August 25, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
In our humanity. What we try to do is manage
the flesh.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
But that's all you're doing. You haven't changed a bit.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Doctor Tony Evans says, God isn't looking for behavior control.
He's after heart change.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
God wants transformation, not management. He wants change from the
inside out.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Peer pressure isn't
just a teenage problem, and it's certainly nothing new. Today,
we'll hear about a moment when culture clouded conviction in
the early Church, an incident that reminds us of the
(00:40):
crucial role God's grace plays in our lives. Let's join
doctor Evans as he continues our study in Galatians chapter two.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
We left off with Paul's confrontation with Peter. When Peter
was eating with the gentiles, he was raised as a segregationist.
The Jews segregated themselves from the gentiles. They only dealt
with the Gentiles that they had to because the Gentiles,
like the pork, was viewed as unclean.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
They justified their segregation by religion.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Paul, however, was eating too, and it says that in
verse eleven, he opposed Peter to his face because he
stood condemned. In other words, he wasn't practicing his real Christianity.
He says in verse fourteen, Peter was not acting straightforward
(01:34):
about the truth of the Gospel.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
So it wasn't a social.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Issue alone or a racial issue alone. It was a
theological and spiritual issue that the Gospel was at stake.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
The very issue and.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Message of the Cross was tied up in this segregation.
Paul didn't care howe was raised. He didn't care what
his mind taught him. With his daddy taught him, all
that was irrelevant.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
When he came to the Cross. There was a new.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Standard by which he was to evaluate and measure his actions.
So verse fourteen he said, I said, Deceiphus, in the
presence of all, if you being a Jew, okay is
history and background and religion, live like the Gentiles and
not like the Jews. How is it that you compelled
(02:27):
the gentiles to live like the Jews? How are you
asking them to be like us? When you are acting
the way you're acting, knowing that a man is justified
not by the works of the law, but through faith
in Jesus Christ, even so we believed in Jesus Christ,
(02:49):
so that we may be justified by faith in Christ,
not by works of the law. Peter was acting based
on an Old Testament law driven worldview. Based on the law,
the gentiles are unclean, But Paul says that's not how
the Gospel works. We're in a new realm, now, a
(03:14):
new dispensation, since by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. He says in verse sixteen. But
if while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves
have also been found sinners because we're contradicting Christ is Christ,
then the minister of sin may it never be. That
(03:35):
word may it never be is pronounced in Greek meganita
and maganoita means heavens forbid.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
It's a very strong.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Negation, he says, is that if you are saying I'm
saved by Christ, but then you're functioning in this segregationist
way based on how you were raised, then are you
saying Jesus Christ is a minister of sin? In other words,
(04:02):
your action is indicting Christ, who you said save you.
So you're contradicting the Christ who you declared is your savior.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
We have a lot of that.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Today we have people who contradict their faith by their action,
including in the area of race. Paul doesn't care how
you were raised. Paul doesn't care what your background was.
All that is real not to be denied. He doesn't
deny that Peter is Jewish. That's his history, that's his background.
(04:37):
If Paul were here today, he would say, you don't
deny your humanity. You being a Jew, that's who you are,
that's your history, that's your background. But that's never to
interfear with your relationship with Christ, so that you are
dragging Christ into a sinful response and reaction based on
(05:00):
on your humanity. Peter has gone back to the law
in his relationship with the Gentiles by his actions. Paul
uses this to want to explain to Peter and to
those who are listening, Peter knew it, he wasn't operating
on it, that we must die to the law if
(05:21):
we're going to live to God. Now he's going to
hit this topic a whole bunch. He's just he's just
kind of warming up right now because he now comes
to the.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Single most powerful one.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Verse in the maybe in the Bible, so Innund Testament,
to describe the Christian life. I have been crucified with Christ,
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ
lives in me and the life which I now live
(05:55):
in the.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Flesh, in my humanity.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me. A butterfly emerges
from a caterpillar because it has been transmuted, It has
been transformed, It has been metamorphosized into something else, or
something else has emerged from it. The caterpillar doesn't become
(06:24):
a butterfly because it worked to do it. For the caterpillar,
to try to create a butterfly existence is like a
believer living under the law. You're trying to create spirituality
and that is law. That is a performance based approach
(06:49):
to acceptance with God. He says, that's not how you
do it. Unfortunately, churches have not to help with this
because the churches have either.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Preached law.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And I talked, you know, we talked about many people
growing up in legalism, which is the use of the
law to try to become spiritual. So they either grow
up in legalism and wind up hating it, or they.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Grow up in substitution.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You're saved because of the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ
on the cross. He died in your place, he died
in my place. He was my substitute. When I go
to Jesus Christ and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as
my personal substitute, I am saved, born again, forgiven, redeemed, justified,
(07:51):
and I made a child of God. When I placed
faith alone in Christ alone for the gift of eternal
life as my substitute.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
The reason why believers are not going to be judged.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
From the standpoint of our eternal destiny is because of
the substitutionary work.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Of Jesus Christ for our salvation. But here's Paul's point.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Paul's point is that the substitutionary work of Christ does
not only relate to when you got saved. Notice the
words I have been crucified with Christ. I have been
and back there when I got saved, I got identified
with Jesus's death as my substitute on the cross.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
That's what happened. I was saved back there, I have been.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Already, and it is no longer I who live away.
