Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host), Jennifer Jill Schwirzer
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000385
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00:01 Hi, do you believe in righteousness by faith.
00:03 I'll tell you what I believe, 00:04 it's the only kind of righteousness there is. 00:07 And you know the message of righteousness by faith 00:09 is also called the message of His healing grace 00:12 because it instills mental and spiritual health. 00:15 Please join us today as we talk about 00:18 RBF therapy on Issues and Answers. 00:46 Hi, I'm Shelley Quinn, and we're so glad 00:48 that you can join us today 00:50 for our topic of righteousness by faith. 00:52 I want to begin by sharing one of 00:54 my favorite scriptures on this topic 00:56 and it comes from Isaiah 61:10. 00:59 Listen to what Isaiah wrote. 01:01 He said I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, 01:04 my soul shall be joyful in my God; 01:08 For He has clothed me with the 01:09 garments of righteousness, He has covered me 01:13 with the robe of righteousness. 01:15 Even Isaiah knew that it was righteousness by faith 01:19 and joining us today is our very special guest 01:22 Jennifer Jill Schweitzer and Jennifer 01:24 we're so glad that you've come back to 3ABN. 01:27 It's good to be here. 01:28 Now, tell us a little about yourself. 01:30 Myself? Huh, huh! 01:32 Where do you want me to start? 01:33 Let's talk about your credentials to 01:35 even be talking about RBF therapy, 01:37 which is righteousness by faith therapy. 01:40 Well, I'm a student of the Bible for one thing, 01:42 I studied my Bible on a regular basis, 01:44 but I also have a degree in mental health counseling. 01:47 So I work as a counselor. So you are. 01:50 So I know what works on the clinical setting. 01:52 I know what really heals people 01:53 by experience and by my own experience. 01:56 Praise God Yeah. 01:57 So when you think of Righteousness by Faith. 02:01 Let's back it up to where it became necessary? 02:05 Okay. Well, we have to ask three questions 02:08 when we're testing any psychological theory. 02:11 We've to ask three what, what is questions? 02:14 What is health? Okay. 02:15 What is the diagnosis and what is the cure? 02:19 So to begin with the, what is health question. 02:23 We've to have an idea, you know, 02:24 that we've fallen from our work somehow 02:27 not living up to or not in harmony with. 02:30 What is the idea? What is health basically? 02:33 According to scripture, God created us in His image. 02:37 We were created for a specific purpose of 02:39 being like Him in character and so true health 02:43 according to scripture is to be like Christ in character. 02:48 Yeah, to be like God in character. 02:50 It's perfect spiritual health. 02:51 That's right, Isaiah 43 says we were created 02:54 for His glory and so true health 02:57 is Christ within the hope of glory. 02:59 Amen. Amen. 03:00 So the second question is what is the diagnosis? 03:02 And that's where we're going to spend 03:03 the next few minutes on. 03:05 And we're going to look in Genesis Chapter 3. 03:08 I do a seminar that I've been doing 03:09 for probably 15 years called healing 03:12 in a wounds and the reason I put the seminar 03:15 together originally was because 03:17 I notice that people would go to church to get religion 03:20 and they would go somewhere else like 03:21 a twelve-step group or to a counselor to get help. 03:24 And I ask myself why they weren't getting 03:26 more help from religion itself? 03:28 And I thought may be there were some things 03:31 in religion that needed to be unburied possibly 03:35 that would bring the help that people 03:36 weren't getting the help in the health that they weren't 03:38 getting from their church experience. 03:40 And you know, it's so funny when you 03:41 think about the twelve-step program 03:43 and so many programs out there are 03:45 really modeled on Biblical principles. 03:48 They just leave God out of it. 03:50 Yeah, they often do. 03:51 Well, they don't leave God totally out, 03:52 but yeah they have been. 03:54 They have hijacked some Biblical principles 03:55 and they are helping some people, 03:57 so we can't deny the value of them, 03:59 but how much better if the church 04:02 was functioning as God designed it should. 04:05 So that we could lead people into 04:06 a full revelation of the truth. 