Is following “my desires” sin?

you struggling with a personal issue? Wondering about a tricky verse? At BibleQuestions.com you'll get clear grace-based answers in ten 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 877-956-9566. That's toll-free at 877-956-9566. 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 today. First, happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Glad you're a part of the Grace Message and connected with us. Happy Mom's Day to you. We are so grateful for all the moms. You know, I'm so happy to have had a wonderful mother. I know not all of us have the privilege of enjoying a great mom. Some of us are born into situations where, you know, we have challenges and difficulty at home. But no matter what, each of us, we have a Heavenly Father that cares deeply for us. And that is the most important thing of all. But for those of us who've had a great mom, you know what I'm talking about. It's a big, big deal. And the compassion and the care and all the little things, all the details, all the love, that's what we're so grateful for on a day like today. So again, happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. And we are taking your calls live right now. Anybody, everybody, whoever has a question today about a Scripture passage or a personal issue, maybe something happening in your life or something that you're not sure about, maybe you heard something in church and it didn't stack up. You're wondering about it and you want to put it to the test. Well, that is exactly why we're here today at the Grace Message. And every single day, that number to call right now, 877-956-9566. That's the number. We got open lines, room for you right now. Maybe you're not sure about your relationship with God. You're not sure where you stand with Him. You just need a little assurance, a little help, a little clarity.

Well again, that's exactly why we're here for you. We are live across the United States and Canada on SiriusXM, all kinds of FM and AM stations as well. And of course, we're live streaming on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Axe, our mobile app, and our website. It doesn't matter how you're listening right now or watching, you can simply call in and be a part of today's conversation. We would love to have you. Today's a great day. We're two minutes in and we still have three lines open. So dive in right now. Be a part of the program. Make it better by asking your question right now. 877-956-9566. Well, we are going to go to Boston for our first question of the afternoon. But before we get there, I want to take 60 seconds and just remind you of a brand new resource we have this month. It's called, Nothing to Prove, and you're gonna love it. What if I told you you could stop trying to live the Christian life for God? What if there's nothing to prove? Did you know that's the truth of the gospel? You don't have to prove anything to God. He's already proved himself to you. I'm excited about this new resource called, Nothing to Prove, The End of Performing for God. In this series, you're gonna learn all about what it means to stop managing God's mood and start trusting his heart. You get to drop the checklist. You get to quit Auditioning for God with that try harder, do more gospel and exchange it for the real thing. It's all about having nothing to prove because God has already proved himself fully to you and me. Make sure to request your copy of Nothing to Prove when you give your gift this month to the Grace Message. You're gonna love it. And thank you so much for your support. Thank you. Yes, thank you for your support. We cannot do it without you. We're reaching the planet.

We're on a worldwide mission to proclaim the love and grace of God. We want Christians to know how fantastic the gospel is. We want unbelievers to see how amazing Jesus is. And we, the Grace Message, are on the airwaves seven days a week. Yes, all seven days, including Saturday now, as we have added Saturday morning and Saturday evening to our lineup on Sirius XM. So we're on Sirius XM every single day of the week, reaching all of North America and beyond. We are also on TBN television on Sunday mornings. So whether it's TV or radio, or of course our online platforms, we're reaching the planet and you are helping us do it. We are so grateful for your support. It means a lot. We just wanna reach people. We literally, we wanna help people see how big God's grace really is. We want people to understand what Jesus has done, why it's a finished work, why it matters so much. Folks, this is the gospel we're talking about. And all I can say is thank you for your support as we continue to share it. If you've ever thought about giving to the Grace Message, there's no better time than right now. It takes just two minutes at our website. Of course, your gift is tax deductible. And on top of that, you can request your copy.