Man now he's moved from what happened back there to
him living now. It is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives present tense in me. The butterfly is
(09:07):
inside the caterpillar. Christ lives in me. Everyone who comes
to Christ for salvation, Christ is now living inside of you.
The life of Christ through the Holy Spirit is living
inside of every believer.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
The life which I now live.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So he's not talking about what happened back then, he's
talking about me living now.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I now live.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
So every day when I get up in the morning,
when I go to work, when I do what I do,
the living life that I now have in the flesh,
in my physical humanity, my day to day living. I
live by faith in the Son of God. So how
do you get saved? By faith in the Son of
(09:54):
God for the forgiveness of your sins? But now he says, oh,
I didn't just do that to get saved. That's how
I roll right now. I operate right now like I
operated the day I got saved. I live by faith
in the Son of God. And guess where the Son
of God, Christ lives in me. So I'm not living
(10:17):
by what I can produce. I'm living by what He produces.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
In me. The life which I now live in the flesh.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me. Well wait a minute,
he just said he gave himself for me because I
have been crucified with him.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
That's when he gave himself up. Oh, he didn't just
give himself up. Back there.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
He keeps giving himself up because he says, who loved
me and gave himself up for me, And I'm living
by his living in me.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
There's more to discover about how Christ Rist's life, not
just his death, transforms our own, and doctor Evans will
share that with us when he returns. In just a moment.
When grace is misunderstood or worse replaced by legalism, our
freedom in Christ is at risk. That's what makes this
series from Galatians so important. Doctor Evans unpacks what it
(11:22):
really means to live under grace not guilt, and how
to stand firm and the freedom Jesus provides. Right now,
we're offering the complete eleven Message Galatians audio collection as
our thank you gift when you support the Ministry of
the Alternative, and as an added bonus, we'll also send
along a copy of Kingdom Prayer, Doctor Evans's powerful book
(11:43):
on how to bring heavenly power to bear on earthly problems.
Visit Tonyevans dot org to make your request, or call
our resource team anytime of the day or night. At
one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two. I'll
share that attact information again after part two of today's message.
(12:03):
Here's doctor Evans once more.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Most people understand about the substitutionary death of Christ, but
not the substitutionary.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Life of Christ.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Turn your Bibles to Romans chapter five, but God verse eight.
But God demonstrated his love toward us, and that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
He loved us, so he died for us. Much more,
say much more.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
That is on top of that, having been justified by
his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of
God through him. The word saved means to be delivered,
But he's talking to people who've already gotten saved, so
he means he says, God is still in the delivering business.
To watch this verse ten. For a while we were enemies,
(12:55):
we were reconciled to God through the death of his son,
to our salvation. Much more, say much more. On top
of all that, having been reconciled, we shall be saved
by his what life.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
So there is a saving by his death that gets
you to heaven.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
But in verse ten, he says, having already been reconciled,
you already save heaven. He is now still saving folk
by his life. So there is a salvation that goes
beyond your forgiveness of sins and your gift of returnal
life for heaven. There is a living life salvation that
(13:43):
Jesus is operating. The Bible says that Jesus Christ, ever lives,
to make intercession for the believer, that is, to intervene
on our behalf. That's an innecessor he intervenes on our behalf.
