What’s New in the Cross Reference Library? Emotionally Healthy Spirituality book and Workbook

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality - Peter Scazzero learned the hard way: You can’t be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. Though Scazzero was an experienced pastor of a growing church, his life and faith remained emotionally unhealthy. Like so many in the church, he routinely: 

• avoided healthy conflict in the name of keeping the peace

• ignored and suppressed emotions

• used work for God as an excuse to run from God

• lived without limits

In this bestselling book, Scazzero outlines the top ten symptoms of emotionally unhealthy spirituality. He then unpacks core biblical principles to guide you into an experience of lasting, beneath-the-surface transformation in your relationship with Christ. 

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Course Workbook - In this workbook, Scazzero helps you unpack core biblical principles to guide you into an experience of lasting, beneath-the-surface transformation in your relationship with Christ. The workbook includes session introductions, group discussion questions, application, and between sessions personal study. Join us for a powerful journey that will walk you through a door that will change forever the way you love God, others, and yourself.

What’s New in the Cross Reference Library? The Wyoming Sunrise Series by Mary Connealy

Forged in Love - Mariah Stover is left for dead and with no memory when the Deadeye Gang robs the stagecoach she’s riding in, killing both her father and brother. As she takes over her father’s blacksmith shop and tries to move forward, she soon finds herself in jeopardy and wondering—does someone know she witnessed the robbery and is still alive? Handsome and polished Clint Roberts escaped to western Wyoming, leaving his painful memories behind. Hoping for a fresh start, he opens a diner where he creates fine dishes, but is met with harsh resistance from the townsfolk, who prefer to stick to their old ways. Clint and Mariah are drawn together by the trials they face in town, and Clint is determined to protect Mariah at all costs when danger descends upon her home. As threats pursue them from every side, will they survive to build a life forged in love? 

The Laws of Attraction - If widowed seamstress Nell Armstrong has to make one more pair of boring chaps for the cowboys in her tiny Wyoming town, she might just quit the business altogether! So meeting Brand Nolte, a widower struggling to raise three girls on his own, seems like her dream come true. Brand has no idea how to dress the girls properly, and Nell finally has a chance to create beautiful outfits while also teaching the girls to sew. But Nell is much more than a seamstress, and the investigative skills and knowledge she picked up alongside her late lawman husband soon become critical when a wounded stagecoach-robbery survivor is brought to town. As danger closes in from all sides, Nell and Brand must discover who has a target on them before it’s too late. 

Marshaling Her Heart - Becky Pruitt has always prided herself on knowing everything that’s happening on her successful ranch, so an unexpected admission from her foreman, Nate Paxton, comes as quite a surprise. With the notorious Deadeye Gang on the loose, Nate—a former U.S. Marshal—believes Becky’s ranch is the best spot for a group of Marshals to use as a base to hunt them down. The timing couldn’t be more crucial for the town of Pine Valley, and Becky feels obligated to help. But after escaping the grasp of her harsh father, she’s never liked giving up control, of her life or her ranch. If there’s anyone she can trust with her ranch, and her heart, it might be Nate. But the outlaws won’t go away quietly, and as danger draws ever nearer, Becky and Nate are faced with impossible choices that will test their growing bond.

What’s New in the Cross Reference Library? Additions To Multiple Book Series’

A Nir Tavor Mossad Thriller: Out of The Far North by Amir Tsarfati & Steve Yohn  - Tensions are at a breaking point. The Western markets that once relied on Russian gas have turned to Israel for their energy needs. Furious, Russia surreptitiously moves to protect their interests by using their newfound ally, Iran, and Iran’s proxy militias. As Israel’s elite fighting forces and the Mossad go undercover, they detect that The Kremlin is planning a major attack against Israel. Hunting for clues, Mossad agents Nir Tavor and Nicole le Roux plunge themselves in the treacherous underworld of Russian oligarch money, power, and decadence. With each danger they face, le Roux’s newfound Christian faith grows stronger. And battle-weary Tavor—haunted by dreams from his past—must confront memories and pain he’d sought to bury. In this electrifying thriller, hostilities explode as Tavor and le Roux fight to prevent a devastating conflict. Will they be able to outwit their enemies, or will their actions have catastrophic consequences? And how can Tavor’s Kidon team possibly survive when forces beyond the Mossad’s control step in and turn the whole operation upside down? 

For more from this series, check out the following books from the Cross Reference Library:

1. Operation Joktan

The Fairytale Romance Series: The Orphan’s Wish by Melanie Dickerson - Orphaned and alone, Aladdin travels from the streets of his Arab homeland to a strange, faraway place. Growing up in an orphanage, he meets young Lady Kirstyn, whose father is the powerful Duke of Hagenheim. Despite the difference in stations, Aladdin quickly becomes Kirstyn’s favorite companion, and their childhood friendship grows into a bond that time and opposition cannot break. Even as a child, Aladdin works hard, learning all he can from his teachers. Through his integrity, intelligence, and sheer tenacity, he earns a position serving as the duke’s steward. But that isn’t enough to erase the shame of being forced to steal as a small child—or the fact that he’s an orphan with no status. If he ever wants to feel equal to his beautiful and generous friend Kirstyn, he must leave Hagenheim and seek his fortune. Yet once Aladdin departs, Lady Kirstyn becomes a pawn in a terrible plot. Now, Aladdin and Kirstyn must rely on their bond to save her from unexpected danger. But will saving Kirstyn cost Aladdin his newfound status and everything he’s worked so hard to obtain?

For more from this series, check out the following books from the Cross Reference Library:

1. The Healer’s Apprentice

2. The Merchant’s Daughter

3. The Fairest Beauty

4. The Captive Maiden

5. The Princess Spy

Leah’s Garden: A Season of Harvest by Lauraine Snelling - Larkspur Nielsen is determined to keep her family homestead running and to fulfill their dream of starting a seed catalog, with or without her siblings’ help. With Isaac McTavish back in town, Lark finds herself at odds with her own heart and her determination to shoulder the burden of carrying her responsibilities alone. But Isaac is set on convincing her that he’s here to stay and she doesn’t have to carry everything by herself. As a new romance blossoms between Lilac and an old schoolmate and the other Nielsen sisters are busy caring for their families, Lark bears more and more responsibility on the farm. When a long-feared threat returns and Lark approaches the breaking point, the life she has always dreamed of is in danger of disappearing forever. 

For more from this series, check out the following books from the Cross Reference Library:

1. The Seeds of Change

2. A Time to Bloom

3. Fields of Bounty

What’s New in the Cross Reference Library?

