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The link is in the description below. What happened to our studio, man? We got like all our nights at home. Our studio had the studio go. So we're in the middle of a studio update and an upgrade, if you will. Because we're going to studio grow. We're going to studio grow. Dr. Shah and Nicholas have been working hard, getting us some good furniture in here, but it's still on the way.
Yes, he is. And it's going to look phenomenal when it's done. The light's coming. There's a new wall behind us that is coming.
Brand new furniture. And so it's going to look really good. But what we're doing is, and which I'm so grateful for our team, is that they're going to make it so good that you'll actually enjoy the show, learn from the show, and share the show with other people. Right. So we want that to happen.
So yeah, we're upgrading. Oh yeah. We wanted the video element to not be an added bonus. We wanted the video element to be the way that people feel like you're really missing out if you're not watching the show.
That's right. You ever been to the mall and you see those places where they're like working on stores, like coming soon, and they have these like little graphics on the wall? I really wanted there to be like a Clearview Today show and then just like the loading circle underneath it. Just kind of like plaster on the wall behind us.
The studio is loading. I haven't been to a mall since 2019. Oh, okay. For real? No, I think I went to one in 2020 and then it was when the mask thing was going on and the guy was like, hey, you're not coming to the mall without a mask on. I was like, I'm not coming to the mall.
So you haven't gone to the mall? I don't think so. For real?
Seriously? No, I don't think so. I might have gone to Tick Nurse. I might have gone, let's see. No, I don't think I went to Tick Nurse. I went to Tick Nurse for... For the wedding, wedding... When was Abby's wedding?
2022? Then yeah, then I went to Crabtree. I haven't been to Triangle. Really? No, I haven't been to Triangle since 2020.
Wow. The mall is kind of sad now. People don't go to the mall no more. Well, they're coming out now. I would say more and more people are going now. Yeah, that's nice.
They're going, yeah. Our verse of the day today is coming to us from Acts chapter 3, verse 19. Repent, therefore, and be converted, so your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Dr. Shaw, repentance is like a major theme in Jesus's ministry and all of his teachings, I think even now. And I think that's one of the things that we forget is that in order to be saved, we've got to accept that our sins are wrong and confess that we're sinners. But I think a lot of people misunderstand what repentance actually is.
Yeah, yeah. The Greek word for that is metanoio, or metanoio is found about 24 times. The verbal form is metanoio, which is found about 34 times.
Then there is metamelomai, and this is found about six times. And I have all these stats here in front of me, and the reason I'm sharing them is because the core idea behind repentance is a change of mind, okay? It's a change of thinking. What we have turned that into is sorrow, sadness, and that is a misunderstanding. That's right, because it becomes like it's almost an intellectual exercise where I just got to bring some emotion into it. But I like the way that you put it.
When it's a change of mind, that automatically is going to change your behavior. Yes. You know what I mean? Now, tears are involved in repentance, but they have to be the right kind of tears.
Right, right. You know, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7, 10, for godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. So there's a big difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow feels, you know, personal guilt against the holiness of God, but worldly sorrow only feels regret and remorse and shame and even anger and bitterness for what has happened in the past. Things that you went through or things that somebody did to you, but that's not godly sorrow.
Right, right. It's just worldly sorrow, but godly sorrow recognizes that you have done something wrong against him, and it leads to salvation, and the other kind only leads to death. Right, and I love that because it's that godly sorrow brings about change, that belief.
Yes. Because I think a lot of people, Stella, you're absolutely right. A lot of people just stop it. Belief. I believe what I did was wrong, but that godly sorrow allows that belief to change us inside and out. It's really God changing us.
Right, right. We cannot change ourselves. It's really God changing us. But repentance is admitting that sin is against a holy and a righteous God. It's admitting that we are sinners, horribly lost, condemned under God's wrath.
It's admitting that Jesus is the savior. I am not my savior. I can't save myself. You cannot save me. I can't save you.
No one can save us, but only Jesus is the true savior. And so repentance is acknowledging these things. So will repentance be accompanied with tears?
