During this all-new season of Our Hope Podcast 🎙, we are answering some of the toughest questions we have received at Chosen People Ministries, starting with, "I'm a good person, so why do I need Jesus?" Listen to this episode now!

Welcome to Our Hope,

a production of Chosen

People Ministries.

On this podcast you will hear

inspiring testimonies,

learn about Messianic

apologetics and discover

God's plan for Israel and you.

Wherever you're listening,

we hope you lean in,

listen closely and be blessed.

In today's world,

most people would

consider themselves

to be a good person.

Many of us try to live

a relatively moral life,

stay in our lanes

and avoid committing crimes.

In the secular mindset,

there is no need for salvation

because most of us think

we are not that bad.

But how do we define

what “goodness” is?

Is there a standard

for what is good,

or is “goodness”

simply relative?

These are questions

we all need to consider

throughout our lives,

and for those of us

who believe in Yeshua,

we know that nobody is perfect.

In this season of

Our Hope Podcast,

we are going to answer

some of the toughest questions

we have received at Chosen

People Ministries on faith

and believing in Jesus.

In this episode,

we'll address the question

we hear the most–

—“I’m a good person,

so why do I need Jesus?”

We're joined

today by two guests,

Robert Walter, who serves

on our staff in Brooklyn

and Derek Blumenthal,

who serves in Virginia.

I now introduce the host of Our

Hope Podcast, Abe Vazquez!

Robert, it

is great to see you again

virtually and Derek,

you're a first time

guest, welcome!

I'm so excited to have you

both on Our Hope.

This is the first episode

of our new season, season six,

and we're going to be tackling

a really cool theme,

answering some tough, tough

objections and questions

that we hear from

people throughout our ministry

and so thank you

for joining us.

Yeah, awesome,

thank you for having me.

Yeah, thank you Abe,

always a pleasure.

So everyone knows

it's not an episode of Our Hope

without talking about food,

and this is probably,

Derek, the most

important question

you'll ever answer

in your entire life.

So, what is your absolute

favorite food?

Alright,

so I've listened to

most of the previous

episodes of this podcast

and I understand

that you New York folks

take your food choices

very seriously, so

I understand that.

But I'm originally

from Philadelphia

and I grew up in

Southern New Jersey,

so our food pride is

very high as well.

Who

invited this guy?)

The best-

the best pizza.

The best pizza in

the US can be

found in New Jersey.

Oh oh.

It's

OK if we disagree, it's

OK, we can still be friends.

What

what part of Jersey

are we talking about?

South Jersey.

Oh.

Abe, what's going on.

Listen, who

vetted this guy?

Besides the pizza,

besides the pizza nothing,

nothing can compare

to a genuine

Philly cheese steak

or specifically

from Pat's in South Philly.

I don't think you can argue

with me on that.

Yeah,

you're getting better,

but you kind of just

ruined all credibility,

so I don't think I can

listen to anything

you say from this point,

just kidding.

Oh man, well Derek,

I have another follow-up

question for you.

This is definitely

more serious, but you are

a Jewish believer

in Jesus, correct?

I am.

So, I'm I'm curious

and I

think all of our listeners

are very curious,

how did you become

a believer in Jesus?

Yeah, sure.

I'd love to share that.

So I'm Jewish

on my father's side.

And like most suburban

Jewish families

where I grew up, I didn't have

a particularly

religious upbringing.

I always had a belief in

and even like a respect

for God from the

earliest age

that I can remember,

but I never really knew

what to do with that.

But when I was in high school,

the friend group that I

developed totally,

unbeknownst to me,

were all strong Christians,

and they were involved

in a youth ministry

called Young Life,

and I started going

to their events with my friends

and I loved it and it was there

that I clearly heard the gospel

for the first time.

And when I was 16

actually on my 16th birthday

at a young life summer camp,

I responded

to the gospel message

and gave my life to Jesus.

So,

then fast-forward a few years

and I finally met

another believer

of Jewish heritage up

until that time,

I hadn't, I didn't know

that there were any,

and he introduced me

not only to the fact

that there are other

Jewish believers in the world,

but he introduced me to

the concept

of Messianic Judaism,

which I had never

even heard of, and the concept

of Jewish

evangelism in ministry

and the importance for it.

