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Is Jesus Is Enough? · Get The Hell Out of Your Life with Ron Meyers

• 0:01
  Announcer: It's time now to get the hell out of your life.
• 0:04
  Announcer: A weekly broadcast with real people, sharing real struggles, and offering real hope.
• 0:10
  Announcer: Today's show will encourage, inspire, and empower you to face life's challenges with a fold confidence and renewed hope now.
• 0:22
  Ron Meyers: Welcome to Get the Hell Out of Your Life.
• 0:24
  Ron Meyers: I'm Ron Myers, and I am so glad to be with you.
• 0:27
  Ron Meyers: You know, friends, there was a time when I first started following Jesus that I loved him so much, but yet I was trying so hard to please him.
• 0:36
  Ron Meyers: I was always wondering, am I doing enough?
• 0:38
  Ron Meyers: Am I good enough?
• 0:39
  Ron Meyers: Is God pleased with me?
• 0:41
  Ron Meyers: I probably said the salvation prayer a few times a week.
• 0:45
  Ron Meyers: I kept asking Jesus to forgive me and save me because deep down I never felt secure.
• 0:51
  Ron Meyers: Finally, I remember the day that I prayed, Lord, this is impossible.
• 0:56
  Ron Meyers: I can't do this.
• 0:58
  Ron Meyers: And wouldn't you know it?
• 0:59
  Ron Meyers: Jesus put the message of grace right in front of me.
• 1:04
  Ron Meyers: That was over five years ago when grace began teaching me something that changed my life, my identity in Christ.
• 1:14
  Ron Meyers: I began to understand what Jesus had already accomplished for me.
• 1:19
  Ron Meyers: I wasn't trying to earn his love, I already had it.
• 1:23
  Ron Meyers: I wasn't trying to become his, I was his.
• 1:27
  Ron Meyers: And I began discovering the beautiful simplicity of the gospel.
• 1:35
  Ron Meyers: Jesus is enough.
• 1:38
  Ron Meyers: You're about to hear a clip from a call-in show with my favorite teacher, Dr.
• 1:44
  Ron Meyers: Andrew Farley, where he explains our identity in Christ and the message of grace to his callers.
• 1:53
  Ron Meyers: Let's take a listen.
• 2:06
  Viola: I got baptized when I was 12 and wanted to go to heaven.
• 2:10
  Viola: That's all I can do.
• 2:11
  Viola: I don't know whether the uh preacher didn't emphasize Jesus or what I don't know what happened to that.
• 2:18
  Viola: I felt like I was saved with a feeling to mean.
• 2:21
  Viola: But then as I got older, as I got older and out of my own, I thought I thought baptized salvation was like being baptized and going to a church.
• 2:33
  Viola: But that's dangerous when they don't emphasize Jesus.
• 2:42
  Viola: And they might have as you need to go.
• 2:44
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Right, right.
• 2:44
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Okay.
• 2:45
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Yeah, I hear you.
• 2:45
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I hear you, Viola.
• 2:46
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Wow.
• 2:47
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, first all I can say is, wow, because I love your your testimony there.
• 2:53
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You know, my favorite part is what you cried out.
• 2:56
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I don't care who it is, I don't care what it is, God, show me the truth.
• 3:01
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I love that because you know, Jesus said, Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.
• 3:08
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And isn't it amazing that when we actually care enough and we submit to God and just say, God, show me, that is his favorite thing to show a human being.
• 3:20
  Dr. Andrew Farley: That is his number one favorite thing to show any person.
• 3:25
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Who is my son Jesus?
• 3:27
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Who is he?
• 3:28
  Dr. Andrew Farley: What has he done?
• 3:29
  Dr. Andrew Farley: What does he stand for?
• 3:31
  Dr. Andrew Farley: What benefit is he to you?
• 3:33
  Dr. Andrew Farley: That is exactly what the Father wants to do.
• 3:37
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And you asked him, you asked him to show you, and he did.
• 3:41
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And of course, the centerpiece of that whole, that whole gospel is Jesus Christ Himself.
• 3:48
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It's not water baptism, it's Jesus Christ.
• 3:51
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It's not church attendance, it's Jesus.
• 3:54
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And so while going to church can be very encouraging and getting water baptized can be a great uh celebration, it's Jesus that saves.
