Latest / truthunedited / 10 Powerful Lessons from Romans That Every Christian Must Know
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Have you ever felt like no matter how much you try,
- 0:03Speaker 1: you still fall short, Like no matter how much you pray, read,
- 0:07Speaker 1: or strive to live right, something inside of you keeps whispering.
- 0:12Speaker 1: You're not doing enough, You're not good enough, You'll never
- 0:16Speaker 1: be free. Maybe you've wondered, does God still love me
- 0:23Speaker 1: after everything I've done? If I still struggle with sin,
- 0:27Speaker 1: does that mean I'm not really saved? If grace is free,
- 0:32Speaker 1: why do I feel like I have to earn it?
- 0:35Speaker 1: If you've ever wrestled with guilt, struggled with sin, or
- 0:38Speaker 1: felt like you had to prove yourself to God, You're
- 0:41Speaker 1: not alone. And that's exactly why Paul wrote the Book
- 0:45Speaker 1: of Romans. This is deep Bible stories where we break
- 0:48Speaker 1: down scripture like never before. If this video speaks to you,
- 0:53Speaker 1: hit that like button and share it with someone who
- 0:56Speaker 1: needs this message to day now. Romans is not just
- 1:00Speaker 1: another book of the Bible. It is the foundation of
- 1:04Speaker 1: our faith. It is the book that shatters guilt, exposes sin,
- 1:09Speaker 1: crushes self righteousness, and reveals the full power of God's grace.
- 1:15Speaker 1: Because the truth is, many believers to day still live
- 1:18Speaker 1: under guilt, condemnation, and fear. When Jesus has already set
- 1:24Speaker 1: them free. And here's what Romans makes clear. You don't
- 1:28Speaker 1: have to prove yourself to God. You are justified by faith,
- 1:32Speaker 1: not by works. You don't have to be perfect. God's
- 1:35Speaker 1: grace is bigger than your failures. You don't have to
- 1:38Speaker 1: live in fear. Nothing can separate you from the love
- 1:41Speaker 1: of God. And yet so many Christians are still living
- 1:45Speaker 1: like slaves instead of sons. So in this video, we
- 1:49Speaker 1: are breaking down ten of the most powerful messages from
- 1:52Speaker 1: the Book of Romans, truths that will change how you
- 1:55Speaker 1: see yourself, your faith, and your future. And before we start,
- 2:00Speaker 1: let me ask you which of these messages do you
- 2:03Speaker 1: need the most. Have you struggled with understanding grace? Have
- 2:07Speaker 1: you ever doubted your salvation? Or is there a specific
- 2:11Speaker 1: chapter of Romans you want us to cover in another video?
- 2:16Speaker 1: Drop a comment below. Also, if you want to go
- 2:22Speaker 1: even deeper, we've created an in depth explainer video on
- 2:26Speaker 1: the entire Book of Romans, and we've put together an
- 2:29Speaker 1: ebook so you can study at your own pace. The
- 2:32Speaker 1: link is in the description We hope and pray this
- 2:36Speaker 1: video strengthens your faith and draws you closer to God.
- 2:41Speaker 1: Now let's jump into lesson number one. You are declared
- 2:44Speaker 1: righteous by faith, not by works, because if you can
- 2:48Speaker 1: grasp this truth, it will set you free forever. The
- 2:52Speaker 1: first and most life changing lesson we learn from Romans
- 2:56Speaker 1: is this, you are declared righteous by faith, not by works.
- 3:01Speaker 1: This truth alone has the power to set you free
- 3:04Speaker 1: from guilt, striving, and insecurity forever. For so many believers,
- 3:10Speaker 1: faith is something they know about, something they hear in church,
- 3:14Speaker 1: something they believe in principle, But deep down they still
- 3:19Speaker 1: live like they have to earn their place with God.
- 3:22Speaker 1: They may say they believe in grace, but in their hearts,
- 3:26Speaker 1: they still feel like they need to prove themselves. They
- 3:30Speaker 1: live in constant self evaluation. They question if they've prayed enough.
- 3:35Speaker 1: They wonder if they've served enough. They struggle with guilt
- 3:38Speaker 1: every time they mess up, and without realizing it, they
- 3:42Speaker 1: have turned their faith into a performance. Paul shatters this
- 3:46Speaker 1: mindset in Romans one point seventeen when he writes, for
- 3:49Speaker 1: in the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed, a
- 3:54Speaker 1: righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just
- 3:58Speaker 1: as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.
- 4:03Speaker 1: This one verse destroys the idea that Righteousness is something
- 4:06Speaker 1: you achieve. It is not something you work for, not
- 4:10Speaker 1: something you slowly earn over time, and definitely not something
- 4:13Speaker 1: that depends on how good you've been lately. It is
- 4:17Speaker 1: something you receive by faith alone. This was a radical
- 4:21Speaker 1: message in Paul's time. The Jewish people were raised to
- 4:25Speaker 1: believe that righteousness came through the law, by obeying commandments,
- 4:30Speaker 1: offering sacrifices, and keeping traditions, and in many ways, believer
- 4:36Speaker 1: as to day are no different. They may not follow
- 4:39Speaker 1: Old Testament laws, but they have built their own spiritual checklists.
- 4:45Speaker 1: If I read my Bible every day, then God will
- 4:48Speaker 1: be pleased with me. If I stop struggling with this sin,
- 4:52Speaker 1: then I'll finally be worthy of God's love. If I
- 4:55Speaker 1: pray harder, serve more, or do better, then maybe I'll
- 4:59Speaker 1: feel righteous. But Paul shuts all of that down. He says,
- 5:03Speaker 1: the righteous will live by faith, not by effort, not
- 5:06Speaker 1: by perfection, not by anything you do. And this isn't
- 5:10Speaker 1: the first time this truth appears in scripture. In fact,
- 5:14Speaker 1: Paul is quoting Habakok two four, where God told the
- 5:17Speaker 1: prophet Habakok that righteousness has always been about faith. This
- 5:22Speaker 1: means that from the very beginning. God never wanted performance
- 5:26Speaker 1: based religion. He wanted faith based relationship. Look at Abraham.
- 5:31Speaker 1: He wasn't declared righteous because he was perfect or because
- 5:35Speaker 1: he followed a set of rules. He was declared righteous
- 5:39Speaker 1: because he believed God. Abraham believed God, and it was
- 5:43Speaker 1: credited to him as righteousness Genesis fifteen six. And yet
- 5:49Speaker 1: so many of us still struggle to believe that righteousness
- 5:52Speaker 1: could really be that simple, Maybe because we've been raised
- 5:56Speaker 1: to believe that everything must be earned. From childhood, we're
- 6:01Speaker 1: taught work hard and you'll be rewarded. Be good and
- 6:05Speaker 1: people will love you. Do enough and you'll be accepted.
- 6:08Speaker 1: So when we come to God, we bring the same mentality.
- 6:12Speaker 1: We assume he works like the world does, but the
- 6:15Speaker 1: Kingdom of God doesn't work like the world. In the world,
- 6:18Speaker 1: you work for acceptance. In God's kingdom, you work from acceptance.
- 6:23Speaker 1: In the world, you strive for approval. In God's kingdom,
- 6:26Speaker 1: you live from approval. This is why Paul spends so
- 6:29Speaker 1: much of Romans dismantling the idea that righteousness is something
- 6:33Speaker 1: you can earn. In Romans three twenty, he writes, therefore,
- 6:37Speaker 1: no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by
- 6:40Speaker 1: the works of the law. Rather through the law, we
- 6:44Speaker 1: become conscious of our sin. And then in Romans three
- 6:49Speaker 1: twenty two, he gives us the answer. This righteousness is
- 6:54Speaker 1: given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
- 6:59Speaker 1: Do you see it? Righteousness is not achieved, it is given,
- 7:03Speaker 1: And once you understand that, it destroys guilt, striving and
- 7:08Speaker 1: insecurity forever. Because if righteousness is a gift, that means
- 7:13Speaker 1: you don't have to keep trying to prove yourself. You
- 7:16Speaker 1: don't have to live in fear that you'll never be
- 7:19Speaker 1: good enough. You don't have to carry guilt from your
- 7:22Speaker 1: past mistakes. You are already righteous in Christ. But here's
- 7:26Speaker 1: where many believers get stuck. They hear this truth, but
- 7:30Speaker 1: they still feel unworthy. They still wake up feeling like
- 7:33Speaker 1: they need to do more, be better, try harder. And
- 7:38Speaker 1: that's because they are letting their feelings define their righteousness
- 7:42Speaker 1: instead of God's word. This is where faith comes in,
- 7:47Speaker 1: because righteousness is not about how you feel, It's about
- 7:50Speaker 1: what God declared over you. Faith is what allows you
- 7:54Speaker 1: to walk in a truth that doesn't always feel real. Yet.
- 7:59Speaker 1: Think about the story of the prodigal son Luke fifteen
- 8:02Speaker 1: eleven to thirty two. When the son returned home after
- 8:06Speaker 1: wasting everything, his father didn't make him prove himself. He
- 8:10Speaker 1: didn't make him work to earn back his place in
- 8:13Speaker 1: the family. He ran to him, he embraced him, He
- 8:17Speaker 1: put a robe on him and a ring on his finger.
- 8:20Speaker 1: The son didn't turn it. He didn't deserve it, but
- 8:23Speaker 1: the father gave it anyway. That is what righteousness by
- 8:27Speaker 1: faith looks like. And once you understand this, it changes everything.
- 8:31Speaker 1: It means you can wake up every morning confident in
- 8:34Speaker 1: God's love instead of anxious about whether you've done enough.
- 8:39Speaker 1: It means you can stop measuring yourself by your performance
- 8:43Speaker 1: and start living in God's grace. It means you can
- 8:46Speaker 1: finally stop trying to be good enough for God, because
- 8:50Speaker 1: Jesus already made you righteous. So let me ask you,
- 8:54Speaker 1: have you been living like righteousness is something you need
- 8:58Speaker 1: to earn? Have you been stuck in a cycle of
- 9:01Speaker 1: guilt trying to prove yourself to God? Because today you
- 9:05Speaker 1: can finally let that go. You don't have to strive
- 9:09Speaker 1: any more. You don't have to fight for something that's
- 9:12Speaker 1: already yours. You are righteous by faith and the moment
- 9:16Speaker 1: you believe that you will never live the same again.
- 9:19Speaker 1: The second most life changing lesson we learn from Romans
- 9:23Speaker 1: is this all have sinned and all need a savior.
