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Biblically Correct. Stranger to Jesus. | Theocast — Transcript

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0:01Is it possible to be theologically
0:03correct and at the same time completely
0:07distant from Christ?
0:09Yeah. As a matter of fact, John 5 says
0:12this. Jesus accuses people of this very
0:14thing that they knew the Old Testament
0:16well and yet they did not know him.
0:18That's what we're going to talk about
0:19today. And it's a confession podcast for
0:21me. My history is full of me judging
0:24people with right theology and beating
0:26them over the head and yet never getting
0:28to Christ. [music]
0:29And it is definitely a problem on the
0:31internet. It's a definitely a problem in
0:32evangelicalism to be somewhat
0:34theologically correct, puffed up with
0:36knowledge, but yet lacking any semblance
0:38of Christ. If you've been uh on the
0:41receiving end of that, or if that might
0:43be describing you, you might want to
0:45stay tuned. We're going to look to
0:46Christ for freedom in this particular
0:48area. Stay tuned.
0:51Ever read the Bible and walk away
0:52feeling like you're failing? No matter
0:54how hard you try, you're never measuring
0:57up. That's not a motivation problem.
0:59That's a reading problem. Most people
1:01have never been taught how to read the
1:02Bible the way Jesus taught it. So when
1:05they hear things like, "Be perfect, deny
1:07yourself, take up your cross," they
1:09assume it's all about trying harder. But
1:11what if that's not what Jesus was doing
1:13at all? What if the law isn't meant to
1:16fix you, but to reveal your need for a
1:18savior? And what if the gospel isn't
1:20advice, but an [music] announcement of
1:22what Christ has already done for you?
1:25That's the difference between law and
1:27gospel. And once you see it, everything
1:29changes. Clarity, [music] rest, and
1:31confidence. In the Bible according to
1:33Jesus, I show you how to read scripture
1:35the way Jesus intended. So you stop
1:38feeling crushed and confused and start
1:40living with confidence and rest in
1:42[music] Christ. You can get your copy of
1:44the book at theoccast.org.
1:51[music]
1:56[music]
2:01>> [music]
2:01>> All right, I'm excited about today's
2:03episode. Glad that you're here. If it's
2:05your first time listening, you can learn
2:06more about our ministry. It's called
2:08Theoccast. You can go to theoccast.org.
2:10I'm a pastor. I'm John Moffett. I pastor
2:13at Grace Reform Church in Spring Hill,
2:14Tennessee. Love my church. Love being
2:16there. And do this podcast as a ministry
2:18to help and encourage them. And
2:20hopefully this will be an encouragement
2:22to you as well. Before we jump in, uh we
2:25do have resources. So, if you find
2:27today's episode uh insightful and you'd
2:29like to learn more about the way in
2:31which we're teaching from a historic
2:32perspective, we love the creeds and
2:34confessions, we think that we should use
2:37uh what's been affirmed in the past and
2:40not try and invent anything that is new
2:42as it relates to Christ and him
2:43crucified. Uh a couple books you might
2:45want to be interested in. This one, the
2:47Bible according to Jesus, is my historic
2:49take on how to uh understand the
2:52reformed faith from an introductory
2:54level and how to interpret your Bible.
2:55So, covenant theology, chris
2:57christoologgical, um, understanding new
2:59versus old, uh, even a understanding the
3:03supernatural perspectives of our Bibles,
3:05uh, from a reformed perspective. So,
3:07encourage you to grab that. And then our
3:09book, uh, enough in Christ just came
3:11out. You can get some hardback copies of
3:12that or paperbacks copies of that, which
3:14is over my shoulder over here. And, um,
3:17those are on Amazon and our website. All
3:20right. I need to make a confession. So,
3:22I'm going to jump into the topic. I need
3:24to confess to you what has happened to
3:26me.
3:28And that's what today's episode is
3:29about.
3:31I want you to know about my past because
3:37I want to liberate so many of you that
3:41are listening to this from the same
3:43mistakes that I made. And I don't want
3:44you to make them because of how much
3:47damage they caused me in the past.
3:50And I'm so thankful to be standing here
3:52broken, weak, and in need of mercy. And
3:56I'm hoping at the end of this episode,
3:58you will find yourself broken, meek, and
4:01in need of mercy as well. And that's
4:04where Christ becomes all the more
4:06precious to us.
4:09When I first started studying theology
4:13back in seminary before college or
4:16before seminary in college, I fell in
4:19love with the reformed faith. I fell in
4:22love with books. And just to tell you
4:25where I came from, I was uh loved sports
4:28and racing. I wanted to be a
4:29professional dirt bike racer. And I did
4:32not want I don't think I finished my
4:34first book from cover to cover until I
4:36was in college. Um, somehow I lied my
4:39way through high school as far as if I
4:41had to read something. You know, my eyes
4:43glazed over it. So, did I read it? Sure.
4:45But I was not an academic. And God
4:49really changed my heart dramatically.
4:51Uh, during the period of my last years
4:54in high school and then when my father
4:55passed away, he was the foundation of my
4:59life. I learned everything from him. And
5:02when the Lord took him home, I no longer
5:05had a sounding board. I no longer had
5:08the discussions
5:10where I'd go and bounce everything off
5:12of him, even if I disagreed. You know,
5:14it was it was encouraging to be able to
5:16talk to somebody and get feedback. And I
5:20find myself just digging into scripture
5:22more and more, which is healthy and
5:24great. And the more I dug into
5:26scripture, the more questions I had. I
5:27can remember sitting in my office as a
5:29youth pastor looking up at the library
5:31of my father that I had inherited and
5:33just thinking to myself, what are all
5:36these books about? And I remember
5:37pulling one down and reading a
5:39commentary on the book of Ephesians and
5:42it started to just blow my mind apart of
5:44things I hadn't thought about, I wasn't
5:46even aware of. And that started my
5:49journey down the theological rabbit hole
5:53of really wanting to know everything
5:55that is about the Bible I can know. I
5:58got very hungry and it wasn't long after
6:00that that I had discovered the
6:02sovereignty of God. I started to
6:04discover things like covenant theology
6:07and it was opening my mind and my heart
6:11to new realities that I had never seen
6:13before. uh but one of the first things
6:15that I had learned was lordship
6:17salvation and that knowledge which is
6:21you can the arguments aren't from you
6:24know man's logic they're from scripture
6:26and if you want to know like my thoughts
6:28on it I've got multiple videos go to
6:30theoccast type lord of salvation you can
6:32watch the most recent one where I have a
6:33critique on it uh but I became a
6:36advocate for lordship of salvation on
6:38levels that I'm so glad social media
6:40didn't exist or YouTube because I would
6:42have much I would have to delete and get
6:44rid of. Um, I gave away John's book and
6:46I wanted to convert anybody I could find
6:48to being a lordship guy just because it
6:51was the first time I had really read
6:54something that made sense logically and
6:57the arguments felt sound especially from
7:00the theological background that I had
7:02came from where a lot of other pastors,
7:05kids and just Christians never took
7:07their faith seriously and I felt that I
7:11was the only one who made it through
7:13high school in some ways college. And so
7:15reading this book made it feel like
7:18those, you know, to follow Jesus means
7:20to take your faith at a at a at a costly
7:23measure.
