Latest / Real Life Theology Podcast / Salvation to Everyone (feat. Reese Neyland)

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Salvation to Everyone (feat. Reese Neyland) · Real Life Theology Podcast

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  Welcome back to another episode on the Real Life Theology podcast.
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  Today's episode features Rhys Neland, who's going to help us understand salvation as responding
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  to Jesus' love with wholehearted pursuit rather than just relying on being good enough.
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  Here is the episode.
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  So if you ever wanted a relationship with someone more than they wanted a relationship
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  with you, universal groan, right?
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  Because it's painful, but we've all had it happen to us.
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  And for some of us, it started early.
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  You know, first or second grade, the way we used to do it back in the day, you'd write
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  a note to some of the other girls in the class, I like you, do you like me?
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  Check yes or no.
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  Now these days, I guess the kids don't do that.
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  They probably text each other with that question, and then, you know, it just continues, it
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  goes on in life, and sometimes you have somebody you want to be friends with, and you're reaching
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  out to them, and you're hoping for a relationship, but after a while you realize, I'm the only
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  one that's calling.
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  I'm the only one that is reaching out, and it's painful.
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  And then, of course, the worst is if you fall in love with somebody who is not as excited
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  about you as you are about them.
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  This happened, I'm married now for many years.
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  But my wife, Mary Kay, I first met her at church, which is a good place to meet your
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  future wife if you're single.
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  And so I was new, I was a new Christian, and I was in Gainesville, Florida, and I was going
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  to graduate school at the University of Florida, and this is many, many decades ago, and so
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  the church was big.
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  The church was about 1,000.
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  They had started disciple making, and so we got a hold of Robert Coleman's book, and we
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  were trying to figure that out.
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  Great things were happening.
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  The campus ministry was up to over 300 students just at the University of Florida.
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  And so I got there, and so I was just getting to know people, just been a few months since
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  I got baptized, and this one particular Sunday, I looked over to my left in the auditorium,
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  and there was a young blonde there that I had never seen before.
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  And I felt like the heavens opened, and a light came down from heaven.
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  And the whole rest of the room was dark except for Mary Kay.
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  I called her.
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  It seemed like she was a golden flame.
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  So I felt like, even though I was a new Christian, I felt like, you know, she's obviously visiting.
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  I've never seen her, but I need to go reach out to her.
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  And so I went over, and I met Mary Kay, and something phenomenal, and, you know, I hope
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  this doesn't sound something that makes you uncomfortable about the supernatural, but
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  I walked away from that conversation, and I was convinced.
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  I never had this feeling.
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  I said, that is the girl I'm going to marry.
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  One conversation.
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  And I told a bunch of my friends, and I said, you know, I felt like God spoke to me.
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  And I said, you know, I know that I'm not sure where she's at with the Lord, and she
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  probably needs to get baptized and become a disciple of Jesus, but that is the girl
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  I'm going to marry.
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  And so, sure enough, she did get baptized, she became part of the church, and so I was
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  very excited because I felt like God is moving.
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  But then it was very disappointing to find out that she was not as excited about the
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  relationship as I was.
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  And whereas I felt like God had spoken to me, she evidently had not yet heard the voice
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  of God.
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  And in fact, of course now I attribute that to her hardness of heart.
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  But eventually, two years later, she came around, and the rest is that we lived together
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  happily ever after.
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  But here's the thing.
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  When we talk about salvation, this illustration really helps me, and I hope it'll help you
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  because what Jesus wants for all of us who would be saved, for all those lost people
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  out there that still need to be saved, He wants to find people who want a relationship
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  with Him as much as He wants a relationship with them.
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  He wants to find people who will love Him just as much as He loves them.
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  Because the truth is, we all know it, relationships don't work any other way.
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  They only work when both people have the same passion and the same desire and the same love
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  for each other that they want that relationship.
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  And so, to me it really helps to understand who are the saved.
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  The saved are the people who have answered the call, not of perfection, but of pursuit
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  to have and to love Jesus as much as He loves them.
