03] And you're not going to be one of those. You're not going to them. Be one of those. We're going to lean into the things of the spirit, not performance, not try hard or memorize more commandments. No. I'm going to rest in the accomplished work of Jesus, and I'm going to be a spirit led son of the most high God. I am receiving his divine nature, and guess what? It empowers me.
[00:53:26] It empowers me to actually fulfill the law. Law.
[00:53:31] That's crazy. What we could never do in our greatest efforts. The spirit of God empowers us to do.
