SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Simply Christian Podcast. No creeds, no confusion, just Christ.

SPEAKER_03 0:13

Welcome back. It is season two of the Simply Christian Podcast. My name is Michael, and I'm joined here with my fellow brothers in this work, my brothers in Christ, Casey Clement and David Dean. We are excited to be here with you again. We covered a lot of ground last season.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

A lot of ground. We hit some difficult topics. We talked about a lot of different things, and we are excited to be back here in the studio bringing you guys content for season two.

SPEAKER_04 0:46

It is absolutely a privilege, Michael. You know, last season we did talk about some difficult things. We did discuss some things that uh we really I wish we had more time to focus on.

SPEAKER_03 0:56

We covered a lot of ground last season in those 12 episodes, you know, however many we did.

SPEAKER_04 1:01

But it we're trying to do the foundational stuff. Yeah. And we're building a foundation. So last season we talked about the what of the faith. This season, we're going to shift our focus a little bit and we're going to talk about the who and the how.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 1:14

We're not talking about a system anymore. We're talking about living a life, studying a life that is devoted to Christ. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

You know, that's exactly. Guys, that's where our heart is. Amen. That's where our heart is. We want to we want all of our listeners to walk away not with just more facts. We don't want to we don't want to inundate everyone with with just fact after fact after fact. And we don't want to make claims that cannot be be proven. That's right. But we we want to perhaps present this in a different way or different manner to help people look at themselves for who they are and to focus upon self-reflection. And and am I simply a Christian or am I wearing a title, a label that someone's given me? And and we're because we're supposed to put cast off all these titles. Right. And we're to bear the name of Christ, and we are to bear his image. And so today we're calling this episode a new creation. And we're gonna talk about what does it actually mean to be in Christ.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

So what what we're gonna do here is we're gonna just go ahead and dive right off into it. Right off into the deep end, head first, right? So David, if you can you swim?

SPEAKER_04 2:35

I can't. That's that's the problem. I'm worried.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

I wear floaties, it's all good, boys. For those that are listening and don't know, I'm six foot three and uh over 300 pounds. I'm a big boy, big, big, big, tall, long, and wide. So imagine that in some floaties.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Yeah, we call him tiny.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

We're gonna dive into it though. So so David, if you if you read the letters of Paul, you you can't hardly go, you know, three sentences in a lot of times without hitting the phrase in Christ or or in him or or in the Lord. In fact, in letters, in Paul's letters, it shows up over a hundred and sixty times, right? That's a lot. That's a whole lot of times talking about in Christ, in him, in the Lord. Why was Paul so uh and I don't I I guess we could say obsessed, but but why did Paul emphasize in Christ, in him, in the Lord so many times?

SPEAKER_04 3:36

You know, I don't I don't know if I would say he's obsessed. Yeah. I think about Paul. Obsessed is a strong word. It's really strong and it kind of has a little bit of a negative to it. Yeah. For Paul, Christianity is locative. Yeah. It's the idea of this is where I'm at. In the Greek, the preposition in usually takes a locative case. Uh it describes where you are in a space or a sphere of influence. So when he talks about being in Christ, he's saying that he is in the sphere of Christ, he's under the influence of Christ. Yeah. Um KC Mosier in 1952, he wrote a book called The Gist of the Romans, and he argues that the most important place for us to be is in Christ. It's are you in Adam? Are you in Christ? It's not so much your heritage, it's not so much your work, it's where are you located? Right. Because then we can work, we can grow, we can build upon that. Yeah. So think about it like a ship in the storm. If you are in the ship, you share the fate of the ship. If the ship makes it to the harbor, awesome. Right. If it doesn't make it to the harbor, you get a point. Our salvation isn't based on how well we swim, it's based on the fact that we're inside the one who cannot sink.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Well, that kind of changes perspective for everything, doesn't it? It does. And I think a lot of people spend their lives trying to find what is my identity? Who am I? Yep. Uh what is the purpose of my life? Why why am I even here? Yeah. And it that's in their career, in their parenting, in in their bank account. And I think more people today they chase after money or or love. You know, they they they can't seem to find the right person that that fulfills them or the right career that fulfills them. And they're searching for identity when as Christians we learn that our identity is in Christ.