Cling - Deuteronomy 13:4, “You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.”  There is something about that word cling—so many of God’s commands can be satisfied from a distance, but clinging puts us in His face. It’s personal. And that’s what this book is about—choosing a lifestyle of intimacy with God. Author Kim Cash Tate spent years seeking fulfillment in her relationships and career, only to find herself disappointed by the imperfections of life. But then she discovered clinging to God. She learned to trust Him, cultivating a love relationship that will last forever. Encouraging you to live in the fullness of God’s love, Cling shares wisdom from biblical examples and the author’s personal experience. It shows the importance of the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible reading, and how to grow your faith and embrace an ongoing closeness with God. Discover “clinging to God”—which is the source of ultimate blessing and protection, of inexplicable joy and peace. 

10 Choices Successful Couples Make - Is every marriage doomed to experience one conflict after another? Certainly not, says Dr. Ron Welch. In this practical and encouraging book, he outlines the 10 specific choices you can make to minimize conflict and increase joy in your marriage. With his expert guidance, you’ll learn how to:

• Communicate accurately and positively

• Choose forgiveness over unforgiveness

• Understand your marriage type

• And make decisions more effectively

Whether you are engaged, newly married, or have been married for decades, you’ll find that this book will transform your relationship.

Is It Bad To Envy A Good Quality That Someone Has?

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Camp Pastor features Pastors Adam Sanders, Colby Houchin, and Art Devos.

Art Devos
We love having these questions come in! The first one is a recent question that came in and it says, "Is it bad to envy a good quality of someone else?" For example, humbleness, love or charity?

Colby Houchin
Man, that's a good question. That's a deep question. And, I don't know. I think a lot of our listeners wouldn't realize how deep that question can be at face value. So the first thing I wanted to say, "is it is a very good thing to desire to have the good qualities of others?" The good godly qualities that others possess is a really good thing for us to want to pursue those things.

Art Devos
And the first time this question came out, I showed it to Adam, and the very first thing we said was, "it's great to emulate, right?" To emulate those qualities in someone else. Just as we're seeking to emulate Christ, right? To be Christlike, it doesn't mean that we're envious of that. It means that we're striving to be like that. When you see that good quality in someone, you could recognize that when you see someone who is just so good at loving people, just loving people, you can see that in them. And there are times that I'm like, "man, I wish I could love people. They love people." And I need to maybe be a little bit more earnest in my attempt to do that. And I don't believe that's envy. I think that's close to envy. "I'm striving to emulate that in someone," right?

Colby Houchin
Yeah, I think we talked before this of the importance of defining the word envy. I had my own analogy, but Adam's actually was much better than mine. And so I am going to kind of set him up to talk about it, cause we all have coffee in front of us. So words that we commonly use today that I think we often get mixed on what they actually are supposed to mean; so we have this word envy. We have words like jealousy. We have words like coveting, and so you might recognize that word from one of the 10 Commandments. We have words like greed, we have pride. We have these different things that tend to be, I'd say misused, or we kind of see them as synonyms, but each one of those is actually a specific state in a specific heart issue. And I think we should start by defining those. So again, I was going to have my own analogy, but then Adam's was way better. So Adam, what did you say as far as when it comes to mine, yours, coffee cups, what's the difference between Envy, Jealousy, and Coveting?

Adam Sanders
Sure. No, absolutely. I think, yeah, defining the word is very important, and I think especially when it comes to envy there, I think we'd all agree it is maybe the most sinister of all of the words that could be used. I'm not saying that to attack the questioner, but just for the sake of asking the question in a helpful way and understanding that. And yeah, that was kind of the analogy, we were thinking of talking about coffee. And we mentioned that something like jealousy would say, "this is my coffee and I don't want anyone to take it from me." We would say covetousness would be like, "oh, Art's coffee looks way better, and I want his." Envy, as maybe the most sinister of them all, would say, "you have coffee and I don't. I'm jealous. I hope you spill it, and no one gets coffee." There's almost like a vindictive nature to it in the sense of like, "Hey, I would rather nobody get it than you have it." And I was even thinking of, I mean, we preached in our church on Sunday on Cain and Abel. And just that nature of envy being found in the sense of wanting someone else to fail rather than succeed.

Art Devos
And that's Genesis 4, if you want to go through the story again of Cain and Abel. I went to James 3, and I'm going to read that here for us. James 3:13-18, "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield; full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." So envy stems from, a lot of times, the dissatisfaction in one's own life, right? That's kind of where it comes from. And so, when you start to recognize this, what do we need to do about this? If this is truly something that you are struggling with and having that real envy in your life, first of all, envy is inherently evil. We need to understand that, and we need to turn away from that. So being repentant of that, but we need to humble ourselves in that, right? And we need to ask God to reveal, "what is our motivation behind it?" Because envy, there's always that motivating factor behind it. And if we can get to the root of that, we can start to understand, I think, a little bit more about what this is. And then you can read a little bit further on in James as well. When you get to chapter 4, starting in verse 7, it talks a little bit more about pride and things like that right before it. But then it says this, "therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts. You double-minded lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up." Again, it's all about seeing what that motivation is. Humbling yourself and just submitting to God even in these good qualities that we see in somebody, if we're going to do that, what's your motivation behind it in there and stuff too? So how can we get past that? There's our answer right there.

Colby Houchin
And I think that leads us into a good conversation about our relationships with other people. Even when we acknowledge good things about other people, we have our heart in a place where we can be in proper relationship with them, we can be joyful. So let's say that Adam did, again, Adam and I are pastors of different churches, love each other, we feel like we're partners in ministry just because we believe in the same things, but we're in different churches, different congregations, different flocks. Let's say that he had a youth group event and 450 kids showed up and gave their lives to Christ. That would be a massive praise. That would be amazing for me to have a proper relationship with Adam. And I'd argue with the Lord. I would want to celebrate that type of moment. I would want to see a good quality or maybe whether it's because Adam's just such a wonderful preacher that the spirit moved in him in a mighty way and used him to bring those people to Christ. And I'm just putting words in my own mouth. I'm not saying anything about you or Adam. "Adam's a terrible preacher, but the Lord used him anyway." And that we get to acknowledge that Adam, Adam was able to do this wonderful ministry. And if I was moved in a way of, "man, I know that a lot of people gave their lives to Christ, but like, man, wouldn't I have been a better fit for that?" So here's the--- Go ahead.

Art Devos
Oh, I was going to say, when I came here to Camp Rock, there was a question that I actually got asked frequently. And when I say frequently, I really mean I was getting this question asked a couple times a year for a period of a couple years. And it was always, "Don't you hate Maranatha? Aren't you getting sick of Maranatha?" Maranatha is another camp that has the same mission, the same purpose that we have. And in order for me to hate them, it would literally mean that I am envious of their success because of their numbers that they have every summer. And what I would desire is: that they start to fail so I can start taking their kids. And if I can't have their kids, then nobody should be able to have their kids. And I am like, "No." In fact, I support them fully, because if they're going to be true to teaching the word of God, then I'm their biggest fan. I want kids to go to Maranatha and hear about that, and they should want the same for us. And so that's kind of what I started to think about too in this question and that thought process.