• 4:04
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And you say, how do we get away from that?
• 4:06
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You know, what happened to me?
• 4:07
  Dr. Andrew Farley: That's basically your question is like, you know, what happened to me for so many years?
• 4:12
  Dr. Andrew Farley: How could I be around church?
• 4:15
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, I think your story is an incredible warning to churches, congregations, Bible studies, people, believers all over the world.
• 4:26
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, what an incredible warning.
• 4:28
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And it's like a red light flashing saying, watch out, make sure we have the right focus, make sure we're talking about Jesus.
• 4:37
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Let's not talk about self-improvement.
• 4:40
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Let's not talk about accountability groups.
• 4:42
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Let's not talk about do more, be more.
• 4:45
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Let's not talk about be a better person.
• 4:48
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Let's talk about Jesus.
• 4:50
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Because otherwise, I'm telling you, these congregations, these churches, these, you know, all of these things that we're a part of in our lives, if we are not careful in having the right focus, they become a country club of be a better person.
• 5:06
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Behavior improvement program, a sin management, they become a country club of be a better person.
• 5:14
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Behavior improvement program, a sin management system, a country club of be a better you.
• 5:21
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And what your testimony reveals is that you could be sincere and you could be eager and you could be in a church environment and you could be a person that kind of, you know, you want to go to heaven.
• 5:34
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, who doesn't want to go to heaven?
• 5:36
  Dr. Andrew Farley: But until you realize Jesus is the door, Jesus is the gate, Jesus is the way, the truth, the life, nobody comes to the Father except through him.
• 5:47
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It's a narrow gate.
• 5:48
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It's the gate of God's grace.
• 5:51
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It is Jesus Himself.
• 5:53
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Until we realize that, we're not saved because there's one name under heaven by which we can be saved.
• 6:01
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So it is definitely, I mean, your story, your testimony there is definitely uh shocking for a lot of people, I hope, as church leaders, pastors, teachers, you know, hear what you had to say, that you could be in a church in the United States in the Bible belt of the world.
• 6:20
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You could be in a church with good intentions, the best of hopes and dreams and intentions, wanting to, you know, be a good person and go to heaven and all of that.
• 6:31
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You could be hearing church sermons every week and and and every ounce of that whole experience and yet miss salvation because Jesus is not really being talked about.
• 6:43
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, if you're careful, I I've I've been in church services and I've known people who've been in them where they bring a little pad to church, you know, just a little notebook, a little pad, and then a pencil or a pen, and they sit there and they just put a little hash mark every time the preacher refers to Jesus Christ.
• 7:00
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Sometimes they leave the church service an hour later, there's nothing on the paper, no hash marks.
• 7:07
  Dr. Andrew Farley: There were three ways to be a better person, five ways to be a better Christian, seven ways to be a better husband and wife or whatever.
• 7:15
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And yet there was no mention of Jesus, no mention of him indwelling us, no mention of walking by his spirit, no mention of Christ in you, our hope of glory, no mention of being united with Christ, no mention of it being by Jesus' finished work that we're saved, and by his finished work that we grow.
• 7:37
  Dr. Andrew Farley: They're talking about a whole lot of stuff, but somehow Jesus gets left out.
• 7:41
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So your story doesn't surprise me.
• 7:45
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I I actually, you know, my parents, my dad, had a very interesting thing happen.
• 7:52
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, first of all, he was sitting in a Baptist church in Virginia.
• 7:56
  Dr. Andrew Farley: The senior pastor of the Baptist church came to him.
• 7:59
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now, this is like, oh my goodness, I mean, this has got to be 50 years ago, but came to him and said, We want you to give your testimony on Sunday morning.
• 8:08
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So he's sitting on the front row, my father sitting on the front row of this Baptist church, and he's getting ready to get up and give his testimony to the whole church.
• 8:18
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And he leans over to my mom and he says, I don't know what I'm gonna say.
• 8:25
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And my mom leans back and says, You'll think of something.
• 8:29
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now, guess what?
• 8:30
  Dr. Andrew Farley: My dad wasn't even saved.
• 8:32
  Dr. Andrew Farley: My dad didn't know Jesus yet.
• 8:34
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And because my dad was, oh, I don't know, a good, well-behaved person in the community, an upstanding citizen, you know, they chose him.