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  In the story of the rich young ruler, Mark chapter 10, and I know that probably everybody
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  in here knows that story, and if you're a preacher like me, you've preached it many
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  times and I can't go into all the details and nuances of the story, but as I read a
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  part of it, I want you to imagine that you're reading it for the first time or hearing it
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  for the first time.
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  So there's a crowd of people that have gathered, and this man comes running up to Jesus, Mark
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  chapter 10 verse 17, as Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees
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  before Him.
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  Good teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
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  Salvation, a fine young man asking the right question, running up to Jesus, worshiping
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  Jesus, recognizing Jesus.
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  Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
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  Why do you call me good, Jesus answered.
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  No one is good except God alone.
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  We just need to stop here and we need to say the obvious.
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  Salvation is not for anybody who thinks they are good or good enough to be saved.
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  Gospel allegiance means that we understand that we, all of us, myself and you and everybody
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  in this lost world, we live in a sin-sick, broken, hopeless, helpless spiritual world.
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  Where only by the grace of God and the faith that we have the opportunity to have in Jesus
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  and by the blood that was shed and by repentance of our sins and baptism in the name of Jesus
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  do we find salvation and have our sins forgiven and get to heaven.
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  It's interesting how the conversation turns.
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  Jesus deliberately, I believe, says to the young man, why do you call me good?
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  No one is good except God alone.
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  What's the obvious message?
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  The message is, if you do call me good and Jesus is good, you're also understanding and
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  recognizing that I am God.
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  And only me is the one and only Son of God.
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  Only I have lived a life and am living a life that could deserve salvation.
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  But you are not.
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  And so he goes on, Jesus says, in answer to the man's question, you know the commandments,
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  do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do
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  not defraud, honor your father and mother.
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  So what I see Jesus doing, he throws out a few commands and he just sort of tosses them
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  out there.
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  And I think Jesus' intention is that this man will have enough self-awareness to look
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  at this short, simple list and understand that he is not going to be saved because he's
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  good enough.
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  But then, have you ever said something later on you wish you hadn't?
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  And he goes, teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.
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  Really?
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  Really?
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  I wonder if we did a test in here.
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  And I'm not going to do it, of course, but what if I asked everybody to stand and I say,
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  okay, when I mention a sin that you've committed in your life, then I want you to sit down.
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  Okay, so we'll start, do not murder.
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  Most of you are still probably, probably okay.
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  And then we start going, do not commit adultery.
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  How many people in here could say, I have never committed sexual immorality, sexual
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  sin with another person in my life?
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  A few more people sit down.
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  What comes next?
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  Do not steal.
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  How many of you would say, I have never stolen anything in my life?
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  Then he goes, do not give false testimony, do not lie.
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  How many people in here would claim that you have never lied in your entire life?
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  Do not defraud, do not cheat.
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  And then the one that gets all the rest of us that may be left, honor your father and
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  mother.
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  Don't bother telling me you've done that every day of your life.
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  You know why?
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  Because you were a teenager once and so was I, and it may have been a long time ago.
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  So Jesus is saying, so Jesus, the way I see the story unfolding, he says something very
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  important.
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  He loved him and he loved them.
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  And then he says what we know and may remember, one of the most challenging commands that
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  Jesus ever gave, and it wasn't a universal command, go sell everything you have and give
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  it to the poor, because he was a rich young man.
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  We understand and there's no record Jesus ever did that with anybody else.
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  But he understood that man and he's trying, let's look at it this way, he's trying to
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  create some self-awareness.
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  That maybe this young man did not love Jesus as much as Jesus loved him.
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  It reminds me of the test that was given so long ago to Abraham with his son, right?
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  Isaac.
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  And the Lord said, I want you to bring him and I want you to sacrifice him.
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  And the test was to see if Abraham loved God enough to be willing to put his own son's
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  life at risk.
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  And he demonstrated he was willing to, and he raised the knife and then God stopped him.
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  I don't know how it would have turned out, but I have a feeling that if the young man
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  would have said, yes, I'll sell everything and give it to the poor, that Jesus said,
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  well, that's all right, you don't need to do that.
