Salvation, Guilt and Baptism

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 dry 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. It'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 are live across the United States and Canada on SiriusXM, all kinds of FM and AM stations and yes, of course, we're live streaming on social media as well. It doesn't matter how you're listening or watching right now, you can simply call in and be a part of tonight's conversation. We'd love to have you four open lines right now. That means plenty of room for you. You'll be the first to get in 877-655-6755. If you're a first-time caller tonight, please know we love it. We love to hear from our first-time callers. We want to hear from you and if you're a veteran caller, maybe you joined us in the past. Has it been a while? Has it been a few days, a few weeks?

Well, it's time to join us once again, 877-655-6755. Maybe it's a personal problem going on in your life right now, in your marriage, with your kids, in your church, or maybe you're not even sure about your relationship with God. You need some assurance, some clarity, or perhaps it's again something you heard in church or scrolling through social media or chatting with a friend in a coffee shop. Something came up and you just want to talk it over. Well, those are all great reasons to join the conversation right now. We do have wide open lines room for you, 877-655-6755. Well we do have open lines so you'll be sure to get in right away, go for it right now and for our first call of the evening, we'll go to San Diego and talk with Ryan. Hi, Ryan, what you got for us tonight, my friend? Hi, Andrew. Thanks for taking the call, I appreciate it. Yeah. I just had a question for you, you know, before, you know, I was saved, I definitely had a lot of issues with the lust and the pornography and, you know, I've watched it four or five times a week and they're really still looking at that point, of course, though, with no Christ. But, you know, nowadays I say, they're still, like, I still flip up every, maybe once every two to three months, you know, which, in my eyes, it's kind of a victory I'm happy because it doesn't have to as often but, you know, I guess my question is, when we still when we flip up like that and there's still guilt there, even though there's no combination, you know, I still feel a need to, you know, say sorry and I guess I was just curious, like, how do we deal with that guilt as believers and, like, how do you deal with that with general, you know, still feeling guilty, you know, I guess we should. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I think you have to start defining what you're going through because of the gospel or in light of the gospel. Now, you know, the book of Hebrews says that if the Old Testament people had had what we

have today, then they would have no longer felt guilty for their sins. Another translation says they would have no longer had consciousness of sins. Now, growing up, that's not what I heard that, you know, believers weren't supposed to have guilt or consciousness, some sort of guilty conscience. I never heard that. Nobody taught me that. And yet that's the truth of the gospel. I'll tell you what I heard instead, Ryan, I heard there's two kinds of guilt. There's false guilt and real guilt. Now, the false guilt is just accusation. because that's coming straight from the Holy Spirit. Now, since then, I've spent a little more time in the Bible and I've seen the truth that sets us free. Is there Godly sorrow? Yes. Is there remorse? Yes. Is there regret? Yes. Is there a desire to change? Of course. But it's not about guilt. God's not interested in making us feel guilty, but he does show us that we regret sin and we have remorse over it. And we want to act differently because we have a new identity, because we have a new heart. Now, if someone out there is thinking, well, that's just semantics. It doesn't matter. It does matter because what I'm sharing with you right now will keep you from that blame and shame game. It'll keep you away from falling into that pit of despair, that pit of condemnation. And it will also help you not mistake Satan for the Holy Spirit because the accuser accuses us day and night. And yet God never does. God says there's no condemnation and I remember your sins no more. Satan says there's plenty of condemnation and let me remind you of your sins. And God says, wait, wait, I remember them no more. So which is it? Well, we have to decide that guilt is not from God. If you're a believer in Christ, he's taken away your sins. He remembers them no more. He keeps no record of your wrongs. And yet, and yet he trains you for the future. You're being disciplined, discipled, comforted, counseled, and still he keeps no record. So that's the best kind of counsel you can possibly have. So I think that's really key. That's a really big deal. As far as what you should process. I mean, obviously, again, regret remorse. There's a godly sorrow that leads to repentance. That's very different from having to beg and plead and hope and wait to see if God might forgive you. It's very different from having that confession mentality where I think, well, if I just list them all, and if I make sure I don't forget one,