7:24And it made logical sense to me. But the
7:27more I went down that theological rabbit
7:29hole, the more I ostracized people and
7:32myself from the wonder and glory of
7:34Christ. I wasn't leading people towards
7:37Christ as Lord as much as I was
7:40theologically getting into arguments
7:42about obedience and sanctification.
7:47And I be it became more about being
7:50right and debating than it did
7:54actually seeing the person the wonder of
7:56Christ. I mean the the book is the the
7:58gospel according to Jesus and
8:03it was so gospelless and I'm not going
8:06to get in this is not a conversation
8:08about lordship salvation but that then
8:09led me down into more of a Calvinistic
8:13understanding of sociology where I
8:15really fell in love with the sovereignty
8:16of God and um started to debate back in
8:20the day all we had only places we could
8:22debate was through email and so I was
8:24emailing a lot of my old friends and
8:26pastors and getting into these
8:28theologically, you know, I can remember
8:30just pounding out hundreds of words at a
8:32time. And this was before, you know,
8:34spell check, so then I have to go
8:35through and spellch checkck everything
8:36and just spent hours and hours and hours
8:38formulating, you know, a couple
8:39thousandword email and then sending that
8:41off for one person to read. And again,
8:44super thankful that the internet or you
8:47know chats uh and forums and social
8:50media didn't exist at the time. So I
8:53didn't find myself uh deleting a half of
8:56my life away. And through that period of
8:59time, I ended up at seminary. And while
9:01in seminary, that's when the Lord
9:03started to break my heart and convict me
9:07that I had become a theological warlord.
9:10And I was going to use theology to break
9:13down bad theology. And I was, and to
9:16this day, I agree that bad theology is
9:18damaging. Bad theology sends people to
9:21hell. It enslaves them. I I'm all
9:24against bad theology.
9:26But it was more the act of debating
9:30someone's theology and proving they were
9:32wrong than it was the ultimate aim of
9:35scripture which is the person work of
9:38Jesus Christ in our behalf that we might
9:41love one another. My ambition was to
9:43correct people not love them. Now I
9:46would say to tell you the truth is
9:48loving. Yeah. But you also have to tell
9:50the truth in love. And I was not doing
9:52that. And I've met many of you who have
9:54watched these videos and I've engaged
9:55with you online and I have seen the
9:58tactics of YouTubers and social
10:00mediaites who I guess I just started a
10:02new phrase. I don't know. Uh I've seen
10:04the tactics and we speak the truth and
10:06we feel very proud about the fact that
10:08we got it right and you do. You did get
10:10it right until you didn't because you
10:13can't tell the truth and then not obey
10:16it. That's the problem. That's called
10:18hypocrisy. And there's a reason why the
10:20world is disgusted by Christianity
10:22because we are a bunch of hypocrites. I
10:25was one and I still struggle with it. I
10:27know what is true. I say what is true.
10:29But yet then I don't live it. I am not a
10:31doer of the word as James says. I am
10:33just a hearer of it. I hear the
10:34instructions. I applaud it and I debate
10:36you over it. But I'm not going to obey
10:38it myself. Man, guilty as charged. And
10:42you know, I I don't ever want the
10:44internet from the reformed perspective
10:45to be a place where we are pompous and
10:48we always act as if we've always had the
10:49right answers. I did not and have not
10:51always had the right answers. And I
10:53still seek to know Christ and him
10:54crucified. I still want to be
10:56tender-hearted and compassionate. Having
10:57the mind of Christ um more important to
11:00me [clears throat] now than ever before
11:02because to have the righter the right
11:04answer and not have the right action is
11:05to negate the right answer. Right? We uh
11:09what are we doing? That's why Peter
11:11says, "Be ready to give an answer of the
11:12hope that lies within you." We're
11:14hopeful people who act with hope. And
11:15hopeful people are merciful and gracious
11:17and repentant. We seek repentance.
11:19Meaning that I have I've wronged you. I
11:21didn't do the job I was supposed to do.
11:22I didn't treat the way. Why Why are you
11:24Why are you asking me forgive you? Why
11:26are you such a repentant person? Because
11:29I have a hope that's beyond this world.
11:31I don't need to use you to find my
11:33significance. I have significance in
11:35Christ. Uh that's the kind of person
11:38that I want to be now.
11:40what I have discovered on the internet
11:41and in my own experience. So, I am not
11:44pointing fingers at anybody but myself,
11:46but I see you out there. You you who
11:48used to be me. Um,
11:51you're theologically correct and you're
11:54a bully and in many ways you're a punk
11:57and
11:59your answers are so detached from the
12:02person to whom you're defending.
12:05That's why James gets pretty strong with
12:07how we are to treat the brothers and how
12:11we are to love one another. We are to
12:13care for one another. I mean, strong
12:15accusations to say that you love God and
12:17have not love for your brother makes you
12:18a liar.
12:20So being in debates with people online
12:22and not doing so lovingly is a serious
12:24accusation from our God and King. We are
12:27to pray daily, Lord, forgive us our
12:29debts as we forgive our debtors. Meaning
12:31that I have failed. I need forgiveness.
