Scott continues his examination of Romans 8:1-4, focusing on what the gospel means for believers. He opens by reminding listeners of the persistent conflict Christians face with sin, highlighting Paul’s “discovery” that even after coming to faith, the presence of evil remains an ongoing battle. Scott stresses that the gospel is not only for those who have not yet believed, but it is essential for those who already follow Christ, offering relief from ongoing guilt, fear, and shame.

He also unpacks the meaning of Paul’s declaration that there is “no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,” carefully explaining the roles of Jesus as Savior, Messiah, and Lord. He emphasizes the permanence of God’s forgiveness, the futility of self-accusation, and the difference between conviction from the Holy Spirit and accusations from the enemy. The episode also touches on common struggles among believers such as fear of punishment, abandonment by God, and death—contrasting these with the assurance of adoption and eternal security in Christ. Scott encourages listeners to repeatedly remind themselves of the gospel’s truths, not just in moments of initial belief but every day as part of the ongoing Christian life.

Download the Insight Sheet:

Blank Insight Sheet:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g4umI0j0pGTyycBxnBO89CwHuKwujkGe/view?usp=sharing

Insight Sheet With Answers: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_LadhdIBLf1dYrXQ9HUmI5heCmD9Elj2/view?usp=sharing

Key Topics Discussed:

• Ongoing presence of sin in the believer’s life
• The gospel’s role for believers, not just unbelievers
• Explanation of “no condemnation” in Christ
• Jesus as Savior, Messiah, and Lord
• God’s forgiveness and the end of guilt and shame
• The difference between accusation (from Satan) and conviction (from the Holy Spirit)
• Assurance against fear of punishment or abandonment
• Hope in the face of death through Christ’s victory
• Repeatedly applying the gospel to daily life

Hi.

If you're looking for greater hope, assurance and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi and welcome to today's Episode. As always, for a deeper experience you can go to the Show Notes and download the Blank Insight sheet. Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website@beholdingbibletruth.com and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.

Well, last week we finished up the five lessons on finishing Strong. Hope you enjoy them. If you missed any of them, they are online at Behold holding, behold beholding beholding Bibletruth.com so you can either get them an audio podcast form or there's a YouTube channel called Beholding BibleTruth.com so you can get any of those. Thanks to you. For those who go in and download it and make use of that, really appreciate that that's part of our mission and calling. So we're grateful to be able to send it out into the Internet universe and let the Lord use it as he will. And we talked about discovering your passion as one of the indicators of how God has wired you for your calling. And appreciate the fact regularly for as long as we've been coming to the chapel, which is how long? 38, 38 years.

38 years been coming to the chapel. You know, the Gospel is regularly woven into messages and certainly Pastor Dave Israel Passion for the Gospel for Unbelievers My passion is the Gospel for believers, the Gospel for belief. And we're going to step our way back into the book of Romans. And there isn't a better section that we're going to look at today because this is the Gospel for believers. So stand with me if you will. We're going to read this romans end of 721 through 82. And remember, there are no chapters or verses in the original. It just flows.

So let's read this. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man. But I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, which is in my members, wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, on the one hand, I myself in my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh, the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus had set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do, we, as it was through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.

And as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The word of the Lord thanks be to God. So the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul, says he made a discovery. And in the new American standard, the verb is fine, but it means I discovered. I discovered. I came to a discovery, says I discovered. Paul is discovery from experience, right? He says, I find then the principle that evil is still present in me. Evil is still present in me.

How many have found that discovery as a believer? Evil is still present in me. There. Some would say, well, the Apostle Paul in Romans 7 was talking about he was not a believer. But it's clearly not when he was not a believer, it's when he's a believer. Evil is still present in me. Who? The one who wants to do good. And before Christ, you don't want to do good. There is none who does good.

So Paul's experience is that evil is still present in me. And he said, it's not just that it's present in me. It's war. It's war. How many hear the gunshots every day, right? Every day. Every day. He says the law of God is in the inner man, right? We've been born again. It says the promise of the New Testament is God would take our heart of stone out and he would give us a heart of flesh.

Then he would birth our spirit again, so we would have a new spirit. And then he would put his spirit in us. So we have a new heart with a new spirit and his spirit within us. And that the promise, the hope of glory is that Christ would dwell in us. So God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit of dwelling in us as believers. However, there is a law in my members, literally in my flesh. And what's it doing? It's waging war. It's not.

