Moral Law? Wicked Hearts?

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 Bible questions calm you'll get clear grace-based answers in Ten seconds or less no fluff no confusion Just practical biblical truth ask anything any time and experience the power of God's love Visit Bible questions calm that's Bible questions 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 eight seven seven nine five six nine five six six That's toll free at eight seven seven nine five six nine five six six 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 this Sunday afternoon that number to call eight seven seven nine five six nine Five six six we got wide open lines plenty of room for you to get in with your question this afternoon Maybe you've got a question about a scripture passage Perhaps you heard something in church recently and Maybe as early as as recent as this morning, and you're just not sure about it You want to put it to the test well that is exactly why we're here for you Every single weeknight and on the weekends Sunday afternoon live Across the United States and Canada on Sirius XM all kinds of FM and AM stations and of course We are live streaming on Facebook YouTube Instagram X our mobile app and our website It doesn't matter how you're listening right now. You can simply call in and be a part of today's conversation We would love to have you again eight seven seven nine five six nine five six six well first I want to address this idea that the Ten Commandments are a Christians moral compass Have you heard that that we're dead to the law, but we still were under the ten. We're free from the law absolutely Praise Jesus. Thank you Lord, but we're under the Ten Commandments well, I want to deal with that lie today at the top of the hour because you know really the Holy Spirit is our guide and

tablets of stone They only minister condemnation. They can't minister life Paul says The commandment that was intended to bring life Actually brought death in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3. He says there's a ministry on stone And he says that ministry is a condemnation ministry. It is a ministry of death What's he talking about? Well, the only ministry on stone is Of course the Ten Commandments and what do we find about it the Apostle Paul in one of his Landmark letters in the New Testament is saying the Ten Commandments on stone are a ministry of condemnation And death if you need the reference for that It's 2nd Corinthians 3 and it's verses 6 to 10 It is a powerful passage where Paul says there's a new ministry a better ministry a ministry of life a ministry of the Spirit a Ministry that has greater glory than the Ten Commandments. Maybe you remember the story, don't you? Moses comes down that mountain with the Ten Commandments in his arms. He's got those tablets and he's holding them tight and What happens to his face? Well at first his face is glowing I mean he has had an experience on Mount Sinai, but guess what happens next that glory begins to fade. The glory on his face begins to fade. Why? Because the glory of the Ten Commandments was fading. And that's what 2nd Corinthians 3 teaches us. There's a greater glory, a greater ministry today. It is the ministry of God's grace. It is the new covenant. We are not under the old covenant. We are not under the Ten Commandments. So when people start dicing up God's law, this is a very popular teaching today folks. They start dicing up God's law and they say Jesus fulfilled some of it, but not all of it. They say you're free from some of it, but not all of it. Well that is not biblical. James chapter 2 verse 10 says the law is all or nothing. It says if you keep the whole law and stumble at one point, you're guilty of all of it. Galatians chapter 3 verse 10 says the same thing. It says cursed is everyone who does not obey everything. Written in the book of the law, the Torah, all 613 commands, cursed is everyone who does not obey everything. Wow. The law is an all-or-nothing proposition. You don't pick your favorite parts. It's not like going to that Chinese restaurant and enjoying the buffet. You know, I'll take the Mooshu pork and yeah the Kung Pao