- 9:27Speaker 1: This is not a comfortable truth. In fact, it is
- 9:30Speaker 1: one that many people try to avoid. We like to
- 9:33Speaker 1: believe that deep down we are good people, that as
- 9:37Speaker 1: long as we try our best, as long as we
- 9:39Speaker 1: are better than those people, we will be fine. But
- 9:43Speaker 1: Paul doesn't leave room for that kind of thinking. In
- 9:46Speaker 1: Romans three twenty three, he writes, for all have sinned
- 9:50Speaker 1: and fall short of the glory of God. Not some
- 9:54Speaker 1: have sinned, not only the really bad people, not just criminals, liars,
- 9:58Speaker 1: or thieves. All that means you, that means me, That
- 10:03Speaker 1: means every person who has ever walked this earth. And
- 10:06Speaker 1: at first that sounds like terrible news, because if all
- 10:10Speaker 1: have sinned, that means no one is righteous. That means
- 10:14Speaker 1: no amount of effort, no amount of religious activity, no
- 10:19Speaker 1: amount of being a good person is enough to meet
- 10:23Speaker 1: God's perfect standard. But here's the paradox. This is actually
- 10:26Speaker 1: good news, because if every one has fallen short, that
- 10:31Speaker 1: means no one has to pretend any more. It means
- 10:34Speaker 1: we can stop comparing ourselves to others and start seeing
- 10:37Speaker 1: our desperate need for Jesus. But here's where many people
- 10:41Speaker 1: get stuck. Some struggle with guilt. They know they are sinners,
- 10:46Speaker 1: and they feel like they will never be good enough
- 10:48Speaker 1: for God. They live in constant shame, constantly repenting, constantly
- 10:54Speaker 1: wondering if God is still angry at them. Others struggle
- 10:58Speaker 1: with self righteousness. They know they aren't perfect, but they
- 11:01Speaker 1: don't see themselves as that bad. They compare themselves to
- 11:05Speaker 1: others and think, well, at least I'm not like them.
- 11:09Speaker 1: But both mindsets are deadly. The first keeps you in condemnation,
- 11:14Speaker 1: making you feel like you can never approach God. The
- 11:17Speaker 1: second keeps you in pride, making you feel like you
- 11:20Speaker 1: don't really need God. And this is why Paul spends
- 11:24Speaker 1: so much time in Romans tearing down every excuse. Before
- 11:29Speaker 1: he writes Romans three twenty three, he actually spends two
- 11:33Speaker 1: full chapters proving that every kind of person is guilty
- 11:37Speaker 1: before God. In Romans one, he exposes those who have
- 11:41Speaker 1: rejected God, given into sin, and lived in open rebellion.
- 11:46Speaker 1: He talks about idolatry, sexual immorality, and people who have
- 11:50Speaker 1: completely turned their backs on righteousness. They are guilty. But
- 11:54Speaker 1: then in Romans two, he turns to the religious people,
- 11:58Speaker 1: the ones who think they are better because they follow
- 12:02Speaker 1: the law, because they go to church, because they try
- 12:05Speaker 1: to live morally, and Paul says, you are guilty too,
- 12:11Speaker 1: because righteousness is not about being better than someone else.
- 12:15Speaker 1: It's about being right before God. And no one, not
- 12:19Speaker 1: the rebellious sinner, not the religious person, not even the
- 12:22Speaker 1: best of us, is good enough on their own. This
- 12:26Speaker 1: is why self righteousness is just as dangerous as rebellion.
- 12:31Speaker 1: Look at the parable of the prodigal son Luke, fifteen
- 12:34Speaker 1: eleven to thirty two. Most people focus on the younger son,
- 12:39Speaker 1: the one who ran away, wasted everything and hit rock bottom.
- 12:43Speaker 1: But what about the older brother. The younger son was
- 12:46Speaker 1: guilty of reckless sin. The older son was guilty of
- 12:50Speaker 1: self righteousness. The younger son thought he had ruined his
- 12:54Speaker 1: chance with the father. The older son thought he had
- 12:57Speaker 1: earned his place with the father. But here's the twist.
- 13:00Speaker 1: Both of them were wrong. The father embraced the rebellious son,
- 13:05Speaker 1: not because he deserved it, but because of grace. The
- 13:08Speaker 1: father corrected the older son not because he had done
- 13:11Speaker 1: everything wrong, but because he had forgotten that his place
- 13:15Speaker 1: in the family was never about his performance. And this
- 13:18Speaker 1: is exactly what Paul is trying to show us in Romans.
- 13:22Speaker 1: No one is good enough on their own, and that
- 13:25Speaker 1: is good news because it means we all need Jesus.
- 13:30Speaker 1: It means that the same grace that saves the worst
- 13:33Speaker 1: sinner also saves the best person. You know. It means
- 13:37Speaker 1: that no matter what you've done, God's mercy is greater.
- 13:41Speaker 1: It means that you don't have to live in shame
- 13:43Speaker 1: anymore because Jesus already paid the price. But it also
- 13:48Speaker 1: means you don't get to live in pride thinking that
- 13:51Speaker 1: somehow you are better than others, because when Paul says
- 13:55Speaker 1: all have sinned, that puts every single one of us
- 13:58Speaker 1: on equal ground. This is what Jesus tried to teach
- 14:02Speaker 1: the Pharisees, the ones who knew the scriptures, followed the rules,
- 14:06Speaker 1: and thought they were righteous because of their works. In
- 14:09Speaker 1: Luke eighteen nine to fourteen, Jesus tells the story of
- 14:13Speaker 1: a pharisee and a tax collector praying in the temple.
- 14:17Speaker 1: The pharisee stood confidently, thanking God that he was not
- 14:21Speaker 1: like other people robbers, evil doers, adulterers, or even this
- 14:26Speaker 1: tax collector. Meanwhile, the tax collector couldn't even lift his head.
- 14:31Speaker 1: He simply prayed, God have mercy on me, a sinner.
- 14:36Speaker 1: And Jesus said, only one of them walked away justified,
- 14:39Speaker 1: not the pharisee, not the one who thought he was righteous,
- 14:43Speaker 1: but the one who knew he needed grace. So let
- 14:46Speaker 1: me ask you, do you truly believe that all have sinned,
- 14:50Speaker 1: including you, not just in a general sense, not just
- 14:54Speaker 1: as a theological idea, but in a way that makes
- 14:57Speaker 1: you desperate for Jesus every single day? Or have you
- 15:01Speaker 1: fallen into the trap of comparison, thinking that as long
- 15:04Speaker 1: as you are better than someone else, you must be okay?
- 15:08Speaker 1: Because when you truly understand Romans three twenty three, it
- 15:13Speaker 1: sets you free. It frees you from shame because you
- 15:18Speaker 1: realize that your sins don't make you unworthy, Jesus already
- 15:23Speaker 1: paid for them. It frees you from pride because you
- 15:26Speaker 1: realize that no amount of good deeds could ever make
- 15:29Speaker 1: you righteous. Only Jesus can. It frees you from performance
- 15:34Speaker 1: because your standing with God isn't based on what you do,
- 15:38Speaker 1: but on what He has already done, and once you
- 15:41Speaker 1: grasp this truth, you will never look at sin, grace,
- 15:45Speaker 1: or salvation the same way. Again. The third most powerful
- 15:50Speaker 1: lesson we learn from Romans is this God justifies the
- 15:54Speaker 1: ungodly through grace alone, after realizing that all of sin
- 15:58Speaker 1: and fall short. The ex logical question is, then how
- 16:02Speaker 1: can anyone be saved? If no one is good enough,
- 16:05Speaker 1: if even the most righteous people fail, if sin has
- 16:08Speaker 1: corrupted every human heart, then how could we possibly stand
- 16:12Speaker 1: before a holy God. Paul gives us the answer in
- 16:15Speaker 1: Romans five eight dash. But God demonstrates his own love
- 16:19Speaker 1: for us in this while we were still sinners, Christ
- 16:23Speaker 1: died for us. This verse is one of the most shocking,
- 16:28Speaker 1: radical and world shattering truths in the entire Bible because
- 16:32Speaker 1: it tells us something that goes against everything we've been
- 16:35Speaker 1: taught about love, fairness, and worthiness. In the world, people
- 16:41Speaker 1: love you when you prove yourself, They accept you when
- 16:44Speaker 1: you've earned it. They forgive you when you make it
- 16:46Speaker 1: up to them. But God, he loved you while you
- 16:49Speaker 1: were still a sinner. He saved you before you ever
- 16:52Speaker 1: did a single thing to deserve it. He sent Jesus
- 16:55Speaker 1: to die while you were still running away. From Him.
- 16:59Speaker 1: That is justification by grace alone. And yet so many
- 17:04Speaker 1: believers struggle to accept this. Some believe they need to
- 17:07Speaker 1: clean themselves up first. They think, once I stop sinning,
- 17:11Speaker 1: once I get my life together, once I prove to
- 17:15Speaker 1: God that I'm serious, then he will accept me. Others
- 17:20Speaker 1: believe they need to keep earning their salvation. They live
- 17:23Speaker 1: in fear that if they fail too many times, God
- 17:27Speaker 1: will take it all back. But Paul makes it clear
- 17:30Speaker 1: God does not justify those who deserve it. He justifies
- 17:34Speaker 1: the ungodly. In Romans four, column five, he writes, However,
- 17:40Speaker 1: to the one who does not work but trust God,
- 17:43Speaker 1: who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
- 17:50Speaker 1: Let that sink in. God justifies the ungodly, not the religious,
- 17:55Speaker 1: not the morally good, not the ones who try their best,
- 17:58Speaker 1: but the ungodly. This means if you have ever thought
- 18:02Speaker 1: I'm too messed up for God to love me, then
- 18:04Speaker 1: you are exactly the kind of person he justifies. Look
- 18:08Speaker 1: at the people Jesus saved. A woman caught in adultery
- 18:12Speaker 1: about to be stoned John eight one to eleven, A
- 18:16Speaker 1: tax collector hated by his own people. Luke nineteen one
- 18:20Speaker 1: to ten. A thief hanging on a cross with nothing
- 18:23Speaker 1: to offer but a desperate plea for mercy Luke twenty three,
- 18:28Speaker 1: thirty nine to forty three. Not one of them fixed
- 18:31Speaker 1: themselves first. Jesus didn't say to the woman, clean up
- 18:34Speaker 1: your life first, then I'll forgive you. He didn't tell Zekis,
- 18:39Speaker 1: prove yourself before I come to your house. He didn't
- 18:42Speaker 1: tell the thief on the cross, it's too late for
- 18:45Speaker 1: you now. He forgave them on the spot. Because salvation
- 18:49Speaker 1: is never about you getting to God. It is always
- 18:53Speaker 1: about God coming to you. And here's the most mind
- 18:56Speaker 1: blowing part. He justifies you by giving you his righteousness,
- 19:01Speaker 1: not fixing your righteousness, not improving your righteousness, giving you
- 19:05Speaker 1: his Paul explains this in Second Corinthians five twenty one dash.