That's what he does. That's his full time job. Through
the work of the Holy Spirit and the life of
the believer. Jesus Christ intercedes on our behalf because he
(14:04):
is alive. Paul says back in Galatians too, that this
substitutionary life of Christ is operating now.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
But for this life to operate, there.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Must be an identity with Christ to Satan wants. Satan
wants to do what we fear a lot identity theft.
Paul says, My identity is with the living Christ in me.
So he wants to He wants to work through your hands,
(14:44):
your feet, your mind, You're toes, you'll walk, your.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Talk to express himself.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
So over and over and over again, the Bible wants
you to know that this is how you are to
now identify yourself. You are to look at yourself this way,
as Christ has deposited.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Himself in my soul.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
His spirit has merriaged with my spirit, and it's deposited
in my soul to express itself through my body his life.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
So the issue is not you doing better. The issue
is Him being free to be himself in you, and
you will do better. It's not in you trying harder.
It is in him being free to be him. So
(15:47):
this is a whole different way of looking at being
a better Christian. Jesus Christ, who provided substitution for your
a teternal life, has also provided substitution for your temporal life.
So whatever is you're needing saving from, he saves by
(16:13):
his life.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
A lot of people memorize verse twenty, but who do
not see the connection to verse twenty one and back
to verse nineteen. So let's time together. I do not
nullify the grace of God. To nullify means to cancel.
I do not cancel the grace of God, for if
righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Many Christians cancel grace every.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Day they get saved by grace, but they then try
to live by law, which means you nullify grace. And
yet most of our Christian experience often is driven by legalism,
that is, performance based approach to gain acceptance by God
(17:05):
and victory in our Christian lives. So in our humanity,
what we try to do is manage the flesh, and
for a while, you can do it.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
For a while, you can grit your teeth and do better.
You can.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
You can manage the flesh, but that's all you're doing.
You're managing it. You haven't changed a bit. God wants transformation,
not management. He wants change from the inside out. It's
then when you say, Lord, in my humanity, I don't
want to do this. However, right now, I am not
(17:39):
trusting my humanity because you live inside of me. I
am giving you permission now to express yourself in me
about this issue. I'm putting it on you. I'm exercising
faith in the Son of God. The Bible says, Jesus
(17:59):
is the filment of the law. In other words, he
has kept every commandment perfectly, and his life on earth
he never broke because he's without sin, so he never
broke any of God's rules.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
He's perfect.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
So if anybody knows how to obey the Father, the
son does because he's obeyed him perfectly.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
And guess where the son is now? Living in you?
He says, Christ lives in me.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So the one living in you knows how to completely
obey the Father since he knows how to completely obey
the Father, giving him permission to obey the Father through
your humanity gives you the experience of divine liberation by grace,
(18:57):
because grace is something God gives you, not something you earn.
In a performance based approach to Christian living, It's based
on what I do to get God to accept me,
Gray says, it's what Christ has done to make me
(19:20):
accept the ball. Now I'm not uninvolved, Paul says, Yet,
I live because it's my hands, it's my feet, it's
my ears, it's my lips, it's my humanity. So it's
not like, you know, God is doing something apart from me.
(19:40):
He is expressing himself through me as I learned to.
He's gonna talk about it later on in the book
Walk in the Spirit, because this is just another way
of talking about walking in the spirit, or that is,
walking or living your life under divine influence. We've all
(20:01):
seen a a dog on a leash. You've seen a
dog on a leash. You've seen a dog on a
leash not wanting.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
To be on a leash because it's pulling it and
pulling it. You know what a leash?
Speaker 1 (20:17):
You know what you're trying to do. You're trying to
keep the dog from running away. You know what a
leash is for to control them. You want to control them.
You don't want them going this far. And you decide
how far you want to go by how long the
chain is on the leash. That's what the law is.
It's a leash designed to control you from not doing
(20:41):
this and not doing that, and don't do that, and
don't do that.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
It's a leash.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
But I also know that you've seen dogs walk with
their masters without a leash. Now they're walking beside their
master without a leash. Why is that Because that means
there's a relationship there and that dog is not going
to wander off because the dog doesn't want to leave
the master. The stronger the relationship, the less need you
(21:14):
have for a leash.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
The law is used to hold people hostage to.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Not doing wrong, whereas grace is designed to make you
want to do right. The law says you have to,
you ought to, you're better. Grace says I won't to.