We're. We're having little discussions. It says it's waging war. How many know the war? You know the war every day. I found it's only when I'm awake. Although I sometimes wage war in my dreams. Do you like, you wake up and think, oh boy, oh Lord, you got to forgive me for that. I was asleep.

But in my subconscious the war still rages, doesn't it? There's a war going on. So he says, I find this principle, it's war. So therefore, it's absolutely critical that we understand the gospel for believers. The gospel for believers. Because I used to think the gospel was for knocking on the door of unbelievers or sharing with bread or know with somebody who doesn't know the Lord. But the gospel is for believers. It means more for us than it does to an unbeliever. The gospel for believers.

So what's he say? Wretched man that I am. How many times have you felt that? Like I am just wretched? And he says, who will set me free? Who will set me free from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Christ our Lord. Jesus Christ our Lord, right? So he says, thanks be to God. That's how he starts it. Thanks be to God. It's God the Father. God the Father. And we tend to, I think the triune nature of our God is hard to comprehend, isn't it? But we tend to be singular in our focus and we talk a lot about Jesus.

But Jesus is the Son of God. God is God the Father. Is God the Father. He is God the Father, right? So he says, blessed be in Ephesians, blessed be who? The God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is God's God, if you will. He is the Son's God, right? In his humanity and in his divinity, right? So he says, thanks be to God the Father. And so at the beginning of Romans, this is how he prays. I thank my God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Again, it's not you can't pray to Jesus, but fundamentally we pray to God the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, right. He says pray. Jesus said pray like this. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Right? Our Father. We pray to the Father. Blessed be the God and Father.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So he says, thanks be to God and then he says, through what? Jesus Christ, our Lord, Jesus Christ our Lord. Very important, very important. Because we see, right, in some sense, capture the fullness of who he is. So first of all, Jesus, that's his humanity and his human calling, right? Jesus comes from the Hebrew word Yeshua meaning Yahweh saves. Y A H W E H. Y A H. W E H comes from Yeshua meaning Yahweh saves in some sense in the Old Testament when it translates it Lord, and they do it in small caps, it's the translation of Yahweh, which is I am, that I am.

It's his personal name. And so oftentimes I just have switched when I pray to him. He's our Father, but he's also Yahweh. He's Yahweh. That's his name. It's different saying the Lord. The Lord feels in some ways impersonal to me. It's his personal name.

Who should I say sent you? I am that I am. What does that mean? It means the Eternal One, the immortal One, who alone possesses immortality. Who alone possesses immortality. So he says, you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He says, therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, that's us, right? He himself. Who is that? Jesus. This is Jesus.

Likewise also underlined for took of the same. What did he partook of? Flesh and blood. That's right, flesh and blood. And so when I think about that the uncontainable stepped into a flesh and blood container. How do you take the uncontainable and step into a container? And then who would do that? Who would put themselves Me. It would be like claustrophobia, right? The one without who's uncontainable, that through death. What would he do? Render power powerless. Who would he render powerless? Him who had the power.

The one who had power over death. Who's that? The devil. And he might free those who through fear of death were subject to slaver all their life. That's Jesus and his human calling. His human calling, his humanity and his human calling. Then you said, then you have Christ. That's his divinity and his divine office. Pistos is the Greek equivalent.

Essentially, this is the Messiah, the anointed one. The Messiah, the anointed one. And if you are Jewish by background, it. It doesn't have the same meaning. And which is to me, why? If you. If you haven't. If you want to understand the New Testament, you have to understand the Old Testament. If you understand who Jesus Christ is, you have to understand the Old Testament.

God wasn't different then, wasn't a different time or a different God. There's no way you can understand the New covenant until you understand the Old covenant. It is indeed the Foundation. He is the Messiah. He is the Promised one, the anointed one, the one to come. And so he has a three fold ministry. He is prophet. Right at the same time.

He is all of the prophets pointing to the prophet. He is priest and he is king. He's prophet, priest and king. That's that first blank. Yes, that's that first long blank. He is prophet, priest and king. And if you study the Old Testament, they're always separate. They're very separate offices because they're pointing to the One who would be them all.

He's the divine fulfillment of every Old Testament promise. And he asked Peter, so who do you say that I am? Who do you say that I am? He's standing in front of Jesus, flesh and blood. Who do you say that I am? Simon Keaver said, you are the Christ. You are the Christ, the Christ, The. The Messiah, the anointed one, the promised One, the one who would come to set the prisoners free. Right? You are the Messiah. Simon said, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And I love that.