chicken, I'll have that, but then I guess I'll take a pass on the on the sweet and sour shrimp. You don't get to pick and choose from God's law. It is an all-or-nothing proposition. It's not ten commandments. It's not delete the Sabbath and make it nine commandments. It's not add tithing and then say look Ma, a new set of ten. No. It is 613 commands staring us in the face and that's the whole point. No one is justified by the law. No one can keep the law. It's an all-or-nothing proposition. So these folks who come along centuries later, millennia later, and said well we got the moral law and then we got the ceremonial law and then we got the you know sacrificials and Jesus fulfilled some. Well the moment they say Jesus fulfilled some, you ought to leave the building because it's an insult to Christ. It's an insult to the cross. It's an insult to the finished work. Jesus Christ did not fulfill some of the law. He fulfilled all of it and we died to all of it and that's why quite frankly Romans 7 is so powerful. Have you ever stopped to notice what what he's talking about in Romans 7 when he says we were made to die to the law? What's his number one example? What is his number one example of a law that you've died to? Here it is, thou shall not covet. That is his prime example in Romans 7. Well I ask you, where does thou shall not covet come from? It comes from the Ten Commandments. And what does he say? He says apart from the law, sin is dead. He says the coveting command came in and I enjoyed sinning of every kind. I ended up coveting of every kind. And he says the solution, apart from the law, sin is dead. In context, what's he saying? Apart from the covet law, apart from the Ten Commandments, apart from the tablets of stone, sin is dead. You want to make sure you're sinning? Well the best way to make sure you're sinning is to live under the Ten Commandments. It'll excite sin like all get out. And yet the weird, wild, radical truth of the New Testament is that apart from the Ten Commandments, sin is dead. The Ten Commandments, a ministry of condemnation and death, Paul says in Corinthians. The Ten Commandments, what Paul says is that you got to live apart from them. Apart from the Ten Commandments for sin to be dead in your life. He says that in Romans 7. Are we ready for what's in the Bible or are we

gonna settle for what's in the Bible belt? There is a difference. This gospel is radical and powerful and you end up trusting Jesus plus nothing. A hundred percent natural, no additives, flirting with Moses is cheating on Jesus. We're inviting your calls right now. Maybe you want to react to something I said. Maybe you've got an issue that you want to ask about concerning the grace of God. What it means to be led by the Spirit. Well we do have room for you right now. You can dive in. Again that number 877-956-9566. I just outlined one of the most amazing truths in the New Testament. Testament, the Ten Commandments are not your moral compass. As a believer, the Holy Spirit is enough. He lives in you, and He will produce that self-control that the law never could. Well, we'll be back in 60 seconds, but right now I want to tell you about a brand new resource called 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 going to 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 going to love it and thank you so much for your support. If you love what we're about, maybe you've thought about giving to The Grace Message. But you can never have too much grace. We are showering the airwaves. We're plastering the message all over the planet because we want to reach people with the life-changing message of God's love and forgiveness and your new identity in Christ. If you love what we're about, maybe you've thought about giving to The Grace Message. Have you been joining us for broadcasts for, well, I don't know, a month, a few months, even a few years? You've thought about supporting The Grace Message, it is time. There's no better time than right now. You will help us say yes to all kinds of new invitations. Right now we're also looking

at a new opportunity to reach prisoners, yes, inmates in jails and prisons across North America and beyond. We're excited about this new opportunity. We want to say yes to it. And you know what? We can't do things like that without you. We are so grateful for your support. It takes two minutes to give your gift at The Grace Message website. That is andrewfarley.org. So easy to remember, andrewfarley.org. Of course, your gift is tax-deductible. And again, make sure to request your copy of Nothing to Prove when you give your gift. You're going to love it. It's called Nothing to Prove, and it's going to be a big, big encouragement to you. Go to andrewfarley.org and click on the Donate tab there. It takes just a couple of minutes. It means the world to us. So thank you for your support. We're going to go to Georgia first. We do have open lines, 877-956-9566. Join us right now. But Keith in Georgia, what have you got for us this afternoon, my friend? Hey, Brother Farley, how are you doing? Hey, good. What's on your mind? Hey, I live down here in the Bible Belt among some of my Pentecostal brothers and sisters. And about five years ago—I'm trying to make a long story short—God, He always had this big, giant spoon of grace to my mouth, and I just could not swallow it, because no one else around me was swallowing it like that, and I just couldn't swallow it. But anyway, five years ago, that spoon went down my mouth into my heart, okay? Now, the church I go to, God gave me a gift in the Word, so I'm just quoting the Word to my friends, to my brothers. But Andrew, they're having a hard time receiving it, even though it's pure word-for-word. I'm like, just pick a bird and I'll give it to you, you know? What do you—I mean, how do you deal with the frustration of, I have this delicious bread in front of me, and I just want you to taste it, but you don't want to. Yeah, okay, I hear you. Well, I would say it's all about the context in which you're doing that, Keith. You know, people are—if they're eating pizza, they probably don't want grace, they want pizza. If they're standing on the street corner— are waiting for a bus, they probably don't want grace, they want the bus. If you're in the middle of a conversation about, oh, I don't know, the Atlanta Falcons or the Dallas Cowboys or any other team, they probably want to talk about football, not about grace.