SPEAKER_03 5:43

Yeah. I I can't help but think about when Paul said, it is not I who live, but Christ that lives in me.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 5:56

We we shift our focus. Yeah. I have desires, I have wants, I have this, I have that. No, it's not Christ is living. It's what Christ expects in me that I practice on. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Absolutely. You know, and it's it's Galatians 2 and verse 20 that that Paul talks about, you know, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yeah. Yet it's not I who lives, but it's Christ who lives in me. That's right. And the life that I now live in this flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. That's right. Who loved me and gave himself for me.

SPEAKER_03 6:32

But I know you were talking about identity. I kind of no, and it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

And so, but what I love that you brought that up, Michael, because it's there in Galatians 2 and verse 20 that we see Paul saying, my identity is in Christ. Yeah. And this fleshly man that I am, it's no longer about me. That's right. I'm not living for this flesh. That's right. I'm living for Christ. Yeah. And so, you know, we as Christians have to understand that we must remain faithful to Him. Yep. Because we're not living for ourselves, we're living for Christ. And so if our identity is in Christ, our status doesn't change when we have a bad day at work. That's right. And and there's a way that I I want to say this, but I'm afraid it's going to come across the wrong way. My location is fixed by God's grace and my faith in his gospel. It's not so much by my performance. Now, let me let me explain. Yeah. I'm not saying that because of my faith and because I'm saved by God's grace, that uh all you know, I have been alleviated from any responsibility at all. I still must obey God. Yeah. Right? Even what was it, what was it that uh that Peter said when Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin Council? He said, We're gonna obey God. We're gonna obey God rather than better than me. And so, you know, we must be obedient. And and just because of God's grace doesn't alleviate my responsibility, but it's a response of my faith. That's right. It's not something else added, yeah. And like it's different than faith. Yeah, uh, that would be an insincere faith. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:31

Well, you see it, you see that all throughout the the the biblical pattern. Absolutely. You know, um faith coupled with obedience, the two work together. It's not a it's not a one or the other. Absolutely. They work together, they work together from the beginning all the way up until the end of time. Faith and obedience have to work together.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Absolutely. A sincere faith works. Yes, it works, and it's the works of the sincere faith that justifies. That's what James is talking about in James chapter 2. Yeah. And so when he said, Show me thy faith by uh without thy works, I should I'll show you by my words. By my words, right? And so I totally butchered that, by the way, but that's okay. Uh read read all of James chapter 2, it will do you good. Just read the whole book of James. It will do you good. Read the whole Bible. It will do you good. But I want to say this because, in regards to that, a lot of Christians they say that their identity is in Christ, and they say, I'm a Christian, like they wear that as a badge of honor. I'm a Christian, or this is my identity, this is who I am. And that's wonderful that they identify as a child of God. But if we identify as a child of God, we had better be striving to live for Him. And it's not so it's it's more than just giving it as a description of my character. Right, yeah. You know, it's it's it's a it's actually so and when I made the statement, um, our location is fixed by God's grace in his gospel and not so much by our performance. That just means I'm not perfect. I will make mistakes, and God's grace does, it is there, it does cover us to a degree, yeah. But we still have a responsibility or obedience.

SPEAKER_03 10:26

And and when we say not by not by my performance, too, I think it's important to to and yeah, I'm just gonna bounce this off and y'all tell me if I'm foolish, but it it's not my performance, it's his standard. Yeah. It's my obedience to his standard. Absolutely. And is there is there work in that? Is there action in that? 100%, absolutely. But it's not my standard. It's not my law.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

And it's not my works.

SPEAKER_03 10:50

It's not my works, it's his works.

SPEAKER_04 10:52

You know, a minute ago I talked about the fact that, you know, we want to be in the ship that will not sink because he cannot sink. Yeah. And that's absolutely true. Jesus cannot sink. Right. But we can sure jump off the boat. Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

And and the world gets so hung up. There's so many people in the world today that claim to wear the name Christ, but they do not obey because they they have this mindset that grace is just this this this free gift that I don't have to do anything to get.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Right.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

You know, I I I I and we get this flawed mindset about gifts, right? It's kind of like, okay, a gift is free. Like if I gave you a truck, right? Casey, I gave you a truck.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Hey, I like this idea.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

Did it cost you anything? No. But what do you have to do?

