“We can do ALL things through Christ?”

Hi, I'm Dr. Andrew Farley, host of The Grace Message. Got a Bible question, struggling with a personal issue, wondering about a tricky verse? At BibleQuestions.com, you'll get clear, grace-based answers in 10 seconds or less. No fluff, no confusion, just practical, biblical truth. Ask anything, anytime, and experience the power of God's love. That's BibleQuestions.com, that's BibleQuestions.com, your go-to for biblical clarity. Jesus plus nothing, 100% natural, no additives. Andrew Farley is celebrating your freedom in Christ. Call in and ask your questions at 877-655-6755. That's toll-free at 877-655-6755. 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. That number to call, 877-655-6755. Right now we got wide open lines, plenty of room for you to get in with your question. Maybe you've got a question tonight about a scripture passage, perhaps you heard something in church and you're not sure about it, you want to put it to the test. That is exactly why we're here for you. We are live across the United States and Canada on Sirius XM, all kinds of FM and AM stations, and of course, yes, we're live streaming on social media as well. It doesn't matter how you're listening right now, you can simply call in and be a part of tonight's conversation. We'd love to have you. Three open lines, tonight's your night. It's a great time to get in, 877-655-6755. Well we're running out of days in the month and we're giving away Gospel Zero to each and every donor this month, so we're going to go talk with Sam in just 60 seconds. But before we do that, here's just a little bit more about Gospel Zero. What if the apostles were alive today? And what if they wrote letters to the church of today?

What would they say about us, our beliefs, the way we relate to God, the way we do church? Well that's exactly the question I'm asking in the book Gospel Zero. And this month, we're giving away copies of Gospel Zero to each and every donor as our way of saying thank you for your support. This book is a lot of fun. It's going to be encouraging, but also clarifying. It's witty and powerful. I wrote it together with my great friend John Lynch. We had a blast. You're going to love it. So make sure to request your copy of Gospel Zero. It's all about reclaiming the radical message of God's grace in today's world of churchianity. What would the apostles say to us today if they were writing us now? Find out in Gospel Zero. And thank you so much for your support. Yes, thank you for your support. We can't do it without you. Of course, we absolutely love doing it alongside of you. So thank you for every ounce of your support as you help us reach even more people all over the planet through the grace message. And again, don't forget, request your copy of Gospel Zero. It's a lot of fun. Even if you've already read it once, you may want to get a copy for a friend. So check that box when you give your gift. And it's our way of saying thank you. It's our way of encouraging you in the love and grace of God. And you'll have a blast reading it, too. Together with my co-author, well, it just, the whole book just kind of changed tone. Everything is a little bit of comedy sprinkled in, a whole lot of wit, and of course the depth of the gospel along the way.

So it's a lot of fun. You'll laugh. You'll learn. It's Gospel Zero. You can find out more at andrewfarley.org. All right, let's go to Texas, and we'll talk with Sam. Hi, Sam. What you got for us? Hello, Andrew. Andrew, I have, I think, all of your books. I have Gospel Zero, and they're all great resources. I wonder if you would ever consider writing a book where you expose, I don't want to use the word lie, so to speak, because a lot of these people are not lying. They believe what they teach. But expose the untruth and reveal the truth. And I think that's a great idea. I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. And I think that's a great idea. based in Scripture, like the top five or top ten. That would be a great resource for a reference. But if you could comment on Swithians, I believe it's Swithians. I can do a... things through Christ who strengthens me. And the misapplication of that verse, maybe as it relates to the health and wealth gospel, where, you know, I think I'm gonna I'm gonna get this job or I'm gonna make the team. What was being conveyed there? Sure, yeah. Okay, Sam. Alright, well thanks for your question and

your comment. Well, I got some great news. That book has been written. You asked for a book about five or ten lies. How about 45? I got a book called Twisted Scripture 45 Lies Christians Have Been Told. That's one of our 13 books. That's right, 13 books. And so just know that if you've read one or two or three, you only have ten books to go. And we don't talk enough about our books around here, but we've had books going for, oh my goodness, 17 years of books. 13 books in 17 years. So the book you're desiring already exists, and it's called Twisted Scripture. You're gonna love it. So check it out on amazon.com. And as far as this question, you know, you talk about lies and truth. Well, that's certainly a big lie, Philippians 4.13, that it somehow means that, you know, I could just wake up and God will make me an astronaut. God's gonna make me an Olympian if I just believe hard enough. I could do all things through Christ, so I'll probably end up being president of the United States, you know. And we hear this verse quoted at graduations, and everybody who's 17 and 18 years old going to a Christian high school somewhere, they think, boy, I'm gonna go out and be a world changer and I can do all things through Christ. And some of them then start believing I can name it and claim it, to gab it and grab it, I can speak it into existence, and I'm gonna be a grand success. Nothing can stop me. I'll be the world's greatest businessman. I'll be the world's greatest stockbroker. I'll be the world's greatest surgeon, and you fill in the blank. Instant success at medical school or law school. Why? Because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Because I'm a Christian, it's an automatic lever I pull down, and out comes the blessing of success and good circumstances. Well, once you live on this planet for, oh, a year or a decade, you start to realize that doesn't add up. That's not right. So the obvious question then is, what is Paul talking about in Philippians 4.13? He does say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, but have you ever noticed the surrounding verses? It's not really about being able to tap into health and wealth and all those things. It's something much different, isn't it? It's actually about endurance. It's about making it through. It's about surviving. And so let me just read a little bit