So I would say there's a context to it. And the Holy Spirit respects all of that, and the Holy Spirit will always give you a peace and a rest. If all you talk about is Bible talk, people will turn a deaf ear. And so I just want to encourage you that Christ is your life when you're talking about baseball. Christ is your life when you're talking about hobbies and interests and sports and health and the weather. And small talk, not my favorite thing in the world either, but I've learned over the years that Christ is my life in the midst of small talk. And so what I'm trying to say is, you know, you're mature in the message. I can tell you've had a lot of mileage in life, and you've spent a lot of hours, thousands of hours getting to know the love and grace of God. You know how to share the identity in Christ message. You know how to share the new covenant with people. Here's what I would do. Give them a context in which you can invite them to hear and enjoy. In other words, start a home group, for example. Pick a Wednesday or a Thursday or a Saturday morning breakfast. Cook some pancakes for people. Have them over to your house. It might be three people. It might be two or five people at first. Who knows? It could grow to 11. But the point is, you know, you're invading people's day, and they're not even asking. That's my guess. In many contexts, they're not saying, Keith, please, please help me. Please teach me. Please give me wisdom, Keith. Please help my theology.

My theology's no good, Keith. I need your help. That's not what they're saying. That's not what's happening. They're in the middle of their day, and you are invading their day, changing the topic perhaps sometimes. And it comes out of left field for them. So what can a guy like you do? Boy, you've got a vast amount of knowledge. You've got understanding. You know the Scriptures. You could turn to any verse to defend your position. You know the Bible, and that's fantastic. Where can that be useful? Probably at a Bible study. How do you have a Bible study? You start one in your house. So that's my best advice for you. You know, try to invite half a dozen or a dozen friends, and maybe three of them show up. And next thing you know, you're feeding them, oh, I don't know, coffee and cake, or you're feeding them pancakes on Saturday, or you're having a pizza together on a Wednesday night. And some folks around the world, they pop in our video for 30 minutes, and they discuss for another 30 minutes. Other people feel comfortable cracking open the book of Hebrews or Romans and leading their own home group, and you know, we got discussion questions for that as well. But I think you're at the place where you need an outlet. You need an outlet for your understanding. You're frustrated, Keith. You're frustrated because you're trying to convince people and fix people and help people.

And if there's one thing I've learned in decades of doing this, you can't help people that don't want help. You can't fix people that aren't looking to be fixed. So that's my best advice to you, Keith. I'll put you back on and see. Does that help some, my friend? Yes, sir. I appreciate your help, man, and I appreciate the message of grace. You know, I just want to change their lives. Yes. Yes, you do. Of course you do. You've got an awesome heart, and you know, you're shedding tears right now because you've been misunderstood. And it hurts to be misunderstood. I know exactly what you're talking about. You could say, hey, guys, I know this great restaurant. It's got the best food in town. It's filet mignon. You're going to love it. The best steak I've ever put in my mouth. And then they're basically saying, hey, leave us alone. Hey, that's real good and nice, but we already know about that. And so that becomes frustrating. And you feel misunderstood. Your motives are misunderstood. You feel like a river that's just been dammed up, and there's no flow to it. And so what I'm saying is, make an outlet. Go ahead and, you know, reserve one time a week for an hour where you and friends can gather.

You know, spread the word. Invite people. Don't pressure them or push them. If you get one person, you and one person, sitting in a car. coffee shop for six weeks in a row, that'll be life-changing for you, Keith. It doesn't matter. The other thing I've learned in my life is whether it's one person or one million people, it doesn't make any difference. If you have the joy of expressing the gospel from the heart, there's the joy right there. It's whatever circle God gives you, and you can give thanks for it. It's an A+. It's a 10 out of 10. It's exactly what God wants for you and in you and through you. And so I would just say cast the net. Invite people. Tell them you're going to study the book of Romans. Tell them you're going to study the book of Galatians. Pick something and make it a tangible topic. They know what to expect. And then go verse by verse, and they're going to see it. If they care about God's word, they're going to see it. So the pressure is off. You don't have to fix anybody. You don't have to help anybody that doesn't want help. Just be available. That is the big word. Be available to the Spirit of God who lives in you. And you know what? If you find that you cast the net and you put that invitation out and nobody shows up, that just shows you maybe there's some bridges burned from the past.

