Are you saying sin is okay? (No way!)

you you you hi I'm dr. Andrew Farley host of the grace message got a Bible question struggling with a personal issue wondering about a tricky verse at BibleQuestions.com you'll get clear grace based answers in 10 seconds or less no fluff no confusion just practical biblical truth ask anything anytime and experience the power of God's love visit BibleQuestions.com that's BibleQuestions.com your go-to for biblical clarity Jesus plus nothing 100% natural no additives Andrew Farley is celebrating your freedom in Christ call in and ask your questions at 877-655-6755 that's toll-free at 877-655-6755 via satellite from Texas it's the grace message with dr. Andrew Farley hello everyone welcome to the grace message I'm Andrew Farley so glad you're joining us tonight to that number to call 877-655-6755 we are live right now across the United States and Canada on Sirius XM all kinds of FM and AM stations and of course we're live streaming on Facebook YouTube Instagram all kinds of social media and on our mobile app and website as well it doesn't matter how you're listening right now or watching along with us you can simply call in and be a part of the conversation tonight we'd love to have you 877-655-6755 if you're a first-time caller tonight bring it on we love to hear from our first-time callers we want to hear from you if you're a veteran caller you're welcome to call in as well maybe it's been a week or two it's time to join us once again and maybe it's a personal issue maybe it's something you heard in church maybe it's a Bible passage you're not sure about or maybe you were scrolling through social media or chatting with a friend something came up whatever it is join us right now on the grace message we're here for you for the next half hour taking your calls 877-655-6755 all right we're gonna start out tonight with Austin Texas and we'll talk with Adrian hi Adrian what you got for us tonight yes hello dr. Farley thank you for taking my call yeah I have a I have a

deep fear of you know a theoretical question that a lot of us struggle with and particularly me so I've always been under I've always been confused about you know how sin entered the world and how evil came to the existence and I've never had a satisfying answer to that even if God said well I was hoping that Adam and Eve would choose the right thing here and against hope he hoped and you know it didn't happen but to me what makes sense is God knows everything understands everything yeah and is aware of everything so there's a teaching kind of and and theoretical there's an answer possibly to this and so what a prominent teacher preaches is that God in his divine wisdom preordained evil he permitted it he knew is gonna happen he you could say again predestined it so that he can put his glory on display so that he can contrast it against his holiness so that he could show everybody his righteousness his holiness even by sending his own son so that you know it because without evil without sin, we wouldn't know what it is. We wouldn't know what good is. Okay. So, in his divine wisdom, he permitted all that. No, no, no, no, no. Adrian, it's more than permitted—I mean, God permits everything. So every single thing that ever happened in human history, God has permitted. So the belief is not permitted, it's that God predestined, or even brought into being, sin. So that's really the bottom line of this, right? Correct, yes. I mean, yes. Because or else he would not be God, or else he would not know everything, would not be in control. He would just kind of hope that Adam and Eve would do the right thing, and he would do the right thing. Hold on a sec.

All right, so let me ask you this. If I know who's going to win the Super Bowl next year, does that mean I'm controlling the players on the field? Well, if you created the players, you could say that, yes, you're indirectly controlling them, because you created the players on the field. But what if I created them with options? Like what if I let them pass the ball? What if I let them decide to run a play involving a handoff? You know, what if I allow them to choose? Then I got a crystal ball here in the studio, and I can tell you that next year's winner is the Dallas Cowboys, but that doesn't mean that I'm the quarterback. It doesn't mean that I'm throwing the ball for them, you know? Right. The free choice is influenced by ten thousands by ten thousands of decisions that God knows about. So, you know, somebody could be brought up in a house that's got certain inclinations. All right, all right. So let me just jump in here, because, I mean, basically, you know, no cigar on that. I mean, that belief system paints God as the author of evil, and He's not. So I just want to caution you, run for the hills from that. There's a really simple explanation. You could read thousands of philosophy books. You could read about Plato and Socrates and Aristotle and fate and free will, and then you could read the Christian version of all that philosophy. You could read about determinism. You could read all that stuff, or you could just decide, you know what? God is love, and He created Adam and Eve. And love says, I'm not going to control these people. Love says, I'm not going to puppet these people into submission. Love says, I'm going to create them, and then I'm going to relate to them.