And I immediately immediately

recognized that

this was my calling,

to reach my people

with the gospel.

And then fast-forward

a bunch more years

and here we are.

That's awesome Derek.

Thanks for sharing that.

And Derek,

who was that Jewish believer

that you met the first time?

OK, so his name is Ari

Hauben and Ari is in fact now

on staff

with Chosen People Ministries.

He wasn't at the time,

he was

working at the university

I was going to and was speaking

at the Christian

Fellowship that I attended

and so now full circle.

We get to work together.

Nice.

That Is awesome,

look at that.

Well, I'm so glad

again that you're with us.

You know a lot of the questions

that we're going to be talking

about this season,

they come from Jewish

people, you know,

and you probably had

some of those questions

yourself, Derek growing up.

So the question we're

going to be asking

today is a question

that I'm sure both of you

have probably experienced

or even ask yourself.

It's this question of "I'm

a good person and

I don't need Jesus" so,

so have you ever encountered

someone who asks you that

while you were presenting

the Messiah to them

or just in conversation?

What was what was that

like for?

I mean, this is a

an objection or a statement

that you'll hear quite often,

and I know

I've definitely heard it

quite a bit, especially

during our annual

summer mission trip

in New York City

called Shalom New York,

which is a wonderful

experience. But

yeah, I think honestly, this

is sort of like a byproduct

of the culture

and part of human nature.

I mean, there's this

defense mechanism

that we as humans

have when we are,

when we might feel

like we're attacked

or being accused of

being unworthy or bad.

It's like no, no

hold on hold on I'm

I'm a good person,

I'm not a murderer.

I don't cheat, I don't steal,

I don't.

I'm not a thief, you know

and then we sort of

fall into the trap of comparing

ourselves to each other.

It's like, well, I'm not as bad

as that guy, you know, I know,

I know what this person does

and I'm not like that

I'm I'm a good person

I don't try to harm anybody

you know, yeah, so

it's definitely

just something that

you'll hear from

you know

everybody, Jewish people,

Gentile people.

Yeah.

Yeah,

I don't know that anyone

Jewish or not, has ever said

those exact words to me

in response to me

discussing the gospel

with them,

but the sentiment has

been shared plenty of times

for sure, right?

But more often than not,

I think like what

Robert was saying,

I've seen the objection

as more of a dismissal

than a genuine claim.

That doesn't

make it easier to hear.

You know what it means

is that that person who says

this really has no idea

how a relationship

with God

works in the first place,

so they obviously don't

know Him, which is tragic.

Because if they did,

they'd know that being a son

or daughter of God

is not determined

based on merit,

but rather by faith in

Yeshua the Messiah.

And they would also have

a very different understanding

of what it means to be good.

Yeah, so so let's

talk about that, what-

let's define what people mean

when they say they are good

and how do most people decide

if they're even good?

I think most people

assume they're good

quote unquote good in

in a general moral sense,

just like Robert was saying,

I'm not a murderer,

I don't steal.

I don't whatever

the you know, the big,

the big hitters,

or at least

they find themselves to be

better than most, meaning

they judge themselves

generally by the choices

they've made,

where their internal

thoughts and feelings

compared to what

they observe in other people,

and we all know it's easy

to find examples

of people who you feel

objectively better than.

So

based on what you just said

and when Robert

mentioned earlier,

so people define good

when they're comparing

themselves really.

It's kind of like

they're they're measuring

themselves up against others,

and that determines

if they're good or not.

In my experience,

that's been more often

than not how people

define goodness.

Yeah, and I would add

you know if we are thinking

about the Jewish people

in general as well.

There is this concept

in more like religious

Jewish circles,

but it's also something

that kind of is prevalent

in just broader Jewish culture

even among more secular

Jewish people,

this idea of goodness

or even sin, and the idea

that original sin

is not the reality,

that original original

sin does not exist

in a lot of in religious Jewish

thought and theology.

Instead, there's

this concept, this idea

that everybody has

a good inclination

and an evil inclination.