We wanna put this in your hands, this new resource called Nothing to Prove. Go to andrewfarley.org. Again, that's andrewfarley.org. Click on the Donate tab. It takes just two minutes. And again, thank you, thank you for your support. We are so grateful. All right, we're going to Washington, D.C. second, but first, as I promised, we're going to Boston, Massachusetts. And we'll talk with Wendy. Hi, Wendy. Hi, Dr. Farley. Hey, what you got for us? Yeah, you know, I would like some, what I would call probably practical guidance, practical advice today. And the issue is I belong to probably the biggest church in the Boston area. And if it's not the biggest, it's one of the biggest, and they have several satellite campuses. And they do a lot of things right. They preach grace, they preach Christ as the only way to salvation. They do a lot of doctrine right. But what bothers me are some of these pet areas. And I've been studying with you for a couple of years, and I'm really clear on we are fully forgiven. But the pastor does stuff like, you know,

when the congregation prays, she'll say, you know, come and bow your head and ask forgiveness. You know, they don't get this part right. And there's some like what I call religious strains that really bothered me. Like the prayers have this tone of, oh Lord, you know, forgive us because we, you know, we're not, we don't do what we supposed to do. We fall short in so many areas. It's like what you've said is, you know, the dirty worm culture. Right. If I didn't go to this, instead of going to God and saying, and confidently saying, you know, thank you that we're fully forgiven. And we trust that you're gonna work these things out. You know, it's this dirty worm sort of religious stuff. But you know what? If I didn't go to this church, there is no church in this area that gets it all right. I don't know that religious stuff just sneaks in everywhere. So if you belong to basically a good church, but this stuff is going on that bothers me, what would be your practical advice for being part of a body and not, you know, trying to deal with these inaccuracies? Gotcha, gotcha. Well, first of all,

I wanna say you're not alone in that. There's, you know, thousands, I would say thousands, tens of thousands of churches in the United States and around the world that are getting a whole lot right. They're getting salvation by grace through faith right. They tell people, hey, it's not about you. It's about Jesus. And if you put your trust in him, you can be saved. Call upon him to be saved. It's about his cross. It's about his resurrection. It's about his shed blood for the forgiveness of sins. It's about his resurrection to receive eternal life. upon him, be saved, it's all about grace. And you're right, I mean, thousands, tens of thousands of churches get that absolutely crystal clear. And yet, five minutes, five days, five months later, you'll be sitting there with the same teacher, the same pastor, the same leader, and out pops something about how Christians need to get more forgiveness. It could be phrased as, ask for forgiveness, or, you know, confess to be more forgiven, or repent to be more forgiven, or, and you, lo and behold, you discover the exact reason that we, the grace message, exist. Because I grew up in a church just like that. I grew up in a Christian school just like that. I grew up in a Christian community just like that. Did they have salvation correct? Yes, they did. But growing in God's grace is a different matter. And Paul says to the Galatians, you know, after receiving the Spirit by, you know, receiving the Spirit by grace, are you now, I mean, are you now being improved?

Are you now being cleaned up by human effort? Having received the Spirit by faith, are you now going to, you know, use the flesh, fleshly effort to perfect yourselves? And so this problem you're describing is 2,000 years old, and it's all over the place. You're right, and I want to stress this, no church gets it all right. And the goal is not perfect theology. The goal is community and love and getting to know Jesus. And yet, theology is important. I mean, that's what we do every single day is we study God, the study of God, and the study of God's grace and the study of God's forgiveness and the study of new life and being a new creature, having a new identity. All of that is plastered all over the New Testament. It is really important. So I think what you've highlighted is why we exist, Wendy, is why we, the grace message, exist. Because as long as I'm alive and as long as Jesus tarries, as long as anybody in their right mind is on this planet as a Christian, there will always be the mission of clarifying the gospel for Christians. Because we get saved and then we get hammered by some sort of legalism. We get saved and then we get guilted. We get saved and then we try to get busy for Jesus. We get saved and then something happens. We get distracted. We get distracted by self-improvement. So you know, some people would sweep what you said under the rug. They'd say, oh, Wendy, you know, we're all going to agree to disagree here or there. That's a minor point of doctrine. No, no. It is not a minor point of doctrine whether Christians are totally forgiven or not. That is a major point of doctrine.

It has to do with the cross. It has to do with the blood of Jesus. It has to do with are you forgiven or not. Is your next sin forgiven? Is Hebrews 10 14 really true? Is it true that by one sacrifice you've been made perfect forever? Yes, it is. You are forgiven past, present, and future. You are forgiven once for all. That is not a minor point of doctrine. That is the finished work of Christ. So it is major. It is a big deal. And I'll tell you what, anybody actually believes this if they think they're secure. It's funny to me that people will dig their heels in and resist and the hair stands up on their neck when they hear that you're totally forgiven past, present, and future. But then you say, well, do you believe you can lose your salvation? They say no. Well, how could you believe that unless your next sin was forgiven? You can't be eternally secure unless your next sin is forgiven. And so they do believe it on paper. They just don't realize or talk directly, talk plainly, talk bluntly about what is clearly biblical. So you know, you've got to work backwards with people sometimes. You've got to take care of their fear first. Oh, I know you're afraid that this is anti-repentance. No, it's not anti-repentance. Repent of every sin imaginable. Get away from sin. I hate sin.