12:34And what happens is is we end up
12:36creating theological systems of towers
12:38that we climb up into and we look down
12:40upon everyone. And so I really broke
12:42this podcast down into two categories.
12:44And then I want to talk about what the
12:46proper perspective is, which is this
12:48isn't theology against Jesus. I grew up
12:50in that culture. No creed but Christ.
12:51You know, doctrine divides but Christ
12:53unites. No, that's not actually what I'm
12:56saying. This podcast historically has
12:58been all about the unification and the
13:00wonder of church history as it relates
13:02to Christ centered living from a creedle
13:06and confessional perspective. The creeds
13:08and the confessions are cristocentric in
13:10nature theologically sound and that
13:13terminate themselves in Christ. And what
13:16ends up happening though is that we end
13:18up terminating in we end up the end goal
13:20is to be theological and that is not
13:23biblical. The Bible is theological and
13:27it ends itself with Christ as the
13:30ultimate aim and final conclusion and
13:32that our lives are shaped by Christ, not
13:36just with the right answer. And so I I
13:40want to have a conversation with my
13:42friends on the internet and anyone who
13:44might see this and who've ever been
13:45abused by people who are theological but
13:48yet not are christoologgical. They are
13:51correct in answer but not in action. I
13:54want to tell you that that is I'm sad
13:55that you've sorry you've been treated
13:57that way. If you've been treated that
13:58way by the reform world, I'm sorry that
14:00is not consistent with its teaching. Um,
14:04and let let me remind everyone, let me
14:06just wave my hands, get your attention.
14:09If you're driving, come back to me.
14:11Listen carefully. Even Jesus's disciples
14:15misapplied his teaching.
14:17So, at times, it's not always the
14:20teacher. It's as much as it is the
14:23listener. And Jesus rebuked his own
14:26followers for not listening to what he
14:29was saying. So, I'm not even going to
14:31blame my own father or teachers or
14:33pastors uh as to why I turned out the
14:36way I did. It's my own fault and it's by
14:39God's grace, not my own fault. I am
14:42where I am today. And he will receive
14:43the praise and honor because I am
14:45nothing and I have nothing. But here's
14:47the comparison. And then I want to be
14:49able I want you to be able to identify
14:50yourself. Um the reason why I say
14:52yourself is that don't listen to this
14:53podcast thinking about how to identify
14:55someone else like oh yeah they're
14:56theologically in mind and not
14:57christoologgically in line to pray for
14:58them, care for them. Send them this
14:59podcast. But let's not start off right
15:02away with being judgmental. Let's not do
15:05that.
15:06Here's what happens. Let me read this
15:09from scripture. So this is John 5:39-4.
15:12Jesus is dealing with this in his own
15:14day. This is not a modern problem. This
15:16is not a reformed problem. This is not a
15:18Calvinistic Armenian problem. This is a
15:21heart problem of the human. And so this
15:24is uh John 5:39-40. Jesus says to these
15:28Pharisees, "You search the scriptures
15:31because you think that in them, the
15:34scriptures, you have eternal life, and
15:37it is they that bear witness about me.
15:40Yet you refuse to come to me that you
15:44may have life.
15:49Now, I want you to sit in that weight
15:50for a moment and just let it the weight
15:52on you for a little bit.
15:56You're saying, but Jesus says to them,
15:59you have gone to the very same
16:01scriptures that I go to and your
16:04response is different from mine.
16:08Which is the correct response? Jesus
16:09says, and that response is that you
16:11think that the the searching the
16:13scriptures is the eternal life. The way
16:15in which you theologically have involved
16:18yourself with scripture is what is going
16:20to produce to you eternal life. The
16:23obedience to the law and the act of
16:25knowing and memorizing and tithing.
16:27There is probably no one in this
16:28particular context who had memorized
16:30more scripture who had obeyed the law
16:32according to what they thought they
16:33should obey and have was tithing. And
16:36Jesus looks that straight at them in the
16:38eye and says basically you didn't
16:41christoologgically understand the
16:43scriptures. you theologically
16:45understanded them. You terminated in the
16:48understanding of the teaching, but you
16:50didn't get to the point of the teaching.
16:52You didn't finalize it, which is me.
16:54Which is why you're not coming to me for
16:56salvation.
16:58And so this episode plainly is that
17:00there really are two lives with that
17:04people have or I would say two responses
17:06when you when you have a theological
17:08life that is not terminating itself.
17:10It's not finishing. It's it's it's in
17:12search goal as in Christ, but just
17:16theologically correct answers. It does
17:18produce a particular kind of two
17:20particular kind of attitudes. And so I
17:22want to talk about those for a little
17:23bit and then talk about what the third
17:24attitude should be and we'll end there.
17:27Uh first, it's an outward comparative
17:29judgmentalism. Man, this is horrendous.
17:32I'm all for guys who are trying to gate
17:33guard the uh the gospel. Man, I'm
17:36ministry. Theoccast is one of those. Uh,
17:39I poke fingers, I poke eyes, I I point
17:40fingers and say, "Hey, these are all
17:42distractions from the gospel. These are
17:43not helpful and these are dangerous and
17:45here's how we should think about
17:46Christ." No, no criticism here. And to
17:49say that we should never cast judgment
17:50is ridiculous. I'm doing it right now.
17:53I've casted judgment on myself and my
17:55past and how I am and how many of you
17:57are. So, I'm not saying that it's wrong
17:59to cast judgment. What I'm saying is
18:01that it creates an attitude of a
18:04constant comparative righteousness
18:06where I have these theological answers
18:09and I'm going to use my knowledge and my
18:12capacity to debate
18:15to oneup you and there is a constant
18:17judgmentalism that you don't cross your
18:19tees and dot your eyes the way in which
18:21I do and I will theologically run
18:23circles around you to prove that you are
18:25nothing and that I am theologically
18:26correct. And it's more about being
18:28right. And so we judge people because uh
18:31we have the upper hand on them. It's
18:34it's a total self-righteous move. And
18:36it's um it is intoxicating. I know
18:39because I was drunk on it. I couldn't
18:42get enough of it. I consumed this drug
18:45at levels that almost destroyed my
18:47ministry and my marriage. I was so
18:50concerned about being right about
18:53theological uh answers about depravity
18:56and Calvinism and covenant theology that
18:58I had missed the attitude of the person
19:01I was trying to be right about and I
19:03lacked love and compassion and patience.