04:09 But from Genesis Chapter 3 we're gonna get our diagnosis 04:12 we see in the garden that Eve is tempted to converse 04:16 with the serpent and then we see that she actually 04:19 partakes of the fruit and then her husband partakes 04:23 it as well and the place that I want to start is verse 7, 04:27 it says, the eyes of them both were opened, 04:29 and they knew that they were naked; 04:32 they knew that they were naked; 04:33 I believe that describes the experience of shame 04:35 and guilt that came upon Adam and Eve 04:38 when they realized that they were 04:40 now fallen that they had fallen into sin. 04:43 They lost that robe of light. 04:45 That's right, that's right. That was around them. 04:47 And I imagine that, that feeling was 04:50 quite overwhelming for them, 04:52 that they were quite alarmed by that. 04:55 I think of how Jesus died on the cross 04:57 really as a result of the physical ramifications 05:01 of bearing the guilt of the world. 05:03 And so I think we can reason from that the guilt 05:06 that Adam and Eve were experiencing 05:08 there in the garden was very uncomfortable for them. 05:11 And so we see what comes directly 05:13 out of that guilt experience was if they 05:16 sewed fig leaves together and made themselves 05:19 low in coverings, some translations say aprons 05:21 and any way they made 05:23 fig leaves garments for themselves. 05:25 In my, I add one thing. Yeah. 05:26 Because I know we're gonna talk about 05:28 fig leaves garments here in just a moment 05:29 that we do the spiritual things, but you know, 05:32 one of the other direct results of guilt. 05:35 When you feel guilty around someone there is 05:37 and avoidance syndrome. That's right. 05:39 You avoid them and that's what they did with God. 05:42 They were denying their true condition. 05:43 They were saying we can fix this, no problem. 05:45 Yeah, but even, don't you think they are still... 05:47 And little bit later down the road they did avoid God. 05:50 Yeah, it was kind of like when 05:51 he came there and said where are you? 05:53 They were still hiding even though 05:55 they were in their fig leaves, it's interesting? 05:57 That's right it didn't really work. 05:58 In another words their were own self-fixed 06:00 did not have the effect that they intended to have. 06:03 So I'm working from the premise that those 06:07 fig leaves represent self-righteousness 06:09 and that self-righteousness is in many respects 06:12 the mother load or the aorta of sin problem, because 06:16 all of these other things kind of float out of that. 06:19 We see the self-justifications, 06:21 self-righteousness in verse 7 and then you go on to 06:24 verse 8 and you see they have completely 06:26 misunderstood God at this point because 06:28 they are hiding behind the bush. 06:29 They don't realize, they don't recognize that 06:32 His love and He is coming redeem them. 06:34 Then you see anxiety in verse 9, 06:36 they are running away from God, you see, 06:38 that there is this blaming that takes place, 06:41 they are deflecting responsibility 06:43 from themselves and they are blaming one another. 06:46 You see them in that mode and then you also 06:47 see the animosity that came into their relationship, 06:50 the breakdown of their relationship 06:52 when they start to blame one another 06:53 and remember that only hours before you know, 06:57 Adams sells the creation into the hands 06:59 of the enemy because we're told he was not deceived 07:03 and then, that was just a few hours before 07:05 God came into the garden for Adam 07:08 to give an account to Him of what had happened 07:10 and Adam says it's the woman's fault hoping 07:13 that God will destroy the woman instead of him, 07:15 so that's how it only took a few hours 07:17 for his love for Eve to breakdown into willingness 07:21 to see her die in his place. It's interesting. 07:24 That's how fickle human love is. 07:26 And so we could see all of the relational problems, 07:28 the mood disorders we might say, 07:31 the just all the things that are wrong with us 07:34 kind of flowed out of that guilt 07:36 and then subsequent self-righteousness. 07:40 So that's her diagnosis and it's not a very pretty one. 07:43 Yes, and we know that Isaiah 64:6 07:47 he says that Isaiah again writes that 07:50 all of our righteousness 07:52 and I guess which defined righteousness. 