Hate sin. Get away from it. Abandon it. Get as far away from temptation as you can. Flee temptation. Do not let sin reign. But you can't get more forgiven. Then somebody says, oh, I think this is anti-confession. You say, no, it's not anti-confession. Confess your sins one to another. Pray for one another. Admit wrongdoing. agree with God about everything, but you can't get more forgiven because the cross worked. And so then you take care of the anti-repentance accusation, and you take care of the anti-confession accusation, and finally it dawns on them, oh, well, wait a minute now. If you're not trashing repentance, and if you're not trashing confession, then what are you saying? And you can say, well, I'm saying the cross worked. I'm saying Jesus didn't leave any sins out. I'm saying he took your sins away as far as the east is from the west. I'm saying he kept no record of your wrongs. I'm saying you're forgiven, period, because that's the gospel. And they say, oh, well, then why would I want to repent? Maybe I should just go out and sin. And you can say, well, who wants to be forgiven and miserable? No thank you. What do you think, sin's going to be fun, more fun than Jesus? Do you think sin's going to pay off? It's going to pay dividends that are greater than Jesus? You're lying to yourself.

You're deceiving yourself. Jesus has the market cornered on fulfillment. There's your reason to behave. Right there is your reason to behave. You don't have to be threatened with a lack of forgiveness. You don't have to be threatened about having to beg and plead for it. No. It is common sense. If Jesus is contentment, why would I want to sin? And if I have a new heart, why would I want to sin? And if I'm one with Christ in a vine branches relationship, why would I want to sin? So that's what we are proclaiming. That's what I know. You believe, Wendy, you've been hanging out with us for two years. Your concern is valid. It is not a minor doctrine. It is a major one. It has to do with the blood of Jesus and the finished work. Your practical question, part B, I guess you could say, is what should you do? And what I would say there is I've heard you. I've heard you explain yourself. I've heard you explain your concern. I can tell within two minutes that you're a mature believer, you're grown up in Jesus, and you don't have to go run to the hills, you know, fearful of your church or scared that they don't agree with you. You know, the reason to stay in that community is to give, not to take. I'm talking about how about investing in two or three other women, or how about having a home group, or how about attending a home group and, you know, bringing up Scripture that highlights Jesus. How about feeding others?

Because see, you're already being fed. You already see the truth. You already enjoy the gospel. So even though this is a big deal, it's also a big deal that you're a minister. You're a minister of the new covenant. Second Corinthians 3 says Jesus has qualified you as a minister of the new covenant. So there you are, right there in Boston. You know, let's put it this way, Wendy, I don't have a lot of representation up there in Boston, God might say. I got representation for salvation, but I don't have a lot of reps talking about my grace. I don't have a lot of reps talking about my love. I don't have a lot of reps up there in Boston talking about the finished work of Jesus. You're one of them. So maybe God's saying the last thing I want you to do is run for the hills. The last thing I want you to do is retreat. I want you to enjoy that church to the fullest. I want you, if you've got friends and you're loving it and they're not muzzling you and you're able to express your heart and you're able to encourage believers and turn the light on for them, go for it. Enjoy it to the fullest. So that's my best advice, Wendy. I'll put you back on and see. Does that help some, my friend? Well, we don't have Wendy back. We're trying to get her back, but I hope that was... There you go, Wendy. Am I back? Yes. Yeah, that was powerful because you enabled me to see the bigger picture, and I was focused

on just my little spiritual world, so thank you for that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I would say that to everybody listening. I hear it again and again. I hear, oh my goodness, my church doesn't teach everything that I agree with, or oh, my church doesn't say this, or they don't believe this, or they don't do that. If you're not being muzzled and you have an opportunity to brag on Jesus, if you have any opportunity to build friendships and have community and pray for others and use your understanding of the scriptures to help other believers, then why would you run away from that? See, we have a consumer mentality many times. We bring that consumer mentality to church. And we say, what has the church done for me lately? And I'm frustrated that the church is not feeding me, giving to me. Well, guess what? You now know how to be fed. You're fed by the finished work of Christ. You're fed by the truth of the gospel. You have seen, as we like to say on this program, once you see it, you can't unsee it. Now you know what to look for. You look for finished forgiveness. You look for freedom from the law. You look for new identity in Christ. You look for oneness with Jesus. You look for the truth of the gospel scattered all through those epistles, the writings of Paul, Peter, James, John. You look for the truth, and now, once you've seen it, you can't unsee it. So then, would you just hide it under a bushel? Would you just take it and put it in a satchel and run up a mountain and hang out in a cave with it?

