Did I Fake It? Love God More? Really Saved?

Cut off your hand, pluck out your eye, be perfect like God. The sermon on the Mount isn't difficult, it's impossible. So why would Jesus give us commands? Nobody can possibly live up to. What if that was the whole point? Hi, I'm Andrew Farley. In my new book, The Impossible Teachings of Jesus. I explore why Jesus' harshest words weren't meant to make you try harder, but to expose the impossible standard and lead you straight to grace. If you've never measured up, this book is for you. It's called The Impossible Teachings of Jesus. Order your copy now at amazon.com. 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. By a 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. We got open lines, room for you right now, 877-655-6755. Maybe you got a question tonight about something you heard in church this past weekend. Or maybe it's a scripture passage that you, well, you just need some clarity about. Or maybe you're celebrating a brand new truth in Christ and you want to tell us all about it.

Well, that's why we're here. We're live every single week night at this time, live on SiriusXM, all kinds of FM and AM stations. And of course, yes, we're live streaming on social media as well. It doesn't matter how you're listening or watching along with us right now, you can simply give us a call and be a part of tonight's interaction. That number, once again, 877-655-6755. Maybe it's a personal issue going on in your life in your marriage with your kids in your church and you're looking for that grace perspective. That's a great reason to call as well. Or perhaps you're not even sure where you stand with God. You're wondering about your relationship with him. Give us a call right now. We want to encourage you. All right, well, we're going to start out tonight in Oregon and we'll talk with Joseph. Hi, Joseph, what you got for us tonight? - Hey, Andrew, Farley, thank you for your ministry and grace message. I got saved in 1984, gave my life to the Lord. It was a genuine salvation. Here I am today, but I just want to know that I make it this far to make it because just recently, I understood the life, the exchange life. I just barely understood that. So what was I operating on? - Yeah.

- I just don't know how I got, I mean, it was a burnout. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Just this few months, how did I get this far then? - Yeah, I hear you, Joseph. Okay, we're going to help our audience catch up. I mean, you're talking about 32 years plus, over 32 years ago, you were saved and your question is, how did I not hear this message of God's grace until recently, like six, seven months ago? And if I didn't hear it until now, how did I get by? How did I survive? And in fact, if I did survive, which I did, obviously, it felt like a burnout, a period of like slowly burning out, getting frustrated, looking for answers, and then boom, I realized how big God's grace really is. Well, you're not the only one feeling like that, my friend. That is the testimony of so, so many that we encounter. So I appreciate you bringing it to the broadcast tonight. I mean, here's the bottom line. First of all, how did you get here? Well, you got here by the grace of God. And yes, I get it. Like you spent a lot of years in what, you know, in hindsight, you know, hindsight's 2020, you look back on that, you feel like I was spinning my wheels, I was frustrated, I was clueless in one regard, I was, you know, just tired. And I was sick and tired of being sick. Christ was in you the whole time. Christ was in you the whole time and you were in Christ the whole

time the whole time you were saved. So obviously God doesn't stop loving us just because our minds aren't renewed. God doesn't stop working in our lives just because we haven't gotten the gospel crystal clear yet. So God doesn't work through perfect knowledge. God works in our lives because he loves us. Now, what you're beginning to experience, you know, as you get to know the message of God's grace, you get to know the new covenant, you get to know what you called the exchange. And you mentioned this word life like realizing it's, it's his life in me. It's not me trying to impress him. It's actually just me letting him, letting him express himself through me. So you're kind of asking, well, what was I doing before for three decades and how did I survive it? Well, it was a mix. I mean, here's the truth, Joseph. I mean, God did not stop working in you. He began a good work way back in in 1984. He began a good work in you. He's been carrying that on to completion. Yes, in the last six, seven months you have put words to a very important message. It's the gospel, right? I mean, we'll talk about that, but it's plastered all over the place. What we're proclaiming, we call this program, the grace message, but it's the gospel. I mean, that's Acts 20, 24, the gospel of the grace of God. And then a few verses later in Acts 20, he calls it the word of his grace. And so Romans five says we stand in grace. Romans five says, where sin increases, grace increases all the more. Then in Galatians, he says, are you abandoning the grace of Christ for a different gospel? What does that tell you? The grace of Christ is the gospel. So we've been saved by grace. The grace of God has appeared. It teaches us to say no to sin. But yes, you can be a born again believer and yet not be aware of how big God's love is. And that's, you know, quite candidly, that's why we're doing what we're doing. We want to encourage believers and help them see how big God's love is, how big his forgiveness is, how big his grace is. So, you know, as what I'm trying to say is you had a childlike trust in Jesus to some degree, because you were born again, during those years since 1984, when you were born again, you loved a whole lot of people and Jesus loved people through you. You forgave a whole lot of people and Jesus forgave them through you. You bore fruit. You are a fruit bearer because you're a child of God. So, you know, it's not perfect understanding or perfect knowledge that sort of unlocks God's activity. Don't look at it that way because nobody has perfect knowledge and nobody has perfect understanding, not this side of heaven. So, the reason you made it this far is because God is faithful and God is full of grace and Jesus expresses himself, get this. He expresses himself through you even when you don't realize he's doing it. I mean, we, people who live under grace, I mean,