And love says, I'm going to let them relate to me, or not, or not. And then, lo and behold, they relate to God for some time, and the angels do, too. And then one angel decides, I'm going to go rogue. I'm going independent. And God, who is love, says, okay, well, I wasn't controlling you to begin with. I didn't force you, Satan, to reject me. I didn't create evil. I'm not the author of evil. I created you with a choice, and that means you can reject me, you can love me, you can hate me, but I'm love. God is love, He would say. And so, therefore, He created all beings, whether angelic or human. He created us with a choice. And so, does that mean that He is a bad God? Does it mean that He authored sin? No. It means that He authored people to relate to. And some of those people don't want to relate to Him. And He gave us that choice. And then, as far as why He let it happen with all that knowledge that He, you know, He didn't wake up one day and say, oh, my goodness, I had no idea Satan was going to fall. I had no idea Adam and Eve were going to fall. No, He weighed all that ahead of time. And then, you know, I guess He thought to Himself, gee, is it worth it? Is it worth it to spend eternity with a spotless bride known as the body of Christ? Is it worth it to spend eternity with millions or billions of people who are in Christ and are my children? You know what? I think it is worth it. And so, I am going to create the universe and I'm going to create the angelic world

and I'm going to create humanity and I am love and I'm going to let them choose. And that means I'm going to let them reject me and spit on me and mock me. But then I'm also going to let them accept me and embrace me and trust me and believe in me. And it's because the good outweighs the bad. Because I've seen the end of the story and it's worth it. It's worth it. Now, do you see how the simple idea that God created us with choice and decided that it was worth it, even with perfect knowledge of what would happen, He decided we were worth it? That is very different from this three-word phrase, God predestined sin. Yuck! Gross, run for the hills, get away from that thought, that is evil. God did not predestine sin. If I tell you from a crystal ball here in the studio who's going to win that Super Bowl next year, it doesn't mean I'm predestining one team to win. It means I know who will win. Well, God knows everything, but it doesn't mean He's controlling us. You can say God knows Satan would fall, and He did know. But if you say God causes Satan to fall, then God is the author of sin, and God is not evil. You can say God knew that Adam and Eve were going to fall, but if you say God causes Adam and Eve to fall, that is utter nonsense, because God is not the author of sin. So that's the distinction that whole deterministic, fatalistic thought with a little Jesus hat on it has got to go. It is not healthy Christianity. It's not smart. I understand people have written hundreds of pages about it, and they think they're bright and smart and intellectually astute, but they're calling God evil. And we're done at that point. We're done.

There is no darkness in God at all. There is no evil in Him. So dismiss it, disregard it, get away from it. It is not smart. It is not insightful. It is not wisdom. It doesn't matter how many thousands of pages are written about it or how many sermons are spoken about it. It is not the truth about God's character or God's nature. So don't flirt with it. It's nonsense. God's sovereignty does not require causing sin. What kind of weirdo, what kind of weirdo God says, I'm going to cause sin, and then I'm going to show off fixing it. I mean, that is a two-faced weirdo. And that's what these jokers are painting God as. And so perfect knowledge of the future does not mean controlling every single person all day long like a robot. That's not love. So I hope that helps. God is not evil. He's not the author of evil. God is good. Taste and see that the Lord is good, Scripture says. You see in Acts chapter 2 that God has a plan that's foreknown, and yet lawless people, you know, sinful people, are responsible. God works all things together for good, but He doesn't author all things. He's not the author of rape and murder and sin. He's not the author of those things. Can He work in the midst of those?

Absolutely. He's our comforter, our counselor, our guide into all truth. Where does sin come from? Not from God. No, gross. Get away from it. Run for the hills. Throw up a red flag. Take as many friends as you can and get them away from that doctrine. Sin comes from the world, the flesh, the power of sin, and not from God. So God's glory is revealed, plain and simple, because He's God and He's full of glory. And He doesn't need to, you know, throw sin out there as the author of sin and then sneak around the back and say, ha ha, look at that sin. I wonder where that came from. Boy, now let me show you my glory. He's not two-faced. He's not acting as two people. He's not pulling the wool over people's eyes. It's very clear from Scripture, God is good and He's our creator. We flubbed it up, we messed it up, we chose poorly. We then experienced the repercussions of those choices. God decided from the very beginning that rescue was worth it, that the end justifies the means, and that the bride of Jesus Christ is worth it. Eternity with us is the ultimate goal, and God is going to have that goal. But God can be in control of eternity without being a control freak and treating us all like automatons or puppets. So I hope that helps, my friend, and you know what, moral responsibility or the response of humanity, evil out there that we see everywhere, is blameworthy. It's their fault. It's our fault as humanity.