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  I just needed to know if you love me as much as I love you, because salvation is not for
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  people who are good or good enough.
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  Salvation is for people who have decided to love Jesus to the best of their ability with
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  all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to care about him as much as he cares
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  about them.
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  And what else does Jesus need to do to show us that he cares?
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  He came, he sustained the universe, he created us, he came to this earth, he lived this sinless
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  life.
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  He lived in our world.
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  Yes, he was persecuted, he died, he suffered, buried, all for our redemption, all for our
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  salvation.
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  Jesus wants to know, for you and for your friends out there that aren't yet saved, do
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  you love me as much as I love you?
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  Salvation is not for people who are good or good enough.
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  It's for people who love him as much as he's loved them.
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  When you do that, you're not perfect, you embrace the grace, you live by faith, you
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  pursue obedience to the best of your ability, you follow him, you imitate him, there's no
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  limits to what you'll do, to where you'll go, to what you'll give, to what you'll sacrifice.
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  That is the company of the saved.
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  That is the kingdom of God.
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  That is what King Jesus deserves.
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  That is gospel allegiance.
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  Perhaps you learned it a long time ago, but let me tell you, for you and for me, the day
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  never comes when Jesus doesn't still want us to love him just as much as he loved us.
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  That day's not coming.
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  One last thing I'll say, it's my favorite part of this whole story.
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  Mark was one of three that wrote the account of the story of the rich young ruler, Matthew
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  and Luke.
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  But Mark was probably the first one, a lot of you might know that.
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  Most scholars believe Mark's account was first, and he wasn't an eyewitness, but he was told
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  about this event.
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  It's no surprise he made it into three gospels, you know, the story about when Jesus told
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  the rich man to sell everything he had and give it to the poor.
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  But something very important that Mark includes, that to me is so inspirational and moving,
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  it says before Jesus gave him that fantastic challenge, Mark says, Jesus looked at him
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  and loved him.
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  Whoever told Mark about what happened that day, or the people, the eyewitnesses that
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  told him what happened that day, they said, you should have been there, and you should
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  have seen what happened, and you should have heard what he said, and you should have heard
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  what Jesus said.
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  But before Jesus said one of the hardest things and the most challenging things he ever said
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  to anybody, he says, there's one thing that was clear to everybody who's in the audience.
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  There was one thing that was obvious, that Jesus loved that man.
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  Jesus looked at him and loved him.
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  He didn't necessarily say he loved him, but you probably figured this out already.
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  You could tell if somebody really loves you.
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  They saw it in his eyes.
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  They heard it in his tone of voice.
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  Whoever's communicated there, he loved him.
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  And let me just leave you this one last thing.
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  We need to understand that we live in a world full of lost people that need to be saved.
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  But they're never going to find salvation.
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  Most of them are never going to find salvation until they have somebody who loves them and
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  cares about them in a personal way the way that Jesus did.
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  It may be the first time you ever met them.
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  Jesus never met this man before, evidently.
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  There were a lot of things about him that perhaps weren't very likable.
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  First of all, for me, he was young and he was rich, and that's two strikes against him
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  right there.
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  But he's arrogant.
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  He thinks he's got it together.
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  But you know, with Jesus, whether it was the friend of sinners or whether it was the Pharisees
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  or the teachers of the law, whoever it was, the whole realm and the whole specter of things,
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  with Jesus, you knew he cared about the lost.
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  And as we go out to make a difference, as we go out to change the world, and as we go
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  out to make disciples, and as we go out to save souls, never forget, above all else,
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  we must love people, and they must be able to see, and they must be able to tell, and
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  they must be able to hear that we care.
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  Thank you.
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  Thank you for listening to this episode on the Real Life Theology Podcast.
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  Hey, we would love to have you at the 2026 Renew.org National Gathering.
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  It's coming up April 21st and 22nd, and there's going to be a discipleship.org pre-conference
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  right before the Renew Gathering on April 20th.
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  We would love to see you guys there.