The Yetzer Ha-Tov is the Hebrew

for the good inclination.

The Yetzer Ha-Ra

is the evil inclination

that we're born with these

these dueling

propensity's inside of us.

These dueling wills

and it's sort of our goal to

do enough good to sort of

squash the bad and

create opportunities

and make the choices

to give in

to the good inclination

rather than the

evil inclination.

So,

I think that's something that

we definitely need

to keep in mind, and

especially when we're thinking

about engaging

with Jewish people

on this particular topic.

Yeah, and you bring up an

interesting point about this.

This battle between good

and evil, and I know C.S.

Lewis once argued

that "universal morality"

points to the existence of God

and when we look at the laws

in various countries

throughout history,

we see a lot of recurring

commands, right?

So, for example,

you see laws against theft

and murder, that's

pretty much universal.

Would you say that

God gave each person

the capability to know

the difference between

good and evil?

Yeah, well,

we know from the Bible that

one of the results

of the fall of man, you know,

going back to

the Garden of Eden is

the knowledge of good and evil

that's what God called the tree

that Adam and Eve ate from.

So it's interesting

to think that

they didn't really need

to become conscious of good,

they already knew what good was

because they walked with God.

All they knew was good.

So eating from the tree

made them aware of evil.

And so yes, in a general sense,

I think people have

a basic internal barometer

for recognizing moral

good and evil.

And of course, we know

culture plays heavily

on the more specific aspects

of recognizing good and evil,

and none of this

really addresses man's ability

to choose good over evil.

We're just talking

about recognizing it.

Mankind being born into sin

of course, is described

in the Bible

as being a type of slavery,

from which a person

can't free themselves.

So the next step

is not only recognizing

what good and evil is,

but talking about, do

we even have a choice,

or can we make a choice

in one way or another?

We're constantly told,

you know, we're sinners.

Right?

We've fallen short.

So are we good people?

Are we good?

That's an

excellent question, Abe.

Yeah, I mean who?

Who can possibly win

when you

when it comes down to it,

and you look at what God's

standard of goodness is

as defined in the scriptures

from Genesis to Revelation.

Does anybody- can

anybody actually live up

to that standard right?

And you know, going back

to this concept of

the good inclination versus

the evil inclination

honestly this developed in,

you know, Jewish

religious thought,

but when you really compare it

to what

the Scripture has to say,

it doesn't hold much water.

This idea

of a good inclination.

It's never mentioned

in Scripture, those words

are not used.

Evil inclination is used,

I mean, that's pretty clear.

I mean the heart,

the human heart,

the heart of man and woman.

It's described as being

deceitfully wicked

and like beyond comprehension.

Nobody can actually know

the heart, even even

our good deeds is defined

according to Isaiah as

being like filthy rags.

You know when you

look at the Hebrew

for that it's very descriptive,

very, very, very

you know nasty stuff,

and that's how our goodness

looks in God's eyes.

So when you when you

when we consider that

how does the scripture

talk about

the goodness of mankind?

It's like Derek mentioned

since the fall

since the Garden of Eden

when when Adam and Eve

willfully chose to disobey

God there hasn't been much,

you know, "goodness

on display for man".

I'm thinking about

the verses Romans

1:18 through 32.

Does that chunk of Scripture

hint at

God

giving people the capability

to know the difference

between good and evil?

I'd say that

that part in Romans 1

is referring more to those

who suppress the knowledge

of the existence of God

maybe more than the

definition of good and evil.

But I can definitely

say by extension,

insisting that God

doesn't exist has

all kinds of ramifications

on one's

moral compass, doesn't it?

So if God didn't exist,

then He can't define

what is good and what isn't

which means then, that

there's no absolutes

and of course we know

that isn't true.

So standing on that foundation,

that faulty foundation

leads us to all kinds

of waywardness in regard

to good and evil.

Yeah.

Yeah, I agree with Derek,

I think that that

section in Romans 1:18

can really explain so much

about the nature of of mankind,

and it does.

It all comes back to our

understanding of God

and our relationship with God

or lack thereof,

and the way that

mankind, the way that humanity

is described in Romans 1:18.