It's a whole different disposition through your identity with Christ.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Doctor Tony Evans on the amazing difference grace makes in
our lives and if that's something you're ready to experience
for yourself, he's back right now with this invitation for.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
You salvation, redemption, and eternal life. The Bible says, by grace,
are you saved through faith? That is, God gives it away,
but he won't let you buy it, earn it, or
go to church or any other religious activity to try
to make yourself worthy for it. And as a result,
(22:24):
the Bible says, God gets the credit and the glory
and we don't get the share in it, which is
why he demands that it's free. Not only does this
grace save us, but this grace sustains us. So even
if you are already a Christian, but you backsliden. Grace
is ready to kick in if you will and get
you steered in the right direction once more. So, would
(22:46):
you go to God and ask him for the free
gift of grace which he gives away when faith is exercised.
You say, well, what you mean exercising faith? I mean
believing that what Jesus did, he did it for you personally.
This is not just generic. It has to be personal
salvation and personal restoration. So you say to the Lord,
(23:10):
I personally receive you as my savior. Well, I personally
return to you as my deliverer, and I'm looking for
your gracious supply to deal with my sin and to
give me your salvation.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
To follow up on what doctor Evans has been sharing
and to find out more about what it means to
live under a life of God's grace, we encourage you
to visit Tonyevans dot org and click the link at
the top of the homepage that simply says Jesus Now.
One final note before we close for today, I want
to encourage you to take advantage of that special offer
(23:43):
I mentioned earlier, Tony's complete eleven part Galatian series, along
with a copy of his powerful book Kingdom Prayer. We'll
send the full audio collection and book to you with
our thanks. When you make a donation to help support
doctor Evans ministry on this station and others like it
around the world, just visit Tonyevans dot org or call
(24:06):
one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two to
make your donation and resource request. That's Tonyevans dot org
or by phone at one eight hundred eight hundred three
two two two. When we try to fix a problem ourselves,
we can often end up making things worse. Well tomorrow,
(24:26):
Doctor Evans explains why relying on our own strength short
circuits God's grace, and how the Christian life is meant
to run on faith from start to finish. Be sure
to join us
In our humanity. What we try to do is manage
the flesh.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
But that's all you're doing. You haven't changed a bit.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Doctor Tony Evans says, God isn't looking for behavior control.
He's after heart change.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
God wants transformation, not management. He wants change from the
inside out.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Peer pressure isn't
just a teenage problem, and it's certainly nothing new. Today,
we'll hear about a moment when culture clouded conviction in
the early Church, an incident that reminds us of the
(00:40):
crucial role God's grace plays in our lives. Let's join
doctor Evans as he continues our study in Galatians chapter two.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
We left off with Paul's confrontation with Peter. When Peter
was eating with the gentiles, he was raised as a segregationist.
The Jews segregated themselves from the gentiles. They only dealt
with the Gentiles that they had to because the Gentiles,
like the pork, was viewed as unclean.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
They justified their segregation by religion.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Paul, however, was eating too, and it says that in
verse eleven, he opposed Peter to his face because he
stood condemned. In other words, he wasn't practicing his real Christianity.
He says in verse fourteen, Peter was not acting straightforward
(01:34):
about the truth of the Gospel.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
So it wasn't a social.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Issue alone or a racial issue alone. It was a
theological and spiritual issue that the Gospel was at stake.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
The very issue and.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Message of the Cross was tied up in this segregation.
Paul didn't care howe was raised. He didn't care what
his mind taught him. With his daddy taught him, all
that was irrelevant.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
When he came to the Cross. There was a new.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Standard by which he was to evaluate and measure his actions.
So verse fourteen he said, I said, Deceiphus, in the
presence of all, if you being a Jew, okay is
history and background and religion, live like the Gentiles and
not like the Jews. How is it that you compelled
(02:27):
the gentiles to live like the Jews? How are you
asking them to be like us? When you are acting
the way you're acting, knowing that a man is justified
not by the works of the law, but through faith
in Jesus Christ, even so we believed in Jesus Christ,
(02:49):
so that we may be justified by faith in Christ,
not by works of the law. Peter was acting based
on an Old Testament law driven worldview. Based on the law,
the gentiles are unclean, But Paul says that's not how
the Gospel works. We're in a new realm, now, a
(03:14):
new dispensation, since by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. He says in verse sixteen. But
if while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves
have also been found sinners because we're contradicting Christ is Christ,
then the minister of sin may it never be. That
(03:35):
word may it never be is pronounced in Greek meganita
and maganoita means heavens forbid.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
It's a very strong.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Negation, he says, is that if you are saying I'm
saved by Christ, but then you're functioning in this segregationist
way based on how you were raised, then are you
saying Jesus Christ is a minister of sin? In other words,
(04:02):
your action is indicting Christ, who you said save you.