As he's walking along in Luke, the two guys who can't understand who he is, he says, beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, Jesus. That's he. What did he do? Explain. Explained. What did he explain? Things concerning himself in all the Scriptures. In all the Scriptures. People miss that. Where is Jesus? Genesis, where is Jesus? Exodus, where is Jesus? Leviticus, where is Jesus in all the Scriptures? They all point to him in all the Scriptures.

His divine, his divinity and his divine office in all the Scriptures. Jesus. Just be amazed if you go back and study the Old Testament and look, put on your Jesus glasses and you'll see Jesus Christ in every book of the Bible. It's just pointing, pointing, pointing. So he says, jesus, his humanity and his human calling. Christ, his divinity and his divine calling. But most importantly, it's our Lord, his sovereign authority. His sovereign authority.

Lord speaks to his divine sovereignty. So he says in Ephesians, it's where he phrased. He says that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened, that you'd know the hope of his calling, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in us, and the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. And they said these, those three things are in accordance with what are in accordance with the working. The working. The working of what? The strength of his might. Huh? Did you show us the strength of your might? God? Yes. How do you show us when he brought about in Messiah, Right.

Whoa. When? When he raised him. Raised him. From the dead. Not just raised him, but what did he do? Seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. The. The position of authority. Where is he seated? Where is Jesus? Where is he? He's seated at the right hand in the place of favor, at the right hand of God's Father.

Well, what does that mean in terms of authority? We think of that as a place like, where is it? Right. Where is He? Right. No, he said, this is a picture of his authority. He's at the right hand of God the Father, his place of authority. What? Where is it underlined? Far above in authority. Far above. What's he far above? Rule, authority, power, dominion. What are those four levels of demonic authorities? Four levels of.

It's like saying generals, majors, right? Sergeants, privates, in the fallen realm of angels, they have authority. Those are four levels. And Jesus is not just above them. What is he? He is far above. Far above all. Rule, authority, power and dominion. Is that good to know? So he has authority over every demon, Satan, and every demon who's fallen. He's seated far above, but also.

Right. He says every name that is named. And not only in this age, but this is the eternal. He's an eternal position of authority. And he put all things into subjection. Who's He? Who's that? Who's that he? God. Yeah. The Father put all things into objection under his feet and gave Christ as head over all things.

Underlined over all things. And who did he give them to? Church. The church to us. He gave them to us. Jesus Christ. Seated in authority, far above all rule, authority, power and dominion. Name above all names. Right.

Name above all names, Authority, Wise. And we think of from our standpoint, if God is with us and God is for us, is that good news that he's far above all our enemies? Right. But there's another component to Jesus being seated in authority. And that is, what's that mean for me? What's that mean for me? Do I break glass when I need him or leave him on a shelf, call upon him when needed? Or does he have a position of authority in my life? So it says that every. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. And I think about that, right? Hopefully from time to time. You actually bow your knee, pray, seek the Lord. Right? Needs to be a place and a time when you bow your knee, right? Come, let us worship, it says in the Psalms, and bow down.

Let's bow down. Let her worship and bow down. It's harder as you get older because then you wonder, can I get Back up. But you want to have a place. I always thought I would have a place in my house with two little places in the hardwood floor or in the carpet. Right where your knees hit, right? He says the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow. And that sounds so cool, doesn't it? But it references an Old Testament scripture in Isaiah, and in there, it's a little different picture of that.

It says that to me in Isaiah. And this is what he's quoting. Every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance. Well, that's a little different than just bowing my knee. I can bow my knee, but my heart can be in a different place. G can physically bow my knee, but bowing your heart is different. And it's not just bowing your knee and bowing your heart. It's literally saying swearing allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag. We used to do that in school, right? Don't do that anymore. But who do you pledge allegiance to? Legions swear allegiance to, right? Used to blood swear, right? Allegiance. And the word. The Hebrew word literally means. I'm sure this before seven oneself swear allegiance means to seven oneself means to dedicate oneself fully and perfectly, making a sacred, complete commitment. Dang Lord. I like the knee thing because I can do that physically, but that's a little much.

I mean, I grew up. I want to be the Marlboro Man. I want to, you know, I want to ride the range. I want to. Right. Be the captain of my own ship. I want to be the master of my own destiny, right? I want to. I want to.