No. Go down into the village, make friendships, and let people know about the light that is in you. And so that's what I'm saying, not just to Wendy, but to anybody. Look, it would be different if a church is being abusive, obviously, if a congregation is being difficult where they're muzzling you and not letting you speak, not letting you say anything, not letting you participate. That's different. But if you have some great believing friends and a loving community where they want to know Jesus, then fantastic. Enjoy it to the fullest. So thanks, Wendy, for trusting us with your question, and reach out to us again anytime we want to hear from you. All right. Let's go now to Washington, D.C., and we'll talk—well, before we go there, let me give you the number, because I want you to call in right now and be a part of today's conversation. We've got room for you now, two open lines, lots of room, 877-956-9566. Call right now and be a part of today's interaction. All right. Let's go to Washington, D.C. Melissa, what you got for us today, my friend? Well, two things. One, I loved what a beautiful word you had for Wendy about incentive not to sin and how it's not a consumer, it's not a transaction when we go to church. I loved what you said about that, and I think, for me, another incentive not to sin is he loves us so much. He has given everything for us. He has died for us. He has suffered us. How can I add more to his burden on the cross by sinning?

I just don't want to please him. I don't want to be out there sinning. I want to add, you know, to his glory and not cause him more pain by continuing to sin. For me, that's another incentive not to sin. But to the point, my question for you is, you know, we're so blessed with hundreds of messianic prophecies in the Old Testament and so many references to Christ. What do you think, though, are the substantial, tangible events where Jesus showed up in the Old Testament, other than the very first verse? And do you think that even is when, you know, God is referred to in the plural when he created the earth? You know, was that Jesus with him? What, you know, other than, I mean, do you think, is the burning bush? I've heard that sometimes about, like, you know, the fourth man in the furnace or the, you know, the leading the charge with the Battle of Jericho for Joshua. What do you see as potentially tangible appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament? Yeah, I hear you. Well, we were just talking about one of these this morning in our church service together. We were talking about Melchizedek, and that's one that's very rarely discussed, but it comes up in Hebrews chapter 5. Abraham's on a lonely road. He's just gone to war. He's killed a bunch of people. He's won the battle. He's got all the loot in his wagon behind him. And he sees Melchizedek on the road. And he decides to give Melchizedek a tenth of his spoils of war. Very interesting. He shows respect for this man named Melchizedek. And then you thumb back to Genesis and figure out who Melchizedek is. It says he has no genealogy, no father, no mother.

And you know, I think that's an early appearance of Jesus. And it's interesting that Abraham pays respect to him. There's a very, very profound truth, if we can follow this rationale. The book of Hebrews, you know, really shows it to us, but it outlines it like a brilliant trial lawyer. But basically, here it is. Abraham pays respect to Melchizedek. inside of Abraham, inside of his loins, his lineage, his heritage, his DNA, we have Levi. Levi is going to be an Old Testament priest. So an Old Testament priest inside of the DNA of Abraham pays respect to this mystery man, Melchizedek. Melchizedek has no papers, no genealogy, no passport, and Father Abraham is going to pay his respects to this mystery man named Melchizedek? What's that about? Well, the book of Hebrews tells us what it's about. See, Abraham knew that he was lesser. Abraham knew that Melchizedek was greater. And so he bows down, he pays homage, he gives a gift. Abraham knew that he was lesser and Melchizedek was greater. Well, guess what? That's a symbol, a shadow, a picture, because Levi is lesser and Jesus is greater. And the Old Covenant is lesser and the New Covenant is greater. The book of Hebrews says the New Covenant is better, it is founded on better promises, and there's a better high priest. So that would be one instance that is, you know, many scholars think it was an early appearance of Jesus. Secondly, I mean, yes, the angel of the Lord appearances can certainly be Jesus. You know, I mean, basically, remember, Jesus is God, so anytime God shows up, it's not like Jesus is absent in the Old Testament. So we got the creation of the world, we see that in Genesis, but also the book of Colossians says that the world was made by him, made by Jesus, specifically. When it says, let us make man in our image, that's Jesus. Jesus is there, the Trinity is there. And so we see that in the book of Genesis. Then you pop forward a dozen chapters way up in Genesis 16, you see the angel of the Lord and Hagar. And so that seems to be an early appearance. Anytime you see the Lord, we got to ask, who is the Lord? Well, the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who the Lord is. So all of these Old Testament references to the Lord is certainly including Jesus in that. So I think that's what's the crying shame when the community, the Jewish community, and for thousands of years, the people of Israel do not recognize Jesus as Messiah. And even in their scriptures, the reference to the Lord is the Lord

