Bible, Bros & Brew
Bible, Bros, & Brew is all about helping you navigate your relationship with God in practical, real-life ways. Hosts David and Phil dig into scripture—'chopping up the word'—and bring it to life with insights you can actually use every day. And while they’re at it, they share their favorite 'brews'—don’t worry, it’s not booze! Just a solid lineup of classic coffees and teas to keep the conversations flowing.
Bible, Bros & Brew
Breaking the Cycle of Sin (Part 3) | The Importance of Knowing Who You Are in Christ
What if you could finally break the cycle that’s been holding you back? The team uncovers six core spiritual obstacles that often keep us trapped. Together, they draw on Romans 7 and 8 to highlight the limitations of relying on the law and emphasize the transformative power found in Jesus. Through the wisdom of Psalm 119, we’ll see how God’s word illuminates our path, helping us make decisions rooted in faith and truth.
In this episode of Bible, Bros & Brew, we explore one of the enemy’s oldest tricks: sowing doubt about our identity, just as he did with Jesus in the wilderness, saying, “If you be the Son of God…” (Matthew 4:3). David, Lynn, and Phil dig into the scriptures to reveal what it means to embrace our true identity in Christ. By letting go of old, limiting beliefs about ourselves and putting on our new identity in Him, we find freedom and strength to break free from the cycle of sin and live as God intended.
If this conversation inspires you, please like, subscribe, and join us on YouTube and Instagram for more. Let’s walk this journey of growth and transformation together, exploring God’s promises and stepping into the fullness of our identity in Christ!
gotbrew@biblebros.net
Hey everybody and welcome to this episode of Bible Bros and Brew. I am David with me tonight. Man, it's like having a star-studded cast that you weren't prepared for and didn't know that you need until they were all together. I've got with me, of course, the ever effervescent Philip Rich, and then with us also again this week is the one and only Lynn Nestor, and then on the ones and twos. For us it's like back in the day when we first started this thing. We've got the Ryan John Holdeman with us.
Speaker 1:He's filling in, for we call him John. We're calling him John as his middle name. That's not his real middle name, but we're just reminding you that he's carrying on for our John, who happens to be out because he's not feeling well. So, john, if you're listening, best wishes and hope you feel better, but Ryan's holding it down for you in an extremely strong manner, and if he doesn't, we will talk about Ryan afterwards. All right, so we're glad that you joined us.
Speaker 1:You know, this week, as we have been over the last few weeks, we've been talking about the concept of breaking the cycle of sin, and we've been started off by talking about the reality of sin in our church, sin in our church communities, even sin amongst leadership in our church, and we talked about that which brought us to what keeps that cycle of sin going. And so we identified six important things that are a part of that cycle of sin continuing. They were sin that begets more sin, Bible ignorance and illiteracy. Ignoring your convictions, youthful lust, which was quite an interesting talking point, believing the worst about yourself and lack of community, and we briefly just mentioned also a lack of discipline in your life will lead to that. And so this week we're going to kind of wrap up some thoughts around that and finish the conversation off before we move forward.
Speaker 1:But before we do that, let's talk about what we got in the cup, because without coffee I don't think we could have this conversation. So with that in mind, let's see what's in the cup. Phillip, I'm going to start with you tonight. What's in your cup.
Speaker 3:Sir, I am proud to present the latest Peregrine offering, or at least it's one of the latest ones. It is their Nicaragua Ginoteca. Anyway, it's like a light to medium roast. It has notes of cocoa nibs, cinnamon, apple and sparkling grape juice. Believe it or not, but a fantastic cup of coffee. And I wanted to give a shout-out as well to Sanctuary Coffee Company. It's a little coffee shop in Whitsitt, North Carolina, where we used to live. Excellent place there, man. So much love to the peeps up there. Phil show the shirt. Oh, man, Much love to the peeps up there. Phil show the shirt. Oh, okay, If you insist, Ryan, I wasn't going to say anything, but yes, I also have the Sanctuary Coffee Co shirt. Thank you, Ryan. I didn't want to humble brag about my matchingness tonight.
Speaker 1:Just know that when Philip goes in for your coffee shop he goes all the way in. He does, he buys the shirt and the hat and the mug. He's probably got a pen and paper set somewhere too.
Speaker 2:The local coffee shop he likes his coffee, he's matching on two fronts.
Speaker 1:That's true, lynn. Well played, well played, phillip.
Speaker 3:Dude man, I'm nothing if not consistent with my coffee habits.
Speaker 1:Phillip gets the matchy matchy award for the week. Okay, Lynn.
Speaker 2:What you got? Okay, nothing exciting. I have not been drinking enough water. That's what's in the cup.
Speaker 1:Okay, brewed by heaven, so that's all right. That's what's in the cup. Okay, brewed by heaven, so that's all right.
Speaker 2:That's true, brewed by heaven and filtered by Cobb County, the county. Additional accoutrements in there.
Speaker 1:Nice, nice. All right. Ryan, how about you?