07:55 Righteousness according to the Bible 07:57 is being in right standing with God 07:59 doing the things according to His way, 08:01 I guess you could say. 08:02 And so in Isaiah 64:6 he says all of our 08:06 righteousness is filthy rags before the Lord, 08:10 so to me that's the verse when people asked me 08:13 do you believe in righteousness by faith, 08:15 and I say well, that's the only... 08:16 That's the only kind of righteousness. 08:17 Only kind of righteousness that really 08:19 is because the best that man can do, 08:21 we can put all the fig leaves on us that we want, 08:24 but we can never be right with God 08:27 or being right standing with God by our own effort. 08:30 That's very good and I want to point out 08:32 something that I think is may be 08:33 a little different direction than some people take this. 08:36 We tend to see self-righteousness 08:37 as a religious problem, but I believe 08:40 that it's more basic than that, 08:41 it's more pervasive than that, 08:42 it's more universal than just religious people. 08:45 I think that there are many forms of 08:47 self-righteousness that human beings engage 08:50 and there are many attempts 08:52 at self-fixing that we are guilty. 08:55 I want to just outline a few of them. 08:57 A many different kinds of fig leaves, 08:59 we might have legalistic fig leaves in 09:01 religious circles where we're 09:02 trying work our way to heaven. 09:04 We're trying to gain God's approval 09:06 by doing certain good works. 09:08 We have hedonistic fig leaves as well though, 09:11 it's not just religious people that suffer 09:13 from this problem hedonistic self-fixes 09:16 would be trying to pleasure oneself 09:19 through the pleasures of the flesh, 09:21 lust, eating and drinking, substance abuse. 09:24 These are efforts to you know, 09:26 alleviate that inner sense of torment 09:29 that we have as results of sin, materialistic. 09:32 It's an interesting point. Yes, yes. 09:34 Well, think about it, you know, 09:36 the Publican and the Pharisee were in the temple 09:40 and the Pharisee's prayer was thank God 09:41 that I'm not like other man. 09:43 Many hedonistic people thank God 09:46 that they are not like religious people. 09:49 Because they think they are more loving 09:50 and accepting than religious people, 09:52 but really their heart is in exactly the same place 09:56 that the Pharisee's is heart is in. 09:57 Thank God that I'm not like other man, 09:59 so that essence of self-righteousness 10:01 is there in both of those cases, 10:03 it just has a little different manifestation. 10:05 Okay, then we have materialistic fig leaves, 10:07 you know, the accumulation of things, 10:10 the acquirement of things, money, possessions, 10:12 even aesthetics you know, wanting their 10:14 life to be just so having just that perfect 10:17 aesthetically pleasing or you know, 10:19 artistically pleasant life. 10:21 What about narcissistic fig leaves, 10:24 vanity, fashion, status, prestige, 10:26 you know, going after that ego lift, 10:28 that constant ego lift that really never get 10:31 satisfied because you always want more and more, and more. 10:34 What about nihilistic fig leaves. 10:36 This is not something we would typically think, 10:38 but some people become very self-destructive, 10:41 even suicidal and that's their attempt 10:44 to fix their state, that is kind of there, 10:47 you know, it's kind of inverse form of 10:49 narcissism where I'm trying to destroy myself, 10:52 taking upon myself something that really 10:54 belongs to God alone and that is my life. 10:57 What about emotionalistic fig leaves? 11:00 Looking for that emotional high. 11:02 Sometimes that perfect relationship, 11:04 which will give me that emotionally rich experience 11:07 or even a worship experience 11:09 that is emotionally stimulating, 11:11 looking for that experience constantly, so... 11:14 What about, would you think extreme sports 11:16 would fit into that. Very good. 11:18 Because they are always looking for that 11:21 adrenaline rush and that emotional high. 11:23 Very good, so you got what I'm saying 11:24 you know, these are our attempts at self-fixes, 11:27 so those fig leaves are legalistic, 11:29 hedonistic, materialistic, narcissistic, 11:31 nihilistic, or emotionalistic, 11:33 and I'm sure there is a billion other listics 11:35 we could add to the list, but we find well, 11:38 it kind of reminds me of word Ecclesiastic said, 11:42 man has sort out many inventions, 11:45 you know, we have come up with 11:47 a million different diversions, 11:49 a million different ways to avoid 11:52 the real issue which is that we are in a fallen 11:56 and condemned state and we need righteousness 11:59 and so we try to self-fix and we failed. 