- 19:11Speaker 1: God made him who had no sin, to be sin
- 19:14Speaker 1: for us, so that in him we might become the
- 19:18Speaker 1: righteousness of God. Imagine this, standing before God, guilty, filthy, broken,
- 19:24Speaker 1: and instead of condemning you, he takes off your filthy
- 19:27Speaker 1: rags and places Jesus perfect robe of righteousness over you.
- 19:32Speaker 1: That means when God looks at you, he doesn't see
- 19:35Speaker 1: your sin anymore. He doesn't see your failures, he doesn't
- 19:39Speaker 1: see your past. He sees Jesus. And once you understand this,
- 19:43Speaker 1: the enemy's accusations lose all their power, because the enemy
- 19:48Speaker 1: is called the accuser of the brethren Revelation twelve ten.
- 19:52Speaker 1: He will remind you of your past. He will try
- 19:56Speaker 1: to make you feel unworthy. He will whisper you think
- 19:59Speaker 1: God really forgave that, you think you deserve to be
- 20:03Speaker 1: called righteous. And if you believe salvation is about your performance,
- 20:07Speaker 1: then you will live in constant fear and insecurity. But
- 20:11Speaker 1: if you know that your righteousness is not your own,
- 20:15Speaker 1: then the enemy's accusations become meaningless. Because when the enemy says,
- 20:20Speaker 1: look at your sin, you can say, look at my savior.
- 20:24Speaker 1: When he says you'll never be good enough, you can say,
- 20:28Speaker 1: Jesus is my righteousness. When he says you have failed
- 20:32Speaker 1: too many times, you can say, while I was still
- 20:35Speaker 1: a sinner, Christ died for me. That is the power
- 20:39Speaker 1: of justification. And yet so many believers still live like
- 20:43Speaker 1: they are on trial. They wake up every day feeling
- 20:46Speaker 1: like they have to prove themselves to God. They walk
- 20:49Speaker 1: around with guilt for sins that Jesus already paid for.
- 20:54Speaker 1: They wonder if they are good enough, when that was
- 20:56Speaker 1: never the question, because the Gospel is not about making
- 21:00Speaker 1: bad people good. It is about bringing dead people to life.
- 21:05Speaker 1: And when Jesus saves you, it is final. Paul makes
- 21:09Speaker 1: this clear and Romans eight thirty three to thirty four.
- 21:12Speaker 1: Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?
- 21:16Speaker 1: It is God who justifies. Who then is the one
- 21:20Speaker 1: who condemns no one? If God himself has justified you,
- 21:26Speaker 1: who can accuse you? If Jesus paid the price, who
- 21:30Speaker 1: can say it's not enough? If you truly believe this,
- 21:34Speaker 1: then you don't have to walk around wondering if you're
- 21:36Speaker 1: saved any more. You don't have to keep trying to
- 21:39Speaker 1: earn what has already been given. You don't have to
- 21:42Speaker 1: keep carrying what Jesus already took to the cross. You
- 21:46Speaker 1: are justified, You are righteous. You are free not because
- 21:51Speaker 1: of anything you have done, but because of everything He
- 21:54Speaker 1: has done. And once you accept that, you will never
- 21:58Speaker 1: live in fear again. The fourth most life changing lesson
- 22:02Speaker 1: we learn from Romans is this, you are no longer
- 22:05Speaker 1: a slave to sin. We just learned that God justifies
- 22:09Speaker 1: the ungodly through grace alone, that we are made righteous
- 22:14Speaker 1: not by our works, but by faith. But here's the
- 22:17Speaker 1: question many believers still wrestle with. If I'm saved, why
- 22:22Speaker 1: do I still struggle with sin? For some, this question
- 22:26Speaker 1: turns into doubt, they wonder if they were ever truly saved.
- 22:30Speaker 1: For others, it leads to frustration. They try harder, fight harder,
- 22:35Speaker 1: strive harder, and still fall, and eventually many just give up.
- 22:39Speaker 1: They start believing that freedom is not actually possible, that
- 22:43Speaker 1: the Christian life is just an endless cycle of sin,
- 22:46Speaker 1: guilt and asking for forgiveness. But Paul shatters that mindset
- 22:52Speaker 1: in Romans six sixth dash. For we know that our
- 22:55Speaker 1: old self was crucified with him so that the body
- 22:59Speaker 1: ruled by sin might be done away with that we
- 23:02Speaker 1: should no longer be slaves to sin. Let that sink in.
- 23:07Speaker 1: Paul is not saying one day, if you try hard enough,
- 23:10Speaker 1: you will finally be free. He is saying it already happened.
- 23:14Speaker 1: The moment you put your faith in Christ. Your old
- 23:17Speaker 1: self was crucified with him. That means the version of
- 23:20Speaker 1: you that was controlled by sin dead, the version of
- 23:25Speaker 1: you that was trapped in sitles of addiction dead, the
- 23:29Speaker 1: version of you that could never say no to temptation dead.
- 23:34Speaker 1: So why does it still feel so real? Because freedom
- 23:38Speaker 1: is not about feeling, it's about believing. This is the
- 23:41Speaker 1: reason so many believers stay stuck. They are waiting to
- 23:45Speaker 1: feel free before they believe they are free. They are
- 23:49Speaker 1: waiting for temptation to disappear before they claim victory. But
- 23:54Speaker 1: faith is walking in a truth that doesn't always feel
- 23:57Speaker 1: real yet. Think about the Israelites. God had already freed
- 24:02Speaker 1: them from slavery in Egypt. He had already delivered them
- 24:05Speaker 1: from Pharaoh's power. They had already walked through the Red
- 24:09Speaker 1: Sea on dry ground. But when things got hard, what
- 24:13Speaker 1: did they say? We should go back to Egypt's and
- 24:16Speaker 1: Exodus fourteen twelve. They had been physically set free, but
- 24:21Speaker 1: in their minds they were still slaves. And that is
- 24:24Speaker 1: exactly what happens to so many believers to day. Jesus
- 24:28Speaker 1: already broke the power of sin, but they still live
- 24:31Speaker 1: like sin owns them. This is why Paul says in
- 24:34Speaker 1: Romans six' eleven, dash count yourselves dead to sin, but
- 24:39Speaker 1: alive to God in Christ. Jesus, do you see it?
- 24:43Speaker 1: You don't need to fight for freedom, you need to
- 24:45Speaker 1: believe you're already free. But here's where most people get stuck.
- 24:49Speaker 1: They try to fight sin in their own strength. They think,
- 24:53Speaker 1: if I just try harder, if I just have more
- 24:55Speaker 1: will power, if I just set better boundaries, then I'll
- 24:59Speaker 1: finally stop sinning. But you will never break free from
- 25:02Speaker 1: sin by relying on yourself, because sin is not just
- 25:06Speaker 1: a habit, it's a power. It's not just something you
- 25:09Speaker 1: struggle with. It's something that held you captive. And no
- 25:13Speaker 1: slave ever sets themselves free. This is why Jesus didn't
- 25:17Speaker 1: come to make you stronger against sin. He came to
- 25:20Speaker 1: crucify the old you so that sin would no longer
- 25:24Speaker 1: have power over you. Look at what Paul says in
- 25:27Speaker 1: Galatians two twenty dash dash, I have been crucified with Christ,
- 25:32Speaker 1: and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
- 25:37Speaker 1: This means freedom is not about you resisting sin better.
- 25:42Speaker 1: It's about you realizing that the old you is already dead.
- 25:46Speaker 1: Imagine a prisoner who has been locked in a cell
- 25:49Speaker 1: for years. One day the judge comes in and says
- 25:54Speaker 1: you are free. He opens the cell door and walks away,
- 25:59Speaker 1: But instead of walking out, the prisoner stays inside, not
- 26:02Speaker 1: because he has to, not because the door is locked,
- 26:06Speaker 1: but because he has lived in that cage for so
- 26:09Speaker 1: long he doesn't know how to live free. That is
- 26:13Speaker 1: what so many Christians do with sin. They have been
- 26:16Speaker 1: set free, the power of sin has been broken, the
- 26:20Speaker 1: door is already open, but instead of walking out, they
- 26:23Speaker 1: stay inside. It's not because they have to it, not
- 26:26Speaker 1: because God didn't do enough, but because they don't believe
- 26:29Speaker 1: they are really free. So how do you start living
- 26:32Speaker 1: in victory? First, Stop trying to fight sin in your
- 26:36Speaker 1: own strength. Instead of saying I just need to try harder,
- 26:40Speaker 1: Start saying I am dead to sin instead of thinking
- 26:45Speaker 1: I will never change. Start declaring Christ lives in me.
- 26:51Speaker 1: Because victory over sin doesn't come from fighting harder. It
- 26:55Speaker 1: comes from believing what Jesus already did. Second, walk in
- 26:59Speaker 1: the spirit. Paul gives the key to victory and Galatians
- 27:03Speaker 1: five sixteen dash. So I say, walk by the spirit,
- 27:07Speaker 1: and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
- 27:11Speaker 1: Did you catch that? Paul doesn't say, try really hard
- 27:14Speaker 1: not to sin, and then you will walk in the spirit.
- 27:17Speaker 1: He says, walk in the spirit first, and sin will
- 27:21Speaker 1: lose its power because the more you focus on Jesus,
- 27:25Speaker 1: the less power sin has. The more you focus on
- 27:28Speaker 1: who you are in Christ, the less tempting the world becomes.
- 27:32Speaker 1: The more you focus on what God says, the less
- 27:35Speaker 1: the enemy's lies affect you. This is why people who
- 27:39Speaker 1: are full of the Holy Spirit don't have to live
- 27:41Speaker 1: in constant sin struggles, not because they are stronger, but
- 27:46Speaker 1: because they are filled. So let me ask you, are
- 27:49Speaker 1: you still living like a slave? Are you waking up
- 27:52Speaker 1: every day fighting a battle that Jesus already won? Are
- 27:56Speaker 1: you trying to defeat sin in your own power instead
- 28:00Speaker 1: of standing in the victory of Christ. Because here's the truth.