Jesus Christ. So you see the burning bush in Exodus 3. I mean, you see, as you mentioned, I think, the commander of Joshua's army, Joshua chapter 5. You see other instances, Judges chapter 2. You see the Lord appears to Gideon in the book of Judges as well. I mean, oh my goodness, the fourth man in the fire back in Daniel chapter 3. So there's a lot of them. There's a lot. You can see the Lord, you know, corresponding with Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 6. And again, when I see the Lord, it makes me think of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so whether it's Isaiah or Daniel or Judges or Exodus or Genesis or any other, there's lots of appearances because Jesus is God. And I know we think of Jesus 2,000 years ago, born in a manger, the only begotten from the Father, but Jesus is eternal. And so he would absolutely make sense that he would appear in the Old Testament. So I love that. I want to add to what you said there about your motivation not to sin. I would add to that, that it's not, you know, it's not just about hurting God. It is about us hurting as well. And I think that's important for believers to know. For the longest time, I thought, well, I don't want to sin because I don't want to hurt God. And the Bible talks about grieving the Spirit. He is deeply concerned over us. I mean, there's no question that he's deeply concerned about our choices and our behavior and our attitudes. But I also found in Scripture that we are dead to sin and alive to God. That's Romans 6, of course, and it says we became obedient from the heart. So God did a little heart transplant on us at salvation. And I know you already know that, Melissa, but Man, that's a big deal, isn't it? Just to be born again with a heart transplant. So now I've got like three amazing, maybe three or four, lots of reasons not to sin. Number one, sin is not going to pay off. The consequences are just no good. Number two, Jesus is real contentment. And expressing the fruit of the Spirit, there's just nothing like it. It's the most fulfilling thing in the world. So why would I want to be forgiven and miserable? That doesn't sound fun. Let's be forgiven and fulfilled. So that's my motivation.

And number three, why would I want to grieve or quench the Spirit? I don't want to do that. I want Christ to be expressed in me. And then fourthly, look at me. Look at you. You got a new heart. You got a new spirit. You got God's Spirit living inside of you. You got new desires. You're basically allergic to sin and addicted to Jesus. You're dead to sin and alive to God. You're not made for sin. Why would you offer your body to a parasite? Why would you offer your body to sin when you can offer your body to God? So it has to do also with our nature. We have a new nature, a new heart, new desires. We're a new creature. We're dead to sin. So that means we don't really want it and we're not really made for it. And so all of those are amazing reasons to avoid sin. I don't have to threaten a Christian. I don't have to scare a Christian. I don't have to guilt a Christian. I don't have to dangle something in front of a Christian on a stick to try to get them motivated enough through guilt or fear. Instead, I can teach a believer who they are in Christ and what they really want. So thanks for your question and your comment today, Melissa. We want to hear from you again anytime. Give us a call. All right.

That number, 877-956-9566. That's the number. We've got open lines, room for you right now. Next we're going to go to Kansas, and we'll talk with Tracy. Hi, Tracy. Hi, Andrew. Hey. I appreciate last weekend, and my mom's still blown away, too, by everything, just to be there. Oh, yeah. At the convention. It's an experience. I could want to tell anybody if they want to go to something like that, they really should go. Well, you know, let me interject there, Tracy. So you're talking about a convention we recently did, which is much like a conference. We will have another conference coming this fall, usually in the month of October we'll be announcing that. So keep your eyes peeled, and we'll be letting people know about how they can come to Dallas this October and be a part of a conference like that. But go ahead with your question, my friend. In John 15, 13, he says, there's no greater love than for one that laid down his life for his friends. I really want to believe that this is referring that he's referring to himself laying down his life for everybody. And people read this and think that they have to lay down their life for everybody. And I think this is where self-effort comes in. Am I wrong on that? No. Is that where this is going at?