we children of God who are starting to celebrate his life in us, oh my goodness, we bear more fruit by accident than a legalist does in their entire lives. We bear more fruit by accident than a legalist does at any point. And that's, that's what we need to know is that God is faithful and a childlike trust even when we don't have the right words. He continues to work in us. So, I'm glad you found our ministry. I'm sure you're being encouraged by a number of voices out there. I'm so glad, Joseph, that you brought this question because, you know, the relief comes when we know the truth. The truth will set you free. Can you be saved and miserable? Yes, you can. You know that. I know that. Our audience knows that you can be saved and miserable and yet God is at work in you and then I mean, Jesus said it. He said, when you're actually connected to me, you're yoked up with me. It's gonna be easy and light and you're gonna find rest. Now, if that's not your experience out there, I'd encourage all of us, hang with us. Keep on listening. Because as you get to know how big God's love and grace and forgiveness is, as you get to know your identity in Christ and his life in you, you're gonna start to understand all the more that this is legit, this is real. His yoke is easy and light and you will find rest in the truth of the gospel. So Joseph, thanks for your call tonight. Thanks for sharing just a bit of your story. I'm glad you found us. I'm glad you're connected with us and reach out again any time they're in Oregon. We wanna hear from you. All right, let's go to Michigan next

and we'll talk with Dorothy. Hi, Dorothy. - Hi, Andrew, how are you? - Hey, doing great. What's on your heart tonight, my friend? - Well, listen, I have a question regarding Ephesians 6, 23. And I'm reading another King James Version that says, "Peace to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, amen." And I'd like to know, how do you interpret it to mean that we believers have an undying love for Jesus? I mean, I love Jesus, but I don't feel or think that I love him enough and that verse makes me nervous. - Okay, yeah. Well, what I would do is read it in six other translations. You need a new version because it's not just about sincerity. You read it in two or three or five other versions and you're gonna discover what we're teaching about Ephesians 6, 24. And what it actually says is that you have an undying love for Jesus. Another translation says you have an incorruptible love for Jesus. So if it's imperishable, undying, incorruptible, then that's even better than sincere. I mean, sincere doesn't go far enough. I love that it's sincere, but it's more than that.

So here's the bottom line. Dorothy, you love Jesus because he first loved you and you're not gonna find any single verse in any New Testament letter that tells you you need to love Jesus more, okay? I know that's a talking point in a lot of churches today. I know it's a talking point in a lot of ministries today, but it is not in the New Testament. You are not told that you need to try to love God more. Why? Because you have an undying, imperishable, incorruptible and sincere love for Jesus, how did you get it? Well, Romans tells us he poured out his love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. So I guess I would ask you kind of like, you know, kind of like God, ask Adam and Eve. You remember his question to them after they were in the garden and they were hiding, he comes up to him and he says, "Who told you you were naked?" Meaning who told you something was wrong with you? And by what measuring stick have you decided that you are lacking and that you need more? Well, it was the enemy, it was Satan. It was the deception of the serpent that caused them to think, "I need more. "I need to be more like God. "I need to know good from evil. "I need to eat of this tree. "And when I do, my eyes will be opened "and I'll be more like him

"because maybe God's holding out on me." And so in a similar fashion, I would ask you to consider this question. Who told you that you don't love Jesus enough? And how would you measure that? Would it be a feeling? Would you measure it by your performance? Would you measure it by your recent history? How far would you go back or? Or would you decide right now that I'm just gonna follow God's instruction, I'm gonna count myself dead to sin alive to God. I'm gonna thank God that he poured out his love in my heart. I'm gonna thank God that I'm a new creation, that I'm a child of God, that I have an innate, incorruptible, imperishable, sincere love for Christ. I'm not trying to get it to be sincere. The message is God poured it in my heart. He gave me this love. When he gave me a new self, a new heart, a new spirit, and his spirit, he equipped me with everything I need for life and godliness. Do I always feel it? No. Do I always act on it? No. Did he do it? Yes. So that's the truth that is going to set you free. We take every statement you've ever heard in your Christian life about you need to love God more and throw it in the garbage. It's nonsense.

It doesn't line up with the gospel truth. The truth is we don't always behave like it. We don't always think like it. We don't always feel it, but we are children of God. Our old self died. We're a new creature in Christ. We have new spiritual DNA. We're born of the spirit, born of God. We poured out His love inside of us. And we have an imperishable, incorruptible love for Jesus. It's part of being in the family. So what if you decided God's right about you? And what if you decided you don't have anything to prove, you have something to believe? I'll put you back on, Dorothy and see. Does that make sense, my friend? Yes, very much. It makes me feel so much better and I'm so glad I called in. Thank you so much. Well, Dorothy, that's why we're here. I'm glad you feel better, too. God's glad you feel better, for sure. Imagine. I mean, you've had children I would imagine. And if you haven't, just consider this. I mean, those of you who have had children, imagine waking up every day and just telling your kids, you need to love me more. Hey, you need to prove your love for me. You don't love me enough.