• 8:44
  Dr. Andrew Farley: They chose him to give his testimony, and they didn't even ask him, Are you saved?
• 8:49
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Do you have Christ living in you?
• 8:51
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And so he got up that morning and said, I'm sure, a bunch of beautiful things like, Isn't it great to be in a in a family atmosphere with family values?
• 9:02
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And isn't it great to be in a Christian community?
• 9:04
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And my wife and I are so thankful to be in this Christian family, this church family that we can now call home.
• 9:12
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And he went on and on for five or eight minutes or whatever, and then at the end he sat down and everybody just, oh, big applause, big applause.
• 9:20
  Dr. Andrew Farley: He didn't know Jesus.
• 9:22
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And so that's another example of how you can just be in church and not not be saved.
• 9:28
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You can be in church a long time and not hear the gospel.
• 9:32
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So, yeah, I mean, not to mention the by the way, the pastor's wife in that same church.
• 9:38
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Get this the pastor's wife is leading a training seminar on evangelism.
• 9:44
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Okay.
• 9:45
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So she makes tapes.
• 9:46
  Dr. Andrew Farley: She starts to make tapes of how to share Christ.
• 9:50
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And then she's listening to these tapes.
• 9:53
  Dr. Andrew Farley: She's listening to herself in a minivan driving along the highway.
• 9:57
  Dr. Andrew Farley: She's listening to herself deliver the gospel so that other people can practice after they hear it.
• 10:03
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, she pulls the van to the side of the road and she decides, you know what?
• 10:08
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I've never asked Jesus.
• 10:10
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I've never asked Jesus in my heart.
• 10:12
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I've never asked Jesus to save me.
• 10:15
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Maybe I need to get saved.
• 10:17
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And her the voice of her own evangelism is what brought her to Christ.
• 10:23
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now, is that not crazy?
• 10:25
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You got a pastor's wife who's doing training and she's not saved.
• 10:30
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So this problem is pervasive.
• 10:33
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, it's hilarious and awful because, you know, it's shocking.
• 10:38
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I say hilarious.
• 10:39
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean it's shocking, it's sobering, it makes you chuckle for a minute, but then double take all over again that uh I mean, we see this on social media.
• 10:47
  Dr. Andrew Farley: We'll put something out about how you're righteous for free, or we'll put something out about how Christians have been made holy and been made perfect by Jesus' sacrifice.
• 10:58
  Dr. Andrew Farley: People go nuts.
• 10:59
  Dr. Andrew Farley: They can't handle it.
• 11:00
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, religious people, church people, people that are supposedly in a Christian atmosphere, they go crazy over grace.
• 11:07
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It makes them mad, it makes them scared, they don't understand grace, they don't understand salvation by grace, they keep thinking that we're somehow excusing sin.
• 11:17
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Like it's very common in the Bible belt and in the world in general to say, well, I'm really good with church if if church is teaching behavior improvement.
• 11:28
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I'm really good with church as long as church is about better behavior, self-improvement, and being a great guy.
• 11:35
  Dr. Andrew Farley: But if you start making church about something controversial, then I'm out.
• 11:40
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And see, Jesus is controversial.
• 11:42
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Grace is controversial, salvation as a free gift is controversial.
• 11:48
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And so eventually you heard it, you got it straight from the Holy Spirit.
• 11:52
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I love that.
• 11:53
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Viola, thank you.
• 11:55
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Thank you for your story, for your testimony.
• 11:58
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I think what you're sharing is just a brilliant alarm that has just been sounded.
• 12:05
  Dr. Andrew Farley: That as pastors, leaders, teachers, Bible study coordinators, or whatever, and just friends, friends of people who need Jesus, let's make the focus Christ Himself, not self-improvement, not churchianity, not Bible study, not baptism, Jesus.
• 12:26
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Jesus is the focus.
• 12:28
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Yes, some of those things I listed are fantastic.
• 12:31
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Nothing wrong with them, but Jesus has to be the focus.
• 12:34
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Otherwise, we miss the whole message, and other people do too.
• 12:38
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So thanks for your call today.
• 12:41
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Reach out to us again anytime there in Maryland.
• 12:44
  Dr. Andrew Farley: All right, let's go now to Oklahoma and we'll talk with Charles.