19:06I mean, James describes what wisdom is.
19:09A wise person is meek and humble and
19:12patient and open to reason. And that was
19:14not the definition of what I was. And
19:16for many people that is not the
19:18definition of who they are. But they
19:20clearly have a judgmental mentality and
19:23attitude because you do not
19:25theologically and some of these guys are
19:27brilliant. Probably smarter than me.
19:28Most of them are uh smarter than me. I'm
19:31not I'm not that smart. I need it. I
19:32need a simple theology. But to say that
19:37uh one can know the right truth but yet
19:39not reflect it in its life is a
19:42disconnect from the truth. Do you really
19:44know it? If you're not willing to
19:46participate in the theology, in the
19:48knowledge, then as Jesus says, you you
19:52have completely misappropriated
19:54scripture. And yet they were ones who
19:57knew it well. They only knew a portion
19:59of it well. And I find this to be true
20:01where we emphasize uh it's easy to uh
20:05find yourself like look, if you hate
20:08yourself or if you're not happy with
20:10your life, what you do is you find
20:12something, you get really good at it,
20:13and then you compare other people to
20:14you. And that's how you make you feel
20:15yourself better. You know, we could do
20:17this weight. We could do this with our
20:18our gender, our nationalities. We could
20:20do this with our income. We do this. So,
20:22in the Christian world, we do it with
20:23theology. And we just go out into the
20:25world and bash and make fun of people
20:26and mock them because they don't have
20:28our theological prowess. Um, you know, I
20:31can remember making fun of people who
20:32would say that they have been made
20:34righteous. Like, no, nope. No one's ever
20:36been made righteous. You've been
20:37declared righteous. And people I didn't
20:40even understand what they were talking
20:41about. They didn't know. It's like it'd
20:42be better to say, "Hey, look, uh, to be
20:44made righteous is a really hard
20:47theological problem because that means
20:49you have to be righteous." Like if you
20:51are made righteous, you have to be
20:53righteous. But we're not righteous. Like
20:55there's none righteous. No, not one.
20:57Like we are declared
21:00righteous in this category because we
21:02have the righteousness of Christ
21:03clothing us. But that does not mean that
21:05we have been made righteous. That is to
21:07come. That's our glorification. That's a
21:09much easier way to say that than to bash
21:10people on the head because they didn't
21:11get the theological correction or they
21:13didn't say it right. Right. So, this
21:16theologicalmindedness
21:18where we want to be right is very
21:21self-righteous and pompous and it's easy
21:24to cast judgment upon people. And then
21:27there's the other side of the of the
21:28road where people go down the
21:30theological rabbit hole and um they
21:34never end on Christ and so their soul is
21:36crushed. They're crushed by the law and
21:38they're crushed by their own
21:39consciousness and it's a it's just the
21:40hamster wheel of introspection or
21:43they're always living in this accusation
21:46of failure and they don't ever they
21:48think more theology will eventually get
21:51them assurance and I just needed to need
21:53I need to know more and so they go to
21:55more podcasts and they go to more
21:56sermons they go to more conferences and
21:59I've talked to these people at
22:01conferences and through the podcast they
22:03email us and 20 years have gone by and
22:07they still haven't found assurance
22:08because they're trying to find it in
22:10salvation in theology or in theologizing
22:15things and in the act of study. Um
22:18they're wanting to feel salvation
22:20because they are pursuing discipline
22:22through study and you're never going to
22:24find it there. That's not to walk by
22:27faith, that's to walk by action. You're
22:30acting therefore hoping you are saved.
22:32And Paul says, "No, you live life
22:37believing that you are being carried and
22:39sustained by the hand of God who will
22:41not let you go." What can separate you
22:42from the love of God in Christ Jesus?
22:44Nothing. Who can pluck you out of his
22:46hand? Nobody. That's walking in trusting
22:49that you are being held, carried, and
22:52completed in Christ versus you doing the
22:55act of constant learning theology and
22:58applying theology in ways of discipline.
23:02The thing that you need to apply is the
23:04finality of the gospel. The finality of
23:07the gospel is that there is none
23:09righteous and Christ is the only
23:11righteous and he died for your lack of
23:14righteousness and then gives you what
23:16you lack which is righteousness. Right?
23:18That's the gospel. Uh and that creates
23:21humility. Well, there is none who can
23:23boast. What does Paul say in Ephesians
23:252? Who can boast? Nobody can boast. Why?
23:28Because if you can boast, that means
23:29you're involved in it. If you're not
23:31involved in it, then now you're starting
23:34to understand. That's a christoologgical
23:36understanding of life. Your theology has
23:39centered you on Christ. Um, this is why
23:41I wrote this book, the Bible according
23:43to Jesus, because multiple times in in
23:45the Bible on the road to Emmas, which is
23:46the book's kind of based off of uh what
23:49does Jesus do? He opens up all of the
23:50scriptures and shows that they're about
23:53him.
23:54All theology leads to Jesus. And if it
23:57doesn't, you're doing it wrong. You
23:59Someone will say, "Oh, it leads to the
24:01glory of God." And what is the glory of
24:02God? Christ, right? Christ is the glory
24:05of God. Uh we'll get to that at the end.
24:07So those are the two attitudes that uh
24:10we end up creating. [music]
24:12Do you ever wake up already feeling
24:14spiritually behind? Like no matter how
24:17much you pray, how much you read, or how
24:20much you serve, it's just never quite
24:22enough. Well, friend, [music] you're not
24:24lazy and you're not faithless. You're
24:27tired and you're not alone. So many of
24:30us are living in a quiet prison. The one
24:32that whispers, "Grace saved you, but now
24:34it's up to you to keep it up." The one
24:37that turns rest into guilt. The one that
24:40makes you wonder if God is a little
24:42disappointed in you today. I wrote a new
24:44book just for you. It's called Enough in
24:47Christ, Freedom from a Performancedriven
24:49Life. It's a book that takes you back to
24:52what Christ actually said from the
24:54cross, it is finished, and shows you how
24:57to stop living like there's still work
24:59for you to do. You can download the
25:02whole book free at theoccast.org. Christ
25:05really is enough and in him so are you.