SPEAKER_00 11:39

I have to accept it.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

You have to you have to accept it. You have to open the door, you have to get in it, you have to put the key in it, you have to crank it, you have to put gas in it, you have to take care of the insurance. There's all these different things that go along with that free gift that I gave you. Absolutely. We have this flawed mindset a lot of times, and I say we, I talk about people in general, have this flawed mindset about grace, like it's just it's there, it's free, and I don't have to do anything.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

That's not what a gift that's not how a gift works. That's not how a gift works.

SPEAKER_04 12:06

I had a uh elementary school, I had a coach that used to always say, Nothing is truly free.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Yeah, because it's not.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

The way that we often define free.

SPEAKER_04 12:18

There is absolutely that there is always a cost associated with it. That's right. And there's truth to that.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

That's right. Absolutely. You know, uh really I go back to the identity being in Christ, and it's really an identity crisis that so many people have. I mean, really because and and they and I'm not just saying people in general, yeah, in that statement, I'm talking about Christians. Many times many of my own brethren are struggling with an identity crisis. Yeah. And and they know that they they ought to be in Christ, and they they strive to be in Christ, I think, but there's still a part of them that feels like they're so flawed. Yeah. Yeah that and and I don't I don't think we'll ever get away from that fully. Yeah. And I think that's a part of the human condition that none of us are perfect. We're going to sin, we're going to make mistakes, we're we're we're never going to fully align with his standard. Right. But we can certainly strive and we can get close and we can be a reflection of his light.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

And so um I I think it's important that we just simply don't give up because we're a new creature. Uh a new creature. We're we're made a new uh in Christ.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

Yeah. And so that kind of brings us up to a verse that I want to talk about. You know, Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. Says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. So, Casey, you you talked about the identity crisis, like you were talking about that. Like kind of unpack that a little bit for us here.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

You know, it's a it's a crisis uh for the old man of sin. And um, when we enter Christ, that person who we used to be, that old man of sin, the one that's defined by his sin, by his guilt, and the pattern of this world, following after the pattern of this world, he becomes spiritually dead. That's right. In other words, he he is to live no longer. And we have to understand that it's not just putting on a fresh coat of paint, it's not a uh it's not a makeover, right? It's not a God-given makeover. Right. It's not it's not a little bit of of makeup to to beautify something that is imperfect.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

When we arise out of the water in newness of life, Paul would write in Romans 6, verses 3 through 6. That newness of life, by the glory of the Father, we're resurrected, a new creature able to walk in newness of life.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

We are in that moment perfect.

SPEAKER_02 15:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

Sinless.

SPEAKER_02 15:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Now, does that mean we stay sinless for all eternity? No. I wish it worked like that. Yeah, me too. And and we have a lot of people who who say, Well, you you know, you guys, y'all, y'all believe you're saved by works and and and y'all think that baptism's a work and and it's something you gotta do to to make you perfect so you can get to heaven. No, that's a very intellectually dishonest statement about what we believe and teach.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

Yeah, and and I want to let the Bible speak on that. Just just for a second, and then you can have it right back. Um Colossians chapter 2 and verse 12 says, buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 16:10

Who raised him from the dead.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Baptism is not our work. That's right. And even Ephesians 2, 8 through 10, where where so many people go to and say, see, it's by by grace through faith and and not of yourselves. This it's not about your works that you can boast. Yeah. It's a free gift. Yep. And then if you continue, he says, For we are his workmanship. That's right. In other words, there's still a responsibility that we have. Certainly, we're not saved by our works. That's right. It's not works of merit. There's nothing we can ever do to indebt God to saving us. Yeah. Nothing.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

Nothing.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

We don't deserve it. We will never deserve it. That's right. We'll never be clean enough. Yep. Or have done enough good works to deserve it. That's right. But we have a responsibility to show sincere faith that works, that is obedient. And so this isn't just God tearing down um it it isn't just uh, excuse me, it's it's not just I'll edit that. But it isn't just God putting on a fresh coat of paint on a rotten house. Yeah. It's the tearing down of the walls. It's it's building up something entirely new and even a whole new foundation for the house to stand on.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

And so it's it's from the ground up something entirely new, an entirely new creation. And if we think that we can just tear down some walls and and and change some some things that we do in the way that that we have been, some of the things that we've been doing, and change our lives, or I gotta fix myself, or I gotta get right so I can get back in church and and be who I need to be. Yep, all we're trying to do is we're trying to just remodel a broken, rotten home.