Colby Houchin
Absolutely. And that would be a classic definition of envy. Again, the difference, and you did, I love that coffee analogy. The difference between, for example, coveting and envy. Coveting is wanting something specific. So I'm like, "I want that coffee cup. I don't want a coffee cup." Greed would obviously be if I took all three of these coffee cups and I said, "they're all mine." Right? These are all similar. And jealousy is, and again, jealousy is often misdefined because we'll say, "I'm jealous of you." No. Jealousy is, "I'm afraid that this is going to be taken from me." And so no, "I'm jealous and get away from me!" But envy is---it's that classic---it's a step away from hate. And it starts with that comparison game when you're not in proper relationship with God or other people. Where I'm going to go, "you know what? There's something about Adam that I want to see in myself. I want to have the success he has." Or, "I want to have the good looks that he has," or "I want to have the skills and talents that he has." And because of that, and again, that's not envy. Envy is, "And because of that, I want to see him fall. I want to see him fail. I want," it wouldn't even be about, "Hey, what if I gained the gifts of Adam? And we were very similar. No, no, no, I don't want to see Adam succeed." And so, it is a step away from hatred. That's the reality of it. And I think we see a really interesting example of that playing out in 1 Samuel 18 with the story of David, shortly after David and Goliath, everybody's favorite Bible story growing up. Shortly, the story continues on after that. There's this really interesting line, this interesting song that's being chanted as Saul and David and the army comes into town. And so the women of the town are singing and dancing, and they say, "Saul has slain thousands, David has slain tens of thousands." We don't really have time to talk about the slain thousands and 10 thousands of people in battle, but let's go with just the comparison game really, really quickly of where the heart's at there. So what happens after that, is a dark ungodly spirit takes over Saul because he allowed that comparison to just warp his view of David. And it got to the point where he wanted to kill him. He wanted to strike him down because he recognized, "I'm only attributed to a thousand, but he's attributed to 10,000 or tens of thousands," and that's hyperbole. This was shortly after the David and Goliath narrative. So it's not like, David immediately went out and slayed 30,000 people with his own hand. This is a hyperbolic moment to exaggeration. But it really shows us the dangers of even good things like, "Man, Adam is just such a wonderful pastor and shepherd and just so gifted at that." We can still see the good things in others, and respond sinfully towards them. And so really, we talked about envy in the fall, at my youth group. And one of the things that we talked about as a remedy is really going back to the source of recognizing the love of God and the way that He loves all of us. And really just finding, what is it about yourself? What is it in your heart that does not allow other people to be blessed by God? Well, why is it that I can't love Adam as he is blessed or through his gifting?

Art Devos
And when we see those gifts in other people, we should be intentional about encouraging them in those gifts. I mean, really, that's what we should be doing. If I see someone that is truly, again, just a very giving person, somebody who will do anything for anybody and serve them and serve them well, encourage them in that. Lift them up, build them up, and be supportive and learn from them in that. Rather than taking that on, even where it starts to build towards that envy. I don't think for a lot of this, especially in good qualities, it generally doesn't start as envy, just flat out. It builds to it.

Colby Houchin
It festers like a wound. And that's kind of like when you read that story in 1 Samuel, that's what happens with Saul. It's not like he went, "oh, David killed 10,000. I only killed a thousand. I'm going to turn and stab him with my spear." There was this, kind of narrative of him just building and pacing and almost being tormented in his selfishness and in his twisted logic, and it led to a place of envy.

Adam Sanders
Yeah, for sure. I think you guys have really nailed it. I really, I just want to double down on the notion of, there are probably a few things better that we could posture ourselves to doing than to aspirationally look around and see greatness in other people and want to be like that. I mean, that is essentially the call of a Christian. I think we've said it many times, but to be Christlike is to imitate Christ. We see even the Apostle Paul mentioning, "Do as I do. Follow my footsteps of faithfulness." And so we see that there is an appropriate nature of seeing these things and recognizing the quality that I have and the blessing it is to other people and how it enriches our own lives and wanting to follow forward in those footsteps. And so it really is the heart. I think that's what we've been nailing down over time is at what point, if we let it shift to that, "Hey, it's not that I want to be good. Because the Lord has called me into these things and because it's a blessing to others and myself and my community and my family, I want the recognition he has, and if he has it and I don't have it, it's attack on my character, my quality, my personhood." And that's when we really start to lose the plot on that.

Colby Houchin
One thing I wanted to say real quick, and then we should probably move to the next question is, because I think the inevitable question is, "okay, but is it bad to envy people that are doing bad things? Is it a good thing to desire to see bad people fall," For example, bad people that are doing bad things. To see them fall? And this is a question I was asked in the fall when we were at youth group discussing envy, and I don't think I had a great answer. But I think I found an acceptable answer over the last few days as I've been doing some studies of missions and cultural exegesis through seminary. And one thing that the book I was reading talked about was the, "how do you do effective missions to lead inevitably to the development of the people group towards Christ?" So you get past the initial needs, you get past maybe the sin issues, but then what you do is you work towards seeing them become closer to their right relationship with God. And what I would say is, if you're like, "well, I know it's bad to envy good qualities, but what about people that are sinners or that are drunkard or that are cheaters or that are terrible, awful people that do terrible things?" What I would say is, your desire should not be to see them fall. Your desire should still be to see them move closer to Christ. And if God decides that they're going to fall, that's His choice, and there's a good chance that will happen because pride leads to destruction. And so, prideful people that are living in their sin often need a hardship in order to turn to Christ, but that's not our job to decide. I want to see them fall for the glory of God. Now, God can decide that, but our desire should just be, "I want to see them turn to Christ." I want to see that.

What’s New in the Cross Reference Library? Lessons to Learn

Unquestioned Answers - Have you heard these Christian cliches or found yourself using them? These simplistic statements often go unquestioned. But are they actually true? What do they really mean? Join Dr. Jeff Myers to rethink ten popular Christian cliches: 

1. “Just have faith.”

2. “It’s just me and Jesus.”

3. “It’s not my place to judge.” 

4. “Love the sinner, hate the sin.”

5. “This world has nothing for me.”

6. “Jesus was a social justice warrior.”

7. “God said it; I believe it; that settles it.”

8. “Christianity is a relationship, not a religion.” 

9. “God will heal our land if we humble ourselves and pray.”

10. “God is good all the time—all the time God is good.”

Go beyond unquestioned answers to dip deep into biblical truth. 

Blessin’s and Lessons - A very wise man once said, “Our God specializes in working through normal people who believe in a supernatural God who will do His work through them.” This book is about some of those people who are so worth knowing and about the remarkable and wonderful things God was able to do through them. At the same time, God was teaching them His ways. Lessons are sometimes long and hard, but it is possible to cut down the learning time by learning from others. Lessons have been included in hopes that you will make more rapid progress in your goal to become a person God can work through to show His power to this generation and His glory to the generations yet to come.