I'll just, I'll read a few

passages here so we can sort of

get a taste of what

Paul is writing.

Romans 1:18,

he writes this, "For

the wrath of God

is revealed from heaven

against all ungodliness

and unrighteousness of men,

who suppress the truth

in unrighteousness,

because that which

is known about God

is evident within them.

For God made it

evident to them,

for since

the creation of the world

His invisible attributes,

His eternal power,

and divine nature

have been clearly seen,

being understood

through what has been made

so that they are

without excuse."

So the way that Paul is,

you know, sort

of beginning this argument,

he's letting us know that

everyone, every human being

who has ever lived,

has some kind of

internal recognition

or understanding

that God exists because

God has communicated

His identity, His,

His deity, His nature.

And you know part of

God's nature is God's

goodness and God's

righteousness and and what

the standard of goodness

and righteousness is, that

this has been made clear to us

simply through creation

through the created

order of things.

So simply in creation,

we understand.

And we recognize,

or we're supposed

to understand and recognize,

that we have a great need, that

we fall short of

something, that we mess

up, that we do the

wrong thing in our lives

and you know this is

this is again

this is human nature.

You know if you were to talk to

a parent of children,

once you start having kids,

you understand pretty quickly

the fallenness of human

nature and mankind.

You know that the famous quip,

you know you don't

have to teach a child

how to lie right?

But we were just born with this

propensity to deceive, to lie,

to do the wrong thing,

to make those wrong choices

and you know what

Paul is laying out here

is that this is made clear

through through creation,

you know, and he goes on.

He talks about

the nature of man

now, so Romans 1:24,

"Therefore, God gave them over

in the lusts of their

hearts to impurity,

so that their bodies

would be dishonored among them,

for they exchanged

the truth of God

for a lie, and worshipped

and served the creature

rather than the Creator

who is blessed forever, Amen."

We'll be right back.

Shalom, my name is Nicole Vacca

and I'm one of the co-producers

of Our Hope podcast.

We created Our

Hope to be a window

into the Messianic community,

a place where we can discuss

Israel and the Bible

and a resource for people

who want to share their faith

more effectively

and compassionately

with the Jewish community.

If you are interested

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We are so grateful

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and we hope you enjoy

the rest of this episode.

We've been really focused

on the good part

of that question, right?

I'm a good person,

why do I need Jesus?

So before we tap

a little bit into the

why we need Jesus,

I think we need to

address something,

so to a lot of people,

the idea

of God simply forgiving

us, let's be honest,

it sounds really easy.

It's like oh He can

just forgive me just like that.

I think there's a lot

more to that, but,

some would argue that

God's grace because of Yeshua's

sacrifice leaves the door open

for people to continue

doing the wrong thing

to continue doing

what they're doing,

taking advantage of

God's grace.

How how can we respond

to this argument?

Yeah,

so the Bible addresses

this really specifically.

Paul in Romans 6

says this,

he says, "What

shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin,

so that grace may increase?"

He's making the

argument saying,

since we understand grace,

should we just continue to sin

so that we can keep

seeing grace in our lives,

and he's setting it up

as a ridiculous argument.

He says far from it.

"How shall we who died to sin

still live in it?"

So in other words,

when one comes to

faith in Yeshua,

we experience

a total transformation

where we're not just forgiven

for what we've done or what

we haven't done in the past

or actually made

into new people,

no longer slaves to sin,

but rather walking

in righteousness.

So it's almost a moot point.

Why would- we can't even ask

that about ourselves

because if we truly know

Yesgya, we've been made new,

we wouldn't,

we don't any longer

have the desire

to want to run after sin.

It's so much more than

just being simply forgiven.

As you said, it's a it's

a death to the old self.

It's a new birth

into a new life in

the image of God that we were

always designed to have.

So everything about us

changes from that point.

Right,

which is something

I think we need to really

be careful of not

downplaying the magnitude

of the goodness of

God on display in

and through the death of

His Son, Jesus on the cross.

I mean it, it's it's amazing.

It's phenomenal because

like Derek said, before that,

you know, became reality

before we came to believe

and were transformed

that we're made

into new creations

and were born again.