that progressively I get forgiven every day on a Monday and a Tuesday and a Wednesday. No, forgiveness doesn't work that way. You're forgiven past, present, and future. So if forgiveness is finished, if if Jesus said it's finished, and that's real, then I would ask what's left? Well, what's left is a natural, godly, regret, sorrow, remorse. I mean, that's normal. That's healthy. Because look at you. You're a child of God. You're not who you used to be. You described it, Ryan. You said, I got Christ in me now. I'm different. Well, that's true. It's different because you got Christ in you, but also it's different because you're different. You're a new creation. You're a child of God. You're the new self. You're dead to sin. Sin won't work for you anymore. You're allergic to sin, right? I kind of joke. I mean, I'm allergic to lots of things. Oh, my goodness. I'll never forget. I went to that allergist. I got tested. And the doctor says, well, you're allergic to chicken, turkey, eggs, dairy. And then he starts describing the planet. He's like, you're allergic to planet Earth. He basically was saying that. What he said, Andrew, you're allergic to the tree and the grass. Then he started naming certain trees and grass. Oh, my goodness. I mean, what do you do at that point? Well, obviously, you could take your allergy medicine and move on with life. But in the spiritual realm, what I'm trying to say is, you are allergic to sin. It'll cause massive inflammation. You're allergic to sin, and you have a beautiful new addiction. You're addicted to Jesus. And that's just true, Ryan, like you're going to prove it. You're going to prove it one way or another. You're going to prove it by sinning and being miserable. Or you'll prove it by expressing Jesus and being fulfilled. But either way, you're proving that you're different than the guy next door. You have a new identity and it's real. It's not just feel good talk. It's not just about your image, your self-image. It's not just about your self-esteem. No, identity in Christ is real. It has to do with your nature and your desire. the the pornography thing like in your heart of hearts you don't really want that so what if you remembered that before the temptation and not just after the moment as you're being tempted What if you count yourself dead to that thought count yourself alive to God and then yes if you fail I mean you're asking me. What's normal regret remorse sorrow godly sorrow, but not condemnation Not shame not accusation God is gonna build you up Not tear you down and I hope you hear that. I almost want to say it twice. I will

God's gonna build you up. He'll encourage you He'll remind you of your new heart and your new nature and he'll say things to you like Ryan You're not made for that anymore. You're better than sin. You're above sin sin is beneath you Fix your eyes on me. Set your mind on things above. You're above sin You're seated with me in heavenly places And so that's a building up not a tearing down and so that regret and remorse Comes as a result of understanding your new identity. There's no shame in it. There's no sting There's no guilt. There's no accusation. It's love. It is the love of Jesus Christ So I'll put you back on and see does that make sense Ryan. Oh Yeah, that made a ton of sense. Thank you so much Someone once put it to me kind of simply that you know as a believer that the Holy Spirit dwells within you So when you do unholy things, you're gonna feel comfortable. That's very natural Yes, yes, and there's a second reason that it's gonna feel unnatural. All right So the first reason is the Holy Spirit The second reason is the new you and that's what I'm saying Almost every Christian I've ever met would make the statement that you made and it's a correct statement. You're right It feels sin feels weird sin feels off because of the Holy Spirit Absolutely now. Let's add a second truth to that The reason it feels off and weird is also because of you you are a new creation You're the new self. You have a new heart. You have a new nature You have a new set of desires and hear me. You don't really want to sin The Holy Spirit doesn't want to sin But you also don't want to sin now Because you've been crucified buried raised born again. You're different. So that's what I'm saying Identity in Christ is not merely about self-esteem Identity in Christ is about understanding what you really want. I Hope that helps Ryan call us back any time All right, let's go to Mississippi and we'll talk with Michael. Hi Michael. What you got for us tonight my friend? And I've done I've done some studying about doing some research. I just want to get your thoughts about it. The first one is Will all people be saved and the second one is can all people be saved?

Okay, all right. Well, let's talk about that. Will all people be saved? Well the answer to that one is no That's pretty clear from a number of scriptures. We can talk through some of those but first of all Let's remember some of the basics. I mean the whole world is not forgiven And that's why we pop over to Revelation and we see that people at the end of the age are judged according to their deeds Well, if their deeds were forgiven, they wouldn't be judged for them, but unbelievers are judged for their deeds Furthermore, we read in Scripture that everybody is born dead Dead to God and we're born in Adam and we only come alive to God when we're in Christ So for example, John 3 16 whoever believes in me Has everlasting life, right? The one who does not believe has been judged already and Then the one who believes in the Sun has eternal life. The one who does not will not see life How about John V, the person who hears. a condition. You hear the gospel, you believe the gospel, and in so doing you're responding to what you're hearing, you're calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved, and so that's part of it. I mean, it takes two to tango. Yes, God did everything. God did everything He needed to do through Christ, but He's not going to force Himself on us. And so, Acts 16 says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." Now, the universalists says, "You're going to be saved. I'll be saved." Everybody's saved, no matter what. They call it universalism or ultimate reconciliation, but that's not the case. It's not biblical. Someone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name. That's Acts 10. So I could go on, but oh my goodness, I mean, what in the world would the final judgment be for? And if sins were all forgiven, there'd be nobody judged. And then furthermore, all of these salvation pitches, all of these warnings, today, if you hear His voice, don't harden your heart. You don't want to end up as an enemy of God. There's a raging fire, Hebrews says, for the enemies of God who reject the gospel. Well, what are we doing? When people say the whole world is saved, they're basically taking a sharpie marker and wiping out all that Scripture, acting like it doesn't exist. So will all people be saved? Of course not. There are rejectors of Jesus. There are those who don't put their trust in Him. And of course, they remain dead in their sins. Now your second question is, can all people be saved? Well, the answer to that, if we're talking about who did Jesus die for, the answer