So you're contradicting the Christ who you declared is your savior.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
We have a lot of that.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Today we have people who contradict their faith by their action,
including in the area of race. Paul doesn't care how
you were raised. Paul doesn't care what your background was.
All that is real not to be denied. He doesn't
deny that Peter is Jewish. That's his history, that's his background.
(04:37):
If Paul were here today, he would say, you don't
deny your humanity. You being a Jew, that's who you are,
that's your history, that's your background. But that's never to
interfear with your relationship with Christ, so that you are
dragging Christ into a sinful response and reaction based on
(05:00):
on your humanity. Peter has gone back to the law
in his relationship with the Gentiles by his actions. Paul
uses this to want to explain to Peter and to
those who are listening, Peter knew it, he wasn't operating
on it, that we must die to the law if
(05:21):
we're going to live to God. Now he's going to
hit this topic a whole bunch. He's just he's just
kind of warming up right now because he now comes
to the.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Single most powerful one.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Verse in the maybe in the Bible, so Innund Testament,
to describe the Christian life. I have been crucified with Christ,
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ
lives in me and the life which I now live
(05:55):
in the.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Flesh, in my humanity.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me. A butterfly emerges
from a caterpillar because it has been transmuted, It has
been transformed, It has been metamorphosized into something else, or
something else has emerged from it. The caterpillar doesn't become
(06:24):
a butterfly because it worked to do it. For the caterpillar,
to try to create a butterfly existence is like a
believer living under the law. You're trying to create spirituality
and that is law. That is a performance based approach
(06:49):
to acceptance with God. He says, that's not how you
do it. Unfortunately, churches have not to help with this
because the churches have either.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Preached law.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And I talked, you know, we talked about many people
growing up in legalism, which is the use of the
law to try to become spiritual. So they either grow
up in legalism and wind up hating it, or they.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Grow up in substitution.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You're saved because of the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ
on the cross. He died in your place, he died
in my place. He was my substitute. When I go
to Jesus Christ and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as
my personal substitute, I am saved, born again, forgiven, redeemed, justified,
(07:51):
and I made a child of God. When I placed
faith alone in Christ alone for the gift of eternal
life as my substitute.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
The reason why believers are not going to be judged.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
From the standpoint of our eternal destiny is because of
the substitutionary work.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Of Jesus Christ for our salvation. But here's Paul's point.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Paul's point is that the substitutionary work of Christ does
not only relate to when you got saved. Notice the
words I have been crucified with Christ. I have been
and back there when I got saved, I got identified
with Jesus's death as my substitute on the cross.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
That's what happened. I was saved back there, I have been.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Already, and it is no longer I who live away.
Man now he's moved from what happened back there to
him living now. It is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives present tense in me. The butterfly is
(09:07):
inside the caterpillar. Christ lives in me. Everyone who comes
to Christ for salvation, Christ is now living inside of you.
The life of Christ through the Holy Spirit is living
inside of every believer.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
The life which I now live.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So he's not talking about what happened back then, he's
talking about me living now.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I now live.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
So every day when I get up in the morning,
when I go to work, when I do what I do,
the living life that I now have in the flesh,
in my physical humanity, my day to day living. I
live by faith in the Son of God. So how
do you get saved? By faith in the Son of
(09:54):
God for the forgiveness of your sins? But now he says, oh,
I didn't just do that to get saved. That's how
I roll right now. I operate right now like I
operated the day I got saved. I live by faith
in the Son of God. And guess where the Son
of God, Christ lives in me. So I'm not living
(10:17):
by what I can produce. I'm living by what He produces.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
In me. The life which I now live in the flesh.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me. Well wait a minute,
he just said he gave himself for me because I
have been crucified with him.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
That's when he gave himself up. Oh, he didn't just
give himself up. Back there.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
He keeps giving himself up because he says, who loved
me and gave himself up for me, And I'm living
by his living in me.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
There's more to discover about how Christ Rist's life, not
just his death, transforms our own, and doctor Evans will
share that with us when he returns. In just a moment.