What’s New in the Cross Reference Library? What God Calls Men To Do

Never Give Up - God, where are You? Have you found yourself asking that question? This was the case for K.P. Yohannan as he walked through what he calls the forest fire of grief and pain. His openness, sincerity and vulnerability about years of struggle and discovery will give you strength to endure your own difficulties. K.P. Yohannan challenges the reader to find God and His direction through these last days in order to make the most of the moments of time we have left.

The Heart of A Warrior - There are things in this life that are worth fighting for. There are captive hearts that long for a Warrior with the courage and love to set them free. But only a free man can free others—and most men are not free. You can be one who is. You can know firsthand the deep, powerful love of God that heals men’s lifelong wounds and liberates them tok live out of their true masculine hearts. The Heart of a Warrior will help you experience for yourself what it means to be the Beloved Son of a magnificent heavenly Father. It calls you on a journey that will put freedom in your heart, a dance in your soul, and a sword in your hands. You will train in the ways of a Warrior who, with his own heart settled by the Father’s love, takes his place in an epic battle to fight for the hearts of others.

What Kind Of Shield Do We Have As Christians?

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Johnathan Hernandez and Garry Schick.

Garry Schick
Well, speaking of summer, Jonathan, it is all those good things, but it's also bug season. It's also sunburn season. And so a funny thing; we think of wintertime as when we put on the layers to kind of protect us from the cold. But there are actually some invisible things that we put on to shield us from the bugs and the sun in terms of bug spray/sun spray. Sometimes it's all in one spray. And the reason I mention that is because you had, I think, a great idea as a topic for today. And that is, "as Christians, what kind of a shield do we have?" So Jonathan, you want to kind of get us rolling on that?

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah. So I guess, when this thought process of the shield or whatever, God was just leading me as I was in my reading time about a month ago. And as I was reading and I came across the shield, and I remember reading a story of a soldier. A centurion soldier. Like these guys that carry these massive shields, not only the shield, they have: the helmet, the breastplate, the belt, the shoe, the sandals or whatever. They have the whole armor that the analogy, that we see in scripture, right? And one of the soldiers, he said, "when a soldier loses his shield, he's completely removed from not only the battle party or the infantry that he's in, but he's removed from the community." And I thought that was interesting. I was like, "Wow! Why?" And as I was continuing reading in this, they said, when the soldier loses his helmet or his breast plate, they're just like, "okay. Well, whatever." But the shield was not only to protect him, but it's to protect his fellow soldiers with him. And that's why the shield was so important to the Centurion soldiers; is because it wasn't just for their safety, but it was for the safety of all the soldiers around him. And if you look at those at that time in history, they would take the shield and they would line up and they would connect their shields together. And not only in front of them, but they would connect from the top too. So when they were going against archers, they would make this fortified wall basically that protected each and every soldier. But if you're a soldier and you ran to that wall without a shield, who are you protecting? You're not protecting anybody. And so, when I was looking at that, I thought, "oh, that's super interesting." And God has given us a shield. We have the Shield of Faith. And so the shield of faith isn't just for us, but it is for the people around us too. If we can learn how to, as a body of believers, connect our faith together. In that sense, when I'm going through a hard season and my shield's connected to Pastor Garry's Shield here, we're stronger together. And not only am I connected to you, but then I am connected to Pastor Larry, my pastor at the church. I'm connected to all these people, and it doesn't have to be pastors either. It can be fellow believers in Christ. As we connect to each other, we can stand stronger through all kinds of different hard seasons in life. Whether it be a loss of a loved one, it could be just the heaviness of the season that we're in, or whatever it may be. But we're connected together. And so, obviously we take this scripture out of Ephesians 6:16, "in addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." And so we take that thought, or that shield and think, "how can we as believers connect to fellow believers and stand strong together in prayer?" That's what I was seeing through this whole thing is, "how can we stand together?" We don't have to stand alone in our battle. We were never meant to stand alone. Throughout all of scripture we see community. It's so enriched throughout the scriptures that we're part of a community. And what community are you a part of? And how are you connecting your shield of faith with that person that's next to you? Maybe you've never talked to that person next to you in the pew at church. There could be that possibility, but why not this week? Connect with that person and lift that person up. Or maybe you need to lift it up. And so, stay connected and talk to people about, "Hey, I'm struggling with this." And allow them to be that shield too that connects to you.

Garry Schick
I love it. Well, and it talks about covering each other in prayer. What is it? That's shielding. As you brought up that topic, it made me think of our conversation, and I don't know if it happened during the recorded broadcast or if it was separate, but when we were talking to Benny a few weeks ago. And right at that time was right when Iran had attacked, and of course, between what Israel had and the US and Britain, nothing got through. And there was talk at that time about Israel's defense system, what do they call it? The Iron Dome? And anyway, listeners, again, I don't remember if this was part of the conversation that made it to the air or not, but Benny talked about how there was kind of a picture circulating around, where instead of an iron dome, it just showed a hand covering Israel. And that would be, of course, the hand of God. And you know what? That is actually biblical, right? In Genesis 15:1 says, this is the Lord speaking. He says, "Do not be afraid Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." In Psalm 3:3, David declares, "but you, oh Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head." And in 2 Samuel 22:2-4, David said, "the Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. My high tower, my refuge, my savior, you save me from violence. I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies." And what do we pray in the Lord's prayer? "But deliver us from evil?" Actually, literally, it could be translated either, "deliver us from evil," or it could be translated, "deliver us from the evil one." And I try to think about that when I pray the Lord's prayer because I think, "yep. Please protect me from harm and accident and illness and all that." But also the adversary; who is the adversary of our souls. So that reminds me, so that as I was thinking about this shield concept, so there's two senses. 1. First of all, God, He's our iron dome. He's our shield. We look to Him. But 2. As you are pointing out, God has given us a shield and we read about it in Ephesians. And yeah, I was thinking of that too. The Roman shield, which of course Paul, he describes the armor of God. He is describing exactly what you described there, the common armor that a soldier had at the time. I did not know that piece about, that they would not let a soldier go without a shield, because yeah, you're right. He's not protecting himself. He's not protecting anybody around him. He becomes a terrible liability. And what is the shield God has given to us? It's faith. My faith is a protection to my soul against the attacks of the evil one. But our faith is, as we stand together with other believers, it is a shield around us. And God has given us this spiritual shield. And also in that passage, Paul reminds us, "you know what? Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities of powers of this dark world. It's spiritual forces in the heavenly realms." Well, just one other thing that comes to my mind when I think of shield, and it kind relates to this. Are you a Marvel Comics type of guy? I mean, I didn't really read comics as a kid, but I have enjoyed several of the movies.

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah, my kids get me into them.