SPEAKER_04 18:12

And that's that's really where everything kind of comes to a bullet point here. I cannot just slap on a fresh coat of paint and I try to hide what I once was, what I want what I still am, really. You know, if you put cut uh coat of paint on a rotten house, the house is still rotten. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Uh Everett Ferguson makes this point in his book, uh The Churches of The Church of Christ. He highlights that the newness that's tied here, that what we're talking about is a resurrection, it's a new creature, a new creation. Uh, we're not just a better people, we are a resurrected or resurrection people. Yeah, we are living in the power of what's to come. We're not just, you know, being what we once were now. We're we're something that's to come forth, something to be better, more.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

Yeah, I think it's important. Like there's some text that really um drives that home. In Romans chapter six, and y'all probably knew where I was going. Beginning in verse one, he says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Right? Certainly not. How shall we who died in t who who died to sin live any longer in it? But he goes on to say, he says, or do you not do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Now listen to what he says here. Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should also walk in newness of life. And it goes on, he says, knowing that our old man was crucified with him in verse six, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. We we died. That old man was put to death in the waters of baptism, and we're raised to walk in that newness of life, a new person, a new creature in Christ. Go ahead, David, you were gonna say something.

SPEAKER_04 20:13

So you see that word into, that is the word s. And it is the preposition of motion. When we are baptized, we are transitioned into a different sphere. Remember, we talked about how we, you know, it's locative. We're all talking about where we are, where we reside. Right. Baptism puts us into the sphere of Christ. Yeah. So that's and that's what Romans is talking about here. That's what Paul is talking about here in Romans 6. Yeah. It's that transition of we were in the world, we were of the world, now we are in Christ. We belong in his sphere.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

Yeah, you know, and and and so that's how we do it. That's as verse four said, that's how well, you know, therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death. Just as Christ was raised from the dead, even so we also should walk in newness of life, that new person, that new man.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Absolutely, and that's the entire reason why we rely upon the New Testament pattern. It's not about we ourselves. And David, I'm glad you brought up that that word ace or uh meaning into or movement toward. And I think a lot of times people cannot come together um not only because they are of a different theology, but I think sometimes they they can't come together on works and faith and and those things and and understand it's not about works. Yeah. And it's not only about faith. Yeah. And and i it's about grace. Only, well, what about God's grace?

SPEAKER_03 21:55

That's right. You know, and throw grace out the window.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Right. Well, no, no, no, no. I'm saved by faith only because of God's grace.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

No.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

Well, then grammatically speaking, you're not saved by faith only. That's right. Then you're saved by grace and faith, which truly is biblical. Right? Yes. Right. Ephesians 2, 8 through uh 10, right? Yeah. Yeah. And so we we gotta help people understand that we're not saved by any one thing alone.

SPEAKER_04 22:25

I am saved by faith. I am saved by grace. I am saved by mercy. That's right. I'm also saved by the water grave of baptism. That's right. And it's all of it.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

It's all of it. And and you know, sometimes that we have to also understand we can't make blanket statements. Yeah. And because if I say I'm saved by faith alone, in what context am I speaking? Uh, you know, the same is true. If I say that I'm saved by Christ alone, in what context am I speaking? Yeah. Because is it true that only Christ can save? That's true. Yeah. But am I saved by Christ alone? Well, if I say that I'm saved by Christ alone, that means God the Father had nothing to do with it. Right. That means the Holy Spirit had nothing to do with it. That means his word had nothing to do with it. That's right. And we've got to be careful how people perceive what we say. And that is so hard. Yeah. It is so hard. And so I love that you brought up the word ace, meaning into or movement toward. And in Acts 2 and verse 38, Peter said, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Yeah. And so re remission of sins, be baptized what in the name of Jesus Christ? Oh, by the authority. By the authority of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_03 23:55

How do we know that's the authority? Matthew 28 and 18, he said, All authority has been given unto me on heaven and on earth. And then he goes on to talk about making disciples, baptizing them. There again, we see in the name of, by the authority of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. You know, and then teach them to observe all the things, all the things that he taught. You know, we're saved in Christ, no doubt. But we're saved in Christ. He has the authority, he sets the standard, he makes the rules.