- 28:04Speaker 1: Sin has no right to control you anymore. The chains
- 28:08Speaker 1: are broken, the door is open, the prison sentence has
- 28:11Speaker 1: been erased. Now all that's left is for you to
- 28:13Speaker 1: believe it and walk in it, because you are no
- 28:17Speaker 1: longer a slave and you are free, and once you
- 28:20Speaker 1: understand that, you will never live the same again. The
- 28:23Speaker 1: fifth most powerful lesson we learn from Romans is this,
- 28:27Speaker 1: there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- 28:32Speaker 1: We just learned that we are no longer slaves to sin,
- 28:36Speaker 1: that the old us, the one that was bound, addicted,
- 28:40Speaker 1: and powerless died with Christ. But even after knowing this truth,
- 28:46Speaker 1: many believers still find themselves haunted by something just as
- 28:50Speaker 1: dangerous as sin itself. Condemnation. It's that crushing weight that
- 28:56Speaker 1: tells you you'll never be good enough. It's the voice
- 28:58Speaker 1: that whispers God. God may have saved you, but He's
- 29:02Speaker 1: still disappointed in you. It's the feeling that, no matter
- 29:06Speaker 1: how much you repent, how much you pray, how much
- 29:08Speaker 1: you try, you are still a failure in God's eyes.
- 29:12Speaker 1: And condemnation is one of the enemy's greatest weapons, because
- 29:17Speaker 1: even though he knows he can't steal your salvation, he
- 29:20Speaker 1: will do everything in his power to make you live
- 29:23Speaker 1: like you're still guilty. But Paul destroys this lie in
- 29:27Speaker 1: Romans Hate one Dash. Therefore, there is now no condemnation
- 29:32Speaker 1: for those who are in Christ. Jesus, did you hear that?
- 29:36Speaker 1: No condemnation, not less condemnation, not some condemnation. None. That
- 29:42Speaker 1: means if you are in Christ, you will never be
- 29:44Speaker 1: condemned again ever. And yet so many believers still walk
- 29:49Speaker 1: around carrying guilt and shame, as if God is waiting
- 29:52Speaker 1: for them to fail. Why because they don't understand the
- 29:56Speaker 1: difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction comes from God, Condemnation
- 30:03Speaker 1: comes from Satan. Conviction says you are better than this,
- 30:08Speaker 1: let me help you grow. Condemnation says you will never change,
- 30:13Speaker 1: just give up. Conviction leads to repentance, hope, and transformation.
- 30:19Speaker 1: Condemnation leads to shame, fear, and distance from God. And
- 30:23Speaker 1: if you don't recognize the difference, you will spend your
- 30:26Speaker 1: life running from a God who is actually calling you closer.
- 30:31Speaker 1: This is what happened to Adam and Eve the moment
- 30:34Speaker 1: they sinned. What did they do? They hid? Not because
- 30:37Speaker 1: God rejected them, but because shame made them believe he would.
- 30:42Speaker 1: I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid
- 30:44Speaker 1: because I was naked, so I hid Genesis three ten.
- 30:51Speaker 1: Shame always makes you run from God. But God never
- 30:54Speaker 1: told them to hide. In fact, he came looking for them.
- 30:58Speaker 1: And this is exactly what Paul telling us in Romans
- 31:01Speaker 1: that because of Jesus, we never have to hide again.
- 31:05Speaker 1: That means the mistakes you made last week, no condemnation.
- 31:10Speaker 1: The sins you regret from your past, no condemnation. The
- 31:14Speaker 1: times you've fallen short, failed or disappointed yourself. No condemnation,
- 31:20Speaker 1: because when God looks at you, he doesn't see your
- 31:23Speaker 1: sin anymore. He sees Jesus. This is what Paul means
- 31:27Speaker 1: when he says we are in Christ. It's not just
- 31:30Speaker 1: a nice phrase, it's a spiritual reality. Picture this. Imagine
- 31:35Speaker 1: you are standing outside in a thunderstorm, soaking wet, exposed
- 31:40Speaker 1: to the cold, completely vulnerable. Then someone comes and hands
- 31:46Speaker 1: you an umbrella. Now, as long as you are under
- 31:50Speaker 1: the umbrella, the storm can't touch you. The rain is
- 31:54Speaker 1: still falling, but it is no longer falling on you.
- 31:57Speaker 1: That is what it means to be in Christ. The
- 32:00Speaker 1: judgment of God is real, the weight of sin is real.
- 32:04Speaker 1: But if you are in Christ, it no longer falls
- 32:07Speaker 1: on you. It fell on Jesus. This is why Paul
- 32:11Speaker 1: writes in Second Corinthians five twenty one dash. God made
- 32:15Speaker 1: him who had no sin, to be sin for us,
- 32:18Speaker 1: so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
- 32:22Speaker 1: Do you see it. Jesus became sin so that we
- 32:26Speaker 1: could become righteous. That means, if you still feel condemned,
- 32:30Speaker 1: it's not coming from God, it's coming from the enemy.
- 32:33Speaker 1: Revelation twelve ten calls Satan the accuser of the brethren.
- 32:38Speaker 1: That is his full time job, accusing you, reminding you
- 32:43Speaker 1: of your failures, making you feel unworthy. And if you
- 32:47Speaker 1: believe his lies, you will start to live in fear
- 32:50Speaker 1: instead of freedom. But here's the truth. If God himself
- 32:54Speaker 1: has declared you not guilty, then who can overrule his decision?
- 32:59Speaker 1: Paul asked this very question in Romans eight thirty three
- 33:02Speaker 1: to thirty four. Who will bring any charge against those
- 33:07Speaker 1: whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who
- 33:11Speaker 1: then is the one who condemns no one? Did you
- 33:15Speaker 1: catch that? No one can condemn you, not the enemy,
- 33:18Speaker 1: not people, not even yourself? And once you understand that,
- 33:23Speaker 1: you will never live in guilt again. But this truth
- 33:26Speaker 1: doesn't just set you free from shame. It sets you
- 33:29Speaker 1: free to walk in confidence, because when you finally stop
- 33:34Speaker 1: carrying guilt, you can start running toward God instead of
- 33:37Speaker 1: running away. You can start believing that He actually delights
- 33:42Speaker 1: in you, that He is not just putting up with you,
- 33:45Speaker 1: he actually wants you near, That he is not just
- 33:48Speaker 1: tolerating you, He is rejoicing over you with singing Zephyniah
- 33:54Speaker 1: three seventeen. So let me ask you. Are you still
- 33:58Speaker 1: walking around with guilt that Jesus already paid for? Are
- 34:02Speaker 1: you still believing the lie that God is disappointed in you?
- 34:06Speaker 1: Because if Romans eight one is true, then you are free.
- 34:11Speaker 1: You don't have to keep repenting for the same sins
- 34:13Speaker 1: over and over, wondering if God really forgave you. You
- 34:17Speaker 1: don't have to wake up feeling like a failure, thinking
- 34:20Speaker 1: you'll never be enough. You don't have to keep looking
- 34:23Speaker 1: over your shoulder wondering if God is waiting to punish you.
- 34:27Speaker 1: The punishment already fell, the debt has already been paid,
- 34:32Speaker 1: the case has already been closed, and the verdict no condemnation.
- 34:36Speaker 1: So stop running from God, stop hiding in shame, stop
- 34:40Speaker 1: carrying what Jesus already took, because if you are in Christ,
- 34:44Speaker 1: you are free, and once you believe that, you will
- 34:47Speaker 1: never live the same again. The sixth, the most life
- 34:51Speaker 1: changing lesson we learn from Romans is this God works
- 34:55Speaker 1: all things together for your good. We just learned that
- 34:58Speaker 1: there is no condem for those in Christ, that no
- 35:02Speaker 1: matter what you've done, you are fully forgiven, fully accepted,
- 35:06Speaker 1: and fully loved. But even after knowing this, many believers
- 35:11Speaker 1: still struggle with a different kind of fear, not the
- 35:14Speaker 1: fear of condemnation, but the fear of wasted pain. Because
- 35:19Speaker 1: let's be honest, life doesn't always make sense. There are
- 35:23Speaker 1: moments when you do everything right and things still go wrong.
- 35:27Speaker 1: There are prayers that seem to go unanswered. There are
- 35:30Speaker 1: seasons of pain that feel completely unnecessary. And in those moments,
- 35:34Speaker 1: the question that haunts every believer is this, God, where
- 35:39Speaker 1: are you and why are you letting this happen. It's
- 35:43Speaker 1: a question that has crushed the faith of many, because
- 35:46Speaker 1: when life falls apart, it's easy to believe that God
- 35:50Speaker 1: has left you. But Paul gives us a promise in
- 35:54Speaker 1: Romans eight twenty eight, one of the most powerful verses
- 35:57Speaker 1: in all of Scripture. And we know that in all
- 36:00Speaker 1: things God works for the good of those who love Him,
- 36:04Speaker 1: who have been called according to his purpose. This verse
- 36:09Speaker 1: is not just a cliche, It is a guarantee. It
- 36:14Speaker 1: means that even when life makes no sense, God is
- 36:17Speaker 1: still in control. It means that even when it feels
- 36:20Speaker 1: like everything is falling apart, God is still working. It
- 36:25Speaker 1: means that even your worst pain, your deepest regret, and
- 36:28Speaker 1: your biggest failure can be used for good. But here's
- 36:31Speaker 1: the problem. Many believers misunderstand this verse. Some think it
- 36:36Speaker 1: means that nothing bad will ever happen to them, that
- 36:40Speaker 1: if they love God, he will protect them from every storm,
- 36:44Speaker 1: every trial, every heartache. But that's not what Paul is saying.
- 36:49Speaker 1: Look at what he actually says. God works all things
- 36:52Speaker 1: together for good. Not all things are good, but God
- 36:56Speaker 1: can work them for good. That means God is not
- 36:59Speaker 1: promising a pain free life, but he is promising that
- 37:02Speaker 1: no pain will ever be pointless. And once you understand this,
- 37:07Speaker 1: it changes everything because now instead of asking why is
- 37:11Speaker 1: this happening to me, you can start asking how is
- 37:16Speaker 1: God using this for my good? Instead of believing my
- 37:20Speaker 1: pain is proof that God has abandoned me, you can
- 37:24Speaker 1: believe my pain is proof that God is preparing me.
- 37:28Speaker 1: But let's be real. This is hard to believe when
- 37:30Speaker 1: you're in the middle of the storm, when you lose
- 37:32Speaker 1: someone you love, when the door you prayed for stays closed,
- 37:36Speaker 1: when life hits you so hard that you don't even
- 37:38Speaker 1: have the strength to pray. So how do you hold
- 37:41Speaker 1: on to this truth when nothing makes sense? First, you
- 37:45Speaker 1: have to remember this promise is only fully understood in hindsight.