So what do you do? You cast the net elsewhere. Maybe you join a different congregation. Maybe you make new friends. But eventually, just by having that gentle, accessible approach of being a human, a human that cares about baseball and pizza, a human that cares about all kinds of topics because you care about people who are engaged in those things, and you're not just a person that's addicted to a certain set of words, but you're a whole person and you love them and you care about them and you create a venue to share the good news. Next thing you know, you've got people in your living room who are actually there to learn the truth. So that's my best advice for you, Keith. We love you. So glad you're connected with us. And please reach out again any time. Great to hear from you. All right. Well, we're going to go to John in Florida next. But first I want to tell you about a brand new book that has just released. It is called Positively Redeemed, a story about forgiveness. It is written by our very own Ed Vargas. So our call screener here on Sunday is a dear friend who's been a friend for a decade and more going back to those early years when we just got started in national radio. Well, my friend Ed Vargas has a book available on Amazon.com. It is for children. It is a beautiful allegory, a story that teaches you all about forgiveness, forgiveness of friends and giving friends a second chance and a clean slate and releasing that debt, canceling the debt that someone might owe you so that you can show God's grace to people in relationships. This is a beautiful, sweet little book that is for kids to show them what it means not

just to receive God's grace, but to extend it to others. So I just wanted to take a moment to share with you about this book that has just been released on Amazon.com. It is called Positively Redeemed, a story about forgiveness written by our very own Ed Vargas. We're grateful for him. If you got some kiddos that you think might enjoy it, well, go to Amazon.com and order your copy of Positively Redeemed. It's a lot of fun. All right, let's go now to Florida, and we'll talk with John. Hey, John. Hey, Pastor Andrew. I'm 85 years old, and I have to apologize for my voice, if it cracks and everything. I thank God for high issues in ministry over the years. I've been involved with your ministry for 10 years now, approximately. Awesome. And I've got a praise report, and I've got a couple of prayer requests. On Thanksgiving Day about two years ago, I was invited to have Thanksgiving dinner with my neighbor and her daughter, but she came down with COVID-19, and we had to cancel having Thanksgiving dinner at her house. And my neighbor and I were walking by this house that had a sign outside saying, if you don't have a place to eat Thanksgiving dinner, you can come to our house. So we knocked on their door, and Paul and Jenny said, come on in, we're starting right now. So I was scared to God. for the grace with them and then going back in approximately 10 years all the great mystic books that I gave out like twisted scripture and all the ones wonderful books that you've written but they didn't produce one like-minded believer and I was just resolved to the years to celebrate fellowship with like-minded believers through your radio ministry. Now Paul has fully embraced the gospel of grace and is a 100% like-minded believer and he shares twisted scripture with his Catholic friend Mike and we started a twisted scripture bible study group and we've seen the poem and what an absolute blessing it has been for me.

I'd like to encourage you to never give up on God providing the increase. Yes, yes. Mike, pray for Paul's wife Jenny. Okay. For her America's Devil Chancellor who made the 21st operation of the Moffitt Center in Tampa, Florida. She's had six immunotherapy infusions to change the tumor. And we'll have a prodigal and open surgeon on May 21st. Okay. Please pray for her. Mark. If you would, pray for my cataract surgery on June 4th on my right eye and June 11th on my left eye. I love you best, Jesus. My God is with you. Oh wow, John. Wow. What a testimony. Definitely, I want to take just a moment right now and pray. Father, we just pray for John's cataract surgery. We pray for Jenny as well whose family has just come to know the grace of God. We ask about her operation happening in Tampa. We pray that you would minister to her powerfully and protect her and keep her and help that surgery be a powerful time of recovery and healing. In Jesus' name we ask this. Amen. John, your testimony is not uncommon. You plant a seed. Maybe you give somebody a book or something, and they start reading twisted scripture or maybe they put it on the shelf. They put it on the shelf for two years or four years. I've seen that with the Naked Gospel.