25:09You know, one it's kind of like a
25:11demolition life. You have those who are
25:12just there to demolish people who
25:14disagree with them and they don't have
25:15the theological prowess and there is a a
25:18constant beating. Um Paul has some harsh
25:22warnings against us who are who have
25:24done this and who are here. And I say
25:26us, I'm not here to judge you. I am
25:29still guilty of this. I I need God's
25:31mercy and grace constantly to forgive me
25:33so I don't fall into the same traps that
25:35I fell into before. uh 1 Corinthians 8
25:39verse one following it says now
25:40concerning food offered to idols we know
25:43that quote all of us possess knowledge
25:46this quote knowledge
25:48in quote puffs up puffs up right creates
25:54a sense of comparative
25:57I'm I am bigger than you are I am
25:59stronger than you are I am more valued
26:01than you are and then he says but love
26:04builds up so unliterally because of uh
26:09our arrogance pushes people away where
26:11there's no row no room in the no you
26:14know it's like a big-headed person no
26:15room in the building for this person and
26:18the opposite is love draws near right um
26:23I love this verse three
26:26I'm sorry verse two if anyone imagines
26:29that he knows something he does not yet
26:32know as he ought to
26:34[laughter]
26:36It's like this person who comes across
26:38and says, "I know. I know a lot." It's
26:40like, "Yeah, you just told me everything
26:41you don't know." Like I I I've I've met
26:44people like this. First of all, I was
26:47one of them. So, guilty is charged.
26:49Number two, uh I've had them in my
26:52office. They've told me how many hours
26:53they've spent, you know, studying or how
26:55many hours they've had in, you know,
26:57seminary. And I'm like, "Yeah, but not
26:59enough. like you you need to go read
27:02John 5 because you you missed it. You
27:05you lack humility and that humility
27:07comes when you finally understand that
27:09you are nothing and Christ is
27:10everything. I love this verse three. But
27:13if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
27:19Like that he's saying the person who
27:21puffs himself up is not one who is known
27:24by God. There is not an intimacy with
27:26the Lord in that way.
27:29should shock you, right? That's the
27:31perspective that Paul has. Shocked me.
27:34Broke my heart to think that I used
27:37God's word to hurt people.
27:40So Paul's target audience is the
27:42doctrinally correct party in Corinth in
27:44Corinth in this particular area. They
27:46were right about idols, but the theology
27:49was inaccurate because it did not apply
27:51itself
27:53in the end with the affection and love
27:55of Christ.
27:57Um, you know this verse James 2:1 uh
28:00James 1:22 and 20- 24 be
28:04uh but be doers of the word and not
28:07hearers only deceiving yourselves. Man,
28:09that is crazy. He's saying that to not
28:12apply it is the deception.
28:16For if anyone is a hearer of the word,
28:18so they're getting puffed up with
28:20knowledge, and not a doer, he is like a
28:22man who looks intently at his natural
28:25face in a mirror, for he looks at
28:27himself and goes away and at once
28:30forgets what he was like. This is Oh
28:34man, guilty, guilty, guilty. I just my
28:37heart is being crushed right now
28:39thinking how often I still do this,
28:41right? where I'm being convicted by the
28:44law and the gospel is my hope and
28:46salvation and then I turn away and I
28:48immediately forget my dependence on
28:50Jesus and I go and I judge a person. You
28:52know, a little comment, bam, bam, bam,
28:53bam, bam, and I feel really
28:55self-righteous and I feel really good
28:56about it because I'm right. You know,
28:59there's something about being right
29:01feels good. You like being right, you
29:03know, feels good, [gasps]
29:07man. That's a good warning from James.
29:09It's a great warning from James that we
29:11need to not only hear the theology of
29:14what God has said in Christ, but then it
29:18becomes part of who we are because we
29:20trust it. And that uh sometimes comes
29:22down to an emphasis, which is what
29:23Theoccast really argues for all the time
29:25and I've been arguing for is that if the
29:28emphasis is not Christ, then it's easy
29:30to walk away forgetting what you look
29:33like because you're not depending on
29:35Christ. You're depending on your own
29:37righteousness. And that righteousness is
29:38sinful and it will blind you.
29:40Self-righteousness is sinful. Jesus says
29:43it leads people to hell and it blinds.
29:46It's blinding. Multiple times Jesus is
29:49trying to reveal the blindness to
29:51people. What must I do to inherit
29:52eternal life? And Jesus says, "Obey the
29:54law." The law was supposed to crush
29:55them. Instead, they kept using their own
29:57self-righteousness. And the man walked
29:59away despared. Why? Because he couldn't
30:01figure it out. He wasn't coming to
30:03Christ for salvation. This is what we
30:05do. We get wrapped up in our own I'm
30:07such a good person. I have not done
30:08this. I've done that. And we instead of
30:11looking at the law to crush us and the
30:12gospel to comfort us so that we might
30:14give the gospel to others to comfort
30:15them. We find righteousness in ourselves
30:18and we beat other people because they
30:19don't live up to our level of
30:20righteousness. How dare us? That is not
30:23how Christ treated us and that is not
30:26how we should treat one another.
30:31Listen to this. This is um this is a
30:33great story. I was thinking about this
30:35passage, so I put it in here. This is
30:36Luke 18:9-14.
30:39He says this. He also told the parable
30:41to some who trusted themselves that they
30:44were righteous, and he tested others
30:45with contempt. Two men went down into
30:47the temple to pray. You remember the
30:48story? Yet the Pharisee and the tax
30:50collector. And the Pharisee standing by
30:52himself prayed thus, "God, I think that
30:54I am not like other men, exhortation,
30:57unjust, adulterers, sorry, extortioners,
31:00unjust, adulterers, or even like this
31:02tax collector. I fast twice a week. I
31:05give tithe of all that I get." Um,
31:09actually theologically accurate prayer,
31:11he's giving credit to God.