Speaker 4:I've got the Black Rifle Flying Elk Coffee. This is courtesy of David McIntyre's coffee collection, actually Extensive collection at large recently. Very extensive as well. You may realize that I don't have a normal background because I'm at David McIntyre's house drinking out of David McIntyre's cup with a little fall football. Sneaky action, Dude that rocks.
Speaker 3:How about that plot twist Ryan is in the same house as David. It's pretty serious.
Speaker 1:I haven't felt safe since he's been here. Ryan has been a good guest that has not smelled like fish at all. Praise God.
Speaker 3:That's in my top five must-haves for all my guests Right, all right Tonight. I have it's in my top five must haves For all my guests, alright.
Speaker 1:I have brewed up Actually, it's featured on our Instagram this week A cup of dark skies From Peregrine. Don't worry that my label here is different Than the label that you may see on instagram. Uh, they've just updated the labels. That's all no big deal, but it's got, uh, notes of nuts and brown sugar. Uh, it is a pleasing beverage and I am glad that I have cooked it up, so I'm enjoying it. My apparently new Snoopy cup a cup I didn't even know I had.
Speaker 1:Then look, Lucy and Charlie Brown are on the other side.
Speaker 3:With the famous football scene as well.
Speaker 1:Can we just have a moment's discussion? Why is she always trying to keep that man from living his best life? Why is she always trying to keep that man from living his best life?
Speaker 2:Why is he always believing her?
Speaker 3:That's true, True Len. You know, Len. Yours is the greater question I never understood the violence of the impact that caused Charlie Brown's clothes to fall off when he would land on Charles Schultz. We need answers. Charlie Brown's clothes to fall off when he would land on Charles Schultz. We need answers. Yes please.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's a little bit of what's in our cup. Now we'll talk a little bit about what's on our minds as it relates to this discussion. We're wrapping up the discussion around breaking the cycle of sin. You know, we've been, as we've talked through these things and, look honestly, we've just scratched the surface. And not only have we just scratched the surface on these things, but we've also, you know, in this case I think and I don't know, philip and Lynn, if you agree but we've kind of we've dealt broadly with the subject of this cycle of sin piece, right, and there's a lot to talk about, but there's so much of it that you know we have to come to grips as individuals with where we are and what we're doing in Christ, right. And so, as I was studying and looking through, I came across a very familiar verse. But I want to read it because I think it helps to both encapsulate the problem but then gives us the thing we want to talk about today, which is what is the solution, what is the answer? And it starts in Romans, chapter 7, verse 21. And we're going to read from 721 all the way over to 8.3, and I think that we'll see how this thing shapes up. 721 says I have discovered this principle of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart, but there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am. Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God, the answer is in Jesus Christ, our Lord. So you see how it is In my mind. I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature, I am a slave to sin. Before we move on to eight, I just want to just touch on this and, philip and Lynn, you feel free to jump in too. If we can go back to seven, well, let me read through to eight and then we'll talk. Sorry about that, ryan. Sorry about that, ryan.
Speaker 1:So at the top of 8, it goes on to say so now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. I love the King James. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and because you belong to him. The power of the life-giving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
Speaker 1:The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do he sent his own son in a body like the bodies we sinners have, and in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for our sins. One of the first things that stands out to me here we're going to go back in just a second, but notice it says that God sent pull that back up for me. Here we're going to go back in just a second, but notice it says that God sent pull that back up for me, ryan, leave that up for just a minute. In that body, god declared an end to sin's control over us by giving us his son as a sacrifice for our sins. You know, sin no longer has the right to control us when we're sinning. Now we're sinning because we've given ourselves over to that sin, not because we have to. That's a critical and important part when we say, well, I can't just shake it. Actually we can, because the way to shake it has already been introduced into the earth for us. All we have to do is accept that thing and then start walking our way out.
Speaker 1:Now, in the earlier verses, I just love the contrast verses. I just love the contrast. I love how the King James really places it as an argument within oneself the thing that I would not do, that I do, and the thing that I want to do, I don't do that. And it's like you can see, there's this conflict, this war that's going on within what that Paul is communicating, that we have, and it's all over sin. And I think it's acceptable to believe that sin seeks to find a place in our lives. We open the door and allow it in, and then we go to war with that sin, that behavior. Then we go to war with that sin, that behavior, that outcome of sin that's manifesting itself in our lives.
Speaker 1:And so I just think this verse is such a good picture of both the battle to do right versus and the knowing. You know, I don't think there's a lot of people who proclaim themselves to be genuine Christians who walk in sin and don't necessarily know they're not in sin. They know, they know they're in sin. They can tell you they're in sin. They'll also tell you that they've been captured. They may not be able to say it this way, but they've been captured by that sin and have to find a way out. Lynn, I've talked a lot there. What are you guys seeing as we crack this open?