No, I think we would have to be egomaniacs to read that and go, yeah, he's asking you to go die for somebody. What kind of egomaniac would look at the cross of Christ and then read John 15 and think that Jesus is asking you to go, you know, hang on a cross for somebody or go stand in front of a bullet for somebody? As brave and as nice and as loving as that is, Jesus is talking about himself. He's testifying to the cross. I mean, it's fabulous when somebody saves somebody else's life by taking a bullet for them or whatever. But folks, I mean, here, we're talking about the cross. We're talking about the Savior. We're talking about Jesus revealing his intent. Greater love has no one than this that they lay down their life for their friends. Well, what's he saying? He's saying, you're my friends. And you know, the scripture picks that up elsewhere. It says we're friends of God. Abraham believed God and became a friend of God. We are now friends of God. In fact, Jesus looks at us and he says to the Father, thank you. Thank you, Father, for those that you have given me. Thank you. And so we got a lot to be thankful for, a lot to celebrate in the fact that Jesus loves us but he likes us also. And he calls us friends. And we're part of the family. We're not just friends, we're family. invited to the table to feast on His goodness. And so, Jesus is describing the highest expression of love. It is a sacrificial love, it is a self-giving love, it's giving up His own life.

He demonstrated it at the cross, and, you know, He didn't just, like, risk His life walking into a burning building. He gave His life, and He gave it willingly. And that gift is what brought us total forgiveness. That's why it's so important that we teach total forgiveness, because what a crying shame it is that Jesus gives His life, hangs on a cross, blood all over Him, the perfect sacrifice, and then we run around teaching people that it's like the blood of animals, that you're going to be forgiven progressively. We make it worse than the blood of animals. When we tell people they're going to be forgiven on Monday a little bit, and then Tuesday a little bit when they confess, and Wednesday a little bit when they ask, and Thursday a little bit when they repent, that's saying that the blood of Jesus is worse than animal blood. Because in the Old Testament, animal blood got them 365 days of sins covered. How much more does the blood of Christ take away our sins once for all? So Jesus, His blood speaks, you know, more powerfully than the blood of bulls and goats. Jesus' sacrifice is better. The New Covenant is better. His priesthood is better. The salvation is better. Everything's better. In the Old Testament, they would say, please don't take your spirit from me. Well, you don't find Paul, Peter, James, or John saying any of that, because the Spirit of God will never leave us. Nothing separates us from the love of Christ. We have an eternal salvation, Hebrews 5 says. So I hope that's helpful to you. I think you're right on. This is not about you and me jumping in front of a bullet. This is totally about the agape love of Christ when He willingly gave His life for you.

And guess what? You're His friend. Everybody listening, you're His best friend. If you don't believe that yet, get to know your righteousness. If you don't believe that yet, get to know your forgiveness. If you don't believe that yet, get to know life under grace, because everybody listening, you're His best friend. And you have a vine branch's relationship with Him. There's nobody out there that's special or different and has secret access. That person that you've admired, maybe the person up front waving their hands around in church, or that one who has the facial expression that looks like they're intimately involved in worship on Sunday during the four songs, or maybe the person who fancies themselves as a prayer warrior, or that person who you think is just so godly, you think, oh my goodness, they must have incredible relationship, they must have incredible access, oh, to be Billy Graham, oh, to be Mother Teresa, oh, to be, and you fill in the blank with your favorite person. Well, you know what? We're not supposed to be doing that at all, because there is no special access. Every child of God has perfect access. Every child of God has perfect righteousness and perfect forgiveness and perfect access. And so the only difference between one Christian and another is are you going to believe that or not? Are you going to believe the truth, or are you going to live a lie? Are you going to believe the truth, or are you going to live in the delusion that you're slowly, slowly, slowly getting better with God? Uh-uh. There's nobody listening that is slowly getting better with God. You are either the righteousness of God, or you're dead in Adam. There's no middle ground. Every child of God that I'm talking to right now, you're perfectly forgiven, perfectly