here, because ultimately it's about contentment and all of those things. Verse... how about verse 11? We'll back up just a little bit, right? For context, and here's what we discover. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I'm in. I know how to get along. See, that's what this is about. It's about getting along. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you've done well to share with me in my affliction. Okay, so what did we learn by just reading a paragraph instead of quoting a single verse? Well, we figured out very quickly that what's on Paul's mind is that sometimes we encounter all kinds of circumstances. Circumstances like, he says, humble means. Circumstances like prosperity, sometimes. Other circumstances like going hungry, and other circumstances like being filled. And then he says other circumstances like having abundance, and others like suffering need. So let me get this straight. If I'm a Christian, and I have humble means, and I'm going hungry at times, and I'm suffering need, that doesn't mean that I have missed the meaning of I can do all things through Christ. Because really, what he's saying is, I can endure. I can endure all things. I can make it through. I can get along, he says in verse 12. So it is a crying shame, Sam, that some strands of Christianity or flavors of fleshy religion have twisted this scripture into really telling people that if they just believe hard enough and name it, claim it, that they can have prosperity. But Paul is saying sometimes you'll have humble means. The health wealth gospel is saying you can always be filled.

It's the secret of being filled. But Paul says you might go hungry sometimes. And so the health wealth gospel says you can have abundance and yet Paul says you might be suffering need. And the health wealth gospel says, well, you would never be sick and you would never have troubles of a physical kind. And yet Paul says, thank you for sharing with me in my affliction. So what does that tell you? That together with, oh, I don't know, the stomach problems that Timothy had, frequent stomach ailments, Paul writes. He tells him to take some red wine for it. Other places, Paul is sick or not well. In one place he talks about the thorn in the flesh that caused him weakness. Notice the word weakness. That's not some sort of annoying friend or some of these things that people have claimed. That thorn in the flesh is causing him physical weakness. Some people think it was his eye trouble. He says at one point you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me if you could. And so other places, another place, Paul thanks the early church for taking care of him in his illness. So the health wealth gospel is hollow. It makes no sense at all. It takes a passage like this, I can do all things,

and twists it where people have unrealistic expectations and ultimately give them three months or three years and they'll have disappointment with God. So the answer to that is to understand the truth in context, just like we talked about. And the context here reveals the meaning. I can endure all things through Christ, whether I'm going hungry or being filled, whether I'm suffering need or having abundance, he is the secret of my contentment. And it doesn't mean I'm gonna have good circumstances. Paul literally says that we can have whatever circumstances that come our way. So Sam, I hope that helps my friend. Great question, I'm glad you brought it up. Grab a copy of Twisted Scripture. It's exactly what you ordered, sir. And your wish is our command and it already exists. So that's the great news. Call us back anytime. All right, let's go to Washington and we'll talk with David. Hi, David. Good evening, sir. Prayers and blessings to you and the ministry. Always enjoy listening. I just, last week I caught talking about the phrase die to self. And although you explained it pretty good, I was driving and I really didn't catch all of it.

And then of course someone spoke about it Sunday in church and I was trying to make sense of it. Could you take a second and recap that or give me the points about that? Yes, absolutely. Well, the bottom line is we made that up. The phrase die to self, we made it up. I mean, churchianity woke up one day and said, I think what we need to do is make Christians feel bad about themselves, so let's tell them to die to self. One day, Christianity, at least some weird, unhealthy religious flavor of it, woke up and said, you know, I think we ought to really cause Christians to be obsessed with offing themselves, with killing themselves spiritually. They need to be convinced that they're the problem and so they need to wake up every day and get rid of themselves, at least a part of themselves. So let's invent this term die to self. Now I say all of that tongue in cheek, but the truth is die to self is non-existent in the Bible. Somebody made it up and boy, have we perpetuated it these days in Christianity. Now the closest phrase you're gonna find to die to self is in Romans chapter six and it says the opposite. It says your old self died, past tense. Your old self died, it was crucified with Christ. Romans 6 6 it was crucified with Christ and then it says the death that he died