Speaker 2:I think you said it very well in that. What we were, I don't know. It just takes a toehold, you know, just a toehold. That's all that a mountain climber needs to scale a mountain. That's all that sin needs. Or Satan needs to start to infect us. And if I've done this well, I may as well do that, I might as well do the other, but on the other hand, I'm thinking this is wrong. I don't want to do it. Thinking this is wrong, I don't want to do it. And I remember I mean years ago doing things that I knew were wrong, afterwards repenting and asking God to help me do better, finding myself in that exact same thing. Sometimes it takes drastic measures to walk away from those things that hold us captive. I mean breaking relationships, moving. I mean different things.
Speaker 2:I ended up and this wasn't to get away from that relationship, but it ended the relationship. I moved from Georgia to New Orleans to go back to school and in that move it severed the relationship and the hold that that relationship and the things of that relationship had on me. So sometimes when we recognize that we are in that place of I know it's wrong, I can't help it, I know it's, you know, you just keep going back and forth with it. It takes drastic measures to break that chain and break that cycle and we've got to be willing to do that. God gives us the strength to do that, but we've got to be willing to do that in order to have that fresh start of seeing who God is in our lives and knowing that he is a good and kind and faithful father who helps us get beyond what that struggle was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's important to know when you said something. Oftentimes breaking the pattern of sin requires drastic action. Drastic, definitive action that helps us to move on from it. You know you can't be involved in a sexual relationship with a girl you're dating and you guys live together. At some point. Somebody has to take an action and I've seen people who've said you know what, I can't do this anymore and moved out of the house so that they wouldn't continue on in that action.
Speaker 3:Yeah, go ahead, phil. Oh, I was just thinking about Romans 7, the first time that I read Romans 7. I remember the thoughts that I had when I was first reading it and one of the thoughts was man. This dude explained exactly how I have felt, how I have felt before, you know, at different times. It's like man. If it's one thing that's universal to the human experience, it is this cycle of temptation and sin and things that you have to learn how to navigate in life, man. And so when I read that, I was like man, paul, paul understands what it's really like. You know, out here in these streets, you know. But so, and later on, as you do more study, you kind of understand the word better and you realize that he's coming from the perspective of someone who's dominated by their sinful nature. Nature they're dealing with things, the temptations that are pulling them this way, that way and every other way, because they're still in some respect a slave to that sinful nature, the sinful way of thinking, the flesh-led or carnal way of thinking. And some scholars say and this is open for debate, but some scholars say that he was writing Romans 7 from the perspective of a Jew under the law and not a believer in Christ who's born again. But the whole point of it was to show that the law was so inadequate to help us overcome this thing, this principle of sin that lives in all of us, overcome this thing, this principle of sin that lives in all of us. And then, of course, by the end of it, it's almost like, as the chapter goes on in Romans 7, it's like you could feel Paul wearing himself out trying to get the point across. It's like man at the end of it. He's like wretched man that I am. He's like good Lord, I'm a hot mess who know who's going to deliver me from this body of death. And then he says and I thank God through Jesus, christ, my Lord. And then it just rolls right into Romans 8, 1, which I love. That whole passage you know from Romans 7, really from Romans 6 all the way through to Romans 8, is such a powerful thing to read all in one shot, and I encourage anyone who's interested in looking into that. Take some time out to read Romans six all the way through the end of Romans eight and really get the, the, the feel of Paul's train of thought through that whole series of things.
Speaker 3:He's talking about man, because it it shows you not only the struggle that all of us have had at one time or another, but it shows you the way out. And of course it's through understanding your identity in Christ. I think that's one of the biggest things is understanding who you are now versus who you were back, when you didn't know God was not yet born again. But now that you have become a child of God, you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have supernatural equipment that you didn't have before. You've got the Holy Spirit in you, you've got God's word that's alive in you now, and so those things help you and assist you in a way that you just didn't have before.
Speaker 3:And so that's why he said you know, there won't be any condemnation, or there is none. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, who don't walk after the flesh but walk after the spirit. You know and you start understanding man. He's telling you how to think differently. In Romans 8, it says you know, to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. And so he kind of starts breaking those things down, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself right now, but I just wanted to share.
Speaker 3:that Just really blew me away when I first read it.
Speaker 2:You know, people say that the Bible is a history book, it's not relevant, it has nothing to do with today. It has nothing to do with today, but just those three chapters are an example about how timely it is to help you face the things you face.
Speaker 3:Yeah 100%.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree, I agree, and you weren't getting too far ahead of us, philip. You could have run us wherever you wanted to at that point. But we do see here in this verse that we do have a way out, and that's just the thing, you know. The Bible talks to us about the father making with every temptation, he'll make a way of escape.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:You know I call it the escape hatch principle. So you know you get into some trouble. Start looking for the escape hatch, look for the way out, because that's what you want. You don't want to stay in it anymore. Guys, where do you want to go now, now that we've kind of laid this foundation out and we know the struggle we've talked about the struggle we know Jesus is the way out and the Father has intentionally delivered Jesus to us to deliver us from the cycle of sin that we get into. Where should we go next?