is everybody. Jesus died for everybody. He didn't die for some people. He died for all. And so we see that throughout the Scriptures as well, that Jesus died for everyone. We read John, the Apostle John, for example. He says that Jesus is the propitiation, the satisfying sacrifice, not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. Hebrews 2 says He tasted death for everybody. And then 1 Timothy 2 says He gave Himself as a ransom for all. And I mean, we could go on, but it comes back to that sales pitch that we read in the four Gospels. Whoever, whoever believes in Him, that's whoever. Whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. Elsewhere in the New Testament letters, we read God wants none to perish. He wants all to believe. He wants everybody to come to repentance. Now does that happen? No, that's God's heart for the world. But not everybody responds. And so did Jesus die for everybody? Yes. Can anybody be saved? Yes. Is everybody going to be saved? No, of course not. So I hope that helps my friend reach out to us again anytime great to hear from you there in Mississippi. All right, let's go now to Ontario, Canada. We'll talk with Angela. Hi, Angela. What you got for us today? Hello. It's such a pleasure. How are you? Hey, doing fantastic. What's on your heart tonight? It's so my heart. Okay. So right now I'm battling back and forth because I am a board again. Yep. And I did grow up in a cardinal Christian household. Yeah. And I do have siblings that believe in the church as a more Catholic sound. And we have a couple of questions, or I have a couple of questions. And it comes to baptism. And it went when it comes to the Eucharist. Yeah. So when it comes to baptism, do you believe that because I grew up Christian and I was baptized through my parents? If I have been reborn, how I would say, how can I be baptized again or not how can I be baptized? But is it necessary? Right, right, right. Okay. And then I would say necessary for what? And then if you say necessary to be. As you mentioned, you're already born again, you've already been saved by faith, you already understand that salvation is a free gift, so water baptism doesn't save anybody. Now, you're an adult, you understand the gospel now, the real gospel, the gospel of grace, you understand

what it means to be saved as a free gift. So do you wanna have a birthday party with some friends and like-minded believers? Do you wanna have somebody gather with you at a river or a swimming pool or at a baptismal at a church building and celebrate with 10 or 30 or 50 or 500 friends in a church service, whatever you wanna do, follow your heart where Jesus Christ lives. He lives in your heart for a reason so that you can walk by the spirit, be led by the spirit, trust Christ inside of you, and celebrate if that's what you wanna do. But remember what you're doing, you're doing it in remembrance, you're celebrating, you're not causing something new to happen. Water never saved anybody, you're saved by grace through faith. And so, whether it's the Lord's Supper or baptism, they are both incredible celebrations. Luke 22, do this in remembrance of me. And then in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul quotes that very same thing, this do in remembrance of me. That's what the Lord's Supper is about. And then when it comes to water baptism, I mean, remember there were some Corinthians that were arguing over baptism and Paul literally writes them and says, I thank God that I did not baptize many of you because you guys are arguing about who baptized you and having competitions. I thank God I wasn't involved, I didn't baptize many of you.

And then he says, God didn't send me to baptize. Well, what does that tell you? God didn't send Paul to baptize people, why not? Well, 'cause that's not what saves you. God sent Paul to preach the gospel, why? Because that's what saves you. The gospel is what saves you. So when you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you're saved. Acts 16, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Well, of course, the answer is hearing with faith in Galatians three. So that's how you were saved as far as whether you wanna be water baptized as an adult, now that you understand the gospel better, now that you're truly born again, that's up to you. I would encourage you. I mean, my heart says, go for it. Why wouldn't I wanna celebrate the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my life? But I don't wanna make the mistake of thinking it's gonna cause something new. A birthday party doesn't make you born. You have a birthday party because you were already born. And so it is with water baptism. So I hope that gives you some guidance, Angela.

Great question and reach out to us again anytime. Well, thanks for joining us tonight. I'm Andrew Farley. You've been listening to The Grace Message. Don't forget, it's just two weeks away our brand new book, Impossible Teachings of Jesus. - 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 dry 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. (dramatic music) [BLANK_AUDIO] You