And this other thing of God predestined sin, well, guess what the next thought is? Well, then sin is not our fault, and we're not blameworthy because God predestined it. So the whole thing falls apart, it is ludicrous, and it certainly doesn't reflect on the goodness of God. Let's always start with that premise, God is good and God is love. Thanks for your call tonight. Reach out again anytime. Let's go to Atlanta, Georgia. We'll talk with Kim. Hi, Kim. Hi, okay, it's been over a year since I've called and I just wanted to ask, I was recently with a group of believers and we all have come from very legalistic backgrounds in our churches as far as, you know, it's all about works and doing good and if you don't do this you're not going to make it kind of stuff and, you know, it was only maybe eight years or seven or eight years ago that I learned of the grace message and saved my bacon. The first 20 years of my walk was just a misery because I couldn't do enough and I wasn't enough and I, it was, it was a miserable Christianity for me and I basically gave up and thought okay fine I'll just fit and just, it doesn't matter, I'm not going to make it anyway. I need to be re-baptized and all that so in this gathering I said in my, what I was saying is that it's about what he did not about what I do and one of my friends said no that's not true and my brother, you know, he fell away and, you know, he's living a horrible life and there's no way he's going to make it. Okay, I got it, I got it Kim, well let me help with that. So we can't build a theology around that person's brother, that's the bottom line. I can't build a theology around my buddy, my friend, my brother, my sister, my mom, my dad, the guy down the street, the guy that lives across from me, I can't build theology based on what they said. Oh, I fell away, oh yeah, I was, you know, I was a Christian and now I'm not. Really? Okay, well tell me what a Christian is.

Well, a Christian is somebody that follows Jesus. No, not really, anybody could imitate Jesus, anybody could say I'm following Jesus. Have you put your trust in Jesus? Did you really trust him for salvation? Did you receive the spirit? Are you born of God? Has Christ come to live inside of you? Well, you know, I went to church for 10 years, I did the church thing. Now, I'm not talking about church, I'm talking about Jesus, does Christ live in you? Well, I was baptized when I was 7, I'm not talking about being baptized, I'm talking about did Christ live in you, because if he ever lived in you, he still lives in you. And so that's why, you know, there's so much misunderstanding about what is a Christian, what is his salvation, how am I saved? People want to tell you about their church, they want to tell you about their church activity, they want to tell you about their confirmation class that they were in, they want to tell you about their baptism, their water baptism experience, they want to tell you about a warm fuzzy when they were knocked over in church, they want to tell you about, you know, all kinds of things, and then they say, but I don't believe anymore. Okay, well, if you don't believe that Jesus is the son of God, you don't believe that he died for your sins, that he rose from the dead to give you life, if you don't believe that, then you never did, you never called upon him to be saved, because those who are born again have an undying, hear that word, an undying love for Christ. That is Ephesians 6, 24. We have an undying love for Jesus, we never stop loving him. You might be annoyed by church, you might hate the church down the street, you might get hurt by the church, you might be frustrated by other Christians, but if you're born again, you never see that love of Christ go out, it is never extinguished, because you are born of imperishable seed. You're born of God, you're born of the Spirit, God does an irreversible work in your life, you are now a beneficiary of eternal life, everlasting life.