31:14So, you could say this prayer sounds
31:17correct. I mean, it sounds honoring to
31:19the Lord because he's like, "Lord, I
31:21thank you that." And then he what does
31:23he do? That's where the theologically
31:26uh prayer ends because he's not coming
31:29before God. He's coming before this man
31:33next to him. Like, well, at least I'm
31:34not like this dude. That is what I'm
31:37talking about. He describes his life as
31:40being disciplined and theologically
31:42informed because look at all the things
31:44that he's doing. Then Jesus compares,
31:46"But the tax collector standing a far
31:48off would not even lift up his eyes to
31:50heaven, but beat his breast, saying,
31:52God, be merciful to me a sinner. I I
31:54tell you, this man went down to his
31:56house justified, while the other one
31:59uh rather than the other one. For
32:01everyone who exalts himself will be
32:02humbled, but the one who humbles himself
32:05will be exalted. We will be brought into
32:08the inheritance of Christ because we're
32:10nothing. We know that we're nothing. We
32:12have nothing to offer. We're not going
32:13to be standing at the gates uh handing
32:15over our righteous robes. We're be
32:17standing at the gates wearing the
32:18righteousness of Christ. And that gets
32:20us into the inheritance into the
32:22exaltation.
32:23So this is important for us to sit back
32:26and just realize that Jesus is
32:28constantly pointing this out. This isn't
32:30new to modern technology. Um multiple
32:34times in scripture, Jesus keeps pointing
32:36out the symptom. This is a problem. They
32:38knew the theology, but they rejected
32:40Christ.
32:42And it happens a lot in conservative
32:44Christians. It's like we even, you know,
32:46God bless America. We want to make
32:48America great again. Uh but we want to
32:50do it uh um separated from Christ. Like
32:54think about the attitude and actions.
32:55They're not representative of our king.
32:58They're representative of pride and
32:59arrogance and self-righteous morality.
33:02And I think morality is important. And I
33:04think to do what is just is good. But we
33:07do so with a heart of humility and
33:09always pointing to the wonder and the
33:11glory of our king Christ.
33:14And I think uh just to make it let's
33:16make this positive now. I at the end of
33:19the day the point of the Bible is to to
33:22give us to put us back in relationship
33:25with our God and King. I'm preaching
33:26through Genesis right now having a
33:27blast. I'm just loving it because it's
33:29Jesus everywhere. And put me in any
33:30book. I don't care where you put me. I'm
33:31going to show you that it's connected to
33:33Jesus. I'm thinking about starting a new
33:34series on the obscure weird passages and
33:37I'm going to show you how they are
33:38connected to Christ because Jesus said
33:39they are. And I don't mean like, you
33:42know, forcing Jesus into the text in
33:43some weird obscure like uh moral or uh
33:47you know, how do I say this? Some type
33:50of like typology everywhere. Uh but he
33:53is there and it's wonderful. So we we
33:55just we've gone through 11 chapters of
33:57Genesis, just finished the Tower of
33:58Babel and uh it's been it's been
34:00wonderful. But at the end of the day,
34:03what we have learned is in Genesis 3,
34:05there was a separation between us and
34:06our God and king. And Christ was the
34:09first promise, the promised seed, the
34:11seed of Eve would come and crush the
34:12head of the serpent and give us
34:14redemption and we would be restored to
34:16the garden with our with our God and
34:18king. And the rest of the Bible is about
34:20that. And it's all the all unfolding
34:22story of that. It's it's awesome. It's
34:23wonderful. So it's not about the
34:26theological correctness of you know if
34:28you just stop at depravity or you just
34:31stop at like the promises or you stop
34:34you start getting sidetracked by this
34:36stuff and you don't get to Christ that's
34:39a problem like even you know I've been
34:41criticized of oh you're emphasizing
34:42supernatural uh hello Jesus the tells me
34:46that the spirit lives inside of me I'm
34:48communicating to the God of the universe
34:50through prayer that he's coming back to
34:52get I mean it's all that's all
34:53supernatural. stuff, man. You can't
34:55overemphasize the promises of God in the
34:57reality in which we live. I'm sorry.
34:59That is part of the christoologgical
35:01view of Christ. Many of us struggle
35:03physically because we never get outside
35:05of our physical realm into the spiritual
35:07realm.
35:09Literally, you are told to walk by the
35:10spirit, to set your hope on something
35:12that is not here right now. It's being
35:15built for you. like that. You are to put
35:17your brain and your heart and your mind,
35:19your affections and your attitude into
35:21another hope. Then not try and rebuild
35:24your world here, but that you are to
35:26rescue people out of the kingdom of
35:28darkness by the proclamation of the
35:29gospel so that they can put their hope
35:32in the new kingdom of God. And when he
35:33comes back, we all celebrate the
35:35restoration of all things. That is not
35:38physical whatsoever. That is the
35:40spiritual reality of the world that we
35:42live in. I have a whole chapter on why
35:44this is important. the cosmic view of
35:47understanding your Bibles. And I'm
35:48working on another book that helps
35:50expand this because uh if you're
35:53suffering loss, your life is uh turned
35:57upside down like most of the Christians
35:59in the New Testament, uh just go read,
36:01do me a favor, go read first and second
36:03Peter and then go listen to my sermon
36:04series on it. First and second Peter was
36:06written to people who were being
36:07absolutely brutalized for their faith.
36:09Didn't have jobs. They were very
36:12discouraged. And Peter keeps telling
36:14them about two things. It's brilliant.
36:17It's so helpful. Who they are in Christ.
36:20His divine power is granted to them. All
36:22things that pertain to life and
36:23godliness. And then he tells them the
36:26supernatural war that they they find
36:27themselves in. They're not, as Paul
36:29says, they're not wrestling against
36:30flesh and blood. Don't look at the
36:31Romans. There's something behind that.
36:33You're rescuing these Romans from those
36:36people. And so he tells these wild
36:39stories about Jesus going down in the
36:40kingdom of darkness and preaching
36:42victory over the the saints and it's
36:44just crazy the flood all this stuff. And
36:47then he says how do you live in light of
36:50hope of that and you are a kingdom of
36:52priests and prophets and kings. And so
36:55you are going to live as these holy
36:56temples ready to give an answer of the
36:58hope that lies within you. Like he gives
36:59you your whole life. Your future's
37:01secure. You do live in a spiritual
37:02warfare. And this is how it applies to
37:04you on a daily basis. That's a
37:06christocentric understanding of
37:07scripture. It's not just a theological
37:09correctness. It's that it leads us to
37:11think and love Christ. That's the point,
37:14right? So, this is uh 1 Corinthians 2:2.