clean, perfectly close, because of Jesus Christ. And He calls you a friend, and He calls you family. So thanks, Tracy, for the topic, for the passage. Great to hear from you there in Kansas. Call us back any time. We want to hear from you. All right, we're going to talk with our friend Brad here in just a second. Before we get to Brad in Missouri, I want to invite your calls. We've got three open lines, 15 minutes on the clock, lots of time. And we're going to take 60 seconds to remind you of this brand-new resource. We worked hard on this. I think you're going to love it. It's going to be a big encouragement to you. It's a reminder of everything you have for free, and that there's nothing. to prove. What if I told you you could stop trying to live the Christian life for God? What if there's nothing to prove? Did you know that's the truth of the gospel? You don't have to prove anything to God. He's already proved himself to you. I'm excited about this new resource called, Nothing to Prove, The End of Performing for God. In this series you're gonna learn all about what it means to stop managing God's mood and start trusting his heart. You get to drop the checklist. You get to quit auditioning for God with that try harder, do more gospel and exchange it for the real thing. It's all about having nothing to prove because God has already proved himself fully to you and me. Make sure to request your copy of Nothing to Prove when you give your gift this month to the Grace Message. You're gonna love it and thank you so much for your support. Again, it is nothing to prove and you have nothing to prove but let us prove it to you. Let us prove the truth of your freedom, of your forgiveness, of your righteousness. I know you're saved and you're heaven-bound but there's more. There's more than being saved and more than going to heaven. There's right here, right now, getting to know the powerful truths of the gospel. You're gonna love

this resource. It's called Nothing to Prove. Make sure to request your copy when you give your gift to the Grace Message this month. Whether you're giving $5 or $50, $20 or $200, it makes no difference. We want to put this in your hands just to say thank you for your support and to encourage you. So go to andrewfarley.org. Again, that's andrewfarley.org. All right, we are still sitting on three open lines, so the world is your oyster. Ask whatever you want or comment. Let us know what you think of the broadcast. Share anything you'd like. You can give us a call right now. 877-956-9566. All right, let's go to Missouri next. We'll talk with Brad. Hi Brad. What you got for us today? Pastor, I tell you what, I'm so full of gratitude. Born with the severe eye injuries and being mostly blind my whole life, and I really do believe, and I don't mean to sound bragging, but I really believe because of my inadequacies from birth, I really believe God blessed my mind. I was able to get a college degree and all sorts of things that people said I'd never be able to do, but the greatest time in my life was in June of 1987 when I was introduced to a guy named Bob George, and followed that message and got introduced to Andrew Farley in the early 2000s, and I can't encourage people. One of the scriptures in the New Testament says preach the gospel, and that's just not to people like Andrew Farley. It's to you and to I, and the only way that we can preach the gospel is to learn the gospel, and I'm so grateful to have a pastor who, that's all Pastor Andrew Farley does, is preach the gospel, and thanks to that I'm learning the gospel. Many people are learning the gospel because the gospel is what causes people like you and me to grow in its grace. Amen. Well, you nailed it. I love hearing that, and it's been decades and decades. God has used all kinds of voices and people in your life, and I appreciate the encouragement there. I've known you well enough over the years, Brad, that I can certainly testify that you have a solid and incredible understanding of the gospel. Whether we have good eyesight or not, you have seen the truth. You've seen the finished work of Jesus, and that's the most important thing that we can possibly behold. Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. So I

love your testimony, I love your history, your story, and thank you. Thanks for sharing it and encouraging me as well. You know, we love what we're doing, and I know you know that. We love what we're doing. I wouldn't do anything else under any circumstances. I wouldn't do anything else. So this is the joy that we have every day, to keep on talking about the radical truth of God's love and grace. There's no better message. Call us back anytime. Mario, let's go to Idaho. We'll talk with Douglas. Hi, Douglas. How are you doing today? Hey, Doug. I'm a first-time listener. Great. And I was listening to your message this morning, and I just want to check a couple ideas from my theology as I come up. I came up from a secular life. I was a systems engineer, so I see the world from a systems viewpoint. And I tell people that not to impress them about where I am, but give them a reference point from where I'm coming. And what I wanted to say is, because of all my experience in dealing with people, what I find, especially with myself, is I struggle with definitions of words. And we as a people tend to use certain words and assume that other people have the same meaning of them. Okay, I'm getting worried. And I'm also— I'm getting worried, because we're going to run out of time, so I just—we've got about