SPEAKER_04 24:28

That's right. And he tells us what we have to do. That also, you know, you go back to Acts chapter 2 and talk about that. When we look at what we are baptized into, we're baptized into Christ, but we're also baptized father mission of sins that far there, that's into. We're when we're baptized into Christ, we're also baptized into and that's a sphere as well. That is. That's right. So it it's that the sphere of Christ is also the sphere of remission of sins.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

That right. And I think one reason why so many people do not understand that. A lot of a lot of our uh religious friends say that's because of. Well, if we could understand the difference between N and N2, I think we could have harmony. Yeah. I really do, because you know, down here in the South, and and I'm guilty of this. I I I think every every one of us are probably guilty of this at some point in time. I will say, put that knife in the drawer. Well, I can't put it in the drawer unless it's already in the drawer. I can put the knife into the drawer, right? It's the same thing. You know, I get what you say. You know what I'm saying? It's like I can I can say, hey, I'm a slow brain moment there per second. I'm trying to compute it.

SPEAKER_03 25:42

I was like, what's he mean there?

SPEAKER_00 25:44

You know, a lot of times I'm still and here's the thing. A lot of times we might say, I'm gonna jump in the pool.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:53

Well, I can't jump in the pool until I get into the pool.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

I can jump into the pool.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

Right. I can be in the pool already and start jumping up and down, then I'm jumping in the pool.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

But if I if I'm if I'm not wet yet, you know.

SPEAKER_03 26:13

I can't jump in the pool. I'm gonna start saying into on everything. I'm like, get into the car. We got to go.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Right. I think a lot of times we just we we simplify, we shorten things because out of convenience, yeah, and it becomes second nature to us, and then we don't think about it. But I'm gonna tell you something else too.

SPEAKER_03 26:34

Um, I think. I think we understand things simply when we want to understand things simply. And sometimes we're guilty of that. We take stuff that's that's that we want to say, like if we read a text and we want it to say that, we accept it. And it's easy to understand and it's it's not difficult. When when Jesus gave the command in Mark 16, 16, when he said, He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. How hard is that to understand? What does that mean? Like, seriously, what does that mean? He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. What does it mean?

SPEAKER_04 27:10

You want a true answer or what half the world thinks?

SPEAKER_03 27:13

I won't, I want it, I want it to. Sorry, I'm just I mean what is it, but seriously, like if you read that for what it says, what does it mean?

SPEAKER_04 27:24

Well, all I know is if my wife tells me to go buy two things and I only come home with one, I'm in trouble. You're in trouble. So when God tells me to be, you know, to believe and be baptized, if I only do one of them, I'm in trouble.

SPEAKER_03 27:35

I'm in trouble. Why is that so hard to understand? And we get so wrapped up in the fact that baptism is not essential because we think it's some work of man, that we say, yeah, but then he says, if you don't believe, you won't be saved. Well, if you don't believe, you won't be baptized. I mean, how hard is that to understand? You know, it's so simple.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

You know, you you stop and think about this, and you can correct me if I'm wrong. Throughout the New Testament pattern, because really that's what what I'm I'm talking about here, is following a New Testament pattern. Baptism is the only command that I myself do not do.

SPEAKER_04 28:13

Someone does it to me.

SPEAKER_00 28:15

Yeah, yeah. Someone has to administer baptism to me. I don't change my old man. Yeah. I cannot cleanse my soul. That's right. God does that for me.

SPEAKER_03 28:26

And if you think, and this is to our listeners who don't believe in baptism, and I know we're getting way off about being in Christ, but I think it's important because this is how we get into Christ. We have to understand this. If you think that that salvation or your salvation or having to do something that's being hinged on somebody else doing it for you is a problem, go read Leviticus. Who who offered the sacrifices?

SPEAKER_04 28:55

Priest.

SPEAKER_03 28:55

Priest, the high priest. You had to go to him and bring your offering so he could offer the sacrifice. Don't tell me that God doesn't make that a standard, because that's throughout the Bible. And people get so hung up on it and they're like, well, but they accept that. Well, yeah, that's the way it was. That's what I'm reading. I'm bumping the thing. That's what that's what I read.