37:18He's talking about these same puffed up
37:20Christians and he's talking about having
37:22the mind of Christ, right? So, the in
37:24the very exact same wording before all
37:27of this, he says, "For I have decided to
37:29know nothing among you except for Christ
37:30and him crucified." Like, this is what I
37:32need you to know because you're puffed
37:34up over here. He gives the contrast.
37:36It's not that it's either or. Paul is
37:39not saying it's either or. The
37:40culmination and conclusion of scripture
37:42is Jesus Christ and him crucified.
37:46That I'm not making that up. I make the
37:48argument in the book. I make the
37:50argument now that Paul Jesus literally
37:53looks at the discip these Pharisees and
37:55says, "You know all of the Old Testament
37:57and you missed it. I am me crucified for
38:00you." That is your salvation. That is
38:03the culmination. and final point of the
38:06entire book
38:09uh chapter 2:1 16 for who has understood
38:12the mind of the lord so as to instruct
38:15him but we have the mind of Christ so he
38:19is saying how is it that we have the
38:20mind of Christ
38:22by emphasizing Christ for you in all of
38:25scripture Christ and him crucified how
38:27do you get the mind of Christ it is the
38:30focus on Christ so if your theological
38:33studies aren't leading you to an
38:34affection and love and trust of the Lord
38:36Jesus Christ for you
38:39through his mercy and grace and kindness
38:40specifically related to the cross. You
38:42have cross lenses
38:44what he is for you, right? He lived
38:46righteousness. He died for your sin. He
38:48and he rose again and he's seated as the
38:50victorious king at the right hand of the
38:52father. Those lenses.
38:56Then Paul said, "You're going to get
38:57puffed up. You you remove Jesus from
39:01your study, you're going to get puffed
39:03up."
39:04Philippians 2, listen to this, verses 3
39:08through8. Do nothing from selfish
39:10ambition or conceit, but in humility
39:12count others more significant than
39:14yourself. Why would we do that? And how
39:15do we do that? Let each of you look not
39:18only to one's own interest, but also to
39:20the interest of others. How? Having the
39:22mind of Christ. How do we have the mind
39:24of Christ? We think about what Christ
39:26did. He's going to illustrate it for
39:28you. Have this mind among you, which is
39:30also yours in Christ Jesus. who though
39:31he was in the form of God, did not count
39:33equality with God a thing to be grasped,
39:35but emptied himself by taking on the
39:37form of a servant, being born in the
39:39likeness of men, and being found in
39:41human form. He humbled himself by
39:43becoming obedient to the point of death,
39:46even death on a cross. There it is. You
39:50are to treat people with not selfish
39:53ambition and humility, counting others
39:56more significant than yourselves. How do
39:57you do that?
39:59not discipline,
40:01not debate. He says, "Keep looking to
40:04what Jesus did for you. How dare you
40:06think you're the most significant thing
40:08when Jesus did the most significant
40:10thing for you?
40:13He laid his life down for you as an
40:14example.
40:17Not only an example, but Paul is using
40:19it as an example here of what true love
40:22and grace and mercy looks like. Think of
40:24what Christ has done for you and let
40:25that affect you.
40:28Obey out of a sense of what you have
40:30received in Christ. Not because you're
40:32trying to achieve something in Christ.
40:34See, we become prideful and arrogant
40:36because we think we've achieved
40:37something. You have achieved nothing.
40:41You are nothing. I am nothing. You boast
40:44then you've achieved. No boasting. You
40:47got it. We boast in Christ. Why do we
40:49boast in Christ? Because he humbled
40:51himself. We didn't. Because he died. We
40:53couldn't. You see, it's freeing. It's
40:56actually really fun and enjoyable to be
40:59under Christ. There's no pressure and it
41:02makes you a very kind person. I like
41:04being around people who are under
41:06Christ. They're very kind to be around.
41:09This is uh James 1:25. He says, "But the
41:12one who looks into the perfect law, the
41:14law of liberty, and perseveres, being no
41:17hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts,
41:20he will be the blessed in his doing." uh
41:25he's just making the application for
41:26you. If you're not at the end of the
41:28day, if what you know doesn't lead you
41:31to your obedience, then you you got it
41:33wrong. So, it's good to know. It's like,
41:36oh, uh okay, what did I get wrong? Uh
41:38Peter says it this way in second Peter
41:40chapter 1. He says, you forgot you've
41:41been cleansed from your former sins.
41:42He's like, here's all the things that
41:43you should be doing because they reflect
41:45who you are in Christ. This is the work
41:46of the kingdom. You got work, you got
41:48work orders, and the work orders have
41:50nothing to do with your inheritance. He
41:52literally just said, "Your inheritance
41:53is locked up. It's been given to you by
41:56divine power. Now, this is how you are
41:58to act as one of his king as part of the
42:00kingdom." He goes, "But if you're not
42:02doing that, you forgot what happened.
42:04You were cleansed. It's powerful." Well,
42:06James is just saying the same thing.
42:08James is like, "If you get it right, it
42:09leads to a person who wants to obey, who
42:12a life of repentance, mercy, and grace,
42:14not perfection. There is a difference,
42:17right?
42:19Why this kills I think both symptoms.
42:21Those who are arrogant and those who are
42:26um running on the hamster wheel of uh
42:29affirmation like I've got to affirm
42:30myself before God
42:33is that uh at the end of the day
42:36there's no way if you have the proper
42:38view of Christ that you're going to
42:40conclude that um
42:44you can't say my theology got it right
42:45or my actions got it right. This is
42:47Romans 8:33 through34. Who shall bring
42:49any charge against God's elect? It is
42:51God who justifies. Who is to condemn?