Garry Schick
So one of the things I picked up, not from the comic books, but because like I say, I probably read two or three as a kid, but from the movies. But in the comics, there is an organization that uses the letters of the word S.H.I.E.L.D. And so just now, as we're getting ready to record, I looked up, "so what does SHIELD stand for in the comics?" And here's what it stands for: Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. "Shield is an espionage and security organization that defends earth, and its people from groups that pose advanced technological and sometimes supernatural or extraterrestrial threats." And of course, that's where the superheroes come in. They're protecting earth from those outside forces. Well, that's all fiction. It's fun to watch and listen to. But you know what? In the real world, there is an external threat to the planet Earth, and it is the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms, the powers of evil, Satan and his minions. And I'll tell you what. They are a nastier bunch than anything you've seen in a Marvel movie or DC comic or whatever it is. And this is real life. We have this spiritual battle going on. And so God has given us these two layers. First of all, He is our shield, and so we need to look to Him. But also, He has given us, as believers trusting Him, a shield that we ourselves exercise, and that is the shield of faith. So friends, I hope that as you head out into your day and even your weekend, put your armor on. Are you going to put a little sunscreen on, a little bug spray on? Good. That'll protect your skin. It's important, but put your spiritual armor on. It's also an invisible armor, but it is so important. Jonathan?

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah. So, the shield of faith as we exercise that, think about people that you know that don't know Christ as we take our faith and share that faith, right? It's not us just holding onto our own faith and just going around our day, but it's also, how can we share this faith that Christ has given us, right? That we've grown in.

What’s New in the Cross Reference Library?

Alive in the Spirit - Is the Holy Spirit active in your life? Many people look to extraordinary experiences as evidence of the Holy Spirit. But what happens when the experience ends? How can we be filled with the Spirit every day in the ordinary things we do? In never-before-published material taken from A.W. Tozer’s sermons, Alive in the Spirit answers these questions and, in a balanced perspective, explores what the Spirit’s involvement in your life should look like. Many talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit, but few accept God’s conditions. Tozer lays down these requirements in his trademark bold and wise way. Though every Christian has the Spirit, not every Christian is filled with the Spirit. Knowing the difference will change your life. 

The Battle Plan for Prayer - Inspired by the Kendrick Brothers’ movie War Room, this exciting resource from the #1 best-selling team behind The Love Dare and The Resolution for Men is designed to help anyone—of any age—become a powerful person of prayer. Including scriptural examples and personal testimonies, The Battle Plan for Prayer explains the fundamentals of how effective prayer works, inspires readers toward a closer relationship with God, and shows them how to develop specific prayer strategies for life. Prayer should become your first plan of attack in all of life’s battles, not your last resort. If you want to walk in greater victory while enjoying mightily answered prayer on a regular basis, it’s time to engage with God at a deeper level. Then you can discover firsthand that nothing is beyond His reach, and that knowing Him is the greatest reward of all. 

How to Lead Someone to Christ (Part 4 of 4)

Transcribed from Sermons by Bruce Peterson at Grace Chapel in Scottsbluff, NE. The video of this sermon can be found by clicking this link.

For a printable list of the primary verses to use when sharing the Gospel via this method, click on this link.

Click here for “How to Lead Someone to Christ (Part 1).

Click here for “How to Lead Someone to Christ (Part 2).

Click here for “How to Lead Someone to Christ (Part 3).

Good morning Grace Chapel! We are on week four of “How to Lead Someone to Christ.”

This is a fun week. This week we get to tell them the results of believing in Jesus. There are so many passages you could go to to talk about the benefits of what happens when you believe. The list is…like 25 things happen instantly the second you believe, the second you put your trust in Christ, the second you understand what God has accomplished through his Son for us.

We are not going to go through that whole list; I don't go through that whole list when someone first believes it would be overwhelming.

That's really the journey of our whole Christian life—to learn what happened at salvation and to learn to walk in it. That's learning to walk by faith, it's a journey. But there are some things that are really important right up front that they need to know.

As you think through passages in Ephesians…the whole book of Ephesians really, it says, “You know you've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ,” and then Paul begins to enumerate them.

Colossians is also full of them…really, all the books are, but we are going to stay in Romans for this week.

But, whatever your favorite ones are, the basic idea is that you are trying to get them to understand that salvation is not just something about the future, it's not about only going to Heaven and not going to Hell, it's not only about experiencing the promises of God and avoiding the wrath of God, it's about right now.

I think it’s Peter who says (correction: 1 John 3:2), “Behold now we are sons of God.”

We don't know what we're going to be like in the future. We know we're gonna be like Jesus when we see Him. We're gonna see him face to face. But, “Behold now we are sons of God.”

If I could say there's one struggle in the Christian life that all the New Testament authors are going to appropriate and try to give to their audiences—it’s: now, right now, your whole status has changed. You're now a Son of God. You're now on team Jesus. You're an ambassador. You now have a mission. The work of your salvation is done.

That's the big idea: the work of your salvation is done. Stop worrying about that and now only worry about growing. Only worry about the mission. Step into your faith. God's promises are real and they're true and they're dynamic and they’re essential for life and faith and growth.

Without faith it's impossible to please God. What is faith? It's believing the promises. It's taking God at his word and acting like it.

Faith is demonstrable. Do you have faith in a bridge? Then you'll walk over it. If you have faith in the promises of God, you will walk in them.

---

So, let's back up a little bit…When I try to lead someone to Christ there's four phases of the conversation, and I really want to engage every single phase of that conversation.

The first phase

Put the weight of Holiness right on them.

No one no one is declared righteous in God's sight by works of the law. No one can even pass the two big commandments:

Moses and The Ten Commandments - Artwork4Jesus

Commandment 1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength.

There's no one no one who loves God with all their passions, with all their effort, with all their energy, with all their thoughts, with all their life, no one does it, nobody.

You can lay yourself out as the sacrificial lamb when you're having that conversation (pointing out how you, personally can’t do it) and the person across from you is probably not that much better than you. If you crush yourself in front of them they will feel crushed too. “We’re equals in this, we’re good people, but we don’t measure up to God.”

Commandment 2) Love your neighbors yourself.

Again, nobody loves their neighbors as themselves. When Jesus was asked who's your neighbor, He said every single person who is in need is your neighbor. We do not meet other people's needs the same way we meet our own. We just don't. We might help somebody a little, but we don't give them half of our stuff. We don't love our neighbors the same way we love ourselves, not if you consider your neighbor to be everyone who has need.

The Law crushes us. Put the weight of Holiness on their shoulders, that's the first phase of the conversation.

The second phase

Take the weight of Holiness and put it on Jesus.

Jesus does love people. He does meet their need. He's going to go to the cross. He's innocent and yet He's going to pay the price for everyone. He isn't just loving them as Himself, He's not splitting what He has, He's taking all of God's wrath on Himself and giving us all of God's righteousness. Jesus can bear the weight of Holiness and we cannot. That's why He is a great Savior.

Make Jesus big, big, big!

The third phase

How how do I get it?

Jesus Walking on Water- ReverentReflections

By faith. We have to believe.