Speaker 2:You know, my thought comes about in Psalms, and it's two verses in Psalm 119. And 119 is it's the longest Psalm in the Bible. It's written according to the Hebrew alphabet and it is just directions on how to live and it's sort of like a I don't know catechism, if you will, but the verse that you had up there, ryan, was great, and then we'll look at the other one, because it talks about the importance of the word. When we talk about the word as a lamp into our feet and a light into our path, I memorized King James. This is not, but it is there to show us where to go and how to walk and it lights up the way that God would have us do. And you don't really know the ways of God if you don't acquaint yourself with your instruction manual. And that's really what it is. God wrote an instruction manual for each of us. I still don't know how to work the things in my car because I haven't studied that instruction manual.
Speaker 2:And if you don't study the Bible, you don't know how you can live as well the freedom that you can live in.
Speaker 3:Right, right, that's good Lynn Yep Psalm. Like you said, lynn, that's Psalms 119. There's another one, and I don't know if Ryan had prepped this one or not, but it's the one that says your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. I forgot which verse it is. It's close to the beginning, I believe. There it is, verse 11. It says I've hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Speaker 3:And when you study the word hidden there the Hebrew word for hidden is a word that means to, and I think that's such a good word picture in my mind it's like I'm storing up his word in my heart like treasure. I'm building up a store of his word in my heart and the only way to do that, obviously, is to crack open the Bible and read it and soak in what it's saying. I believe also in speaking the word over your own life. I would say this in first person. I would use this verse in first person and say you know, father, I've hidden your word in my heart that I might not stand against you. You know, it helps me to kind of internalize what's being said. And there it is, the definition right there Store up like treasure to hide, so but anyway.
Speaker 2:Did you pay attention to what verse 109 was at the very beginning of that paragraph, so to speak is how can a young person stay pure? It involves it up with things, and this is what we're talking about to be able to get out of sin, because sin is dirty, it's covered you with nasty and the opposite is pure. So if you want to go from one to the other, study the word.
Speaker 1:It makes you like a pig playing in the mud and you're just completely dirty and you need the shepherd to come and clean you off. That's the picture. You prompted a thought in my mind and all of a sudden I cannot remember the thought that I had and I just chalked that up to having so many thoughts, not because I'm slightly older and may have forgotten.
Speaker 2:Of course not.
Speaker 1:So continue on both of you. You're doing great.
Speaker 3:I think one of the things that just popped in my head right when you were saying that is someone may have the question well, okay, you tell me, study the word. Study what word? There's like 66 books. This Bible's huge. Where do I start?
Speaker 3:First of all, if you can find a translation of the Bible that breaks it down into more modern English, then that's good. There's plenty of them out there. I think New American Standard Bible is one of the most solid that's out there, but there's tons of them. And I would also recommend other translations that Okay, like, for instance, the message translation. It's actually not really a translation as much as it is a paraphrase, but when you read the message and also have other Bible translations there to help you with it, I think for many, many of the verses you'll get a good picture of what's being said. I would not recommend relying solely on a translation like the message or even like the passion translation. I wouldn't fully rely on those, but I do think they have value in many cases if you can balance them out with other translations as well, but in a good place, I would say.
Speaker 3:To start, I always say this start with the book of Proverbs. I'm a big Proverbs fan. I think it's one of the it's my favorite book of the Bible, but I'm biased. But because of the practicality of the book, because of the relatability of so many of those verses in Proverbs and they're very easy to digest. It's bite-sized little nuggets of truth that's like man, that's awesome, you know, when you read these different things. And what's amazing is the more you read it, the more you see the just the insane amount of wisdom that's in each verse and it's said so simply, but it's also extremely deep, the concepts that are being shared in those verses, man.
Speaker 3:So I would recommend that and I've always tell people there's 31 chapters in Proverbs. You could break it down and do one chapter a day for the whole month, like, if you have a 31 day month, you're awesome. If you have a 30 day month, then you can maybe squeeze in 30 and 31 together on that last day or whatever. But it's almost like a daily devotional. Just read it a chapter a day and that's to me, a great place to start. So there's way more to get into, but that's just my recommendation.
Speaker 1:I remember what I was going to say and you proved it to be true, philip. Inevitably, we always find ourselves coming back to this concept of Bible study.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, it's like no matter where we go.
Speaker 1:We come back here to this point. I would just add to what Philip was saying. You know the Bible says meditate on the word day and night, observing to do all that is written therein. You can set yourself up with a quick habit of a day and a night reading. You know something that you read before you go to bed. I do proverbs before I go to bed every night and then in the daytime I'm reading something else. You might start with the book of john or the book of matthew as some good starting points in the new testament. That will begin to introduce you to Jesus and who he is and why his presence, his move and all that God said he sent him to do, why it matters. That way you're getting a little something in the morning, you're getting something at night and you'll also find that that just helps to elevate your, or maybe cause you to move forward faster in your knowledge of God. Go ahead, lynn.
Speaker 2:Well, what I was going to say? Just a quick definition about meditate, because that's such a word in so many different religions, but that it's not the same thing in Christianity as it is in some of the other religions, because you know, you think about that home and you're emptying your mind, and that's the whole purpose is to empty your mind.