SPEAKER_04 29:17

Well, you really think about it. Christ is still our high priest. He's still our high priest.

SPEAKER_03 29:20

He's still the one that made the sacrifice. Like, it's not that hard to understand here.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Make it hard. Actually, I I don't think the individuals who are truly searching for truth make it hard. Yeah. I think Satan has made it hard with all of the false doctrines, the false top, the false uh, excuse me, all the false doctrines, all the false teachings, and the misconstruities that he lays out there for us. Yeah. And it and that becomes very confusing. You know, even the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8 said, when when Philip asked him, Do you understand what you're reading? He said, How can I accept some man should guide me?

SPEAKER_03 30:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:03

It's the most and so it's important to understand that you know, baptism isn't just checking off a list. Yeah. You know, so many of my brethren say there's there's five things you gotta do to be saved. Well, hold up. Yeah. That statement in and of itself is 1,000% false. Yeah. Because if I think five things is all I've got to do, I'm not seeing heaven lest it be from far off. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:34

I recall the five steppers.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

And and I hate that.

SPEAKER_04 30:39

It is absolutely true. I hate that so much problems. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

I absolutely hate. Well, what about faithfulness? Oh, well, we're we're really six steppers. Why do we have to do that?

SPEAKER_03 30:51

We don't have to have any steps. This is the plan that's laid out. This is the pattern. Follow the pattern until the day that you breathe your last breath. And if you will do that, you'll go to heaven. Well wh why are we count why are we counting it? We want a checklist. It's it does it's not a checklist, it's a lot of that was the issue that the Pharisees had.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

Yeah. Not just the Pharisees, but but the the Jews in general. And and you know, Alan Webster wrote a great set of tracks on their four steps to heaven. And that goes entirely against this whole idea of we're five-steppers. You know, right. And and it's the exact same plan. It's just worded differently. So now it's four. So now it's four. Now I'm a four-stepper. Or I'm a five-stepper, or I'm a six-stepper. No, I I'm a no-stepper. Yeah. Well, hold on. I gotta move forward. I gotta do something.

SPEAKER_04 31:48

I'm fairly certain Paul mentioned this about, you know, are you of Peter? Are you of? Yeah. That's right. That's basically what we've done now. Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

Absolutely. And and it's it's so concerning to me because it's made about rituals and traditions. Yeah. But it's not a ritual. Right. It's not about traditions. Yeah. This is the this is the pattern. It's about death.

SPEAKER_03 32:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

And if you want new life, the old life of sin has to die.

SPEAKER_02 32:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

That's justice. And God tells you how. Absolutely. And so, and that's through the process of baptism. And so when you come up out of that water, the you that was the slave to sin is in the bottom of that pool.

SPEAKER_02 32:34

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

You are now standing in Christ. In the location of Christ. That's the only place where there is no condemnation. What?

SPEAKER_03 32:51

Oh, okay. So you'll have to edit this little part out because I done got lost to where we're at, but now I see where we're at now.

SPEAKER_04 32:56

I was trying to tell you, hey, you're coming up.

SPEAKER_03 32:59

I knew I was coming up, but I was like, okay, where's Casey at? Alright. Oh, I'm gonna I'm gonna take a hmm.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

No, that's fine. I was just fixing to uh quote Romans 8.1 and then go ahead. There you go. Yeah. So man, that's like a whole three seconds that I've gotta edit out now. And now I'm getting a phone call. So I can it's a good time, and at least I can edit that out too. Yeah. All right. All right, back to your regularly scheduled program. Romans 8.1. But that is the only place where there is no condemnation. You know, in Romans 8 and verse 1, Paul wrote, There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 33:44

Yep, that's right. So there's also, though, kind of getting back to where we're our our talking points that we we're wanting to get to, but there's also this imagery of clothing, right? This m this kind of thought process of clothing, putting on. Galatians 3 27 says, For as many of us as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. So so David kind of explained that a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 34:10

All right, so the Greek word is enduo, and it's the idea of putting on a garment or an armor. In the ancient world, the clothes told you who you were. Um, your status, your trade, your family. So when we talk about putting on Christ, when you talk about, you know, putting wrapping him up in a new garment, what we're telling people is that we are in him, we are of him, and that when people look at us, the father's looking at us, and he sees our character and the righteousness of his son. We are gonna be clothed in his merit. Yeah. Uh it's not us anymore, it's it's Christ.