You know, I'll call you along. I'll bring you involved, right? And I'll definitely call you when I need you to. Like the square allegiance. Come on, man. We live in America, and America is built on. We are Protestants. That's what it means to be a Protestant. We are a Protestant.

That's what we did. We protested, we left. We came here. We are independent. That is the nature of our culture. Everybody get that? It's the nature of our culture. That's why it's a you. It's a you.

Christianity. This is hard, isn't it? So who do you. It's for allegiance to who do you swear? Allegiance. Okay, this makes me nervous. Jesus. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We need him. Oh, yeah.

Like, I'm there, right? I'm there. So that's our challenge, isn't it? Who do we swear allegiance to? So that's what we sing every niche about. So we see his. We see his human right, his humanity in his human calling. And that makes him A great high priest, because he can empathize and sympathize with our weakness. For he's been tempted and always as we have, yet without sin. When you cry out to him, this is what I struggle with. This is what I'm.

This is hard, all of that stuff. He gets it. Yet without sin. So he's able to come to our aid to give us mercy. That's right. It's a throne of mercy. Same time. He's divine in his calling, right? He is everything that we need.

He's prophet, priest and king. And he sits at the right hand of the Father. And he intercedes for you at the same time. God the Father and God the Son, Right? Their authority, even by itself demands who do you, who do you serve? Who do you swear allegiance to? Who do you live for? And by our nation, we live for ourselves, Right? But I don't need a workshop. 7 Ways to Serve myself better. I just don't need help with that, do I wake up. You know, you have two year olds. They already know how to serve themselves, right? That's how we are.

That's our nature. So that's the challenge, isn't it? That's the challenge. So he is Jesus Christ. And by the way, he is our Lord. He's not your Lord, he's our Lord. Which means he's ours. Ours together. We're not in this alone.

He is not my Lord. He is our Lord. Very, very important. Every one of those words mean something. Is Jesus, humanity, Christ, divinity. And he's our Lord, our Lord. He's head of the body, the church. He's head over all things to the church.

So it's war. In the Gospel, the most important word is down there. Therefore. Therefore it shows up in ver in chapter eight. There is no chapters in the original Greek. But that word jumps out because it asks the question, what is it? Therefore. It's therefore what preceded it. It always says, go back as a result of this, that through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Right? Therefore. Therefore flip it over. We're in Christ Jesus. You're a believer, you're in Christ Jesus. Of course. What's it mean? If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. It's a new creature. Was that good news? See, I know the old creature and the old creature still lurks about, doesn't it? But he reminds us, that's what you were.

Totally, with no hope at all. You were the old creature, now you're a new creature, new creation. A new creation. He makes roadways in the Wilderness, rivers in the desert. Isn't that good news? And he reminds us in love. He says in. In Ephesians, he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. To what? To himself.

And I said this before, this is whose you are. You're his. You are a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people for God's own possession. We're his. We're his. In Galatians he says, not that you know God, that's irrelevant. In a sense, it's that God knows you. People say, I know God.

No, the question is whether you think you know God. The question is, does God know you? Because he says, at the end of the age, I never knew you. Question is, oh, I know God. No. Does God know you? Right. So you're his, who you are. And the other thing is identity. In Christ we have identity.

Wonder who am I? Who am I? Paul, when he speaks about who he is, he says, I am a bond, servant of Christ Jesus. I'm a bond, servant of Christ Jesus, Messiah Jesus. And you'll see in other places he says, I take my circumstance and I recognize not only my identity, Right? If you an apostle of Christ Jesus, he's a bond, servant of Christ Jesus. But he'll say, my. My identity is also. My circumstance is in Christ Jesus. I'm a prisoner of Christ Jesus. What's he saying? My present difficulty, my present challenge is in Christ Jesus.

It's not. I'm not in it in and of myself. Everybody see, see that? So his identity is in Christ Jesus. So we can say, am I working? I'm an employee in Christ Jesus of Christ Jesus. That's what he says. We serve the Lord. I'm retired in Christ Jesus of Christ Jesus. How are you going to say that? But you're right, your place in life, your identity is in him.

Does that make sense? My identity is in him. And we fill with blessings. There's just a few. We could go on and on. Redemption, peace with God. We're sons by adoption. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly place is sanctification. Jesus is our sanctification.