• 12:48
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Hey Charles, what you got for us today?
• 12:52
  Charles: Hey, Andrew, I want to just say that what Viola just said that you know, I asked God for truth.
• 12:59
  Charles: I remember 10 years ago, I said, Lord, I want truth of the gospel, and I found Andrew Harley.
• 13:07
  Charles: And I've spent 10 years listening and you know, and just growing and rethinking, retooling, re-evaluating what I actually believe fundamentally.
• 13:20
  Charles: Yeah, you know, and I just want to encourage you and thank you and say you're you're you're doing an awesome job and the the the Bible lap, the the Bible questions, I use that.
• 13:34
  Charles: I tell people all the time, hey, you check this out, it's just a great thing, and I'm just so thankful to God for you and your team and what's happening there in Texas, and keep pressing forward.
• 13:45
  Charles: And these days when it feels like the wheels are falling off, the church needs to come together and just settle on the basics of who Christ is in our life.
• 13:56
  Charles: Christ lives in us, the world comes at us, and we just keep pressing forward, knowing one day we're gonna be with the Lord, and you are put put you're putting that message out, and I'm just excited about it, and thank you very much.
• 14:11
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And oh wow.
• 14:12
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Thank you.
• 14:13
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Thank you.
• 14:13
  Dr. Andrew Farley: That's all I got, man.
• 14:14
  Dr. Andrew Farley: All right.
• 14:15
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, that's all we needed to hear.
• 14:17
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I sure appreciate what was on your heart there, and thank you for encouraging us and our team, you know, our Grace Message team and our Grace Church team.
• 14:28
  Dr. Andrew Farley: A whole lot of people get encouraged by comments like yours, Charles.
• 14:32
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So thank you.
• 14:33
  Dr. Andrew Farley: We love what we're doing.
• 14:35
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You mentioned the BibleQuestions.com website, biblequestions.com.
• 14:40
  Dr. Andrew Farley: If you haven't checked that out yet, you want to.
• 14:43
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Trust me, you want to because you can get your answers in 10 seconds in any language of the world.
• 14:49
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And it's become an enormous mission.
• 14:52
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, through that and all kinds of other means over the years, we've we've answered over five million questions as a ministry, five million Bible questions and counting.
• 15:03
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And, you know, it's because of that mobile app, but it's also this program and the different ways it's delivered.
• 15:10
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So it's our privilege, it's our honor to point people to Jesus and his grace.
• 15:16
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And like I said, like you said, I mean, the world gets tiring and there's a lot of conflict and people are coming at us, and people don't always like a message of Jesus plus nothing, do they?
• 15:31
  Dr. Andrew Farley: They don't always like a message that's centered on God's grace.
• 15:35
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So we over the decades have experienced all kinds of obstacles and rejection and all of that.
• 15:42
  Dr. Andrew Farley: How do we keep going?
• 15:43
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, we keep going because we know it's the truth and we know that we're accepted in the beloved.
• 15:50
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You know, that's actually a beautiful verse, that we are accepted in the beloved, and that if God is for us, who can be against us?
• 16:00
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And you know where the overreaction happens?
• 16:03
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It's interesting.
• 16:03
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I've watched human behavior, and here it is.
• 16:06
  Dr. Andrew Farley: If somebody's never heard it said a certain way, then they assume it's wrong.
• 16:13
  Dr. Andrew Farley: If something is said in a new, fresh way, they assume it must not be right.
• 16:19
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And so many people sit in church and they're absolutely correct on how to get saved.
• 16:24
  Dr. Andrew Farley: But the message has stopped there.
• 16:28
  Dr. Andrew Farley: They know how to get saved, but then they have a totally different message in their mind about how to grow and how to mature.
• 16:36
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And so then when they come along, they hear the grace message, they think, oh my goodness, I've never heard it that way.
• 16:42
  Dr. Andrew Farley: This must be wrong.
• 16:43
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now, some of us go, whoa, I've never heard it that way.
• 16:47
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And that makes sense.
• 16:48
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It just resonates.
• 16:50
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, thank you.
• 16:50
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It's right there in the scriptures.
• 16:52
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Other people take a little while longer and they say, I have never heard, I've been in church 20, 30, 40, I've never heard that we are forgiven past, present, future.