Speaker 2:That is an easy place for Satan to start sending in the wrong things. For a Christian to meditate is to read it and think about it through the day, and that's what meditation is. I've heard it explained like a cow chewing cut, and you know it comes up. However many times I chew it and swallow it, and to think about that passage throughout your day. How does it apply to you? What could be different in your life because of the word you just read? How would you explain it in?
Speaker 2:Lynn language or whatever. You know how you talk. How would you translate it for yourself? And y'all heard me say I can't remember where it is or exactly what it is, but it means this and see how it applies to you. And to read the word and then to meditate on it, like both of you have said to me, is critical for it to be deep in your heart. And that's where you have the tools to fight Satan with. Because we know Satan is bringing all kinds of things against us all the time he plants those words.
Speaker 2:Scripture says that we are not unaware of the schemes that he uses. He's been using them age after age. They have truths, like he told if you eat this fruit, surely you're not going to die. Well, you know they took it. Okay, it's good to eat. They didn't understand that it was spiritual death and not physical death. You'll be like God. Ooh, we want to be smart like God. So he tells half-truths and we know that he still does that today. But if we know the pure truth from the word, we've got things to say. Part of that's not fitting right, lord. What's the truth here? That's right, and we can go with that and be able to live a more victorious life.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because we are more than overcomers.
Speaker 1:That's good, agreed, agreed. That's good, all right. So we're helping with and we're talking about breaking free from the cycle of sin and repetitive sin in our lives. Let's look at if you want to take a look at your second Corinthians, chapter five, now, lynn Sure, let's take a look at. Do you want to take a look at your 2 Corinthians, chapter 5 now, lynn Sure, let's take a look at 2 Corinthians 5. Let's talk through that, lynn. I'll let you actually read it and we'll lead the conversation in it.
Speaker 2:Okay, so we were looking at the verses. Let me find it over here, okay, 2 Corinthians 5, 16 through 21. And Ryan, I think you're getting that for us, aren't you? And we'll hang on a second until it gets here and to me. When we look at this, it says so we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view.
Speaker 2:At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone and a new life has begun, and all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ, and God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against him, and he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
Speaker 2:We are Christ's ambassadors. God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead. Come back to God. God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sins, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. Praise God. This is huge. This is so huge because when we accept the gift that Jesus gave us, christ died for us before we ever knew who he was, but when we came to realize who he was and what he had done for us, we could choose to accept or reject him. What Paul is telling us here is that when we accepted him, it became personal.
Speaker 2:That was how we became a new creation, when it says old things were passed away, all that sin and stuff that we held on to before we knew Jesus was thrown away because Christ clothed us basically in himself. You know, you've seen where the person slips into the queen's house or whatever, and slips on the robe and then for a moment she feels like royalty. Well, this is true for us, because the King of Kings clothed us in himself, robed in everything. So God sees us as clean and pure and spotless, because that's how he sees Jesus and we are, in Christ, a new creation and it just, you know, it's just so incredible. It doesn't mean that it's passive, it doesn't mean that it's easy, it doesn't mean we do nothing. This is telling us who we are, those new creations, and then we've got to fight for that role, to hold on to it, because Satan does not want us understanding the power and who we are in Jesus.
Speaker 3:That's good, lynn. It's again a question of identity and I think that's the biggest thing that Paul tries to bring across with this passage and with other passages in Romans all over the New Testament really is you know, you're not the same as you were and because you're in Christ now, you have taken on a completely new and different identity than you had before. And, like you're saying, lynn, he doesn't view us based on our own merits, based on our own, you know, ability to stay away from wrong or do what's right. He's viewing us based on our position, our standing in Christ. If we ever really get that revelation, man, it will help you change the way you view yourself, the way you view sin itself, because think about it the way you see others too, Phil.
Speaker 3:The way you see others. And that's exactly what he said in 2 Corinthians 5. He says we don't even look at any person the same way that we used to. Now we don't, you know, judge him by mere, uh, fleshly standard anymore. You know where is that thing at it's? Uh, yeah uh verse 16.
Speaker 3:We've stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. You know, at one time we thought of christ merely from a human point of view. That you know. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. That's when he was on this earth doing his earthly ministry. We, you know people thought of him as you know, a great teacher. You know the so forth and so on. But now we understand what his real assignment was. We understand that the death and burial and resurrection, his death on the cross, was actually the beginning of the assignment, you know. And then the resurrection confirmed everything, validated the covenant. And then now we, we who believe in that resurrection, is first Corinthians 15.
Speaker 3:Christ died for our sins According to the gospel. He was raised according to the gospel. You know, according to the gospel. He was raised according to the gospel. You know, according to the scriptures, rather, and us believing in that, that we take on that same identity in Christ. And it reminds me of Romans 6.
Speaker 3:I don't know if, ryan, if you don't mind going there, it's a question of identity, verse one. It says well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace. And the reason why I said that was because in Romans five, right before this, he said where sin abounds, grace does much more abound, you know. And so he gets to this verse, he's like OK, so is the point for us to just sin so that we can keep getting more grace? You know, he's like no. He said of course not. Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? And I thought about that. It's like this was not a question in Paul's mind of whether or not this had happened. You know, he said if you're in Christ, you have died to sin. Period. That's a spiritual reality.