SPEAKER_02 34:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

That's exactly right. You know, that really means we've got to stop trying to dress our own selves.

SPEAKER_04 34:52

So I can quit wearing my suit.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

I would say yes. I like wearing my suit. I'm gonna wear my suit. I I like wearing my suit every once in a while, but I I well, my suits. Yeah, suits. I have more than one suit.

SPEAKER_04 35:06

Uh we do um I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

Hey, you just derailed that train.

SPEAKER_04 35:12

No, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

No, um I want to get back to this because it it it practically means we have to stop trying to dress ourselves and doing so by our own good works. Yeah. You know, you read the Old Testament and and we learn that God told the children of Israel, He said, Your good works are nothing more than filthy rags, menstrual rags. And that is a nasty, nasty thought. That's a very nasty thought. And yet he said, Your good works, your good deeds, the things that you're doing to make yourself look good is filthy in my eyes. Being in Christ means that I have finally found the right outfit for eternity. And, you know, if I'm going to wear the right outfit, I need to live up to that outfit. That's right. You know, any any man can put on a suit and stand in a pulpit and claim to be a gospel preacher. Yep. But for him to truly be a gospel preacher, he needs to live up to that position.

SPEAKER_02 36:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:21

He needs to study the word, and he needs to be able to uh rightly convey the word of God to others. Yeah. It means that you've got to live up to that uniform. You don't put on the armor and march into battle lest you know what you're doing. That's right. That's that's the first sure way to meet the Lord in judgment.

SPEAKER_02 36:43

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:44

You know, I'm I I love firearms. Uh, you know, and and and somewhat proficient with some of them. And notice I said some of them. Yeah. Just because it goes bang and it looks like a military-grade weapon doesn't mean that because I have it, I know how to load it, I know how to shoot it, yeah, that I'm combat ready. That's right. And and sorry to a lot of doomsday preppers who think they can just buy a gun and be good to go stock of food and ammunition that they're fine. If we're not prepared, then we're not ready. Yeah. And if we're going to wear the clothing, we need to live up to the clothing. You don't put on a tuxedo and and wear it to a mud wrestling match.

SPEAKER_03 37:34

You know, I mean, it's like, who's mud wrestling?

SPEAKER_00 37:37

I don't know. But uh anyway, but the point that I'm making is, you know, there we have to put on Christ and stop playing about the old man of sin living as in in the mud of our sin. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 37:58

Yeah, it's I think it's Peter who said, Don't be a pig that goes back to the mire.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 38:04

Yeah. No, don't put it to the voting. Well, you know, the Bible talks about the dog returning to the vomit. You know, um so it all comes back to that one location, right? Every spiritual blessing is found in the heavenly places in Christ. Ephesians 1, verse 3 says, Blessed, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places where? In Christ. In him, that's right. Outside of him, it's only the old creation. It's only the old man. It's the old man of sin. It's that old vile creature that we all have been at one point in time in our lives, right? For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Outside of him, that's what we are. Outside of him, there's nothing but darkness. There's nothing but darkness. But inside of him, in Christ, there's hope, there's power, there's light, and there's a brand new name, a brand new creature. We get to wear the greatest name that any person could ever wear, and that's the name Christian. Amen. What's that name mean? Anybody know?

SPEAKER_04 39:22

Christ-like.

SPEAKER_03 39:23

Christ-like. Let's make sure that we are, if we're in Christ, let's be Christ-like. Man, what a way to start the season, right? This has been awesome. This was a really good discussion. But next week, we're going to talk about, we're going to take on this idea or this mindset of the new creation, right? And we're going to see how it fits into a family, right? Because you're not the only one in this world that's in Christ, right? That's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:54

That's exactly right. Episode two, we're going to talk about the family of God and and what is the church. Yeah. And we're going to talk about why you can't have Jesus without his people.

SPEAKER_04 40:06

Yeah. I can't wait.

SPEAKER_00 40:07

I can't either. Guys, we appreciate you so very much. We hope you have a wonderful day and may God bless.