He's our eternal security, our resurrection power and our future glory course. So he says, there is right, therefore there is now. There is now in of the present, no condemnation. I start for a minute. There is no condemnation. So he's coming off of wretched man, that I am at war within myself. But he says, therefore there is now. Now.

No. No condemnations, no judgment, no punishment. I love it. David Guzik said. He said, the verdict is not less Condemnation. Oh, things have gotten a little better. There's less condemnation. He said, no, it's your.

Your situation has not been improved. It has been transformed. It has been transformed. It is not less condemnation. It has been completely transformed. And so we, we. We step into this door of. Therefore, we step into this door where the gospel for believers is unfolded in chapter eight of the Book of Romans.

We're gonna have a lot of fun together. But he said, Christ Jesus condemned sin's power. And he put to death. He put to death fear, guilt and shame. He put to death fear, guilt and shame. More fear, guilt, no more shame. So he says in Colossians 2. I said this before he did something that is astounding.

Right? He took the certificate of debt. So imagine a scroll where all your sins were laid on it. Mine would be really long. Lena. He says he nailed it to the cross. He nailed the certificate of death. Imagine a scroll with all your sins. The ones you remember, the ones you can't remember, the ones that are outside, the ones that are inside, the ones of commission and the ones of omission.

All your sins, right? All of your sins have been nailed to the cross. So he says, having forgiven us, underline all our transgressions. How many? How many? What did he do? He canceled out their certificate of debt. Really? What was that debt? The decrees against us. How many decrees were there? More than you know. More than you know. Every thought, every deed, every motive, every attention. Right.

Intention. So he says, having canceled it out, and those decrees, they were hostile to us. And as a result, God was hostile toward us because of his wrath. What's he do? He has taken it. Where? Out of the way. As far as the east is from the west. And what did he do? He nailed it to the cross. There's my sin.

Where is it? It's nailed to the cross and it's covered in his blood. Covered in his blood. It's been nailed to the cross, which sins, right? That's what he says in the Old Testament, right? Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. And forget none of his benefits. What's the very first? One who forgives all your transgressions, pardons your iniquities? What? So Ellicott, old time preacher said sins hold is made to cease. Well, how does that happen? Through the participation of the believer.

In what? The death of Christ. Right. In Christ. We participated his death in his burial and his resurrection. Huh. Well, what happened? Sin, as it were. Was brought into court. I love this picture and the cause given against it.

What's the cause? The blood of Christ. So sin as it will goes into court and Jesus pleads the blood of Christ and it loses all its rights and claims. Sin is found guilty. He condemns sin in the flesh. He says, for what the law could not do, God did. How do you do that? Right? By putting to death sin. Isn't that cool? So here's the question. How much do you struggle with guilt and accusation? How much do you struggle with guilt and accusation? If 0 was crushing guilt and 10 was free of it, don't put 10.

I know you know. 10's home with the Lord. It's okay, but just stop for a minute and say how much. How much you struggle with guilt, guilt and accusation. Even as I ask it, do you feel it? Do you feel. Now you feel it? Guilt and accusation. I mean, it. It's.

It's like it boils up inside of you, right? So he reminds us here in Revelation. I've said this before. He's the what of the brethren. He said this before. You can write that this down. Satan doesn't need an advocate. Satan doesn't need an advocate. He doesn't need your help accusing you.

How many jump in with it? How many jump in with them? Take the flaming arrows and stab yourself. Right? Flaming arrows of the evil one. Here, let me light some up for you. Hey, you forgot these. So he asked the question, if you feel an accusation. So we ask the question, so who will bring a charge against God's elect? So if you're in Christ, you're God's elect. So who will bring a charge? Where's the accusation coming from? So he says, okay, so maybe God the Father. Let's see.

So he asked the question, well, God is the one who justifies. So God the Father has justified you. So then he says, okay, so who is the one who condemns you? Well, how about Jesus Christ? How about Messiah Jesus? No, Christ Jesus is he who died? Yes, rather, who was raised? Where is he and what's he doing? So when you feel the accusation, the guilt, he says, is it God the Father? No. Is it Christ Jesus at the right hand of the Father? No. He's interceding for you. So who is it? So stop helping him. He doesn't need our help. Doesn't need our help.