We have to understand what God is accomplishing on the cross. We have to understand our need and how Jesus saves us and then we have to appropriate it to ourselves.

We have to make a decision: do I want to trust it? Do I want to put my eggs in Jesus's basket? Do I want to put my hope in the anchor that God provides? If God tells me He provided a sacrifice for me, do I want to believe it?

Faith, faith, faith, that is the third one.

The Fourth Phase

We want to help them move forward.

Salvation isn’t just “check the box, I'm going to Heaven, phew”. At the cross every single thing changes:

New Creation in Christ - PropheticVessel

• Who we are

• Our relationship with God

• The purpose of our life

• How we view suffering and trials

• How we see other people, etc.

Paul says, “God's love compels me. I no longer look at people the way the world sees people, I see them as a mission.”

Everything about our life is supposed to change. We're now citizens of Heaven and we're no longer citizens of this Earth. We're supposed to live as aliens and strangers and we are now intimately related to God.

---

So, I want to explain some of this stuff to them. Let's jump into some texts and we'll walk right through it. They're amazing. They're all out of Romans, because you could overwhelm someone at this point and that's not the goal.

Let’s start with Romans 5:1-5 and walk them through it.

Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

You want to point out that these verses are written in past tense. You have been justified through faith when you believe.

What does it mean to say you “believed it”? If this makes sense to you and you have chosen to put your trust in the work of Jesus.

Then the results are spoken of in past tense.

You have been justified. Justified means to be declared innocent. It means to have no books, no guilt, nothing, no debt to God.

Therefore, since we have been (past tense) justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Always With You- WorshipInk

He's at peace with me now; no longer an agent of wrath; no longer against me; no longer punishing me. I can't get on His wrong side. I have been past tense declared innocent.

People who are innocent before God have ‘present tense’ peace. I have peace with God through Jesus. Jesus accomplished continuing peace. Peace today, peace tomorrow, peace a month from now, peace a hundred years from now, peace ten thousand years from now. That peace doesn't start when I die and go to Heaven, that peace starts at the moment of belief.

The unbeliever sees God as wrathful and judgmental and out to get them and out to punish them for their failures and sins. For a believer that is no longer true; we have peace with God through Jesus Christ.

All we do is have faith; all we do is believe. In the text, those are the two things we do, God does all the rest of the work.

through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

We stand.

Our standing—our state—before God is grace.

What is grace? Everything Jesus accomplished for me on the cross; all the promises of God from the cross: that I am in Him, that I am safe, that I am forgiven, that I am a Son of God.

I now stand in all of these promises.

Remember when we were in point number three? Ephesians chapter 2: saved by faith.

Ephesians 2:1-9 (NIV)

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

Everyone starts as an object of wrath; we started in wrath. Romans 3 said:

Romans 3:9-20 (NIV)

What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”

“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”

“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

Thomas Blackshear FORGIVEN

No one is justified before God, all have sinned, all have walked away, all have become worthless.

But, we now stand in grace. Our standing is now totally in Christ. I am in Christ. When God sees me He sees the finished work of the cross. When He sees me He sees His son dressed in Jesus' clothes. That's outrageous!

How did all of that come true? Faith, faith, faith. It just says it again and again. That's the beauty of these verses in Romans 5, they reinforce the previous points all the way through.

Look how verses 3, 4, and 5 go on:

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Paul is saying here that our entire perspective on life can now change.

“Suffering is not promised to go away for a believer. We’re going to suffer just the same as the world. We’re in a world of sin. We are the light in that world but we’re, nonetheless, still in this world that that we brought sin into.”

— Bruce Peterson

An unbeliever doesn't see…and God doesn't use suffering in an unbeliever's life the same way. With suffering in an unbeliever's life, they're suffering in the world.

A Light in The Dark - Tummymountain

Suffering is not promised to go away for a believer. We're going to suffer just the same as the world. We're in a world of sin. We are the light in that world but we're, nonetheless, still in this world that we brought sin into. We are the light and hope drawing people out but we're in the world with them so of course we're going to suffer. That goes away in Heaven, but for now we're going to suffer.

But, notice that in our suffering we now have a totally different perspective. Because God is no longer an enemy, now He's a friend. He's no longer treating me with wrath, He's now treating me with grace. The sufferings I go through are now trials or opportunities for me to lean into the promises of God.

I can lean into God’s promises and go through the struggles and I can still find that God is my friend, that God is with me. Through the suffering I'm finding areas in my life where I'm not trusting God and I can lean in to God—who is the Good Shepherd—who also suffered for me, who understands suffering, who understands the cruelty and the injustices of this world.

I can remember that the God who loves me is with me and He is wanting me to be light in the midst of the struggle so that I can give hope to other people in the midst of their struggle. In the end all of it gets made well, all of it gets redone, all of it gets rewarded on my behalf.

All of life's struggles get changed because I've now entered into a relationship with God. The spiritual has been made visible to me and I am able to be used in a totally different way and view my life in a totally different way than before I knew God.

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

I have changed; I have shifted. What is this grace in which I now stand? I now stand in the love of God.

Paul's going to lean into this in Romans chapter 8 when he says, “Who can separate us from the love of God?”

I now stand in the love of God. I am now a child of God and his relationship with me is that of a child which he is raising up. My sin is not counted against me any longer but that doesn't mean I am mature.

I like to use this illustration: When a human baby gets born they are fully human but they are not mature in any sense. In zero sense are they mature but they are fully human. They're not going to become more human later in life, but they are going to mature. They're going to be able to walk as a successful human being. That's exactly how the Bible talks about us, about maturity.

Jesus is going to talk about salvation with the euphemism of being born again. You start as an infant and the goal is to put on the full armor; to put on Christ; to put on the Word.

I'm supposed to learn to use the weapons of righteousness that I've been given. God is now going to work in my life maturing me and as I mature in Christ I will put off sin and I will put on righteousness because I will mature in my spiritual growth.

How does that all work? Through the Holy Spirit who is given to us like Ephesians 1 says.

Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV)

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

When you believed you were marked in him with the promised Holy Spirit who is a seal guaranteeing your inheritance until that day comes. We now have God living in our chest. I have I've been justified. I have peace with God. I stand in Grace. I walk in the love of God and I have God in my chest.

That's what happened and; therefore, I can have a totally new perspective on my life; on my struggles; on how I relate to people in life; and on the worries of this life. All have radically shifted because of Christ.

It's an amazing passage and you can literally take the entire afternoon talking to someone about all those truths, but the goal isn't to bring them to full knowledge on these subjects, the goal is to get them inspired. For them to go, “Oh wow I should look into this stuff.”

You're not teaching them a theology class, that would last forever. That's what church is for. This conversation is to inspire them to learn more about this because it's not just salvation, it's something even more awesome.

---

All right, let's jump to Romans 8:1-4. Paul has accomplished a lot of work through Romans, but, again, we can't teach everything, so we're just trying to show them that everything has changed at the moment of Salvation.

Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Archangel Gabriel Recording in the Book of Life -Michael Rucker

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” No condemnation. Not now, not later, not when we die, not at the Great White Throne Judgment.

We will have a name in The Book of Life; we will not have books, they've been taken away. Like Colossians 2 said, everything written down that stood against us got nailed to the cross. It got taken away. Jesus triumphed over it. I now stand in peace. I now stand in Grace. I've been declared justified. I'm innocent before God who took my wrath away.

Where did the Wrath go? Jesus took it. It was nailed to Him on the cross. Jesus took our sin.

Paul sums that up in 2 Corinthians five:

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

But here in Romans he's kind of going a little slower.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

We get the spirit who gives life.

What's the law of the Spirit? This is the promised Holy Spirit this is life in Christ Jesus.

What's the law of sin and death? The Ten Commandments: love the Lord your God with all your heart soul, mind, and strength; love your neighbors as yourself; have no other gods before me; tell no lies; have no lust.

The law crushes you.

For what the law was powerless to do…

What do we need? Holiness. The Law, though it itself is holy—it’s a demonstration of holiness—it didn't have the power to make me holy.

Why? Because I don't have the willpower to obey it and neither do you.

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,

The flesh is me. I can’t follow the Law. I can't do it. I can't and neither can you.

The Law was powerless to  make us holy; to give us a way back to God. And because we couldn't do it, God did it by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful men to be a sin offering.

The Law couldn't get me back to God; make me holy; make me acceptable; get me access to Heaven; get my get my books taken away. The Law couldn't do it. The law is actually a record of how I break the Law. That's what the books which record our actions are. The books can't help me; the Law can't help me. But God wants to give us help.

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.

So what the Law couldn't do, God accomplished by sending Jesus.

What is the Law? What I should do. How I should be holy. My holiness, or the expectations of my holiness. That's what the Law is.

Jesus is my holiness. I get credit for Him. That's why it's Grace. We don't stand in performance or effort, we stand in grace. It’s what God accomplished for me by sending Jesus.

That's a crazy gift. It's the gift of God.

And so he condemned sin in the flesh,

Jesus is flesh and He defeated sin on the cross.

in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us,

What are the righteous requirements of the Law? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbors as yourself. And 611 more laws. All of them.

in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us,

Wow, wow! Who's the “us”? Those who are in Christ Jesus.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

How do I get in Jesus? By faith, trust, promise, follow,—whatever word you want to use—born again, citizen of Heaven. I have “thrown my eggs into the basket of Jesus”. I have I have aligned myself with Christ.

And when I did that—the moment I believed—Paul says in Ephesians:

Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV)

Divine Encounter, The Conversation Between Jesus and Nicodemus- EternalLightPrints

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

The minute I believe these things become true of me. They didn’t happen when I believed, they happened on the cross, but they get credited to me when I believe by faith. I get credit for it.

---

Let's go further down in the Romans chapter:

Romans 8:15-17 (NIV)

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

This passage is talking about our new relationship with God. We were by nature objects of wrath. By nature, who we are, our relationship to God, we're condemned. We have books that are bringing wrath. That's who we were before we got saved.

When we get saved there’s no more fear. Fear is gone.

1 John 4:18 (NIV)

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Perfect love casts out fear because fear has to do with judgment. We do not live in fear now. The Spirit you receive does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again; it's not just a different kind of fear. This is release from fear.

Back to Romans:

rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.

Let's stop there for a second because it's really important to understand this word here : “adoption”.

In the West in 2023 people would rather be a natural born kid than an adopted child. Adoption is awesome. It’s powerful; it's meaningful. I'm not trying to minimize it at all. But there's an insecurity about adoption in our day, I assume. I'm not adopted so maybe I'm wrong. But I presume that there's some insecurity that comes with that. Some unknowing; some some instability.

In the Roman world it was different. They had a pretty low view of human life and not a lot of birth control. So if you had a kid and you didn't want that kid you would take that kid and put it out in the field.

The early church is actually known for rescuing those children and raising them themselves, which is a great testimony to us.

But, until the family deemed them wanted and human they had no rights and could be left out in the field for the for the animals. It was pretty tragic.

In that world they had a totally different idea of adoption.

Your natural born child you couldn't really prevent and you couldn't really decide between girl or boy; blue eyes or dark eyes; curly hair or straight hair; whatever. You didn't get to choose any of it. The kid just just came

Jesus with Child - PatriotToday

Adoption on the other hand has the parent’s full intent. It’s fully obvious that right up front, “I am choosing that child there to be mine. That one right there is mine now. I am choosing to adopt it.”

So once you adopted a child in this culture it was yours forever; you couldn't disown it later, you couldn't give it back.

Adoption was a statement of security. Your parent wanted you. They chose you out of the whole “nursery” full of kids. They chose you and they want you. It also brought legal security that a natural child didn't have.

On some level that makes sense because, “I'm choosing you, so I don't get to give you back.”

God wrote these verses with that culture as the primary audience. That's what it's like when we become His child. He is choosing us. He intentionally sent Jesus to save us. He knows us and He wants us saved, so He is putting Himself on the hook.

Jesus And The Lost Lamb - InkedInThyme

God is saying, “I have chosen you.” That's why there is no more fear.

What would the fear be over? I can get lost. I can get abandoned. My sin could kick me out. My sin could make God mad and I'd no longer be welcome. No, no, no, no. No more fear.

There's no more insecurity. Insecurity is gone, you are now secure.

---

And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

This is a crazy story:

It says “Abba”. Nowhere in the Bible is God the Father called Abba. which is

It is just the common term like “Daddy”. It’s nowhere in the Bible except when Jesus was in the garden.

Moses - Burning Bush - AnimManStudios

If you go back to the Law when God reveals himself to Moses, God says they're supposed to speak the name of God to each other and Yahweh is His name.

But then in the Ten Commandments God says, “Don't use my name in vain.”

So, the Pharisees wanted to protect themselves and were wondering how they could know if they were using God's name in vain. So they just put a fence around that law by adding other laws that said to never use God’s name. It's just safer not to use the name of God.

Even today Jewish people won't even spell the name of God. They'll write “GD”.

Gethsemane - AuroraWallPrints

Jesus totally breaks that in the Garden of Gethsemane when He's at his weakest; when He is suffering the most; when He is bearing the most weight; when He is needing God's comfort the most; Jesus—in that intimate moment, when He is talking to his Abba, to his dad—He is referring to Him out loud as Abba.

“Dad, look at me here man, I need help. I need strength. I need I need you. I need, I need, I need the confidence of those promises to be brought to my mind. I’m going to be dying literally for the sin of the world.”

Jesus is leaning on Abba to help him, to get him through, to remember his promises.

Then Paul says because we are now in Jesus we get that kind of a relationship with God. God is now ‘Abba’ to us.