42:54Christ Christ Jesus is the one who died
42:57more than that who was raised who is at
42:59the right hand of the father who indeed
43:01intercedes for us. Right? You can't
43:03bring a charge against me because I
43:05don't stand in my own theological
43:07prowess and I don't stand in my own
43:08obedience. I stand in Christ. Right?
43:11That's what frees us from it. So we have
43:12to end our life and the theological
43:15journey that we have through the Bible.
43:16It needs to be christoologgical in
43:18nature and and not and not not end
43:21there.
43:23I want to end here. Uh 2 Corinthians
43:253:18. I love this. Um Paul says, "And we
43:29all with unveiled faces beholding the
43:32glory of the Lord are being transformed
43:35into the same image from one degree of
43:37glory to another. for this comes from
43:40the Lord who is the spirit and he says
43:43uh earlier in chapter uh two that Christ
43:47is the glory of God in the face of Jesus
43:50Christ. So as beholding Christ continue
43:53to look at Jesus uh looking under the
43:55author and finisher of our faith
43:57um we are transformed into who he is.
44:01It's beautiful. So, as you go back and
44:03you think about where are you in this
44:05journey through understanding scripture,
44:08uh don't beat yourself up. You found
44:10yourself in one of the c first two
44:11categories. Great. You saw the mirror.
44:14Don't walk away unchanged
44:17right now. Repent. Realize that you know
44:21what? I got it wrong and my brother John
44:23confronted me. Yeah. And I'm smiling
44:26because there's freedom here. You know,
44:29there will be a moment of anger. I I I
44:31had a moment of anger. I can't believe
44:32what I have become. I can't believe how
44:35I treated people. It was I was so
44:38ashamed and God covered me and he washed
44:42me and he cleansed me and he has
44:44continued to disciple me out of that
44:46attitude. I still wrestle with it at
44:48times. We all will. We're not perfect. I
44:51do. I want to be like Jesus. Think about
44:54who Jesus went to. He went to the
44:56theologically worst people on the
44:58planet.
45:00I mean, he was hanging out with the tax
45:02collectors and the prostitutes and the
45:03drunkards.
45:05Their theology was wrong. And he wasn't
45:07there to debate them because they don't
45:09love them to give them the freedom in
45:12him. That's why Paul's like, "Lick to
45:15the church of Corinth. It was really
45:16messed up. I need to come and get your
45:19theological minds back in gear, and it's
45:21through Christ that I'm going to do
45:23that." Him and him crucified. And so if
45:26you're sitting here and you find
45:27yourself very angry online and
45:29judgmental all the time, you can be set
45:31free from that anger by Christ. And you
45:34find yourself in the hamster wheel of
45:35not understanding what to do, you can
45:38also be set free by Christ. Uh for the
45:40second person, I would encourage you to
45:41go get the book. I'll you can get a free
45:43copy online for uh digital or you can go
45:45and get a paperback. Uh enough in Christ
45:47is what you need to hear. That is the
45:50culmination of the Bible. And then if
45:51you want to learn how to study the Bible
45:53in that way, that is the Bible according
45:54to Jesus. Uh not intimidating book, easy
45:57to read, great for small groups. There's
45:59small group discussions in there. But I
46:01wrote that for my church and for my kids
46:03because I wanted them to have the
46:04freedom of knowing at the end of the day
46:06when you're done reading the Bible, it
46:08is about Jesus. So that's why all the
46:10arrows are pointing to Jesus because
46:13that's the point of the book. If I could
46:15if I could retitle the book, that's
46:16probably, you know, the Bible just means
46:18a book, but if I could retitle it, I
46:20would say a book about Jesus. So,
46:22hopefully that was helpful. If you have
46:24any questions or you would like some
46:26help with this, um, come join us in the
46:29community. We have a whole community.
46:31Uh, just did a a live Q&A in there
46:33answering people's questions and it's a
46:34good place. Uh, man, there's just
46:36wonderful people in there. There's
46:37pastors and missionaries from all over
46:38the world and just good godly people who
46:40love Christ who've been involved in the
46:42cast. Some of them have been following
46:44and involved in theoccast from day one.
46:46And uh my the books would not exist,
46:48this video would not exist without that
46:49community. Um I this is a donor based
46:52community. So we try to give away
46:54everything that we can and their donors
46:55help us do that. So if you want to help
46:57be a part of that, come be a part of our
46:58community. And uh if you can't afford
47:00it, any of it, just let us know. We will
47:02give it to you for free. We don't ever
47:03want someone to not have this. It does
47:06cost money to do this. Um I don't edit
47:08these. I don't do any of this stuff. I
47:10just get behind the microphone because
47:12I'm a pastor and I don't have time for
47:13that. So, um, but I'm thankful for our
47:16team and your donations that allows us
47:17to have that team to do that. So, thank
47:19you for our team. Thank you for those
47:21who support us. And, uh, I hope this was
47:23encouraging to you. Please come join us
47:25in the community. Uh, take advantage of
47:27these books for free. You can have them
47:29if you need them. God bless you. And,
47:31um, let's have the mind of Christ. Let's
47:33change let's change the attitude
47:35perspective at least in the reformed
47:37world. Go back to my last episode. I
47:38don't want to be like angry reform
47:40people anymore. And I thought about it,
47:42the more I thought about it, this was
47:44the conclusion I came to. We get
47:46theologically minded and we disconnect
47:48ourselves from Christ. And let's not do
47:51that, right? We want to be theologically
47:53minded. We want all the theology in the
47:55world because all the theology of the
47:57Bible leads us to Jesus. It's not absent
48:00from it. It's not either or. It's both
48:02and. So, all right. Thanks for
48:03listening. Hey guys, real quick. Some of
48:06you are listening to this and it's
48:07encouraging to you, but you have
48:09questions. So, where do you go? How do
48:11you interact with other people who have
48:12the same questions and share resources?
48:15[music] We have started something called
48:16the Theoccast community. And we're
48:18excited because not only is it a place
48:19for you to connect with other
48:21like-minded believers, all of our
48:22resources there, [music] past podcast,
48:24education materials, articles, all of
48:26it's there. And you can share it and ask
48:28questions. [music]
48:29You can go check it out. The link is in
48:31the description below.
48:33Heat. Heat. N.
48:36[music]
48:47>> [music]

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