The Naked Gospel, our best-selling book, came out in 2009. Well, you look back, that's 17 years ago. And some people put that book on the shelf. They put it on the shelf for two years, five years, ten years, or more. And we still get emails about, hey, you know, Andrew, one day I picked up that book. I picked up that book that somebody gave me three, five, ten years ago, and I finally read it, and whoa, whoa. So it's not uncommon for you or anyone to plant a seed, whether it's giving somebody a book like you mentioned or just sharing the truth with someone and praying for them. And it seems like, oh, Lord, my prayers, you know, my prayers are not answered. Why is nothing happening, God? And the story in the Bible is one of, you know, it seems like God moves, you know, at an inch a decade, and we're like, God, why are we just inching along here? The Israelites felt that. I'm sure we feel like that sometimes with the Lord in our lives. God, why don't you move faster? Why don't you fix people? Why don't you do what I want you to do in the timing I have for it, Lord? And yet somehow, you know, it always just seems to be perfect in the end. God's plan, God's way, God's timing. And so that's what I mean as I was sharing with another caller about what it means to just be available. That's our only job. We cannot control the outcome. You know, I have been doing what I'm doing since about the year 2000, so 26 years. And the first day I was doing it, I was in the basement of a home in South Bend, Indiana, and the Internet was just getting popular, and I was doing it in Christian chat rooms talking about the love and grace of God and doing it with online Internet radio.

That was 26 years ago. And at first, you know, you're talking to three people, five people, seven people. And I just decided in my heart whether it was one person or a million people, I was going to be myself and express things from the core. of my being, be myself and live from the heart and talk from the heart and let the chips fall where they may, whatever it is, that's all up to the Lord and His influence. And I think you've experienced the same thing. You start out sharing something, you're not sure if it lands, you're not sure if people get it, you're not even sure if people want it. But you just trust the Lord with it because really, think about it, what other alternative is there? You know this is the truth, you know what Jesus has done, you know how powerful His finished work is, and there's no other message to share. What are we going to wake up one day and decide, gee, I think I'll share self-improvement? No, it's too late for that. You know too much. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. Paul says he's compelled. He's compelled by the love of Christ and so are we. We can't stop talking about the amazing truths that we love. So I really appreciate you calling in, John. You got a heart of gold there, my friend. We love you. I'm so glad you're connected with us. And thank you for your support, your kindness, your love, your encouragement. We want to hear from you again. We're so grateful for you. Well, folks, we have reached the halfway point of the broadcast today. I want to remind you, if you do want to support the Grace Message, you heard John's testimony about the lives of others and how this message multiplies.

That's what happens when you tell the truth. When you tell the truth about Jesus, it is contagious. What he has done is off the charts, incredible. And so, you know, if you want to support the Grace Message and help us reach even more people, go to our website at andrewfarley.org. Again, that's andrewfarley.org. You can click on that Donate tab, give your gift. We're going to put it to great use, not just good use, but great use. We're going to continue to blast this message all over the airwaves and all across the planet. Maybe you've seen what we've done with BibleQuestions.com. Oh my goodness, BibleQuestions.com reaching millions of people in 151 countries. And by the way, it is the new and improved BibleQuestions.com. Here in the last eight days, we've done some tweaks. We got into the nuts and bolts of it and made it better than ever. So go ahead, kick the tires, try it again. BibleQuestions.com was already good, but now it is better than it's ever been. And we're so excited about this outreach. Again, we do all of this because you help make it possible. And all I can say from the heart is thank you. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to proclaim this message around the world, and we can't do it without you. So thank you so, so much for your support. We're going to go to Lubbock, Texas now, and we'll talk with Don. Hi Don. Hello, Andrew. How are you today? Hey, doing great, my friend. What you got for us? Hey, I just wanted to express to you my gratitude for your book, The Naked Gospel. You brought it up today.