- 37:51Speaker 1: Think about Joseph. At seventeen years old, he had a
- 37:54Speaker 1: dream that God would raise him up as a leader,
- 37:57Speaker 1: But instead of stepping into his purpose, he was betrayed
- 38:01Speaker 1: by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and thrown
- 38:06Speaker 1: into prison. For years, it looked like God's promise was
- 38:10Speaker 1: a lie. But then one day Pharaoh had a dream
- 38:14Speaker 1: and in a single moment, Joseph went from prisoner to
- 38:18Speaker 1: prime minister. And when he finally faced his brothers, the
- 38:22Speaker 1: same brothers who had sold him into slavery, he said
- 38:26Speaker 1: something incredible. You intended to harm me, but God intended
- 38:32Speaker 1: it for good. Genesis fifty twenty. Do you see it.
- 38:37Speaker 1: At seventeen, Joseph didn't understand why he had to suffer.
- 38:41Speaker 1: At twenty, he didn't understand why he was in prison.
- 38:45Speaker 1: But at thirty he finally saw the full picture. And
- 38:48Speaker 1: this is how God works in our lives. Most of
- 38:51Speaker 1: the time, you won't see how God is using your
- 38:54Speaker 1: pain while you're still in it. But one day you
- 38:57Speaker 1: will look back and say, now I see. Now, I
- 39:01Speaker 1: understand God was working all along. But in the waiting,
- 39:06Speaker 1: in the confusion, in the seasons, when it feels like
- 39:09Speaker 1: God is silent. You have to hold on to what
- 39:12Speaker 1: you know is true, because if you only trust God
- 39:16Speaker 1: when life is good, then you don't really trust God.
- 39:19Speaker 1: You trust your circumstances. This is what Job had to learn.
- 39:24Speaker 1: He was a righteous man who lost everything, his wealth,
- 39:27Speaker 1: his health, even his children, and in his pain he
- 39:31Speaker 1: asked the same question we all ask, why God? And
- 39:36Speaker 1: do you know how God responded. He didn't give Job
- 39:39Speaker 1: an explanation. He gave Job a revelation of who he is.
- 39:44Speaker 1: He reminded Job that he is the one who created
- 39:47Speaker 1: the universe, the one who holds all things together, the
- 39:51Speaker 1: one who sees the full picture. And by the end
- 39:54Speaker 1: of it, Job no longer needed an answer, because when
- 39:57Speaker 1: you truly know who God is, you can trust him
- 40:00Speaker 1: even when you don't understand. And that is what Paul
- 40:04Speaker 1: is telling us in Romans eight twenty eight. He is
- 40:08Speaker 1: not saying you will understand every trial immediately. He is
- 40:12Speaker 1: not saying every moment of your life will make sense.
- 40:16Speaker 1: He is saying, trust the one who does. So let
- 40:19Speaker 1: me ask you what situation in your life feels hopeless
- 40:23Speaker 1: right now? What pain have you walked through that still
- 40:26Speaker 1: doesn't make sense? Because no matter what it is, He
- 40:30Speaker 1: is what you need to know. God has not wasted
- 40:33Speaker 1: a single second of your life. Every tear you've cried,
- 40:37Speaker 1: every night you've spent wondering why, every moment of brokenness.
- 40:41Speaker 1: He has seen it all and He is working right
- 40:44Speaker 1: now in ways you can't see yet. So don't give up,
- 40:47Speaker 1: but don't let go. Don't believe the lie that this
- 40:50Speaker 1: is the end, because one day, just like Joseph, you
- 40:53Speaker 1: will look back and say, what the enemy meant for evil,
- 40:57Speaker 1: God used for good? And when that comes, you will
- 41:01Speaker 1: see that God was faithful all along. The seventh most
- 41:05Speaker 1: life changing lesson we learn from Romans is this, nothing
- 41:09Speaker 1: can separate you from God's love. We just learned that
- 41:13Speaker 1: God works all things together for your good, even the pain,
- 41:17Speaker 1: even the failures, even the moments when life doesn't make sense.
- 41:21Speaker 1: But even knowing this, there's one fear that still lingers
- 41:25Speaker 1: deep inside the hearts of many believers. What if God
- 41:28Speaker 1: gives up on me? It's a quiet fear, but it's there.
- 41:32Speaker 1: What if I fail too many times? What if I
- 41:35Speaker 1: mess up so badly that God finally says enough. What
- 41:39Speaker 1: if I've disappointed him beyond repair? Because maybe you can
- 41:43Speaker 1: believe that God worked in your past mistakes. Maybe you
- 41:46Speaker 1: can believe that He can turn bad things into good.
- 41:50Speaker 1: But can you believe that His love is unshakable even
- 41:53Speaker 1: when you are the one who failed. Paul answers that
- 41:56Speaker 1: fear once and for all in Romans eight thirty eight
- 41:59Speaker 1: to thirty nine. For I am convinced that neither death
- 42:03Speaker 1: nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor
- 42:07Speaker 1: the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor
- 42:11Speaker 1: anything else in all creation will be able to separate
- 42:14Speaker 1: us from the love of God that is in Christ
- 42:17Speaker 1: Jesus our Lord. Read that again. Nothing, not your past,
- 42:22Speaker 1: not your failures, not your doubts, not your struggles, not
- 42:26Speaker 1: your worst mistake, nothing can separate you from His love.
- 42:30Speaker 1: And yet so many believers still live like they are
- 42:33Speaker 1: one mistake away from losing God's love. Why because they
- 42:37Speaker 1: think God loves like humans do. Most love in this
- 42:41Speaker 1: world is conditional. People will love you until you disappoint them.
- 42:45Speaker 1: They will love you until you no longer meet their expectations.
- 42:49Speaker 1: They will love you until you hurt them too much.
- 42:52Speaker 1: And whether we realize it or not, we take this
- 42:55Speaker 1: broken version of love and project it unto God. But
- 42:59Speaker 1: God does love like people do. His love is not
- 43:02Speaker 1: based on your performance. It is not built on your
- 43:05Speaker 1: ability to get it right. It is not fragile, shaky,
- 43:09Speaker 1: or easily broken. It is eternal. This is what Paul
- 43:14Speaker 1: wants us to understand. God's love is not something you
- 43:17Speaker 1: can lose. You did not earn it, so you cannot
- 43:21Speaker 1: lose it. This is the kind of love that Jesus
- 43:24Speaker 1: describes in Luke fifteen when he tells three parables back
- 43:28Speaker 1: to back, all making the same point. A shepherd who
- 43:32Speaker 1: leaves ninety nine sheep just to go after one that
- 43:35Speaker 1: was lost. A woman who turns her house upside down
- 43:39Speaker 1: searching for one lost coin. A father who runs to
- 43:43Speaker 1: embrace a rebellious son who squandered everything. And do you
- 43:47Speaker 1: know what happens every single time joy celebration, no hesitation.
- 43:55Speaker 1: The shepherd doesn't punish the sheep for wandering, the woman
- 43:58Speaker 1: doesn't get mad at the coin for being lost. The
- 44:01Speaker 1: father doesn't shame the son for what he did, because
- 44:05Speaker 1: the moment they return, that's all that matters. This is
- 44:09Speaker 1: what God's love looks like, and it is not reluctant,
- 44:12Speaker 1: It is not hesitant. It is not half hearted. It
- 44:16Speaker 1: is reckless in pursuit, relentless in grace, and unstoppable in power.
- 44:22Speaker 1: And yet so many believers still live like they have
- 44:25Speaker 1: to earn it. They think God loved me when I
- 44:28Speaker 1: first got saved, but now I've failed too many times. No,
- 44:33Speaker 1: God loves me, but he's probably disappointed in me. Or
- 44:37Speaker 1: even God loves me, but he's distant. I don't feel
- 44:40Speaker 1: close to him any more. But what does Paul say?
- 44:44Speaker 1: Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the
- 44:48Speaker 1: present nor the future nor any powers. That means your
- 44:52Speaker 1: past cannot separate you from his love, your present cannot
- 44:56Speaker 1: separate you from his love, and your future failures will
- 44:59Speaker 1: not separate you from his love. That means God is
- 45:03Speaker 1: not waiting for you to impress him. He is not
- 45:06Speaker 1: keeping score of your failures. He's not holding back his
- 45:10Speaker 1: love until you get it together. He has already chosen
- 45:13Speaker 1: to love you forever. And here's the truth. The enemy
- 45:17Speaker 1: hates this message because he knows that a believer who
- 45:21Speaker 1: is fully convinced of God's love is unstoppable. A believer
- 45:26Speaker 1: who knows they are loved prays with boldness. A believer
- 45:31Speaker 1: who knows they are loved, does not back down in fear.
- 45:34Speaker 1: A believer who knows they are loved does not waste
- 45:37Speaker 1: time trying to earn what is already theirs. This is
- 45:41Speaker 1: why the enemy works over time to plant doubts in
- 45:44Speaker 1: your heart. He will whisper You're too broken, you fail
- 45:49Speaker 1: too many times, you've run worthy of God's love. But
- 45:53Speaker 1: you know what shuts him up at the cross, because
- 45:55Speaker 1: the cross is proof that God already made up his
- 45:58Speaker 1: mind about you. God demonstrates his own love for us
- 46:02Speaker 1: in this while we were still sinners. Christ died for
- 46:06Speaker 1: us Romans five Colonnaate, while you were still a sinner,
- 46:11Speaker 1: before you repented, before you changed, before you even knew him,
- 46:15Speaker 1: and He loved you first. So let me ask you.
- 46:18Speaker 1: Do you believe this, not just in your mind, but
- 46:21Speaker 1: in your heart. Do you believe that God's love is
- 46:24Speaker 1: not fragile? Do you believe that God's love has not
- 46:27Speaker 1: changed even when you have Do you believe that nothing,
- 46:31Speaker 1: absolutely nothing can separate you from him? Because here's the truth.
- 46:37Speaker 1: His love has never wavered, not when you doubted, not
- 46:40Speaker 1: when you failed, not when you ran away. His love
- 46:43Speaker 1: is still here, His arms are still open, his grace
- 46:47Speaker 1: is still enough because nothing, absolutely nothing can separate you
- 46:51Speaker 1: from His love. And once you understand that, you will
- 46:55Speaker 1: never live in fear again. The eighth most life changing
- 47:00Speaker 1: lesson we learn from Romans is this, you have been
- 47:03Speaker 1: grafted into God's family. We just learned that nothing can
- 47:07Speaker 1: separate us from God's love, not our failures, not our struggles,
- 47:11Speaker 1: not even our worst mistakes. But even after understanding that truth,
- 47:16Speaker 1: many people still wrestle with a deep, lingering fear do
- 47:20Speaker 1: I really belong? Because it's one thing to believe that
- 47:24Speaker 1: God loves you, but it's another thing to believe that
- 47:28Speaker 1: you are part of His family. Many people live with
- 47:32Speaker 1: the weight of rejection, whether from their past, their upbringing,
- 47:36Speaker 1: or their own choices. They feel like outsiders in the
- 47:40Speaker 1: Kingdom of God. Maybe they didn't grow up in church,
- 47:44Speaker 1: maybe they have a messy history. Maybe they've spent years
- 47:48Speaker 1: feeling like they don't quite fit in. And for the
- 47:51Speaker 1: Gentiles in Paul's time, that was exactly how they felt.