So when somebody tells you about their brother, their sister, their mother, or their boss, it doesn't matter who they're telling you about, don't build a theology based on some guy, some guy down the street doesn't determine my belief system, because his understanding of salvation, his understanding of his own personal history, does not form my beliefs. Where do I get my understanding of the gospel? I get it from the scriptures. And so, as far as falling away, there is no falling from grace for a Christian, I mean, falling from grace comes from Galatians 5.4. And Galatians 5.4, it says, you are seeking to be justified by law, you have fallen from grace. What does that mean? You've severed, you've cut yourself off from the gospel, because you're trying to get right with God by what you do. So you are falling away from the message. you are falling toward the law. Those are Galatians 2,000 years ago who are deciding, is it law or is it grace? And when they fall away from grace, it's because they're headed toward law. They're trying to get righteous by what they do. That's what fallen from grace means. Elsewhere, John writes in his letter, they went out from among us because they were never really part of us. So lots of people play church and then they go out from among us. They were never really part of us. So don't build your doctrine on other people. Build your doctrine on the promises of God. He says, I'll never leave you, and he means it.

Thanks for your call tonight, Kim. We wanna hear from you again real soon. Okay, let's go to upstate New York. We'll talk with Rachel. Hi, Rachel, what you got for us? Well, I've been a Christian for a long time and I've known the Lord for quite a while, but since there's nobody perfect except the good Lord himself, and I mean, what do we do when, I mean, we're gonna sin no matter what. I mean, that's just what our nature is. I mean, and I know the Lord died for us, past, present, future, but we're still sinless creatures. Every time we sin, oh, that's okay, and that's it. I mean, is that what you're saying? Oh, is that what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, Rachel, I'm on the radio for 25 years telling people, yeah, just sin, it's okay, just sin. No, you'll find zero instances of that in decades of our radio program. That's not what I'm saying. So I've never heard a single pastor, leader, teacher say that, literally, in my life, I have never heard a single pastor or teacher say that sin is okay, not once, and I've been a believer for 45 years. So let's look at this again. What am I saying?

I think I'm just saying that the cross worked. I think I'm just saying that you're actually forgiven. Would that be okay if we said the cross worked? Would it be okay if Jesus actually forgave you, or are we gonna pretend that he kinda forgave you? When he says, I remember your sins no more, does he mean that? When he says, I keep no record of your wrongs, does he actually mean that? Okay, so now I've got that piece. I must be forgiven, like it must be real, past, present, and future, Hebrews 10, 14. It's not my idea, it's 2,000 years old. It says, by one sacrifice, you've been made perfect for all time. That doesn't mean you're perfectly behaved. We all struggle, we all sin, so what does it mean? Well, it seems to be talking about a sacrifice. So what does a sacrifice do? It forgives you. So then what does it mean to be made perfect by one sacrifice? I think it means to be made perfectly forgiven by one sacrifice. So if I told you that you're totally forgiven, am I right or am I wrong? Well, I'd have to be right because Jesus said it. He said, I remember your sins no more, I keep no record. So then the next question is, if I tell you that you're totally forgiven,

past, present, and future, am I saying that sin is okay? No, I'm saying you need forgiveness for sins because it's bad. Ever since I was five years old, Rachel, and you too, every Christian in their right mind says sin is bad. Anybody that's saying sin is okay or sin is good, they're crazy. So could we just admit that the cross worked? Could we just for a moment say that Jesus forgave us all the way? And then we need to move on to the resurrection. And see, that's the problem. In your statement to me, you said, I'm saved, I know Jesus died for me. That's not all of the gospel. The second half of the gospel, what we talk about every night, Jesus rose from the dead and so did you. Hear that, so did you. When you said it's just in our nature to sin, oh, it's just in our nature. No, you are a partaker of his divine nature. You're born of God, you're born of the spirit. Please hear me. Romans six, you're a slave of righteousness. Please put that piece in there because once you understand that you're addicted to righteousness, the whole message makes sense. You are forgiven, yes,

but who wants to be forgiven and miserable? Not me. Say no to sin. Get away from sin. Why? Because you love righteousness. For more information on the broadcast ministry of Dr. Andrew Farley, please visit andrewfarley.org. That's andrewfarley.org. Join us next time as we invite you to celebrate the grace message with Dr. Andrew Farley. This program is sponsored by your generous financial support. Hi, I'm Andrew Farley. I hope you enjoyed today's program. And if you have more questions, whether it's about a Bible verse, a personal struggle, or anything on your heart, BibleQuestions.com is here for you. You'll get clear, grace-based answers in 10 seconds or less. No confusion, no judgment, just practical truth that meets you right where you are. Whatever's on your mind, you'll find real answers rooted in God's love. Visit BibleQuestions.com. That's BibleQuestions.com.