I've been wanting to call in for some time. I met you at the hearing center that I used to go to a men's meeting there years ago. And I could not figure out the flesh. I've been saved a long time. I struggled and I struggled. And you just brought what flesh really was, and that it really is the flesh. And then you shared The Naked Gospel and grace. I read that book just as soon as I got it the next day, and it absolutely impacted my life. And over the years, understanding of grace has been growing and growing. I believe that the meat of the word is grace, and that we never stop learning about grace. And so like even a couple of months ago, I just really, it's like something new came to me. And I understood it brought a lot of joy to my life. And your message and your word has always brought a lot of joy to my life, and I've shared it with so many people. I don't know that, I'm not sure that this side of heaven, that we really truly know the grace of Jesus. I just want to thank you so much for that. That was Lester Shaver's meeting, I don't remember if you remember that one. Yes. Yeah, that's amazing. It was truly life-changing. It was truly life-changing. Yes. Well, hey, thanks for that memory. That's a blast from the past, and what a sweet man he was in making that. I will study possible there in West Texas at the Hearing Center, and years ago I got to be a part of that, got to meet you, and yeah, we put the naked gospel in your hands and gave it out to other people as a gift, and next thing you know, what are we like

fifteen years later, here we are talking about it. Again, seeds planted and letting God do His thing, and then there's a harvest. So great to hear from you, Don. Interesting that you mentioned the flesh, you know, I love that that's your revelation. People learn what the flesh really is. You know, maybe growing up you thought the flesh was your nature, or maybe you thought it was one of your natures, or maybe you thought it was your one and only nature, your sinful nature. Maybe you thought you were a bad person with the Holy Spirit on top, you know, like a little whipped cream on the sundae. And what we learn through the scriptures is actually, no, wait, the flesh, the flesh is not your identity. You are not the flesh, you're a child of God, you're born of Him, you're born of the Spirit, you have a new heart and a new nature. You're not at war with yourself, you're not fighting yourself. And so I love these powerful truths from the gospel that reveal the nature of our real struggle. You are not having a civil war with yourself, you are not fighting half of you. It's not the good me versus the bad me. It's not the white dog versus the black dog. You know, starve the black dog and feed the white dog, and maybe one day through enough memory verses and enough church attendance and enough willpower, that old dog will die. No, no, no. The message of the gospel is your old self already died. You were crucified and buried and raised to newness of life. So what is the flesh? Well, it's not your nature, it's not yourself, it's not your identity. The flesh is basically stinking thinking. It's like outdated software. You've already got the new heart, the new heartware.

You got the new heartware at the core of your being, but there's still some old software that's trying to run in your mind. And it's like a virus, and you don't want to run that old software with all the bugs in it because it's not healthy. And so God says, let's renew your mind. You get software updates, right? Just like on your mobile device, you pick up that mobile device and what does it say? It says, well, you need a software update. And there's a couple of choices. You can hit the red X and say forget you, or you can hit the green button and say accept. Well, likewise, every day, every hour, we get new thoughts from the spirit of God living inside of us. And we can choose to update the software, renew our minds. But that is no indication of our hearts. We already have new hearts. We have new heartware. We have a new heart, a new spirit, and God's spirit living in us. The core of our being is changed. We have a new nature. We are a new creation. We are the new self. And yet we still got that stinking thinking. So when I realize what the flesh really is, stinking thinking, then I stop trying to fight myself and I can finally see my new identity in Jesus. So Don, I sure appreciate that topic. You know, I want to invite your calls right now. If you're out there wondering about something that I said or something that Don said, maybe you're not sure what to think of it. You got questions about identity in Christ or living under grace or what it means to be totally forgiven of all your sins once, forever.

Maybe you have questions about this or something else going on in your life. We do have open lines. We got time on the clock, room for you right now, 877-956-9566. And when we come back from the break, we're going to talk more about this radical truth that you don't have a wicked heart. Instead, God gave you a new heart. I know you've heard the lie, wicked, deceitful heart. Well, that was before salvation. Now look at you. You're spiritually gorgeous. You have a new heart with Christ living in your heart. Let's talk about it after this short break. 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. All right. Yes, thank you for your support. Again, we're so grateful for you. You know, it is expensive. I'll just be candid, it's expensive to be on SiriusXM nine times a week. It's expensive to be on TBN television. That's why we wanna make our needs known. And here we are, we're going into fiscal year end upcoming in just several weeks. And just wanna let you know, you can help. You can help us go into the new fiscal year strong and stable, able to reach even more people. If you're discerning the difference, if you're recognizing what we're all about and you're going, wow, I wanna be a part of this. I wanna help Andrew and his team reach the globe. Well, if you have the means to help, if you have an abundance, if you have joy in your heart and you wanna be part of our support team, we invite you to go for it. You can go to andrewfarley.org. Again, it takes just two minutes and request your copy. It's a free gift to you. It's our way of saying thank you. Request your copy of this new resource, Nothing to Prove. You're gonna love it. Again, go to andrewfarley.org.