Speaker 3:The issue comes in when we don't yet fully accept or know that reality for ourselves. You know, we still question it, we still wonder, we still, and even on the other side of it, we may still be wanting to flirt with sin a little bit, we may not quite want to let that thing go, whatever we're dealing with. But if we ever get that revelation, if it ever becomes a reality in our minds and hearts that yeah, I am dead to this thing, why in the world would I keep doing something that I'm dead to? You know what I, the world would I keep doing something that I'm dead to? You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:If you start approaching it that way, then you start seeing, like this is how the shackles can actually fall off. I'm sitting here trying to continue in something that I'm dead to and that makes no sense. So let me start living as someone who is actually dead to sin. You know, all of a sudden it starts making a lot more sense, man. But it's powerful stuff, because this is how we truly do begin to walk free from these things.
Speaker 2:And don't get me wrong, everybody's in a different process and I by no means have arrived. I want to make sure to point that out. But I have seen in many areas that this scripture has helped me and broken me free from many things that I used to be enslaved to, and so I know this stuff works. You know what I mean. I know it works, but can I take us a step further? Can we go to Ephesians 6 here, please? Because I think that if we go on down to the whole armor of God, just put that near the top, because I'm going below that first. When it talks about that, you well go back up just a little bit, please. It talks about being strong in the Lord. To me, this tags on with what you were sharing, phil, about. You recognize that you've been living that false identity and it's like it's time to stop that.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And in this passage about the whole armor of God, it tells us to stand firm. Well, how do you stand firm? And this gives us a picture of the Roman armor. But when you look at every piece of this armor, it's Jesus that you're putting on. The first thing it tells you to put on is the belt of truth. And when you put on the belt of truth because it starts that we are not fighting flesh and blood, I might be ill with a person and arguing and fighting them. But that's not really the case. All of the battles that we fight are funded, so to speak, by Satan.
Speaker 2:So what we've got to do is first put on the belt of truth, and that was the first piece of armor that a Roman soldier would put on, was his belt. But Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life. So you make sure you put that on. Next, you put on your breastplate of righteousness, the righteousness or that breastplate attached to the belt to be able to be held firmly in place. So we are the righteousness of God. Next, we put on the helmet of salvation.
Speaker 2:We make sure that our thoughts radiate and put forth what Christ thinks about us and what he's done for us to give us this ability. We put on the shoes for the preparation of the gospel of peace, which prepares us to walk. You know out, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we walk in peace, no matter what's going on when we're in trouble. And then we're given the sword and the shield, which both one is to protect you, one is to go on the offensive, though you can use the shield as a weapon itself. Those are the word of God. Those are the things that take you to that next place. It says stay alert, be persistent, pray for other believers Other believers are praying for you and just stand firm, because we're not going to be able to shed that false identity unless we recognize who we are and are willing to fight for that.
Speaker 3:That's good. That's good Len.
Speaker 1:Yeah you guys are, you're taking. It takes me all back. You just read Philip in Romans, chapter 6, and Len you shining the light here in Ephesians, chapter 6. You know, it makes me say, now, let's, we don't have to go there, ryan. But it makes me say, now, if you look back again at Jude, you then say, if you know these things, then nobody's going to be able to sneak into the church and tell you God's grace allows you to live immoral lives.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:You're not going to accept that to be true, because Romans just said do we continue in sin so that grace does more abound? No, we don't. And then it says that we're also protected from the strategies of the enemy by putting on the full armor of God so we can withstand the stuff that people come into the church trying to do. And I think that if we just would grasp that, our knowledge and understanding and why does it even matter? Why does it even matter? It's like any good tool that you use in your life, right? You don't appreciate what that tool can do and the power of that tool until you know about the tool.
Speaker 1:You can't say a drill would serve me well to put a hole in this wood if you never had a drill, all you had was hammer and nails. But when somebody introduces you to a drill and shows you the ways that you can do it and how it speeds up your work and how it lets you work efficiently, now all of a sudden you're using the hammer and nails much less and you're using that drill all the time, because it's a meaningful tool and what the Bible does. Ryan, if you pull up 2 Peter 4, or 2 Peter 1, sorry, there is no 2 Peter 4. There is no second.
Speaker 1:Peter, chapter four, verse three says something that I think is it kind of fits here and if I go off the reservation, you guys can literally throw me off. It says in verse three by his divine power, god has given us everything we need for living a godly life.
Speaker 3:Come on.
Speaker 1:We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. So, through God's divine power and our knowledge of him, he's given us great and precious promises that we're to hold on to. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.
Speaker 3:Good Lord.
Speaker 1:We have again the escape hatch.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's designed for us. And if you don't get anything from what Philip and Lynn just said, look at the path of knowledge. That helps you now to set up your guard. Now you see why you need that shield of faith, because the shield of that helps you now to set up your guard Now. You see why you need that shield of faith, because the shield of faith helps you when that person tries to sneak in. I love it in second Peter chapter.