You know, before that happens

the way that we're described

is again, like Paul uses

the very strong language

in Romans 1, but

we also see Yeshua

use language in John 3

and Paul use language

in Ephesians 1,

you know we are,

we were dead in our trespasses.

We were slaves to sin,

our status was different.

Before we were different,

we were dead in our trespasses.

Slaves to sin and and you know,

this is the language

that Jesus uses.

And John Chapter 3, we were

condemned already.

We were condemned already,

you know,

in that famous passage

in that conversation

between Yeshua, Jesus,

and Nicodemus in John 3,

where you know,

Yeshua says for "God

so loved the world

that He gave His

only begotten Son

so that whosoever

believes in Him

shall not perish

but have eternal life."

You keep reading that

passage in John 3:17,

and you see how

Yeshua refers to

the condition of man

and how we are changed

and transformed through

this encounter with Yeshua.

He says this in John 3:17, "For

God did not send

the Son into the world

to judge the world,

but that the world

might be saved through Him.

He who believes in

Him is not judged.

He who does not believe

has been judged already,

because He has not believed

in the name of the only

begotten Son of God",

that was our status

before Yeshua.

We were condemned already,

we were judged already,

we were dead in our trespasses.

We had been given over

to the lusts of the

hearts of impurity.

You know we were,

we were different,

but that encounter

with the true goodness of God

that is on display

through the death,

burial, resurrection

of the Messiah, Jesus,

changes us, transforms us.

How do we explain,

you were just

talking a little bit

about how Jesus responded

to some of this,

so how do we explain

Yeshua's role in

reconciling our sin

and brokenness to someone,

who doesn't think they need

Jesus or religion or anything?

So I'd say

there's little to gain

in arguing with someone

who doesn't want

to take an honest

look at themselves,

but for anyone willing

we can share about the intense

love that the Father has.

Yeah.

Because it is

that it is intense.

He sees and knows

every thought and every feeling

and it matters to Him

immensely.

We are valuable to Him

in ways that we may

not even be able to understand.

We definitely can't understand.

He understands our brokenness.

He understands our sin,

and He wants so badly

to relieve us of it

and that's why

He promised Messiah

in the first place

to reconcile us to God

and make us sons and daughters.

Totally new.

Totally clean.

And so then,

thinking that you don't need

Yeshua or religion,

it doesn't change

the universal truth

you know, we do need it,

whether you think

so or not, we do.

All of us and He can't

wait for us to run to Him.

That's His anticipation.

So as believers then,

for anyone and everyone

who don't yet see,

we have an opportunity and

an obligation to pray

that God would open their eyes.

Yes, and I would add

that in addition

to praying for,

I mean obviously

we want to engage

with an discuss with

you know

people who need the Messiah,

who need this life-changing,

this eternity

changing encounter

with the risen Messiah,

Yeshua and

one thing

that I found to be

really important

when speaking with someone

who may have this objection,

you know, or

who may be seeking,

is the tone that we have,

you know, we want to have

that same kind of love

and commitment and passion

that Yeshua has.

You know, obviously,

we're not Yeshua, but

you know the Spirit of

the living God dwells

inside of us.

He has changed us.

He has transformed us.

He's given us gifts

and we ought to have

the same sort of burden

to proclaim the gospel

and to do it in a way

with love with truth

and with sincerity.

And again,

I think one of the

best examples that we have for

this in the New Testament

is Paul and I'm indebted to Dr.

Darrell Bock.

He gave a A Chapel message

once at the Feinberg Center

that just really blew my mind.

You know, I mean,

we've been looking

at Romans 1 here.

Well, he used Romans 1

as sort of the basis

and he said

this is the understanding

that Paul had of the people

that he was trying to reach.

This is, this is how

he described them

given over

to the lusts of their hearts

and then down in Romans

1, verses 28 to 29,

Paul's describing the people

that he's trying

to reach like this, "And

just as they did

not see fit to acknowledge

God any longer, God

gave them over

to a depraved mind

to do those things

which are not proper,

being filled with

all unrighteousness,

wickedness, greed,

evil, full of envy,

murder, strife, deceit,

malice, their

gossips, slanderers,

haters of God, insolent,

arrogant, boastful

inventors of evil,

disobedient to parents,

without understanding,

untrustworthy,

fun-loving, unmerciful

and although they know

the Ordinance of God

that those who practice

such things

are worthy of death,

they not only do the same

but also give hearty approval

to those who practice them."