- 47:55Speaker 1: For thousands of years, the Jewish people were God's chosen nation.
- 48:00Speaker 1: They had the covenants, the promises, the heritage. But when
- 48:04Speaker 1: Jesus came, he did something radical. He opened the door
- 48:09Speaker 1: of salvation to the Gentiles as well. This was shocking
- 48:13Speaker 1: the idea that people outside of Israel, pagans, outsiders, those
- 48:18Speaker 1: who had never followed the law, could now be fully
- 48:20Speaker 1: included in God's family. It was unthinkable, but Paul makes
- 48:25Speaker 1: it clear in Romans eleven seventeen. Dash if some of
- 48:30Speaker 1: the branches have been broken off, and you, though a
- 48:33Speaker 1: wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others,
- 48:37Speaker 1: and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,
- 48:42Speaker 1: did you catch that Paul is using the image of
- 48:45Speaker 1: an olive tree to describe God's people. The original tree
- 48:50Speaker 1: represents Israel, the first people chosen by God. Some branches
- 48:55Speaker 1: were broken off because of unbelief. And then this is
- 48:58Speaker 1: the shocking part. God took wild olive branches and grafted
- 49:03Speaker 1: them in. That means the Gentiles, outsiders, those who weren't
- 49:08Speaker 1: born into God's chosen people, were now fully included in
- 49:12Speaker 1: his family, not as second class citizens, not as outsiders
- 49:16Speaker 1: looking in, but as sons and daughters. And this is
- 49:20Speaker 1: where it gets personal, because that includes you. Maybe you've
- 49:24Speaker 1: never felt like you belonged in church. Maybe your past
- 49:28Speaker 1: makes you feel like you don't fit in with spiritual people.
- 49:32Speaker 1: Maybe you've believed the lie that God's promises are for
- 49:35Speaker 1: others but not for you. But Romans eleven tells a
- 49:40Speaker 1: different story. You have been grafted in. You are not
- 49:44Speaker 1: a guest in God's house. You are not a visitor
- 49:47Speaker 1: in the kingdom. You are not on the outside looking in.
- 49:51Speaker 1: You are fully part of the family. And once you
- 49:53Speaker 1: understand this, it changes everything. Because so many people go
- 49:57Speaker 1: through life with spiritual impossi to syndrome, this constant feeling
- 50:02Speaker 1: that they are not Christian enough, not good enough, not
- 50:06Speaker 1: worthy enough to truly belong. But what does Paul say,
- 50:11Speaker 1: Hugh though a wild oliveshoot, have been grafted in. That
- 50:15Speaker 1: means your past does not disqualify you. Your mistakes do
- 50:18Speaker 1: not remove you from the promise. Your background, no matter
- 50:22Speaker 1: how messy, no matter how broken, does not change the
- 50:25Speaker 1: fact that you are fully part of God's family. This
- 50:29Speaker 1: is why Jesus constantly sought out outsiders. A Samaritan woman
- 50:34Speaker 1: who had been through five broken relationships. John four, a
- 50:39Speaker 1: tax collector who was hated by his own people. Luke nineteen,
- 50:44Speaker 1: a criminal dying on a cross with nothing to offer
- 50:47Speaker 1: except a desperate prayer Luke, twenty three. Jesus never told
- 50:52Speaker 1: them you don't belong. He told them, come, you are welcome,
- 50:56Speaker 1: You are mine, And the same is true for you.
- 51:00Speaker 1: You are not a mistake. You are not a second
- 51:02Speaker 1: class Christian. You are not an outsider trying to fit in.
- 51:06Speaker 1: You have been grafted in by God himself, and once
- 51:09Speaker 1: he grafts you in, no one can remove you. But
- 51:12Speaker 1: here's where many people struggle. They don't feel like they belong.
- 51:16Speaker 1: Maybe they didn't grow up in a Christian home, Maybe
- 51:19Speaker 1: they carry shame from their past. Maybe they walk into
- 51:22Speaker 1: church and feel like everyone else has it together except them.
- 51:27Speaker 1: But listen, God does not base your place in his
- 51:30Speaker 1: family on your feelings. Your emotions may tell you I
- 51:34Speaker 1: don't belong, but truth says you have been grafted in.
- 51:38Speaker 1: Your mind may say I don't deserve this, but grace
- 51:41Speaker 1: says you are here because of Jesus, not because of you.
- 51:45Speaker 1: And this is the beauty of the Gospel. It is
- 51:47Speaker 1: for everyone. This is why Jesus told the parable of
- 51:52Speaker 1: the Great Banquet Luke, fourteen sixteen to twenty four. The
- 51:56Speaker 1: religious leaders, the ones who thought they were entitled to
- 51:59Speaker 1: a place at God's table, rejected the invitation. So what
- 52:03Speaker 1: did the Master do. He sent his servants into the streets.
- 52:08Speaker 1: Go out quickly into the streets and allies of the town,
- 52:11Speaker 1: and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and
- 52:14Speaker 1: the lame Luke fourteen twenty one. Because in the Kingdom
- 52:19Speaker 1: of God, the table is not reserved for those who
- 52:22Speaker 1: deserve it. The table is for those who accept the invitation.
- 52:26Speaker 1: And God is telling you you belong here. So let
- 52:30Speaker 1: me ask you, do you still see yourself as an outsider?
- 52:34Speaker 1: Are you still believing the lie that God's promises are
- 52:37Speaker 1: for others but not for you? Because to day that
- 52:41Speaker 1: lie has to die. You are fully loved, You are
- 52:45Speaker 1: fully chosen. You are fully part of God's family, not
- 52:48Speaker 1: because of where you came from, not because of what
- 52:51Speaker 1: you've done, but because God himself grafted you in. And
- 52:55Speaker 1: once you understand that, you will never doubt your place again.
- 52:59Speaker 1: The ninth most life changing lesson we learn from Romans
- 53:02Speaker 1: is this, you are transformed by renewing your mind. We
- 53:07Speaker 1: just learned that you have been grafted into God's family,
- 53:10Speaker 1: that no matter your past, your background, or where you
- 53:12Speaker 1: come from, you belong. But even after understanding this truth,
- 53:17Speaker 1: many believers still struggle to live like its real, because
- 53:21Speaker 1: even when God has changed your identity, you will never
- 53:24Speaker 1: walk in it if your mind is still stuck in
- 53:27Speaker 1: the past. This is why so many Christians still live
- 53:32Speaker 1: in fear, still battle, shame, still feel unworthy, not because
- 53:37Speaker 1: God hasn't freed them, but because their minds haven't caught
- 53:41Speaker 1: up with the truth yet. And this is exactly what
- 53:44Speaker 1: Paul addresses in Romans twelve two dash, do not conform
- 53:49Speaker 1: to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
- 53:52Speaker 1: the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
- 53:56Speaker 1: to test and approve what God's will is, his good,
- 54:01Speaker 1: pleasing and perfect will. Notice what Paul does not say.
- 54:06Speaker 1: He does not say, be transformed by trying harder. He
- 54:10Speaker 1: does not say be transformed by fixing yourself first. He
- 54:15Speaker 1: does not say be transformed by doing better. He says,
- 54:19Speaker 1: be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Because every
- 54:24Speaker 1: battle you face in your spiritual life is first one
- 54:28Speaker 1: or lost in your mind. Think about it. The moment
- 54:32Speaker 1: Eve doubted God's word, Sin entered the world. The moment
- 54:37Speaker 1: the Israelites believed they were too weak, they wandered in
- 54:41Speaker 1: the wilderness. The moment Peter focused on the wind and
- 54:44Speaker 1: the waves he sank. Because before sin happens in your actions,
- 54:50Speaker 1: it starts in your thoughts, before fear controls your life.
- 54:54Speaker 1: It first takes hold of your mind, before anxiety overwhelms you.
- 54:59Speaker 1: It first filled your thinking, before temptation leads you to sin.
- 55:04Speaker 1: It first convinces you that you need what God told
- 55:07Speaker 1: you to avoid. And this is why renewing your mind
- 55:11Speaker 1: is not optional, because if your mind is not being
- 55:14Speaker 1: renewed by God's truth, it will be conformed to the
- 55:18Speaker 1: world's lies. This is what Paul means when he says,
- 55:22Speaker 1: do not conform to the pattern of this world, because
- 55:26Speaker 1: the world has a pattern, a way of thinking, a
- 55:30Speaker 1: system of beliefs, a cycle that keeps people trapped, and
- 55:34Speaker 1: whether you realize it or not, you have been shaped
- 55:37Speaker 1: by it. The world says you are what you do.
- 55:40Speaker 1: God says you are who I say you are. The
- 55:43Speaker 1: world says you have to prove yourself. God says you
- 55:46Speaker 1: are already accepted. The world says you will never change.
- 55:51Speaker 1: God says I Am making you new. And if you
- 55:54Speaker 1: do not renew your mind, you will continue to live
- 55:57Speaker 1: according to the world's lies while believing in Jesus. This
- 56:03Speaker 1: is why so many believers still walk in fear, still
- 56:06Speaker 1: battle shame, still feel like they are not enough because
- 56:10Speaker 1: the enemy doesn't have to take your salvation to keep
- 56:13Speaker 1: you bound. All he has to do is control your thoughts.
- 56:18Speaker 1: And this is why Paul says in Second Corinthians ten
- 56:21Speaker 1: five dash we take captive every thought to make it
- 56:24Speaker 1: obedient to Christ. Because your thoughts are not harmless. They
- 56:28Speaker 1: are either leading you into truth or keeping you in bondage.
- 56:32Speaker 1: And if you do not take control of your mind,
- 56:35Speaker 1: it will take control of you. So how do you
- 56:38Speaker 1: actually renew your mind? First you have to identify the lies.