When grace is misunderstood or worse replaced by legalism, our
freedom in Christ is at risk. That's what makes this
series from Galatians so important. Doctor Evans unpacks what it
(11:22):
really means to live under grace not guilt, and how
to stand firm and the freedom Jesus provides. Right now,
we're offering the complete eleven Message Galatians audio collection as
our thank you gift when you support the Ministry of
the Alternative, and as an added bonus, we'll also send
along a copy of Kingdom Prayer, Doctor Evans's powerful book
(11:43):
on how to bring heavenly power to bear on earthly problems.
Visit Tonyevans dot org to make your request, or call
our resource team anytime of the day or night. At
one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two. I'll
share that attact information again after part two of today's message.
(12:03):
Here's doctor Evans once more.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Most people understand about the substitutionary death of Christ, but
not the substitutionary.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Life of Christ.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Turn your Bibles to Romans chapter five, but God verse eight.
But God demonstrated his love toward us, and that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
He loved us, so he died for us. Much more,
say much more.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
That is on top of that, having been justified by
his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of
God through him. The word saved means to be delivered,
But he's talking to people who've already gotten saved, so
he means he says, God is still in the delivering business.
To watch this verse ten. For a while we were enemies,
(12:55):
we were reconciled to God through the death of his son,
to our salvation. Much more, say much more. On top
of all that, having been reconciled, we shall be saved
by his what life.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
So there is a saving by his death that gets
you to heaven.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
But in verse ten, he says, having already been reconciled,
you already save heaven. He is now still saving folk
by his life. So there is a salvation that goes
beyond your forgiveness of sins and your gift of returnal
life for heaven. There is a living life salvation that
(13:43):
Jesus is operating. The Bible says that Jesus Christ, ever lives,
to make intercession for the believer, that is, to intervene
on our behalf. That's an innecessor he intervenes on our behalf.
That's what he does. That's his full time job. Through
the work of the Holy Spirit and the life of
the believer. Jesus Christ intercedes on our behalf because he
(14:04):
is alive. Paul says back in Galatians too, that this
substitutionary life of Christ is operating now.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
But for this life to operate, there.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Must be an identity with Christ to Satan wants. Satan
wants to do what we fear a lot identity theft.
Paul says, My identity is with the living Christ in me.
So he wants to He wants to work through your hands,
(14:44):
your feet, your mind, You're toes, you'll walk, your.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Talk to express himself.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
So over and over and over again, the Bible wants
you to know that this is how you are to
now identify yourself. You are to look at yourself this way,
as Christ has deposited.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Himself in my soul.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
His spirit has merriaged with my spirit, and it's deposited
in my soul to express itself through my body his life.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
So the issue is not you doing better. The issue
is Him being free to be himself in you, and
you will do better. It's not in you trying harder.
It is in him being free to be him. So
(15:47):
this is a whole different way of looking at being
a better Christian. Jesus Christ, who provided substitution for your
a teternal life, has also provided substitution for your temporal life.
So whatever is you're needing saving from, he saves by
(16:13):
his life.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
A lot of people memorize verse twenty, but who do
not see the connection to verse twenty one and back
to verse nineteen. So let's time together. I do not
nullify the grace of God. To nullify means to cancel.
I do not cancel the grace of God, for if
righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Many Christians cancel grace every.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Day they get saved by grace, but they then try
to live by law, which means you nullify grace. And
yet most of our Christian experience often is driven by legalism,
that is, performance based approach to gain acceptance by God
(17:05):
and victory in our Christian lives. So in our humanity,
what we try to do is manage the flesh, and
for a while, you can do it.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
For a while, you can grit your teeth and do better.
You can.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
You can manage the flesh, but that's all you're doing.
You're managing it. You haven't changed a bit. God wants transformation,
not management. He wants change from the inside out. It's
then when you say, Lord, in my humanity, I don't
want to do this. However, right now, I am not
(17:39):
trusting my humanity because you live inside of me. I
am giving you permission now to express yourself in me
about this issue. I'm putting it on you. I'm exercising
faith in the Son of God. The Bible says, Jesus
(17:59):
is the filment of the law. In other words, he
has kept every commandment perfectly, and his life on earth
he never broke because he's without sin, so he never
broke any of God's rules.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
He's perfect.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
So if anybody knows how to obey the Father, the
son does because he's obeyed him perfectly.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
And guess where the son is now? Living in you?