12:03 And you know, I think about in the 12:08 Christian world there are many people who, 12:12 you know, I'm a Seventh-day Adventist. 12:14 And some people say if you are an Adventist 12:18 and you follow the Ten Commandments 12:20 that you're legalistic and you're trying to 12:22 work your way to heaven, which, yeah, 12:25 that's what I say you is oh please. 12:26 And else from time to time, you hit someone 12:28 who sends me something and we'll say you know, 12:32 in the Old Testament, they knew that they 12:35 had to work their way to heaven and I don't know, 12:38 but that is... No. I never believed that's 12:39 a true statements at all because ... 12:41 Righteousness by faith is woven throughout scripture. 12:43 Throughout scripture. Yeah. 12:44 And I'm thinking right now and I just turned here 12:47 that in Jeremiah 23 verse 6, he says 12:53 "Now this is the name by which He'll be 12:55 called the Lord our righteousness 12:59 and that echoes to me 2 Corinthians 5:21 13:03 that God made him, who knew no sin, 13:06 to be sin for us; that we might become 13:09 the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. 13:13 And so you know, I find so many scriptures 13:17 in the Old Testament that talk about I mean 13:20 they obliviously knew even in the sacrificial system, 13:27 they knew that there was a Savior coming 13:32 that there was an Attornment to be made 13:34 and they knew that they couldn't atone 13:36 for their own sins, there was always 13:37 a sacrificial death for their sin. 13:39 That's right And so... 13:40 The whole sanctuary system was pointing to a substitute, 13:44 you know, someone with the 13:46 outside source of righteousness. 13:48 Absolutely, so it's to me amazing 13:51 that people think that to keep God's commandments 13:54 which you said if you love me you will 13:57 is legalistic because certainly 13:59 I know that I cannot earn salvation 14:01 and then I cannot earn righteousness. 14:03 Well, there is a huge difference between God, 14:06 you know, the commandments still being 14:08 binding and the commandments, 14:10 keeping the commandments being meritorious. 14:13 Nothing we do has any merit before God, 14:15 but that doesn't mean that God 14:17 has now lowered His standard. Yeah. 14:19 You know, in fact we need that 14:20 high standard because it's through the 14:22 law that we recognize our need of Christ. 14:25 So, there are often times with my clients, 14:28 I'll just read Romans Chapter 7 14:30 to them and then we'll go into Romans Chapter 8, 14:32 I'll say this who you are, you know, 14:34 you're this Romans 7 man, you know. 14:36 This is where Paula is saying we'll always be, 14:38 He will save me from this body of death. 14:40 That's right, this body of death, that's right, so... 14:42 And then it begin with Romans 8 14:44 with now there is no condemned, 14:46 therefore, no condemnation 14:48 for those who are in Christ Jesus. 14:50 That's right, but people need to go through 14:52 that Romans 7 experience of recognizing 14:54 how far they fall short of God's standard before 14:59 they can even appreciate the Romans 8 experience 15:01 of now knowing that there is 15:03 a source of righteousness outside of them. Amen. 15:06 So I wanted to say these to though that there are 15:08 two sides to the fig leaves. Okay. 15:10 There is a front side and a back side. 15:12 So we're still on the 15:13 diagnosis part of this journey. 15:16 The front side of the fig leave 15:17 is the entitlement mentality. 15:19 I deserve, you know, God's blessings, 15:22 I deserve God's approval, because I'm so good. 15:26 But there is flip side of that. 15:27 Many people go through their lives feeling unworthy, 15:31 feeling sort of a pervasive, continual sense 15:34 of unworthiness and condemnation. 15:37 They believe however that if they can 15:39 just work hard enough or do enough 15:41 or reach that standard that they will 15:43 finally become worthy and really that's 15:46 coming from the same source that the 15:49 entitlement mentality comes from, 15:50 it's just the flip side of that fig leaves. 