So next I ask, well, how much do you struggle with the fear of punishment by God? And that can be passed. How many say, well, ah, the Lord's getting me now for What I did back then before Christ, how many say, yeah, the Lord's paying me back. Lord's paying me back. Lord's paying me back. Fear of punishment. God's going to punish me for that. On a scale of 0 to 10 again, how many struggle with the fear of punishment? So the fear is punishment. Is God punishing me or will he punish me? Is God punishing me? Will he punish me? What scripture say, there's no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

So he's saying, what kind of fear is this? He says, because fear involves punishment. God's going to punish me for this sin, punish me for the sin. He says, no, right? His love casts out that fear. There is no fear of punishment. Well, maybe I'm afraid that he'll just abandon me. How many of you struggle? I mean, we all do. We all struggle with all of these. But all you to recognize is where.

Where are my big fears, right? How much do you struggle with fear of abandonment by God? It says, in love, he predestined us to adopt. Adoption as sons. You really say, oh, how can you believe once saved, always saved. How about once adopted, always adopted? Can you unadopt? I don't. You can't. Legally, you cannot unadopt once adopted. So think about that, right? So in. In Hebrews, the amplified version, if you ever use it, takes the Greek and it expands it with many words in order to help you understand the power of the Greek.

So the verse in Hebrews 13:5 says, Be content. And he says, he has said, I will never. As if shouting, I will never under any circumstance what, desert you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless. That's the n. That's what the Greek words mean. Nor will I forsake or let you down or relax my hold upon you. Then he finishes with, assuredly not. That is the God of the universe who cannot lie, who cannot do except be in concert with everything he says.

That's what he's saying to you. Yo, you who struggle, listen to me. So we struggle with the fear, right, of guilt, accusation, fear of punishment, fear of abandonment by. By God. All of them hampering us. All of them hampering us like, you know, cutting your. Your Achilles or your tendon in your leg, right? To. To hobble you in your Christian life.

And lastly, how. How much do you struggle with the fear of death? How much do you struggle with the fear of death? We all come to grips with that, right? It's a hard Thing because other people die. I don't die. Right. I mean, that's how you tend to think. And that was what? Pastor? Oh, no, New York City. Keller. Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Tim Keller wrote a book called On Death. And then he had pancreatic cancer, went away. When, when it came back, he said, I couldn't look at my own book. He said, talk about other people's death, but talk about my own death. Right. Why? Because we're finite, which means we don't remember not being so. This sense of what's there, right? What's next? But it really has that fear of abandonment.

Will he abandon me in death? Will he abandon me in death? Right. And. And that's really. That's really the question. And what's interesting is he says, our Savior Christ Jesus, what did he do? He. He abolished death. He abolished death. What did he bring about life and immortality? Well, how do we know? He says, I brought him to light through the gospel.

This is the gospel for believers. It's not the good. It's. It. It's good news, right? No, it's great news. And it's great news for unbeliever, but it's even greater news for you and for me, right? It's our great things because Christ Jesus has transformed death for us. He has transformed death for us. Paul says, here's what's true.

For to me, to live is Christ. That's swearing allegiance. He said, I've sevened myself. I've sworn allegiance. So for me, to live is Christ, is Messiah, right? To die is gain. As believers, do we really believe that to die is gain? To die is gain. And again, we're broken. When we lose people, we're broken.

But as believers, we should say, this is good. To die is gain. Right? We live in a society that does everything, and I think you should for your quality of life. But we shouldn't fear death. To die is gain. That's the point at the end is to glorify him in our lives and in our death. I want to die a death that glorifies him. I want to be prepared and each of us be prepared to be able to embrace it and say, hey, I don't want to be around the 99 part of it for sure.

I. How is it going to be? What is it going to be? Yeah, part of that's the case. But there's the unknown sense. I don't care whether you say in your head, when I, you know, the minute I write, the minute he calls me home, he's there. What does that look, I've never been there before. You know what I mean? There's still a sense of. You die by faith. You die by faith.

I don't care what at the end of the day. You die by day because you don't know. You. You close your eyes in this life and you know, I could. I can still remember, you know, if you've been around when a baby's born, you say, there wasn't. Lie. I mean, there was life in the womb, but there was no life. None.

There's life. And then if you're around when somebody died with my mother, all of a sudden they're gone. Well, wait a minute. Where. Where do they go? You don't know what's on the other side of that, right? What's on the other side of that? So there is that he is. And. And so the Lord says, underline precious. Precious what? What is precious in the sight of the Lord? And think about that.