And then you send out 10 and 30 and 100 representatives to talk to your kids and represent you. And the message you tell those representatives to go with across the world, find my kids and tell them they better love me more. You need to prove your love. Show your love. Love me. You don't love me enough. Now, what is that going to do to your kids? Guilt, guilt, guilt, guilt, guilt. And what does the gospel do? The gospel is a gospel of grace, not guilt. And that's what I mean by the truth will set you free every single time. So, Dorothy, I'm glad you're sensing that relief. That relief is because Jesus did the heavy lifting. Jesus did all the work. It's a finished work. He gave you his love. You can trust him that he did it. You can thank him for that new nature, that new heart that you have. And you can literally wake up for the next week, the next year, or for a lifetime every morning saying thank you. Thank you, Father, that I love Jesus with an incorruptible, undying love. Thank you for giving me that love for him. We love because he first loved us.

Thanks again, Dorothy. Call back any time. All right, well, let's go now to North Carolina and we'll talk with Nick. Hi, Nick, what you got for us tonight, my friend? - Hi, Andrew. How are you doing? I'm doing fantastic. What's on your mind? - So I got saved when I was really, really young. And I don't really have a reference point from what it was like before I was saved versus after. And I've always been afraid that my salvation, my sinner's prayer didn't work. And I was just wondering if you think somebody can get saved out of 100% fear and not any sort of love and feelings or grateful feelings. I'm just always wondered about that. - Okay, all right, sounds good, Nick. Well, there's lots of reasons that people are driven to believe the gospel, trust in Jesus and get saved. And one of them is fear. And I applaud that. We should be scared out of our wits without Jesus. Hebrews tells us that, that we can expect nothing, but a fire for the enemies of God. Ouch, no thank you. That scares me and it should until we're saved. Because when we're saved, we're saved from punishment, we're saved from condemnation, we're saved from hell,

but so much more. So here's what you're experiencing, Nick. You're experiencing what we call accusation. And the record playing in your mind goes a little something like this. Well, maybe I didn't have the right motivation. Maybe I didn't have the right reason. Maybe I didn't have the right rationale. I was doing it for all the wrong reasons. I was trying to get saved from hell, saved from punishment, saved from fire, saved from... Oh, that sounds like I was doing it because I was scared. Oh, I don't know if that motivation is good enough. Do you see? Accusation. The enemy accuses us day and night. Makes all the sense to me that if you're in danger, you'd want to find safety. And if you knew there was punishment for sins and Jesus took the punishment and you could benefit from that, why wouldn't you jump on that ship? You know? So instead of analyzing yourself to death and playing rewind in your mind and hitting play on all those old movie reels of how you got saved, look at you. I mean, Nick, here you are in North Carolina in this very moment. And guess what? You believe Jesus is the Son of God. You believe that He died for your sins. You believe that He rose from the dead for you. And you opened up the door of your life. You might have had one reason or 100 reasons, but you opened the door of your life to Him. And He said, "Yes, whoever opens the door, I will come in and live with that person forever." And then He said, "I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you, and nobody can rip you away from me." There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ. See, you're saved. It's too late, Nick. You're beautifully saved forever. And you could analyze your motives. You could analyze your prayers and your words and pick them apart and listen to accusation. The enemy accuses us day and night, but that doesn't mean we should listen. We should ignore and just recognize you by definition, Nick. You are a believer. Why? Well, you believe and you'll never stop believing. Did you know that? Now, do you see how that ties in incredibly with our previous caller? What was she wondering about? She was wondering about Ephesians 6, 24. Do you remember what was in that verse? A pretty powerful truth, Nick. It was that you have an undying, imperishable, incorruptible, sincere love for God. Why? Because God put it inside of you. So, you can stop doubting. You can stop wondering. You can

stop analyzing and inspecting. And you can divert your attention to the cross and the resurrection. You can fix your eyes on Jesus, on His goodness, on His big heart for you, on His promise to never leave you. That, my friend, is the truth that will set you free. So, run with it. Believe the truth and be happy. Thanks, Nick. Call us back anytime. They're in North Carolina. You're listening to The Grace Message. I'm Andrew Farley. Thanks for joining us. We're on every single week night at this time. And don't forget, November 10 is just a few weeks away. You can already pre-order your copy of our brand new book. It's put out by Zondervin. It's called The Impossible Teachings of Jesus. You can't obey the Sermon on the Mount. And that's good news. If you're curious about the Sermon on the Mount, why it's so rigid, why it's so strict, why it's so impossible? Well, get your copy of The Impossible Teachings of Jesus. You're going to love it. 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. Cut off your hand. Pluck out your eye. Be perfect like God. The Sermon on the Mount isn't difficult. It's impossible. So why would Jesus give us commands? Nobody can possibly live up to. What if that was the whole point? Hi, I'm Andrew Farley. In my new book, The Impossible Teachings of Jesus, I explore why Jesus' harshest words weren't meant to make you try harder, but to expose the impossible standard and lead you straight to grace. If you've never measured up, this book is for you. It's called The Impossible Teachings of Jesus. Order your copy now at amazon.com. You