- 56:43Speaker 1: What thoughts have been playing on repeating your mind. Maybe
- 56:46Speaker 1: it's I will always struggle with this, or I'm not
- 56:49Speaker 1: worthy of love, or God is disappointed in me. These
- 56:53Speaker 1: are not just thoughts, They are strongholds. They are deeply
- 56:57Speaker 1: ingrained patterns of thinking that keep you from walking in
- 57:00Speaker 1: the freedom God has already given you. And strongholds do
- 57:04Speaker 1: not break on their own. Second, you have to replace
- 57:07Speaker 1: lies with truth. This is where most people fail. They
- 57:11Speaker 1: try to stop thinking negatively, they try to stop believing lies.
- 57:16Speaker 1: But you cannot just remove a thought. You must replace it.
- 57:20Speaker 1: This is why Jesus said in Matthew four four dash
- 57:24Speaker 1: man shall not live on bread alone, but on every
- 57:27Speaker 1: word that comes from the mouth of God. Because just
- 57:31Speaker 1: like your body needs physical food to stay strong, your
- 57:35Speaker 1: mind needs spiritual food to stay free. That means you
- 57:39Speaker 1: have to feed your mind truth daily. If the enemy
- 57:42Speaker 1: tells you you are unworthy, you respond with I am chosen,
- 57:46Speaker 1: Holy and dearly loved Colossians three twelve. If the enemy
- 57:50Speaker 1: says you will always be stuck, you declare, where the
- 57:54Speaker 1: spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom Tewod Corinthians
- 57:59Speaker 1: three seventeen. If the enemy whispers God has abandoned you,
- 58:05Speaker 1: you remind yourself he will never leave me nor forsake
- 58:08Speaker 1: me Hebrews thirteen five. Because when you change your thoughts,
- 58:14Speaker 1: you change your life. And finally, you have to be consistent.
- 58:19Speaker 1: Renewing your mind is not a one time event. It
- 58:21Speaker 1: is a daily process. Because the enemy is relentless, he
- 58:26Speaker 1: will attack your mind when you wake up. He will
- 58:29Speaker 1: remind you of your past when you are trying to
- 58:31Speaker 1: move forward. He will whisper lies when you are exhausted, discouraged,
- 58:36Speaker 1: and weak. But if you are consistently filling your mind.
- 58:40Speaker 1: With truth, he loses his power over you. This is
- 58:44Speaker 1: why David wrote in Psalm one hundred, nineteen eleven, dash,
- 58:48Speaker 1: I have hidden your word in my heart that I
- 58:50Speaker 1: might not sin against you, Because the more of God's
- 58:54Speaker 1: word you have in you, the less room there is
- 58:57Speaker 1: for the enemy's lies. So let me out what thoughts
- 59:01Speaker 1: have been keeping you bound, because today it's time to
- 59:04Speaker 1: take them captive. It's time to stop living according to
- 59:07Speaker 1: the world's pattern and start walking in God's truth. It's
- 59:12Speaker 1: time to break free from every lie that has kept
- 59:14Speaker 1: you small, fearful, and insecure. Because once your mind is renewed,
- 59:20Speaker 1: your life will be transformed, and once you experience that transformation,
- 59:25Speaker 1: you will never think the same way again. The tenth
- 59:28Speaker 1: most life changing lesson we learn from Romans is this.
- 59:31Speaker 1: Nothing you do can earn God's love, but everything you
- 59:35Speaker 1: do can reflect it. We just learned that you are
- 59:39Speaker 1: transformed by the renewing of your mind, that true spiritual
- 59:44Speaker 1: growth begins with changing the way you think. But now
- 59:49Speaker 1: Paul takes us one step further, because once your mind
- 59:53Speaker 1: is renewed, once you start thinking differently, it must change
- 59:57Speaker 1: the way you live. And this is where many BELI
- 1:00:00Speaker 1: get stuck. They know they are saved by grace. They
- 1:00:03Speaker 1: know they don't have to earn God's love. They know
- 1:00:06Speaker 1: salvation is a free gift, not a reward for good behavior.
- 1:00:09Speaker 1: But deep down there's still attention. If we are saved
- 1:00:13Speaker 1: by grace alone, why does obedience still matter? If we
- 1:00:16Speaker 1: don't have to prove ourselves to God? Why does how
- 1:00:20Speaker 1: we live make a difference. Paul answers this in Romans
- 1:00:26Speaker 1: thirteen eight dash let no debt remain outstanding, except the
- 1:00:30Speaker 1: continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others
- 1:00:34Speaker 1: has fulfilled the law. At first glance, this verse might
- 1:00:39Speaker 1: seem out of place, but when you step back, you
- 1:00:42Speaker 1: realize that Paul is summarizing everything he has been teaching.
- 1:00:46Speaker 1: Because if you understand everything we've learned in Romans grace,
- 1:00:51Speaker 1: righteousness by faith, freedom from sin, the love of God,
- 1:00:56Speaker 1: transformation of the mind, then there is only one proper
- 1:01:00Speaker 1: response love. Not to earn, not to prove, not to
- 1:01:05Speaker 1: try and secure your place in heaven, but to reflect
- 1:01:08Speaker 1: the one who saved you. This is where so many
- 1:01:11Speaker 1: Christians misunderstand the relationship between grace and obedience. Somethink grace
- 1:01:16Speaker 1: means obedience doesn't matter. They say, well, I'm saved by grace,
- 1:01:21Speaker 1: so it doesn't really matter how I live. But that's
- 1:01:24Speaker 1: not grace. That's a cheap imitation of grace. Real grace
- 1:01:28Speaker 1: doesn't make you careless about sin. It makes you fall
- 1:01:32Speaker 1: in love with righteousness. On the other hand, some people
- 1:01:35Speaker 1: believe obedience is still about proving themselves. They know salvation
- 1:01:40Speaker 1: is by faith, but they live like they still need
- 1:01:44Speaker 1: to impress God, still need to be good enough, still
- 1:01:48Speaker 1: need to maintain their righteousness through performance. But Paul is saying,
- 1:01:53Speaker 1: neither mindset is right. You don't obey to earn God's love.
- 1:01:57Speaker 1: You obey to reflect God's love. Live righteously to get
- 1:02:01Speaker 1: into God's family. You live righteously because you are already
- 1:02:05Speaker 1: in God's family. This is why Jesus said in John
- 1:02:10Speaker 1: thirteen thirty five, dash by this, every one will know
- 1:02:14Speaker 1: that you are my disciples. If you love one another,
- 1:02:18Speaker 1: not by how much Bible knowledge you have, not by
- 1:02:21Speaker 1: how much you pray, not by how perfectly you follow
- 1:02:24Speaker 1: the rules, but by how you love. Because love is
- 1:02:28Speaker 1: the ultimate evidence that you have been changed by grace.
- 1:02:32Speaker 1: Look at the story of Zacchius in Luke nineteen. Zachaeus
- 1:02:36Speaker 1: was a tax collector, which meant he was not only
- 1:02:39Speaker 1: a thief but a traitor to his own people. And
- 1:02:43Speaker 1: yet when Jesus called him down from the tree and
- 1:02:46Speaker 1: offered him grace, something happened. Jesus never told him to change,
- 1:02:52Speaker 1: Jesus never gave him a list of rules. Jesus never
- 1:02:56Speaker 1: demanded that he prove his repentance. But after just one
- 1:03:00Speaker 1: encounter with Jesus, Zachius stood up and said, look, Lord,
- 1:03:05Speaker 1: here and now I give half of my possessions to
- 1:03:08Speaker 1: the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,
- 1:03:11Speaker 1: I will pay back four times the amount Luke nineteen eight.
- 1:03:15Speaker 1: Why Because grace doesn't just forgive, it transforms, And when
- 1:03:20Speaker 1: you have truly been transformed, you don't live the same
- 1:03:23Speaker 1: way any more. Not out of fear, not out of duty,
- 1:03:27Speaker 1: but out of love. This is what Paul means in
- 1:03:31Speaker 1: Romans thirteen eight when he says, let no debt remain outstanding,
- 1:03:35Speaker 1: except the continuing debt to love one another, because once
- 1:03:39Speaker 1: you have received God's love, the only proper response is
- 1:03:43Speaker 1: to give it away. This is why Jesus summed up
- 1:03:47Speaker 1: the entire law in just two commands. Love the Lord
- 1:03:51Speaker 1: your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and
- 1:03:55Speaker 1: love your neighbor as yourself Matthew twenty two, thirty seven
- 1:04:00Speaker 1: to thirty nine. Because when you truly love God, it
- 1:04:04Speaker 1: changes the way you treat people. And that's what obedience
- 1:04:08Speaker 1: is really about. It's not about trying to make God
- 1:04:11Speaker 1: happy with you. It's not about trying to stay saved.
- 1:04:16Speaker 1: It's not about following a set of religious rules. It's
- 1:04:19Speaker 1: about living in a way that reflects Jesus. So let
- 1:04:23Speaker 1: me ask you, is your life reflecting the love of God?
- 1:04:27Speaker 1: Do the people around you experience the same grace you've
- 1:04:30Speaker 1: been given to Your words, your actions, your relationships point
- 1:04:35Speaker 1: people back to Jesus. Do you live as someone who
- 1:04:39Speaker 1: knows they are fully loved and now wants to love
- 1:04:41Speaker 1: others the same way? Because grace is not an excuse
- 1:04:46Speaker 1: to live however you want. Grace is an invitation to
- 1:04:50Speaker 1: live like Jesus. And once you understand that, you will
- 1:04:53Speaker 1: never see obedience the same way again. Everything we have
- 1:04:57Speaker 1: learned from Romans leads to w one final question, will
- 1:05:02Speaker 1: you live in spiritual victory? We have uncovered some of
- 1:05:05Speaker 1: the most powerful truths in scripture that you are declared
- 1:05:09Speaker 1: righteous by faith, that you are no longer a slave
- 1:05:12Speaker 1: to sin, that nothing can separate you from God's love,
- 1:05:16Speaker 1: and that your life is meant to be a reflection
- 1:05:19Speaker 1: of the grace you have received. But knowing the truth
- 1:05:23Speaker 1: is not enough, because the truth will only set you
- 1:05:26Speaker 1: free if you choose to live in it. And that's
- 1:05:29Speaker 1: the real battle, isn't it. It's one thing to read
- 1:05:32Speaker 1: about victory. It's one thing to hear sermons about freedom.
- 1:05:37Speaker 1: It's one thing to study Romans and say, Wow, that's powerful.