So this is

how Paul is describing

the people that he's

you know trying to reach

and minister to the people

who need this message

of the goodness of God.

But when you follow Paul

throughout the Book of Acts,

especially on his

journeys as he's going into

a new town or a new city

as he's engaging

with and encountering

these people that he describes

in Romans 1, how does he go

about sharing the gospel?

How does he go about

sharing this good news?

You know, good news of Yeshua.

He doesn't come like

with guns blazing,

pointing out, hey,

you're you're filled

with malice,

you're an adulterer at heart.

You know you're-

You know, he doesn't list off

everything that he just

says in Romans 1.

Instead, what does he do?

Well,

the prime example is in Acts

17 with Mars Hill

when he was in Athens

and he encounters

idolators, you know,

and he's walking around,

you know, Acts 17:22.

So Paul stood in the midst

of the Areopagus

and said, "Men of Athens,

I observed

that you were very religious

in all respects.

For while I was passing through

and examining the objects

of your worship,

I also found an altar

with this inscription

to an unknown God.

Therefore, what you

worship in ignorance this

I proclaim to you,

the God who made the world

in all things in it.

Since He is Lord of

Heaven and Earth, does not

dwell in temples

made with hands, nor is

He served by human hands,

as though He needed anything,

since He himself

gives to all people

life and breath and all things.

And He made from one man

every nation of mankind

to live on all the

face of the earth, having

determined their

appointed times and the

boundaries of their habitation,

that they would seek God,

if perhaps they might grope

for Him and find Him,

though He is not far

from each one of us.

For in Him we live

and move and exist

as even some of your

own poets have said.

For we are also His children.

Being then the children of God,

we ought not to think

that the Divine Nature

is like gold or silver

or stone, an image

formed by the art

and thought of man.

Therefore, having overlooked

the times of ignorance,

God is now declaring to men

that all people everywhere

should repent,

because He has fixed a day

in which

he will judge the world

in righteousness

through a Man whom

He has appointed,

having furnished proof

to all men, by raising

Him from the dead."

So the way Paul went about it

was he looked for

those connection points

in the men of Athens,

in their culture.

He looked for those

redemptive analogies

and he did it with a tone with

an attitude

that wasn't coming in

heaping condemnation.

You know, he he knew

what the reality was

for the hearts of

these people that

he was talking to.

I mean he lays it out

for us in Romans

1, but here in Acts 17 he's

seeking to bridge the divide,

doing it with love

and with

with the proper attitude,

and I think that

for me is always been

just such an important lesson

in evangelism.

Yeah, it reminds me,

speaking of tone and approach.

The fact that we

see throughout the Gospels

when Yeshua encountered people,

any and all people,

He encountered them with

overwhelming compassion.

Yeah, it says in

Mark 6 and elsewhere

that he saw a large crowd

and he felt compassion for them

because they were like sheep

without a shepherd.

And then because

of that compassion

He determined to

save us from our sinful state.

So if we are ambassadors

of Messiah in the world

then we should and naturally

can as we walk with the Lord,

have that same compassion

for people

and it should show in the way

that we communicate the

good news of the gospel.

Yeah, just to add that

the Greek word that's used

there for compassion in Mark

6 and in Matthew 9, which is

Matthew's parallel passage.

The Greek word is "splagchnon".

Just just rolls off

the tongue, right?

Splagchnon.

And what it what it is,

it sounds like a

strange, very picturesque

kind of word because it's like

the Yiddish would be "kishkes",

you know, deep in your gut.

So what Yeshua felt

was this compassion that He

actually felt in His gut.

It, like it turned His stomach

to see His people

like sheep without a

shepherd and mistreated

and just left for dead

is you know how it's

the wording is described there.

So so yeah.

I mean you know God

give us that

kind of splagchnon, you know

God give us that kind

of compassion for people.

So I have a last

question for you both.