Speaker 1:Um, oh, it's either two or three, but it calls them false teachers and it says they're going to come in and they're going to try to teach their own wild versions of things to get you to go off track. One through three, they will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality and because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago and their destruction will not be delayed. But you know what you can say, not me.
Speaker 1:Right, because I have on the full armor of God. God alert me, I'm not going back in to do more sin so I could get more grace. God's grace abounds towards me every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you don't think about it. I'm sorry, david, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but think about your bank account. You know you've got all this grace. Let's just say you've got $100 in the bank. People are giving me money just because they want to give me money. Why am I going to spend 50 of it, then have to claim that 50 back, when I can have 150 and 200?
Speaker 2:So to spend more is putting you back in debt and you're crawling back up to where you were before, when you could be advancing, and it just makes no sense. And I thought of something a second ago, phil, when you were talking about Jesus died and was resurrected. Following that, he was ascended. He went to sit at the right hand of God to continually make intercession for each of us. So while we're praying, jesus is making intercession for us and the Holy Spirit is right here to teach us and to lead us in the right path. Why would we want to go backwards? It doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1:That's right, and then that ultimately brings us. If we're going full circle now, it brings us back to why we are learning to walk outside of habitual sin, and even you know as much as I can live a sin-free life. That's my heart's desire.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And it's because I've learned of Christ, I've grown in Him, I see the benefit of walking in it and it's like Lynn, I want the compounding interest of adding, and adding, and adding, and adding to God's grace, because I know that I'll need His grace at some point.
Speaker 1:So I don't want to empty the bank account I want to have a full bank account where I can withdraw from God's grace over and over and over again if I need to. But you begin to ask yourself the question or say to yourself what is the benefit in living a life that's filled with sin, right? What is the benefit of holding on to pornography when there's something greater for you? What's the benefit of holding on to pornography when there's something greater for you? What's the benefit of holding on to all this shacking up, lying, being angry all the time, cheating? You know any of these things, any of these sins that try to you know what does Hebrew say? It says lay aside the sin that so easily tries to beset us, all the things that attach to our lives, that are trying to get us to go backwards. What is the benefit in all of those things when it would seem like my most biblically financially productive thing I could do is live a good life before the Lord to the best of my ability. Come on.
Speaker 2:Why would you give up peace? I mean living in peace and not living in turmoil. What is worth that trade?
Speaker 3:Right, that's right. It's sad too because you know, and the Bible talks about this man, it's in Hebrews, I think, 13, and it talks about Esau, and it said that he was a profane person because for one bowl of soup he gave up his inheritance. And it actually said like a fornicator or a profane person like Esau, who for a morsel of meat basically sold his inheritance. And you, and this is the, to me it's kind of like the principle of what you are talking about. It's like you're, you know, dude? Ok, yes, sin, we all know sin can feel good. That's why you do it sometimes. Okay, I mean, come on, but think about the bigger picture. Man. Think about like, okay, yeah, I can get a cheap thrill for a little bit, but then I got to deal with all the crap that comes after it. I got to deal with the condemnation I might feel. I got to deal with the guilt and the remorse. I might feel the shame. I got to deal with the guilt and the remorse. I might feel the shame, the shame I got to deal with trying to regain my spiritual momentum, because sin is a momentum killer when it comes to spiritual things. It will destroy your spiritual momentum.
Speaker 3:I'm telling you, man, if you're moving in the right direction with God. You're trying to lock into his word and all those things and all of a sudden you just go off the rails and sin. Dude, it's almost like you're starting from zero, just like Lynn was talking about with the bank account. It's like, you know, I had a hundred, then I took out 50. Now I got to get 50, just to get back to a hundred. You know that whole thing.
Speaker 3:So it's like, don't you know? Try your best, man. You know, try your best to stay on track, because all it will ever do is take from you. You know it's not going to ever add to you. Just living this life of deciding to get into sin here or willful sin there. It never adds to you, it only takes away from you, man. So I think that you know, keep those scriptures in mind, hebrews 12,. You know, lay aside every weight, don't let that sin beset you, Don't let that sin entangle you. It's easy for it to happen. But be alert, be sober, be vigilant about those things and recognize them when they try to get you off track.
Speaker 1:And I said it last week and I'll say it again. You know there was a time, if you would have asked me 10 years ago, maybe even five years ago, you know why should I chase this life down? And all this I told you about how it's not boring, it's exciting to chase God and all that good stuff and all of that is true. But I've come to value peace.
Speaker 3:Yes, so much yes.
Speaker 2:And I'm telling you God's peace, like Lynn said, is worth everything. For sure it's worth everything. Holy Spirit, god, the Father, is our friend and I've got friends on this earth. Not one friend knows everything about me, nor would I want them to. It's just that kind of thing. But there's not one person that knows me as intimately and can speak to me as clearly. I mean, if someone tried to bring correction to me, if it weren't with God, I might get a little testy with you, even if it is of God. But God can bring correction to me and I say, oh, I need to change that.