he died once and in the same way consider yourself to be dead to sin and alive to God so Christians are never told to kill themselves spiritually we are never told to die to self instead we are told that at salvation God does something miraculous he causes us to have our old self die and we become a new self let me put it simply you can't be born again unless you die first and that's exactly what Jesus is talking about unless a grain of wheat falls and dies it can't bring forth that's what he's talking about he's saying that there has to be death for there to be new life and so now I ask you do you have new life well sure you do you're a new creation you're the new self well how did that happen your old self died so then do you need to get busy dying no I'd recommend that you get busy living instead of get busy dying and let me tell you it is a morbid ugly flavor of Christianity that tells Christians they need to off themselves every day and so Galatians 2 20 clears that up it says I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me so I'm gonna do what Romans 6 says I'm gonna count myself alive to God which is a whole lot different than trying to get rid of me I'm gonna thank God for me and I'm gonna say Lord Jesus Christ thank you thank you that I was crucified buried and raised to newness of life you gave me a new heart Romans 6 17 says I became obedient from the heart you say I'm a slave of righteousness now everywhere I look I'm addicted to righteousness I can't get away from it Christ in me me and Christ I'm bonded to him fused to him forever united with Christ one spirit with the Lord I can't get away from Jesus he's my life he's my everything thank you God thank you for this gospel I am gonna believe you today and I'm gonna count myself alive to you and then when that nasty sinful thought comes my way you know what I'm gonna say I'm gonna say I know I'm dead to that it may feel like me it may feel like I want to do it but I'm gonna count myself dead to that thought and alive to my God and I'm gonna stand on the truth of the gospel and I'm not gonna try to keep dying I'm gonna get busy living and I'm gonna count myself alive so that's why it's so important to know the scriptures because sometimes we'll have a lot of religious

jargon that comes our way let me give you another couple of examples now not of jargon but of twisted scripture and the the second example you know the of twisted scripture would be the idea that we need to die daily and Paul says that he says I die daily but he's not talking about you and your ugly sinner self no he's talking about being on the road traveling and he's traveling and he's preaching the gospel and he's saying I die daily for this message and the example he gives is he's been attacked by wild dogs by wild beasts on the road near Ephesus he is attacked by wild dogs and he says look I die daily for this message his point is look at how much I'm suffering to deliver this gospel to you his point is not hey everybody I want you to take these three words I die daily rip them out of context and for the next 2,000 years I want you to wake up and have a morbid view of yourselves and try to kill yourselves spiritually every day no no he's talking about physical danger on the road as he travels so there is no cause for saying we need to die to self our old self died there is no cause for us to say we need to die daily Paul was talking about physical danger as an apostle and lastly someone might say well Jesus said to deny yourself yes he did but can we read the entire verse because when we do it says take up your cross it says deny yourself take up your cross follow him all right where did he go when he had his cross where did he go he went to Calvary why to die then where'd he go to a tomb. Then where'd he go? Well, he went into resurrection, raised and seated. And so he was with his father that very day in paradise. So my point is, when we take up our cross and follow Jesus, we follow him into death, burial, and resurrection. And guess when that happened? See, now we're back at square one. When did that happen? I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live. Christ lives in me. Romans chapter six, our old self was crucified with him. Our old self was buried with him so that we might be raised to newness of life. See, that's a salvation verse. And Jesus, when he says to these Jews 2000 years ago, he says, you got to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. He's trying to get them saved. But I got some great news, David, you're already saved. If you are in Christ, you're saved. And so you're the new self. So here's a crazy thought. Why would we deny what God says is new? Why would we try to stuff down

and deny ourselves when God says we're the new self? So it's an incredibly liberating and encouraging and inspiring message to realize God's already done the heavy lifting. Through Jesus, you were crucified, buried and raised. That's how you got born again. So yes, we got some enemies. Our enemies are things like the world, the flesh, the power of sin, the devil. But you are not your own enemy. And that's the point. We are fighting a battle against the flesh, the world, the power of sin. But we are not fighting a civil war against ourselves. I'll put you back on and see. Does that make sense, my friend? Thank you, sir. Of course it does. Thank you for your time and explaining some things that I've always, always enjoyed listening to you, sir. Have a good one. Thank you so much. All right, David. Well, I love that you brought the heat today. That was a deep and meaningful question. That's what we love the most here at the Grace Message, questions about the gospel, questions that remind us of the finished work of Jesus, and questions that cause us to fix our eyes on Jesus all over again in a fresh way, rather than being distracted by religious jargon and religious lies. The gospel is so much better than all of that. So, in a way, we dealt with some twisted scripture today, which I guess reminds me that we got a book called Twisted Scripture. And folks, if you don't have that one yet, go to Amazon, grab a copy of it. It's 45 Lies Christians Have Been Told. You're going to love it. Again, the title, Twisted Scripture. And, well, I guess that's all we have time for today. I do want to remind you, maybe you're new to our ministry. Maybe you've heard our program a few times, and you're starting to discern the difference. You're starting to realize what we're actually saying and how powerful it is to understand what's finished, what's already done, and what we can count on daily. That doesn't take away the struggle, but it helps us understand where the struggle's coming from. And so, if that's the case, if you're jazzed about what you're hearing and you want to dive deeper, go to our website at andrewfarley.org. All of our resources are free there. Hundreds and thousands of messages that'll encourage you. You can search for whatever topic you need, and it's all going to point to Christ as life. 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