15:53 So I want to read a statement in response to that. 15:57 Nothing, but the righteousness of Christ 15:59 can entitled us to one of the 16:01 blessings of the covenant of grace. 16:04 There are many, many who have long desired 16:08 and tried to obtain these blessings, 16:11 but have not received them, 16:13 because they have cherished the idea 16:17 that they could do something 16:19 to make themselves worthy of them. 16:22 Christ is our only hope of salvation, 16:23 so let me, let me bow it 16:25 point that, people want the blessings. 16:28 They have tried to obtain, you know, 16:30 God's approval and all the blessings that come with it. 16:33 They have failed to obtain it 16:36 and the reason that they have failed 16:38 is because they have cherished the belief 16:41 that they can do something to make themselves worthy, 16:43 so the reason that they have failed 16:45 is because they have cherished self-righteousness. 16:49 I can generate righteousness from within myself 16:52 and effectively that blocks the channel 16:55 through which God can pour the blessings of grace. 16:59 They have blocked the channel of faith 17:00 because they are not reaching out to the 17:02 righteousness outside of them taking hold on that. 17:05 And we can look to the Pharisees and see that, 17:08 I mean here we're, if anyone had 17:10 a case of what I called the do mores 17:12 and every now and then I think we can all 17:15 fall into that where we think if 17:17 we can do just do more you know, 17:19 we're going to be made right with the Lord. 17:22 But the Pharisees certainly fell into that, 17:24 you know, where they had all the 17:26 scriptures memorized and they thought they were 17:29 so legalistic about every little detail 17:32 and had all these man made rules 17:34 thinking that they were going to be approved by God, 17:38 but they didn't even were recognized God 17:40 when He came in the flesh, 17:41 they had no personal relationship with Him. 17:43 There He was in their midst and they 17:45 didn't know who He was? Yeah. 17:47 And they wanted do they, in fact they 17:49 didn't just failed to recognize Him. 17:53 They hated Him and you know, 17:55 push the Roman powers to beat it, to crucify Him. 17:59 Amen. At great cost to themselves. 18:01 So it's amazing the animosity that was 18:04 manifested toward righteousness in human flesh 18:08 in the form of Jesus, you know, 18:10 they hated that righteousness that true righteousness 18:12 because they had so much righteousness of their own. 18:15 And we still see that the day there are 18:17 people who feel that they can do 18:19 something to earn God's love 18:22 or to earn what you said is worthiness, 18:25 I mean, on the flip side of that, 18:28 isn't it sad when there are people 18:29 who feel that they are completely 18:31 unworthy of His love you know. 18:33 And they are, you know, I tell people they are 18:37 unworthy in the sense they 18:38 cannot generate their worthiness. 18:41 But you know, God makes them worthy in Christ, 18:45 but it's not our own in it worthiness 18:48 that recommends us to God. 18:49 You know, I hate to mince words. 18:51 There is a difference between worthy and worth. 18:53 Yes, because, you know sometimes. 18:55 I knew you're gonna go there. 18:56 You knew it, because one of my pet peeves 18:59 is when people say, oh, I'm so unworthy, 19:01 I'm so unworthy like and if they want to say 19:03 I'm so undeserving, I agree with that totally. 19:06 But as far as the worth that God puts on them. 19:09 Once the Lord really shared this with me 19:11 to share every time I try to remember every time 19:14 I go out to speak because He told me to do this 19:17 and that is to say that you're worth nothing less 19:20 than the price that He paid for you 19:22 with the blood of His own son. 19:26 That's the worth God put on your life and so, 19:31 you know, the people who feel unworthy 19:33 it's not that we can generate anything, it's just 19:36 that we're undeserving of any of His blessings. 19:40 That's right, that's what I mean. 19:41 But God have put such great value on us. 19:46 That no one should feel unworthy. 19:48 We cannot make ourselves worthy of His blessings, 19:51 they are free gift and they will always be a free gift, 19:54 but that in no way should perform means 19:56 that we're not worth anything just because 19:59 we cannot generate our own worthiness. 