four minutes. Well, let me say, you're using the word sin, but to me, sin is simply, whenever I make a decision based upon my desires instead of God's, that's a sin. Okay. And to me, it's the opposite. It's the polar opposite of what you just said. And I want you to consider that, because that assumes that your desires are sinful. And in fact, it assumes that your desires are always sinful. And the Scriptures say the opposite. I'm going to give you several Scriptures that show that. And the first one is Romans 6, verse 17. And it says that we have become obedient from the heart. So the heart represents your desires. Your desires are now good, not bad. That's what we're teaching. And yes, there is the flesh. The Greek word for that is sarx. The definition of flesh is trying to make life work apart from Christ. It's attitudes. It's perspectives. It's philosophies. It's coping mechanisms. It's the way of the world. But you are not the flesh. You're a person. You're a child of God. God gave you a new heart and a new spirit, Ezekiel 36. He made you obedient from the heart, Romans 6. God is at work in you to want and to do of His good pleasure. That describes your want, your want-tos.

If any man is in Christ, he's a new creature. The old is gone. The new has come. God has written His desires, His laws, His desires on your heart and on your mind. That's Hebrews 8. So you have a new set of desires. That definition of sin is going to hide the truth from you. If you continue to believe that sin is anything you desire, you will live a miserable life. And so I want to give you a new definition of sin. Anything that is not trusting Jesus is sin. Anything that is not of faith is sin. And you know, I want to give you a corollary, and that is this, that everything you truly want is righteousness. Everything you truly desire agrees with God because you are the new self, you're the new creation, you have a new heart, you have new desires, you're a slave of righteousness, you can't get away from it. God is working in you to want what He wants. So don't be afraid of your desires. Hate the desires of sin. Hate the desires of the flesh. Hate the desires of the world. But your name is Douglas, not the world. You are Douglas from Idaho, you're not the flesh. You are Douglas from Idaho, you are not sin. So you can hate the desires of sin, but don't hate your own desires. Recognize that you are the new self. I'm inviting you to see your identity in Christ. Your old self was crucified and buried. You are the new self, and you have an obedient heart, a new heart. So don't be afraid of your desires. Learn who you are and be yourself. And the crazy wonderful thing about Christians is that we can be ourselves and express Jesus at

the exact same time, because you're not an obstacle to Him. You're His instrument and you're His child. So I want to put you back on, Douglas, and see if that makes sense. Yes, it makes sense. I agree with that, but my true nature as being part of the flesh, and that's what I need to look at. Okay, so you don't have a true nature that's part of the flesh. There's no Bible verse that says that. You want to use the word nature, it rarely comes up, but here it is. You're a partaker of the divine nature, Peter says. Peter writes in his epistle that you're a partaker of the divine nature. So the phrase sinful nature was perpetuated by the NIV Bible for about 40 years. The publisher was Zondervan. Zondervan is also my publisher. They published The Naked Gospel, and in The Naked Gospel, I pointed out that that term sinful nature is not really biblical. The word is flesh. The word nature is not in it. The Greek word is sarx, and so the flesh is not your nature. You have a spiritual nature that is now new. It's called the new man, the new self, the new creation. You can call it whatever you like, but if we're going to use Bible words, and if you're wanting good definitions, let me tell you this. Take that term sinful nature and toss it in the garbage. It's not going to do you any good. You don't have a sinful nature. You did. You were in the flesh, and you were sinful to the core. You were rotten. You were worldly. You were in Adam. But we use a term around here called being born again, and that's what happened to you, right? So how could you be born again and be the same person? How could you be born again and have the same nature? How could you be born of the Spirit and not be new? So that's what I'm saying. We're gonna get the gospel straight. We're gonna get it clear. We're not gonna clutter it up. We're not gonna mess it up with biblical inaccuracies or bad definitions. Yes, you still struggle with the flesh. What is the flesh? It's unrenewed mindsets, old attitudes, stinking thinking. Think about it as, you know, software glitches that you need updates in your software. But you have new hardware. You have a new heart. That's new hardware. A new heart, a new spirit, God's Spirit living in you, a new nature. You're in a vine branches relationship. You have an obedient heart. Make sure you learn your identity in Christ. It is the only identity you have.

You are not two people. You're a new creature. 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.