- 1:05:42Speaker 1: But it's another thing to actually walk in it. And
- 1:05:45Speaker 1: this is where many believers fall short, not because they
- 1:05:49Speaker 1: don't believe in Jesus, but because they don't believe that
- 1:05:52Speaker 1: everything he said is true for them. They believe that
- 1:05:55Speaker 1: grace is real, but they still live in guilt. They
- 1:05:59Speaker 1: believe that sin has no power over them, but they
- 1:06:02Speaker 1: still live like they are trapped. They believe that nothing
- 1:06:05Speaker 1: can separate them from God's love, but they still wonder
- 1:06:09Speaker 1: if He's disappointed in them. And this is why Paul's
- 1:06:12Speaker 1: final challenge to us is not just about knowing the gospel,
- 1:06:16Speaker 1: it's about living it, he writes in Romans eight thirty seven,
- 1:06:21Speaker 1: Dash in all these things, we are more than conquerors
- 1:06:25Speaker 1: through Him who loved us. Did you catch that? Not
- 1:06:28Speaker 1: just survivors, not just forgiven sinners, barely making it more
- 1:06:32Speaker 1: than conquerors. That means your identity is not someone who struggles.
- 1:06:38Speaker 1: Your identity is not someone who is barely hanging on.
- 1:06:42Speaker 1: Your identity is victory because spiritual victory is not about
- 1:06:47Speaker 1: what you feel. It's about what God has already declared
- 1:06:50Speaker 1: over you. But here's the thing. Victory is a choice.
- 1:06:55Speaker 1: Think about the Israelites in the Old Testament. God promised
- 1:06:58Speaker 1: them the land of Cain. It was already theirs, but
- 1:07:02Speaker 1: they still had to go in and take possession of it.
- 1:07:05Speaker 1: They still had to fight battles, They still had to
- 1:07:08Speaker 1: trust that what God said was true. And the ones
- 1:07:11Speaker 1: who doubted, the ones who believed their enemies were bigger
- 1:07:14Speaker 1: than God's promise, they died in the wilderness, never stepping
- 1:07:19Speaker 1: into the victory that was already theirs. And that same
- 1:07:24Speaker 1: choice is in front of you to day. Will you
- 1:07:26Speaker 1: step into the victory Jesus already one for you, or
- 1:07:30Speaker 1: will you stay in the wilderness believing that the struggles
- 1:07:33Speaker 1: in front of you are bigger than the God who
- 1:07:36Speaker 1: is with you. Because here's the truth. The battle is
- 1:07:40Speaker 1: already won. The cross was the turning point, at the
- 1:07:43Speaker 1: resurrection was the final blow. The war is over. Jesus
- 1:07:48Speaker 1: already won. But the enemy's greatest strategy is to convince
- 1:07:52Speaker 1: you to live like you are still losing. That's why
- 1:07:56Speaker 1: he keeps bringing up your past. That's why he tries
- 1:07:59Speaker 1: to make you question your identity. That's why he wants
- 1:08:02Speaker 1: you to believe that victory is for other people but
- 1:08:06Speaker 1: not for you. But the only way the enemy can
- 1:08:10Speaker 1: keep you defeated is if you agree with him. And
- 1:08:14Speaker 1: that's why Paul tells us in Romans six eleven, dash
- 1:08:17Speaker 1: count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God. In Christ, Jesus,
- 1:08:24Speaker 1: do you see it. You have to choose to believe
- 1:08:26Speaker 1: what God says is true. You have to choose to
- 1:08:29Speaker 1: walk in the freedom that is already yours. You have
- 1:08:33Speaker 1: to choose to reject the lies and embrace the truth.
- 1:08:36Speaker 1: And once you do, everything changes, because when you believe
- 1:08:40Speaker 1: you are righteous, you stop living like a guilty person.
- 1:08:44Speaker 1: When you believe you are free, you stop giving sin
- 1:08:48Speaker 1: power over you. When you believe you are loved, you
- 1:08:51Speaker 1: stop questioning your worth. When you believe you are victorious,
- 1:08:55Speaker 1: you stop fighting battles Jesus already won. So let me
- 1:08:59Speaker 1: ask you, are you living in spiritual victory? Not just
- 1:09:02Speaker 1: knowing about it, not just reading about it, but actually
- 1:09:06Speaker 1: walking in it every single day? Because everything we've learned
- 1:09:10Speaker 1: from Romans is not meant to just be studied, It
- 1:09:14Speaker 1: is meant to be lived. So now the choice is yours.
- 1:09:18Speaker 1: Will you keep living in fear, doubt and guilt or
- 1:09:21Speaker 1: will you rise up in the victory Jesus already secured
- 1:09:24Speaker 1: for you. Because the truth is God has already given
- 1:09:27Speaker 1: you everything you need to walk in victory, So don't
- 1:09:32Speaker 1: settle for less step into everything He has for you.
- 1:09:36Speaker 1: And as we close, I want to ask which lesson
- 1:09:40Speaker 1: from Romans stood out to you the most. Was it
- 1:09:43Speaker 1: the truth that you are righteous by faith alone? Was
- 1:09:46Speaker 1: it the reality that sin no longer has power over you?
- 1:09:51Speaker 1: Was it the promise that nothing can separate you from
- 1:09:54Speaker 1: God's love? Drop a comment below because I want to
- 1:09:57Speaker 1: know which truth from Roman's change your perspective the most.
- 1:10:02Speaker 1: And remember this is not the end, This is just
- 1:10:05Speaker 1: the beginning. Because now that you know the truth, it's
- 1:10:09Speaker 1: time to live in it. We have walked through some
- 1:10:12Speaker 1: of the most powerful truths in the Book of Romans.
- 1:10:16Speaker 1: We have seen how grace changes everything, how faith makes
- 1:10:20Speaker 1: us righteous, how sin no longer has dominion over us,
- 1:10:24Speaker 1: and how nothing can separate us from the love of God.
- 1:10:27Speaker 1: We have been reminded that our lives are meant to
- 1:10:30Speaker 1: reflect the love we've received, and that victory is already
- 1:10:34Speaker 1: ours in Christ. But now, as we come to the end,
- 1:10:40Speaker 1: there is one final thing we must do. Pray because
- 1:10:45Speaker 1: truth is powerful, but without the Spirit of God breathing
- 1:10:49Speaker 1: life into it, truth alone will not change us. We
- 1:10:53Speaker 1: can hear the message of grace and still live like
- 1:10:57Speaker 1: we need to prove ourselves. We can know that sin
- 1:11:00Speaker 1: has no power over us and still live like we
- 1:11:02Speaker 1: are trapped. We can read about victory and still live
- 1:11:06Speaker 1: in defeat. And that is why we must pray. Because
- 1:11:10Speaker 1: transformation is not something we do for ourselves. It is
- 1:11:13Speaker 1: something that only God can do in us. So right now,
- 1:11:16Speaker 1: as we close, let's come before Him with open hearts,
- 1:11:19Speaker 1: open hands, and a hunger for more. Father, we come
- 1:11:24Speaker 1: before you, grateful, humbled, and in awe of the love
- 1:11:26Speaker 1: you have poured out for us. You didn't wait for
- 1:11:29Speaker 1: us to be good enough. You didn't love us because
- 1:11:32Speaker 1: we deserved it. You loved us while we were still sinners.
- 1:11:36Speaker 1: And because of your grace we are now righteous, free,
- 1:11:39Speaker 1: and fully yours. But Lord, we confess that even though
- 1:11:43Speaker 1: we have heard these truths, we struggle to walk in them.
- 1:11:47Speaker 1: We still battle doubt, We still wrestle with fear. We
- 1:11:50Speaker 1: still hear the voice of condemnation, trying to tell us
- 1:11:53Speaker 1: we are not enough. So to day, Lord, we ask
- 1:11:57Speaker 1: you to silence every lie of the enemy. Let the
- 1:12:01Speaker 1: voice of truth be louder than the voice of fear.
- 1:12:04Speaker 1: Let the reality of grace be stronger than the weight
- 1:12:07Speaker 1: of guilt. Let the power of your spirit break every
- 1:12:11Speaker 1: chain that has kept us bound. Lord, we surrender our
- 1:12:16Speaker 1: minds to you, renew them with your truth. We surrender
- 1:12:20Speaker 1: our hearts to you, fill them with your love. We
- 1:12:23Speaker 1: surrender our lives to you. Let everything we do reflect
- 1:12:26Speaker 1: who you are, Jesus. You are our victory, You are
- 1:12:30Speaker 1: our righteousness, You are our freedom, You are our hope.
- 1:12:34Speaker 1: So help us to walk in the fullness of what
- 1:12:37Speaker 1: you have given us, not just hearing the truth, but
- 1:12:40Speaker 1: living it, not just knowing the word but obeying it,
- 1:12:44Speaker 1: not just believing in grace, but letting it transform every
- 1:12:47Speaker 1: part of our lives. And Lord, let us never keep
- 1:12:51Speaker 1: this to ourselves, because there are people right now, friends, family,
- 1:12:55Speaker 1: co workers who are still living in chains, still living
- 1:12:59Speaker 1: in fear, still thinking that they have to earn your love.
- 1:13:03Speaker 1: So use us, God, make us living testimonies of your grace.
- 1:13:07Speaker 1: Let our lives be evidence that the Gospel is real.
- 1:13:12Speaker 1: Let the love we show be proof that we have
- 1:13:14Speaker 1: been changed. And let us never forget that this is
- 1:13:18Speaker 1: just the beginning. Thank you, Lord for saving us, Thank
- 1:13:22Speaker 1: you for loving us, Thank you for calling us your
- 1:13:24Speaker 1: own in Jesus name. Amen. If this message has spoken
- 1:13:29Speaker 1: to you today, don't stop here. Romans is a book
- 1:13:33Speaker 1: that will change your life if you go deeper. That's
- 1:13:36Speaker 1: why we've created a detailed explainer video breaking down the
- 1:13:40Speaker 1: book even further, and if you want to study at
- 1:13:43Speaker 1: your own pace, we also have an e book that
- 1:13:46Speaker 1: walks through Romans in a way that makes it simple,
- 1:13:49Speaker 1: clear and powerful. Check the description to grab yours and
- 1:13:53Speaker 1: before you go, who do you know that needs to
- 1:13:56Speaker 1: hear this? Because right now there are people in your
- 1:13:58Speaker 1: life who are still living under guilt, who still don't
- 1:14:02Speaker 1: know how much God loves them who still think they
- 1:14:05Speaker 1: have to work their way to heaven. But you can
- 1:14:08Speaker 1: change that. So if this video blessed, you, share it
- 1:14:12Speaker 1: with someone who needs to hear it, send it to
- 1:14:14Speaker 1: a friend, post it in a group, text it to
- 1:14:18Speaker 1: someone who's been struggling because this message is too powerful
- 1:14:22Speaker 1: to keep to ourselves. God bless you, and may you
- 1:14:25Speaker 1: walk in the full power of the Gospel, not just
- 1:14:28Speaker 1: to day, but for the rest of your life.