20:02 We're always in a state of undeservingness, 20:04 but God gives anyway because God is giving you know, 20:08 righteousness is a free gift, we cannot earn it. 20:11 So I found this in a clinical setting 20:13 to be very powerful in healing. 20:15 In fact you know, the big buzz these days 20:18 in psychology circle is CBT cognitive behavioral therapy 20:22 and I love cognitive behavioral therapy, 20:24 I use it on a regular basis. 20:26 Explain with it because some don't know. 20:28 Cognitive behavioral therapy is basically 20:30 a systematic form of thought control 20:33 because what researches found was that 20:35 when people thought incorrect thoughts, 20:38 their emotions tended to track 20:41 with those incorrect thoughts, 20:43 so they develop the method of training people 20:46 to think correct rational thoughts, 20:49 so that their emotions will then begin to track 20:51 with those correct and rational thoughts. 20:53 And what they found is that mood 20:55 would lift people would feel better, 20:57 people especially with anxiety and depression 21:01 would start to feel better and be able to control that. 21:03 So I believe in cognitive behavioral therapy. 21:06 I'm a big fan of CBT, I use it, 21:08 but I'm an even bigger fan of RBFT 21:11 righteousness by faith therapy because it's just, 21:13 it's the message of His healing grace. 21:16 You know, when you are thinking about 21:18 CBT cognitive behavioral therapy. 21:21 I was just thinking that, that explains 21:23 why you know, the book that I've written 21:25 Exalting His Word like affirmation for 21:28 scripture that's what it's 2 Corinthians 10:4 and 5. 21:32 Casting down imagination. 21:34 Casting down those vain imaginations, 21:36 that's right, taking those thoughts captive. 21:38 And the only way you can really take 21:39 a thoughts captive is to replace 21:42 it with another thought. That's right. 21:43 If we're gonna take that thought captive 21:44 and make it obedient to the will of the Lord. 21:47 So as we confess scripture of our 21:49 life and speak scripture of our life that 21:52 practice really is a form I guess of CBT. 21:55 And the ultimate lie is that we can 21:59 generate our own righteousness. 22:01 And the ultimate healing truth is that not just 22:05 that we can generate our own righteousness, 22:08 but the bigger and more blessed truth 22:10 is that there is righteousness available 22:13 from an outside source and that is 22:14 Jesus Christ and he will give it to us freely. 22:16 And I want to make sure I give some balance. 22:19 Always because and I know you agree with this. 22:21 But 1 John, let me say 3:7 and 8. 22:25 I want to read this because we never want to give 22:28 an unbalanced message and this fits rightly 22:32 and perfectly though in 1 John 3:7 and 8 he says 22:35 "Little children, let no one deceive you he who practices 22:40 righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous." 22:45 So there are some people here who try to use this scripture 22:49 and say well see that means that's not 22:53 righteousness by faith, 22:54 that means that, you know, you got... 22:55 You are generating your own righteousness. 22:57 But the point is that we've got to remember 23:00 righteousness I mean all of these scriptures 23:02 lined up that there is only righteousness by faith. 23:05 And what I believe is that as he has imputed 23:10 His righteousness to us which means 23:12 He credited to our account, 23:13 did away with that old account. 23:16 But then He imparts righteousness to us 23:19 and as He imparts as you say 23:21 Christ in His our hope of glory. 23:23 Colossians 1:27. As He imparts that 23:26 righteousness to us, this is what enables us, 23:30 empowers us to act righteously, 23:33 so when you have been made righteous by Christ, 23:37 you are going to Psalm 85:13 said, 23:40 you know, righteousness shall go before Him; 23:41 and make His footsteps a way to follow. 23:44 You are empowered to walk 23:47 in an upright way before the Lord. 23:49 Jesus said "He didn't come to 23:50 abolish the law but to fulfill it." 23:52 Amen. And so the Gospel... 23:53 That means to fill it to the full. 23:54 That's right so the Gospel 23:55 doesn't causes to do away with the law. 23:58 The law has its place in the process of 24:01 embracing righteousness by faith. 24:02 First of all the law shows us our need 24:05 of an outside source of righteousness 24:06 or shows us our need of the Savior 24:09 and so it drives us to the feet of Jesus 24:13 where we receive His righteousness 24:14 and then ultimately it's a faith that 24:16 works by love according to Galatians. 