Well, you know, we've been talking about this new heart and the flesh. Our last caller brought up the idea of the flesh and what is the flesh? Before the break, I was telling you, you know, we do have that stinking thinking we have to deal with, but you're not the sum total of every thought that hits your brain. You're not the flesh. You're not stinking thinking. You're a child of God. You do have a new heart and a new nature. It is a lie that Christians have a wicked heart. I know we might think it's humble to say that. We might think it's spiritual to say that. We might think it's religious to say that. And yet it's not Bible to say that. So, you know, it's just one of these things we wanna clear up because you have to know the truth to enjoy victory in Christ. And there's no way you can have victory in Christ while you're fighting yourself. And too many Christians believe the lie that, you know, that you're fighting yourself every day. It's the old self versus the new self. You can't live that way. You just can't. It's not gonna work. So the Christian life is not saying no to yourself.

The Christian life is actually saying yes to yourself because you're the new self. And Romans says, count yourself alive to God. Count yourself dead to sin. Count yourself alive to God. That's who you are now. You're the new self. You agree with Jesus. You don't have a wicked heart. You have a righteous heart, a new heart, a believing heart. So dispel the lie that you have a wicked heart. Enjoy the truth that God gave you a new heart. He cleaned house and then he moved in. Well, guess what, folks? We're on for an hour on Sunday afternoons. We still have, oh, almost 10 minutes remaining. So you can dive in and be a part of us today. Right now, we got an open line for you. You'll be the very next call if you call right away, 877-956-9566. All right, we're gonna go to Missouri and we'll talk with Brad. Hey, Brad, what you got for us today, my friend? Well, the only thing I have, pastor, is I'm so appreciative of Andrew Farley Ministries and I've been listening for a decade and a half probably. And I can't encourage it. I just wanna encourage people, I appreciate Paul's testimony. Nobody listening to this broadcast,

can go wrong learning what is called preaching the gospel, and that's what Andrew Farley does to the best of his ability, and I just thank you for it. I'll let you go. Oh, well, Brad, thanks for that encouragement. You know, you're one of three or four people here today that has taken a little extra time to encourage our team, and we love being encouraged, and so I appreciate that, my friend, and great to hear from you. You know, again, I would just say that scaring Christians is not ministry, and we want to do the opposite. We should not be calling it ministry when we're running around scaring Christians. Believers shouldn't be scared. We don't want to teach laws of salvation, because that's a lie. We don't want to teach that Jesus fulfilled some of the law, because that's a lie. He fulfilled all of it. We don't want to teach that you have to ask for forgiveness every day to be more forgiven, little by little, progressively. Why not? Because that's a lie. You're forgiven once for all. We don't want to teach people that they have to die to self as Christians. You don't have to die to self. Why not? Because Romans 6 says your old self died, so you don't need to get busy dying. You need to get busy living. Go ahead and count yourself alive to God. There are so many myths that we love dispelling around here, because we want Christians to know the truth, and we know how powerful the truth is, how inspiring the truth is, and so I tell you what. It's just, again, an honor to be a part of this ministry, this outreach, and thank you for joining us in it, all of you listening right now. We're so, so grateful for you, and you know, if you want to dive deeper, maybe today's the first broadcast you ever heard. If that's the case, or you've just been with us a few days, a few weeks, go to our mobile app. Our mobile app is filled with thousands of free resources. You can punch in your favorite topic. You can search our menu. You can easily find what you're looking for. If you're not sure about this forgiveness, you want to see how big God's grace is, look for it. You'll find the finished work of Christ plastered all over the Grace Message mobile app, and if you don't want to do the mobile app, well, I invite you to do the website. Again, you can click the Media tab right there at andrewfarley.org, and you're going to find those same resources available to you. I'm talking about decades, decades of resources that have been curated in an easy-to-find way, and the method is so simple. You'll navigate and quickly find what you need. Next thing you know, you're getting encouraged big time in God's grace. And don't forget about our books. You know, I hardly ever talk about the books that we have here at the Grace Message. It seems like I wait until the next book