• 17:04
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I've never heard that we are forgiven for our next sin.
• 17:08
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I've never read Hebrews 10 where it says we're made perfect forever.
• 17:12
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Or how about sanctified?
• 17:13
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I've never heard these four or five passages that say we have been sanctified.
• 17:19
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I always thought it was a process that I had to be set apart, set apart, set apart for God constantly.
• 17:25
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You know, I never heard that we don't have to put God first, that Christ is our life, that there's a bigger message, that He's, I've never heard that we don't have to get closer to God, you know, inch in closer.
• 17:37
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I never heard about my union with Jesus.
• 17:40
  Dr. Andrew Farley: That vine branch is really, I've I just swallowed all the jargon, all the Bible belt jargon.
• 17:46
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I just swallowed it.
• 17:47
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And now as you're clarifying these things, I just gotta say, I've never heard it like that.
• 17:54
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And then there's two reactions, right?
• 17:56
  Dr. Andrew Farley: The first reaction is maybe I've never heard it before, therefore it must be wrong.
• 18:01
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Or I've never heard it like that.
• 18:03
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And wow, that fits with everything else I see in the Bible.
• 18:08
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And so we got to be patient with people.
• 18:11
  Dr. Andrew Farley: We got to allow them to learn and grow.
• 18:13
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And sometimes they need to have their reaction where they freak out and you say grace, and they say, Hey, did you say sin was okay?
• 18:20
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And you say, No, I was just talking about grace.
• 18:22
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And they say, wait, aren't you saying sin is okay?
• 18:25
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And then you say, No, no, I was just saying that, you know, God's grace is enough and that you're forgiven.
• 18:30
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Are you saying sin is okay?
• 18:31
  Dr. Andrew Farley: No, I'm just saying the cross worked.
• 18:34
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And they have to kind of relax a little and realize, oh, you're not excusing sin.
• 18:40
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You're actually giving us the one way that we can have victory over sin.
• 18:45
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Because the grace of God teaches us to say no to sin.
• 18:50
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So those are some thoughts.
• 18:52
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I sure appreciate your your encouragement today, my friend.
• 18:55
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And reach out to us there in Oklahoma anytime.
• 18:59
  Dr. Andrew Farley: New Hampshire next, and we'll talk with Scott.
• 19:02
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Hi, Scott.
• 19:03
  Scott: Hi, Dr.
• 19:04
  Scott: Farley.
• 19:04
  Scott: Thank you so much for taking my call.
• 19:06
  Scott: I am a I'm an academic, and during my 35 years since I've given my life to Christ, I have bounced around from church to church, all claiming to be Christ-oriented and Christ-focused.
• 19:22
  Scott: Yet with all these different churches, sometimes I've run into churches that you need to attend a class, interviewed by the elders, and then sign a card, or you're not really a member.
• 19:33
  Scott: Now I understand that's probably part of the church's corporation that that they set up, but I've gone to others that they speak something about Calvinism every other week.
• 19:42
  Scott: I finally went to the pastor and I said, I just don't understand where the Bible is Calvin in here, please.
• 19:50
  Scott: And I mean, it depends.
• 19:52
  Scott: Some churches are medium or oriented, some are Calvinistic.
• 19:55
  Scott: What's the mechanism that we can use to help us discern what is right and where should we be following?
• 20:04
  Scott: What structures can we use to help figure this out?
• 20:08
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Yeah, I hear you.
• 20:09
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I hear you.
• 20:10
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, you're an academic, and I come from academia too.
• 20:14
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Maybe you know that.
• 20:15
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I was a professor at Notre Dame and at Texas Tech in linguistics for a couple of decades, so I can relate to your background.
• 20:24
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And, you know, I mean, can I give you uh some basic ideas about what would guide you to a healthy place uh where people are gathering to worship?
• 20:36
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Sure, I could.
• 20:37
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, you know, number one obviously is are people talking about Jesus?
• 20:42
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And I I say that and it sounds really simple and easy, but as I mentioned earlier, you'd be shocked.
• 20:50
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, you'd be shocked how many church services you can leave and they didn't talk about Jesus.