24:18 So we end up actually in our life fulfilling 24:22 the law of love and actually being empowered to obey Him, 24:26 something we never could have done. 24:28 Apart from His in flowed righteousness. 24:32 That's said in 2 Corinthians 12:9, 24:33 "His grace is sufficient, His powers made 24:36 perfect in our weakness". In weakness, Amen. 24:38 You know, I think of Romans Chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 24:42 "Therefore having been justified by faith, 24:44 we have peace with God through 24:46 our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also 24:49 have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, 24:54 and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God". 24:56 Now we talked at the beginning 24:57 of the program that the standard the 25:01 answer to the question, what is health? 25:04 Is that God created us for His glory, 25:07 so to be truly healthy is to glorify Him 25:10 to be like Him in character, 25:12 Christ within the hope of glory. 25:14 And so justification by faith according to 25:16 Romans 5:1 and 2 leads us to rejoice 25:20 in the hope of the glory of God. 25:21 Finally, I can get to the place 25:23 where I'm actually able to glorify God with my life. 25:26 I was falling down before every which way, 25:29 I was not successful, I was not victorious, 25:32 but when I embraced righteousness by faith, 25:34 the point isn't to let me off 25:36 the hooks, so I can live in sin. 25:37 The point is to empower me, 25:39 so that I can live in obedience. 25:40 Amen. Exactly. Amen. 25:42 And in that same chapter one of my favorite verse 25:44 is Romans 5:17, it says 25:46 "For if, by the one man offense, 25:48 speaking of Adam, death reigned through 25:51 the one much more those who receive abundance of grace 25:57 and of the gift of righteousness will reign 26:01 in life through the one, Jesus Christ." 26:05 Isn't that a beautiful promise 26:06 and that's why this is such an effective therapy 26:10 is because when someone's made aware 26:13 that they had received in abundance of grace 26:16 and the gift of righteousness. 26:17 It puts them in that position 26:19 to reign with Christ, if you are Christ. 26:21 And you know, to make people actually 26:24 safe to save is a miracle. Amen. 26:27 I mean can you imagine bringing 26:29 sinners into heaven right now, 26:30 we defiles heaven all over again. 26:32 But God is in the process of making 26:33 us safe to save just like what you just read. 26:37 So we'll reign in life and we can do it 26:39 responsibly and consciously because 26:41 we've been restored to God's image. 26:42 Now, we only have a minute left, 26:44 tell me in your practice. Yes. 26:45 You've been using. Yes. 26:47 Righteousness by faith therapy. Yeah. 26:48 What kind of results have you seen? 26:50 I'll give you one, I had a client who 26:51 had been coming to therapy for 15 years 26:54 trying to get help and one of the things 26:56 we did was CBT, but also he came to me 26:58 one day and he said I'm not allowed 27:01 to witness to my clients in every contact, 27:03 so I looked on his intake form 27:05 and he said that he that faith was a big part 27:07 of his life and so I asked him about the faith. 27:09 And he said, oh, yes, I believe in God, 27:11 God is so Holy, God is so amazing. 27:14 He said I try to earn God's favor everyday. 27:17 I try to earn His forgiveness everyday. 27:18 I've the privilege of sharing with this man 27:21 of a forgiving Savior from whom you cannot 27:25 earn righteousness to share this message 27:27 that we've been talking about. 27:29 And I had the privilege of doing that 27:30 and in eight sessions he was feeling better 27:33 after 15 years of attending therapy. 27:35 Praise the Lord. Yeah, that's the miracle. 27:37 So Jennifer we're so glad. Yeah. 27:40 I can't believe how time flies when you are here, 27:42 but we're so thankful that 27:43 you came today to share this with us. 27:46 Praise God. It's a wonderful message. 27:48 I do want to remind you that the message 27:52 of righteousness by faith is the message of 27:55 God's healing grace and it will 27:57 instill mental and spiritual health. 28:01 Now please remember that you too as Romans 5:17 says, 28:06 "Can reign in life through Jesus Christ". |
Revised 2014-12-17