He says, Christ lives in me.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So the one living in you knows how to completely
obey the Father since he knows how to completely obey
the Father, giving him permission to obey the Father through
your humanity gives you the experience of divine liberation by grace,
(18:57):
because grace is something God gives you, not something you earn.
In a performance based approach to Christian living, It's based
on what I do to get God to accept me,
Gray says, it's what Christ has done to make me
(19:20):
accept the ball. Now I'm not uninvolved, Paul says, Yet,
I live because it's my hands, it's my feet, it's
my ears, it's my lips, it's my humanity. So it's
not like, you know, God is doing something apart from me.
(19:40):
He is expressing himself through me as I learned to.
He's gonna talk about it later on in the book
Walk in the Spirit, because this is just another way
of talking about walking in the spirit, or that is,
walking or living your life under divine influence. We've all
(20:01):
seen a a dog on a leash. You've seen a
dog on a leash. You've seen a dog on a
leash not wanting.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
To be on a leash because it's pulling it and
pulling it. You know what a leash?
Speaker 1 (20:17):
You know what you're trying to do. You're trying to
keep the dog from running away. You know what a
leash is for to control them. You want to control them.
You don't want them going this far. And you decide
how far you want to go by how long the
chain is on the leash. That's what the law is.
It's a leash designed to control you from not doing
(20:41):
this and not doing that, and don't do that, and
don't do that.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
It's a leash.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
But I also know that you've seen dogs walk with
their masters without a leash. Now they're walking beside their
master without a leash. Why is that Because that means
there's a relationship there and that dog is not going
to wander off because the dog doesn't want to leave
the master. The stronger the relationship, the less need you
(21:14):
have for a leash.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
The law is used to hold people hostage to.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Not doing wrong, whereas grace is designed to make you
want to do right. The law says you have to,
you ought to, you're better. Grace says I won't to.
It's a whole different disposition through your identity with Christ.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Doctor Tony Evans on the amazing difference grace makes in
our lives and if that's something you're ready to experience
for yourself, he's back right now with this invitation for.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
You salvation, redemption, and eternal life. The Bible says, by grace,
are you saved through faith? That is, God gives it away,
but he won't let you buy it, earn it, or
go to church or any other religious activity to try
to make yourself worthy for it. And as a result,
(22:24):
the Bible says, God gets the credit and the glory
and we don't get the share in it, which is
why he demands that it's free. Not only does this
grace save us, but this grace sustains us. So even
if you are already a Christian, but you backsliden. Grace
is ready to kick in if you will and get
you steered in the right direction once more. So, would
(22:46):
you go to God and ask him for the free
gift of grace which he gives away when faith is exercised.
You say, well, what you mean exercising faith? I mean
believing that what Jesus did, he did it for you personally.
This is not just generic. It has to be personal
salvation and personal restoration. So you say to the Lord,
(23:10):
I personally receive you as my savior. Well, I personally
return to you as my deliverer, and I'm looking for
your gracious supply to deal with my sin and to
give me your salvation.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
To follow up on what doctor Evans has been sharing
and to find out more about what it means to
live under a life of God's grace, we encourage you
to visit Tonyevans dot org and click the link at
the top of the homepage that simply says Jesus Now.
One final note before we close for today, I want
to encourage you to take advantage of that special offer
(23:43):
I mentioned earlier, Tony's complete eleven part Galatian series, along
with a copy of his powerful book Kingdom Prayer. We'll
send the full audio collection and book to you with
our thanks. When you make a donation to help support
doctor Evans ministry on this station and others like it
around the world, just visit Tonyevans dot org or call
(24:06):
one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two to
make your donation and resource request. That's Tonyevans dot org
or by phone at one eight hundred eight hundred three
two two two. When we try to fix a problem ourselves,
we can often end up making things worse. Well tomorrow,
(24:26):
Doctor Evans explains why relying on our own strength short
circuits God's grace, and how the Christian life is meant
to run on faith from start to finish. Be sure
to join us
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