Speaker 2:And you don't ever arrive because there's always another level. He's constantly refining us and drawing us closer to him. But to know that throughout the day, you know, it's like well, what do you think about that? Or something unexpected happens and I love it. It's like, oh, thank you. You know there's just little happies that happen throughout the day that if I weren't at the place I am now, I would not recognize them, I would not know them, I would not appreciate them. So I think we need to recognize the peace, the friendship, all of the things that God does with and for us when we choose to pursue him, but the fact is, he is pursuing us much more than we could ever pursue him.
Speaker 3:Yeah, good point.
Speaker 1:Philip, how about you? A final thought.
Speaker 3:Just going back to the second Peter scripture, it really hit me earlier when you had it on the screen. It says that through the exceeding great and precious promises, that's how we become partakers of his divine nature. And it's like to me that seals the deal. We were talking earlier about getting into the word and studying the word as part of the spiritual habits that you can build, because it is through those promises, it is through His Word, that you begin to partake of His divine nature. You start understanding honestly and I say this reverently, but you can understand how God thinks you understand things from His perspective, if you want to put it that way.
Speaker 3:And to me, getting into that side of life, it helps you to see where you're not seeing something clearly. You know. It helps you to see where you're not looking at life or looking at a certain thing accurately the way God would see that thing and to me, man, that's the ultimate place to be like spiritually is when you finally begin to see things and life the way God sees it. Spiritually is when you finally begin to see things and life the way God sees it. You know, that's that to me. Well, you'll recognize sin instantly for what it really is. You'll recognize it for the destructive thing that it really is and you won't be fooled by. You know how it may be tantalizing to your eyes or your flesh or whatever it is, and you know, to me that's just a super like powerful nugget from 2 Peter there man. So just a little final thought.
Speaker 1:Good thought. I'd add just one little thing here, and it is to say, to walk this way requires discipline.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:And you're going to have to be intentional about setting aside the time and creating the kinds of habits that create the life you want to live. It's not UH thinking, it's not the self-help section, it's Bible 101. They got it from the corner of my mouth. But you're going to have to take a step back. It's not going to just happen to you by having a seat, by happenstance. A lot of times it's sin.
Speaker 1:Sin will happen by happenstance to you and you don't want to be in that place. Lynn, why don't you pray for everybody? Let's just pray for people one more time to be free from the cycle of sin and walk in this new life.
Speaker 2:Oh, heavenly Father, I thank you that you want this more than we do. Lord, I ask that those who are stuck in a cycle of sin, those that are toying with sin, father, that they would see you and the beauty of who you are, lord, that they would abandon those ways. Father, that you would give the way of escape, lord, lord, let them not feel alone, because that same scripture says that the temptations that come to us are common to all men.
Speaker 2:So, Lord, let let them see an escape from the cycle of sin, the theory. Father, I ask that you would strengthen them, that they would be able to stand firm against the evil schemes that the enemy would bring, because he is a toothless, roaring lion seeking who he may devour. But, father Daniel, shut the mouths. You shut the mouths of the lions and the lions then, when Daniel was in there, you can shut the mouth of the lion that's roaring at them.
Speaker 2:Father, I ask that you would strengthen them, strengthen us, father, in each and every way that we walk, that you would show us the way to go. You say here is the way, walk therein. And you are with us. You don't leave us. You are our rear guard, you are our leader, you surround us, we are in you. We thank you, father, that we are new creations. We bless you, lord, that you loved us so much that you died for us before we ever knew who you were. Lord, thank you for the opportunity to be in relationship with you. We bless you, father, we thank you, lord, and it's in Christ's name I pray. Amen.
Speaker 1:Amen. Thanks everybody for joining us. This has been a good series of conversations on this topic. We encourage you to go back and listen to the previous ones if you haven't heard them already, because there's really good information in every single one of them. We are so glad that you joined us today. We hope that you got some inspiration. We also hope you were challenged by what you heard tonight and even over the other episodes that we've done on this subject matter.
Speaker 1:Please take the opportunity if you haven't already, if you're on YouTube, to stop by and subscribe to our YouTube channel, to like the channel and, of course, hit the notification button so you can be notified when things like our lives or a new episode of the podcast is going live. The same thing on instagram. We'd love it if you'd subscribe to the channel and if you'd also like this episode. And hey, look around, there's some cool stuff on there, like the coffee of the week, which may or may not be the very one that I just shared with you a little bit earlier. Also, you can communicate with us on any of your favorite podcast platforms. We're available in all of those places. You can use their comment section to reach out to us. You can also send us a note by way of our DMs on Instagram, or you can email us at gotbrew at biblebrosnet. Again, that's gotbrew at biblebrosnet. We'd love to hear what you guys are drinking along with us. We'd love to hear how we could provide some different content for you, help you in whatever way that we can. Until next time.
Speaker 1:I'm David, she's Lynn, he's Phillip. That guy in the background used to be John, but it's Ryan. Him too. We all wish you a good night and we'll see you next time.
Speaker 2:Night Peace, thank you.