• 20:56
  Dr. Andrew Farley: As you mentioned, maybe they talk about John Calvin, maybe they talk about their ideas on predestination, maybe they talk about oh, all kinds of things, maybe even the sovereignty of God or whatever, whatever key words they like to push, but are they talking about Jesus?
• 21:12
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So that would be number one.
• 21:14
  Dr. Andrew Farley: As surprising as it is, that's not always a given.
• 21:17
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You might be finding 50-50 on that one.
• 21:21
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now, beyond talking about Jesus, I would say the next question is do they believe the work is finished?
• 21:29
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now, what do I mean by that?
• 21:30
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, Jesus said it from the cross, right?
• 21:32
  Dr. Andrew Farley: He said this proclamation, it is finished.
• 21:36
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So are they believing in and proclaiming the finished work of Jesus?
• 21:42
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now, what does that mean?
• 21:43
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, that means that Jesus will never do what he's already done.
• 21:47
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And so is their premise off?
• 21:50
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Are they really pushing the idea that Jesus did what he needed to do and that it doesn't need to be done again?
• 21:58
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now, here, what am I talking about?
• 21:59
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, I'm talking about number one, the shed blood of Jesus.
• 22:04
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Did Jesus die for our sins?
• 22:06
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Yes.
• 22:07
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Will he ever die again?
• 22:09
  Dr. Andrew Farley: No.
• 22:09
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Did he leave any sins out?
• 22:11
  Dr. Andrew Farley: No.
• 22:12
  Dr. Andrew Farley: He died for every single one of them.
• 22:14
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And because he'll never die again, then we can be forgiven once for all.
• 22:19
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Forgiven once for all.
• 22:21
  Dr. Andrew Farley: That's the finished work.
• 22:23
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Secondly, through the cross, Jesus fulfills the law.
• 22:28
  Dr. Andrew Farley: The law has been fulfilled past tense.
• 22:31
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So what the law could not do, God did in sending his own son.
• 22:36
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And he condemned sin in the flesh.
• 22:39
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It is finished.
• 22:42
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So forgiveness is finished.
• 22:44
  Dr. Andrew Farley: The fulfillment of the law is finished.
• 22:47
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And then when we become a believer, we enter into the finished work of Christ and our old self dies.
• 22:56
  Dr. Andrew Farley: That becomes a finished work for us.
• 22:58
  Dr. Andrew Farley: When we get saved, I'll keep it simple.
• 23:01
  Dr. Andrew Farley: In order to be born again, your old self has to die.
• 23:06
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You can't be born again unless the old creature, the old creation, is done away with.
• 23:13
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And that's what happens when we are born of God.
• 23:16
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So, you know, there's a finished work concerning your identity.
• 23:21
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You get a new heart, you get a new spirit, you get God's Spirit living in you.
• 23:25
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You become complete in Him.
• 23:27
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You're not lacking anything.
• 23:29
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You're not shopping constantly for a new experience.
• 23:33
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You're not shopping constantly for more of the Holy Spirit.
• 23:37
  Dr. Andrew Farley: You're not shopping constantly to get more of God.
• 23:40
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Remember, Jesus said you'll never hunger and you'll never thirst again.
• 23:45
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Why?
• 23:45
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Because you'll be satisfied.
• 23:47
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So the finished work of Christ relates to you and me being satisfied in Jesus, that He's made us complete.
• 23:56
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Secondly, it relates to our forgiveness, that you can't be more forgiven than 100% forgiven once for all.
• 24:04
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And lastly, the law has been fulfilled.
• 24:07
  Dr. Andrew Farley: We're not under the law.
• 24:09
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Christ is the end of the law for all those who believe.
• 24:13
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now you would think, oh, these are just kind of academic points, or these are just theological uh principles that are interesting.
• 24:21
  Dr. Andrew Farley: But why is why is Andrew saying this is the big deal?
• 24:25
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, remember, first we said Jesus.
• 24:27
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Jesus is the big deal.
• 24:29
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And Jesus says it's a narrow gate, and he's the gate, he's the door, he's the way, the truth, the life.
• 24:36
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, it doesn't get any wider after you're in him.
• 24:40
  Dr. Andrew Farley: After you're in him, it is still about what he has accomplished, what he has done through the cross and the resurrection.
• 24:49
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And it doesn't get wider because, you know, I mean, religion out there is going to tell you, oh, I think it's fantastic that you're a Christian.