Pictures of Jesus Christ - UpliftYourFeed

So, it went from ‘Yahweh"‘ and don't use my name in vain to ‘Abba’—dad, dad, dad. The audacity it would take to be so trivial with our unholiness that we would refer to God as Dad.

But, I don't have unholiness. I sin still, I do. But it's on Jesus' account and that breaks my heart. I am immature. I need spiritual growth, but God loves me as a dad. He's in my life hoping that in the struggle of life and in the temptations of life that I don't get waylaid.

Because you believed, now your whole relationship with God is different. He is no longer your enemy. He's now a loving father who's going to help you mature.

Does that mean suffering is going away? Nope, you're still going to suffer. But He's going to walk with you through it. Like David said, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil because you're with me… (Psalm 23:4)”

You’re relationship with God is totally different. God is no longer your enemy, He's your friend.

Look at this:

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ…”

Who I am has changed. Who God is to me has changed.

I am no longer an outsider; I am now a family member. I'm no longer a beggar on the curb of Heaven hoping to find a crumb; I am now a co-heir with Christ I have rights. Jesus said, ‘Whoever believes in me has been given the right to be called The Son of God.”

Grace gave me these rights: Real sonship, real relationship, God is obligated to be on my side.

That's awesome! And if that's true, then what would be the consequences of that?

---

Here's where I'll shift to Romans 8, starting at verse 31.

Romans 8:31-39 (NIV)

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

For the first point, lets focus on the following:

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

Cling to God in Times of Despair! – A Safe Harbor is Jesus

God couldn't give anything more than Jesus to save me. God gave it all. No father is just going to offer up a son he loves, his one and only son. God went to the very limit of giving when He gave us His Son to save us.

Now that I'm his child God is going to give us all things for godliness—not all things in the world. I'm not going to just become physically fit. I'm not going to become taller. I'm not going to become richer. Those things are not what we're talking about here. We're talking about way more substantial things than that, not the trivial things of life.

“ If you’re not bold enough to talk to your friends about God, lean into this promise. Just start talking and see if God doesn’t embolden you in that conversation. Just start, take Him at His Word, enter into these conversations with your friends.”

— Bruce Peterson

God is now in my life making me His son, making me into a person He can be proud of and He will give me everything I need for godliness in this life. He will give me everything I need for boldness. If you're not bold enough to talk to your friends about God, lean into this promise. Just start talking and see if God doesn't embolden you in that conversation. Just start, take Him at His Word, enter into these conversations with your friends.

God is never going to be against us. He's not against you; He isn't your enemy; He isn't out to get you. If you get sick it's not because He's punishing you for sin, that's not how it works. Your whole relationship has changed. He is not against you; He's for you.

The proof of this is that He gave you His Son and with that He's going to give you all things.

---

Here’s the second point:

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

Who could bring any charge against us when the Judge, Himself, has declared us innocent.

There's no books left, where would the charge even come from?

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

God is for us. God the Father loves us. We're now His son, His heir.

Who's the judge? He is. and he has justified us. More than that, Jesus, the one who caused my justification, is alive in Heaven and His role is to pray for me.

So God already loves me. I'm already His son. He is already on my side. And Jesus is constantly praying to Him about me.

I Am a Child of God — Howard Lyon

That’s pretty good, like a minute ago before this conversation you were an enemy of God deserving of wrath with books stacked up that had your death in mind. You are now innocent, book free, and team Jesus in the family of God. You are an heir of God with God, Himself, living in your chest and your whole life is now on a different trajectory.

This is pretty good stuff, right? That's pretty good. That enough to try to get the person you're talking to to lean into church.

Why go to church if you're already going to Heaven? Why be good if I'm already going to Heaven? Because you have this whole relationship with God which you can develop.

Imagine building a relationship with the God of the universe who wants to change this world through you; who wants to bring life to your circle of influence. You just got saved, yes, but you know lots of people whom you love who aren't saved. You can put this stuff on, you can learn it, and you too can go bring life to those people. You can partner with Jesus in this world.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Let's slow down. Paul is taking every possibility of being separated from God and putting it there.

Can the heavens, themselves, separate us from God? No. No powers, no demons, no angels.

What about the future? I don't know what's the future holds. The future is this mysterious Pandora's Box. What about the future? What if God changes His mind? What if I fail? What if disaster happens in my life and I panic? What if I begin to lose my mind? What if I get dementia, start cursing God? What if I get angry? What if I become an alcoholic a decade from now? What about the future? No. No, not even the future. Not the present. Not the Future.

…nor any powers, neither height nor depth…

This is spiritual. Not the heavens and not the abyss. There is no dark force, there's no chaos force out there that can come in between the cross and you. The matter is settled, you have been declared innocent. Jesus has taken all your guilt—not just the guilt up to that moment—your whole life got paid for on the cross, all sin for all time with one sacrifice.

Just so you know, if this was one conversation where I was sharing the Gospel in two hours, I'd refer back to Hebrews 10:11-18 (NIV):

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy…

One time for all time. One sacrifice and we have been made holy. That's this hear:

neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation…

Are you part of creation? You are. And even you cannot separate you from Go. You are now a legal heir with legal rights. You might go sideways. You might become the prodigal son.

The Prodigal Son 2- FrameItStudioCo

What then will the Father do? Cut you off? No. He will look to the horizon and He will work to call you back. You're now His son. He's now in your corner. You might be a wayward son, but He'll pull you back. You might be a strong son and He'll raise you up and use you to change the world.

neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If you have believed this, then this is now true of you.

The way you pray, the way you see God, the the desires of your heart, the the way you see people, the way that God is in your corner, everything, your confidence in life, it has all changed.

Know that you are loved and accepted and on team Jesus. God is now committed to your maturity and He is going to work through the things in your life to cause you to know the promises and learn the promises and lean on the promises and to put on Christ. God and you are now together on one team.

Your name is in The Book of Life. Your place in Heaven is certain, that's true, but you get way more than that. Your entire relationship with God, starting now and for every day in your future, can be significantly different because you are now His child.

---

That's how I'll kind of end that. I usually give them a hug and often times I give them the Bible that I used to show them these verses with. I use a real handheld Bible and it's my Bible. I'm happy to buy new Bibles. So, oftentimes I just give them my Bible and I write a note to them in the front. Something like, “You got saved on this day (I put the date) and here's my Bible.” And I add whatever it takes to help them.

Do I do that every single time? No. Do I do it a lot? Yes, I do, and whatever helps to trigger them to believe these promises and to know that their relationship with God is secure.

With that, we have wrapped up Revelation 20:11-15 the Great White Throne Judgement and how I use that passage in leading people to Christ.

Thanks for coming to church today! I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you put it into practice. I hope you're able to lead many many people to Christ. Go in the boldness of Jesus as an ambassador for the light. Go change your world!

---

This series of blog posts titled, “Holding on to Reason”, is named after Amanda’s favorite C.S. Lewis quote: “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”

Click here for more things written or transcribed by Amanda Hovseth.