is coming or whatever, but you know, each one of our books is unique and special. This book that I mentioned today, The Naked Gospel, this was the first book that I ever wrote, and I was sitting in a very small church of about 30 people. The year was 2005, and I began to pray, and with the 30 people in that church, we all began to pray, Lord, we pray that this message expands. We pray that this message grows, that it reaches the world in all kinds of languages all over the planet. That was my prayer. And in fact, I began to write this book on a bunch of airline flights, and as I was taking those flights back and forth, oh, about 30 of them, I began to write this book called The Naked Gospel. And then I found myself finished. I wrote the last word and saved the file, and it sat on my computer for a year. And I thought, Lord, you know, you inspired me. How am I going to get this book out? How are we going to reach people? And I prayed about it for another year and sent it out to all kinds of agents and did all the right method that you're supposed to do, 15 or 16 of them. Well, you know, about 12 or 13 of them wrote rejection letters, not interested, no thanks, never heard of you. And then I got great representation, the same agency that represented Billy Graham picked it up and said, yes, let's do it. Next thing you know, we send it to, oh, I don't know, 15 or 16 publishers. Once again, 13. rejection letters, no, not interested, and three acceptances. And one of those happened to be the best Christian publisher at the time, Zondervan, the same publisher that puts out the NIV Bible. So, God does miracles even in a church of 30 people in the year 2000. Oh, I guess by then it was 2008. But God does miracles. He does the unexpected. He creates something out of nothing, and that's been true of this ministry for so, so long. And again, I just want to say thank you so much to all of you who've been with us. You've been with us for a year, a decade, maybe even a few decades, and it is just so, so fun to watch the light bulb go on for people as they see how big God's grace really is. What we're saying, if you haven't caught on to it yet, is that the cross actually worked. The cross actually did something. Instead of this double talk, this mindless

babble that we see today in so many corners of religion, we see people saying, well, yeah, you're forgiven of all your sins, but you need to ask for forgiveness. Well, wait a minute, I thought you just said I was forgiven of all my sins. Well, yeah, you are, but you know, you need to ask. Well, I thought you said I was forgiven. And they never reconcile that. They sit with it, some of them, for decades. They never reconcile it and understand the finished work of Jesus. Others say, yes, Jesus fulfilled the law. He caused us to die to the law. We're not under the law. And then five minutes later, they're saying, well, you need the 10 commandments for Christian living. I thought you said I died to the law. I thought you said Jesus fulfilled the law. I thought you said, well, I don't mean the 10. That's different. Okay, so you're saying Jesus enables me to wear polyester? Gee, thanks, Lord. Oh, so you're saying Jesus enables me to eat pork? Gee, thanks, God. Is that all there is? That Jesus enables us to eat pork and shellfish and work on Saturdays? Or is there more to it? Did Jesus die and resurrect in order to give us a real freedom where we trust Him with our lying problem? Not Moses, but Jesus. We trust Him with our coveting problem. Not Moses, but Jesus. We trust Him. And the reason you're not running around murdering people today is not because of tablets of stone. The reason you're not running around killing people is because Christ lives in you, and He gave you a new heart and new desires, and He is enough. So, you know, the last thing I'll just say is there's a whole lot of folks running around these days in the name of telling you as a Christian that you need to get closer to God. Well, where do you find that in the Bible? That a Christian needs to get closer? I don't see it. I don't see a single verse in the New Testament telling a Christian to get

closer. Do we learn? Yeah, absolutely. We learn every day, every hour, every second. Do we grow? Absolutely. We grow in God's grace. We get our minds renewed. We learn and we grow. But as far as being close, you got vine and branches connection. As far as being close, you're one spirit with the Lord. Romans 6 says you're united with Christ. First Corinthians says you've been fused and bonded to Him forever. You can't get any closer than one spirit. He's in you. You're in Him. That's the truth. Let's celebrate. 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. you