Do we say that somebody dies? Precious in the sight of the Lord? Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of one of his godly ones. They think, oh, man, oh, man, why'd they go so soon? Why did they? Well, timing, all of that. Precious in the sight of the Lord. Do I understand that? No, no, it's true. No, it's true. Because Jesus Christ, Jesus has transformed death. So we finished with an understanding of the difference. Accusation versus conviction.

Accusation versus conviction. Because this is about the gospel for believers. What does that mean? Daily wretched man that I am, oh Lord, who will set me free from this body of death, thanks be to God, through Christ Jesus our Lord. There's the answer. Therefore. There's therefore now no condemnation. So what's the difference? Accusation leads us way away from God. Away from God.

Guilt, shame, fear, despair, hiding. Genesis, we see when sin showed up, what they do underline hid themselves, which is actually funny. Where will they go? Well, what's it say in the Psalms? You can go to the highest heights, the deepest depths, even the darkness is not darkness to him. We hid ourselves under a tree, the tree that God spoke into being and holds into being. Right. I'm going to hide myself from God. But that's what accusation does, doesn't it? And I tell that story before, you know, really in our marriage when we were having a vigorous conversation, very vigorous. And I got in the car and I wanted to see if I could have the.

The steering wheel dislodged from. I was so mad it didn't work, but I was mad and I felt the Lord prompted me to come and talk to him. And I said, I can't come like this. How many felt like that? I can't come like this. Yes. Right. And so is it the Lord again? No, Verbal, but the Lord said, so going to fix that before you come to me? No, I'm, I'm, I'm. I'm not going to see the doctor until I get well.

Yeah. I'm not going to a personal trainer until I'm in shape. I'm not going to my Savior until I fix this. And he said, you cannot fix that. The only place you can go when you're broken in sin is to the throne of mercy. Can't go anywhere else. To receive mercy and grace, to help in time of teenage throne of mercy. He said, come home.

Come home. Conviction leads back, right back to God in confession. So he says, if we confess our sins, say the same thing, in other words, say God, you're right, I'm wrong. That's a sin. Whether it's an action or a thought, whether it's omission or commission, doesn't really matter. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and righteous. To do what? To forgive and to cleanse. What's the cleansing from? It's the cleansing from the guilt and cleansing from the power of that sin.

He says, yeah, but if anyone sinned, what do we do? We have an advocate. Huh. Who's that? Jesus Christ. Where is he? Yeah. He is with the Father at his right hand, and he's Jesus Christ, righteous. And he's my advocate. He's my advocate. Huh.

Should I go to my advocate? Yeah. I have an advocate with the Father. He is pleading his righteousness with the Father. So if anyone sins so, repentance, confession, repentance, forgiveness, confess, cleansing, restoration, renewal. Yahweh is my shepherd, shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.

He guides me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. I'll set a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Right. My cup overfloweth. Right. Thou hast anointed my head with oil.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh or Ephraim. So he says. He restores my soul. He restores my soul. So accusation leads me away. Conviction Conviction leads me back. This is the gospel for believers.

This is the great, great news for believers. How often do I need to hear this? Only when I'm awake. How often are you preaching the gospel to yourself? How many times a day? How many times a day? Good Multivitamin Once a day. Really good Supplements multiple times. The gospel for believers. This is the gospel for believers. Is this good news? No, it's great news. It's great news.

All right, Put down the insight. So here's an application every time you hear the gospel shared as if it's for an unbeliever. Hey, right, today, if you come forward, if you bend your knee, right? Remember, there's a gospel. Right? That same gospel is a gospel for believers. It's not just the gospel for unbelievers. This is the good news for believers. Deeper, broader, wider, right, than we can comprehend. The breadth, the length, the height and the depth.

And to know the love of God, which surpasses knowledge that you might be filled up to all the fullness. Who has a thought here? Insight. So it's great news. Let's close. Father in heaven, we bless your holy name today, God the Father. And we thank you, Lord Jesus, for all that you have purchased, all that we have. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless and beyond reproach in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of his will.

In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the great kindness and mercy that you have shown us, Father, and you have. For all those who have hope in Christ, you have set us apart to be to the praise of your glory. So we bless your holy name today. We say in the name of him who has saved us, may he bless you, May he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he grant you his shalom deep in your soul. And may you know and walk in the gospel, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, every day, every moment, every, every day, until he calls you home. May he bless you and may he keep you.

Amen. Amen.

Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible and His Son, Jesus Christ. Until next time. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine. Upon you and be gracious to you. And may the Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life. Until next time.

May God bless you and keep you.