We've heard a lot

about the theological

reasons and

for needing Jesus and

we define good and we

really tackled this question.

But ultimately,

for each of you personally

why did each of you

decide that you needed Jesus?

Yeah, for me

it took me comparing

the Holiness

and the perfection of God

that I came to understand

through the Bible

with an honest look at myself

and the comparison of the two.

My thoughts, my motives,

my decisions, all of it.

And you know, I wasn't

some wild rebel by any stretch.

I don't have that

kind of testimony.

But I understood that

like everyone, I fell

far short of perfection.

And that didn't make me upset,

at least not for long

because I was confronted

with the fact that God loved me

so much and gave Himself for me

in the person

of Yeshua the Messiah.

He wanted me to be His son.

He wanted to walk

with me through life.

He wanted to spend eternity

with me personally.

He wanted to fill me

with His Spirit,

and He couldn't wait

for me to run to Him.

It wasn't like it was,

I realized it wasn't

like He was put out

and just felt obligated.

He wanted that desperately,

deeply wanted that from me.

And He showed me that and I was

I was undone, I was undone.

I gave Him my life

and the rest is history.

Robert?

Yeah, so for me

I was 19 years old.

I was heavily involved in drugs

and just a very,

very dark lifestyle

and over the course

of about three months,

the Lord began to convict me

about the way I was living, and

I remember driving down

the road in the car

with some friends

and even telling them

how convicted I felt

and they said why,

and I said because

I know the Bible says something

about not doing this

and they all laughed at me and

just kind of brushed it off

and it came to a head

one evening

when I was just

confronted again

like Derek said, just with

an honest look at myself

and I knew I knew

with beyond a shadow of a doubt

that I was steeped in

sin and wickedness.

I mean, it was clear to me,

I had no delusions

that I was good and

for the first time in

my life from that place, from

that really just

like bottomed out

kind of place, I spoke to God.

I prayed really for

like the first time in my life

and I said, God,

if you're real, show me

and within moments

of praying that prayer

He answered

and I was overwhelmed

and flooded by the

Holy Spirit of God

and just

transformed, transformed

totally completely.

I knew God's

love in that moment

and I just had an

undeniable recognition

that Jesus answered me.

And everything changed,

everything in my life changed

from that moment forward.

And we don't

stop needing Him,

need Him every single day,

every single moment

of every hour.

I'm so grateful to you

both for being here.

I'm so grateful

for your testimony

that has ultimately

brought you here

to this episode.

It is just so encouraging

to hear from you both.

Derek, thank you so much

for this being your first time,

I hope it's not the last time

and it was great

to hear your thoughts and I'm

excited for

the rest of this

season to really dive

into more of these questions

so thank you.

“But now apart from the Law

the righteousness of God

has been manifested,

being witnessed by the Law

and the Prophets,

even the righteousness

of God through faith in Yeshua

Messiah for all those

who believe; for

there is no distinction;

for all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God,

being justified as

a gift by His grace

through the redemption

which is in Messiah Yeshua.”

Romans 3, verses 21 through 24

Not one of us can ever be

good enough to meet God’s

standard of goodness—but

the good news is that

God sent His Son

to cover our offenses

with His sacrifice.

We will never be perfect,

but Yeshua lived a perfect,

blameless life—and though

we fail, by God’s grace,

because of Yeshua,

we can get back up

and continue following Him.

We hope you

enjoyed today’s episode.

Next week,

we are going to answer

another important question

that we often hear—“Is

believing in Jesus idolatry?”

Tune in next week to find out

how God can become a man,

and the relationship

between God and Yeshua.

Thank you for listening

to this week's

episode of Our Hope,

featuring chosen

People, Ministries,

staff members, Robert Walter

and Derek Blumenthal.

This episode was

produced by Nicole Vacca

and edited by Grace Swee.

This episode is also

brought to you by Dr.

Mitch Glaser, Brian Crawford,

Kieran Bautista,

and Neal Surasky.

I'm Abe Vazquez

until next time.

Thanks for

listening to Our Hope.

If you like our show

and want to know more,

check out ourhopepodcast.com

or chosenpeople.com.

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