• 24:57
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now we need to engage in self-improvement.
• 25:01
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I think it's great that you're a Christian.
• 25:03
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Now we need five ways and seven principles and ten steps and the la la la.
• 25:08
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I mean, you can go from church to church and find all of those sermons being preached.
• 25:13
  Dr. Andrew Farley: But it is a narrow gate, even when it comes to the truth about growing.
• 25:18
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Growing in Christ is a very narrow concept, meaning it's about Jesus all over again.
• 25:25
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Just as you received him, so walk in him, rooted and grounded in him.
• 25:31
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So if you want to know what to look for, look for a message about Jesus, look for his finished work being showcased.
• 25:40
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And then as you ask, what is the finished work?
• 25:43
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Well, pervasive, pervasive throughout the New Testament is his work in fulfilling the law, his work in making us totally forgiven, and his work in causing us to be a new creation.
• 25:59
  Dr. Andrew Farley: That's why we need to learn our identity in Christ.
• 26:02
  Dr. Andrew Farley: We need to learn that we're forgiven, holy, righteous, blameless, and not just have that be trite little phrases that we memorize, but to really believe that's who we are.
• 26:13
  Dr. Andrew Farley: So that's the message of the gospel, not just for getting to heaven, but for growing daily.
• 26:21
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And so I would argue that's what you find in a healthy church environment or a healthy Bible study.
• 26:29
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Look, I'll say it another way.
• 26:31
  Dr. Andrew Farley: A lot of people are teaching the Bible, but not very many people are teaching the gospel.
• 26:39
  Dr. Andrew Farley: Do you hear that?
• 26:40
  Dr. Andrew Farley: A lot of people are teaching the Bible, but let's make sure they're teaching the gospel.
• 26:46
  Dr. Andrew Farley: And a lot of people say they're teaching the gospel, but then the focus is on you and how much you're doing and whether you're doing enough.
• 26:55
  Dr. Andrew Farley: If we're really teaching the gospel, it is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 27:01
  Dr. Andrew Farley: It is about Him and what He has done, not what we're doing for Him, but what He's done for us.
• 27:09
  Dr. Andrew Farley: I love it.
• 27:11
  Ron Meyers: Friends, and if you are struggling the way I was, constantly wondering whether you're doing enough for God, whether He's disappointed in you, or even whether you're truly saved, I want to encourage you to learn more about your identity in Christ in the message of grace.
• 27:29
  Ron Meyers: Dr.
• 27:29
  Ron Meyers: Andrew Farley's teachings helped me understand something I had missed for years.
• 27:36
  Ron Meyers: Jesus is enough.
• 27:38
  Ron Meyers: And please hear my heart.
• 27:40
  Ron Meyers: I'm not trying to bash churches, pastors, denominations, or anybody else's teaching.
• 27:46
  Ron Meyers: That's not what this is about.
• 27:48
  Ron Meyers: This is about freedom.
• 27:50
  Ron Meyers: Because if we don't understand grace in our identity in Christ, we can spend our lives trapped in condemnation, shame, and insecurity, always trying to earn what Jesus has already given us.
• 28:03
  Ron Meyers: And I lived that way a long time, and it's quite exhausting.
• 28:07
  Ron Meyers: So here's my suggestion for this next week: spend some time with Jesus and ask him, Jesus, show me who I am because of what you have already done.
• 28:19
  Ron Meyers: Then start discovering your identity in Christ.
• 28:23
  Ron Meyers: Friend, you were created on purpose for a purpose by a God who loves you more than you can imagine.
• 28:29
  Ron Meyers: Now go live like you believe it.
• 28:32
  Ron Meyers: Jesus plus nothing.
• 28:34
  Ron Meyers: Jesus is enough.
• 28:48
  Announcer: Today's show was produced by Ron Myers Ministries, a listener-supported ministry.
• 28:53
  Announcer: For a copy of today's broadcast, please visit our website, thepromoter.org.
• 28:58
  Announcer: And would you prayerfully consider making a tax deductible donation so that we may continue to share stories of God's amazing grace with the world?
• 29:06
  Announcer: And join us next week for another broadcast of Get the Hell Out of Your Life Real people, sharing real struggles, and offering real hope.