It can be, but that is not the requirement. Sometimes people think if a person is not crying and weeping over their sins, then that's not genuine repentance. But that doesn't have to be that way. That's right. And it doesn't mean that we're not ever going to sin again. I mean, we know that on this side of heaven, we're always going to have that sin nature. We're always going to struggle with those temptations, but it does mean that our goal should be to hate sin as much as God does. That's right.
When we change our minds about what sin actually is, it changes the way that we even think about our own sin. That's right. I want to read today's check-in because I thought this check-in went perfectly. This was not the one that I had scheduled for today, but I thought this one went so perfectly with the date that I actually bumped this one up. So Jennifer M. from Georgia. Guess what? You got bumped up in the line a little bit. Congratulations.
Jennifer M. writes, Dear Dr. Shah, I've been struggling with something for a while and hoping and I was hoping you could help. I grew up in church, Sunday school, youth group, all of that. And from a young age, I was taught that repentance was the key to my relationship with God. Anytime I sinned, I need to confess immediately and ask for forgiveness.
And I took that very seriously. But over the years, I found myself trapped in a cycle of guilt. No matter how much I confess and prayed for forgiveness, I still feel unworthy. It's like I can never quite get clean enough or do things, do enough things to, I'm sorry. It's like I can never quite get clean enough or do enough to make things right with God. I always wondered, did I repent enough?
Was I really sorry? Am I still saved? At the same time, I have a group of friends who seem to have a completely different approach. They talk, they talk to me a lot about grace and faith and said that once you believe in Jesus, you're saved.
End of story. I don't see them worrying about every mistake like I do. Whenever I bring up repentance, they tell me I'm being legalistic and that I just need to believe that I'm forgiven. But when I look at their lives, some of them don't really seem to care about sin at all.
It's like they think because they believe in Jesus, it doesn't really matter how they live. I feel stuck between these two perspectives. Do I need to focus more on repentance or do I need to just believe that I'm saved and stop worrying? I don't want to live in guilt, but I also don't want to take God's grace for granted. Thanks, Jennifer M. So we have to go back and think about who brings about repentance. And ultimately, it's not us.
It's the Holy Spirit of God. Yeah. He is the one who does that. Do you find that a lot of Christians end up in this place where it's like, I want to feel bad, I want to repent, but I also don't want to just be, I don't want to feel bad all the time. And so they end up wondering, like, am I really saved if I stop feeling bad about my sin?
You know what I mean? I think there are different kinds of people based on their personalities, their upbringings, even their genetics, where some feel that sense of guilt and remorse and they have that burden when they do something wrong. It just like really gets them. Others are like, I don't think I've sinned.
Why do you call that sin? You do something, I mean, they justify themselves, they get defensive, they have a spirit of self-righteousness, like, I'm good. You know, I mean, somebody else maybe they have their problems, too. So different individuals. What would you say to a young man who felt so badly that he spoke out of turn once that he washed his own mouth out with soap? Like, do you feel like that's something that you feel like that's one of those individuals that you're talking about?
Who could that be? I see in front of me those two examples. I was just about to say, like, as you were speaking, I was like, I'm one.
Ryan was the type where... And John's the other one. You definitely, like, washed your own mouth out with soap once because you said a square word. A hundred percent I did. How old were you? I was godly... Like 18? 19? No. 24? This was last week.
No. I think I was 9, maybe 10. Oh, wow. I was old enough to be home by myself because I was home by myself. And I said a word I wasn't supposed to say and I felt so bad and I washed my mouth out.
Did you stub your toe or something or you just wanted to say it? So I had a cat. A pet cat. And the cat got spooked and ran.
Well, when cats run, they dig their claws in to get traction right across the top of my bare feet. It hurt. Oh, it hurt. And I... There was a word that came out.
And I... Oh, man. You were petrified. I felt just like the ground was going to open me and swallow me whole. So I felt bad, so I went and washed my mouth. I had a bar of soap and I licked it.
And it was terrible, but I didn't feel like that was quiet punishment enough. So I licked it again. Twice.
At home by myself. And then I told myself as soon as my parents walked in the door, tears in my face. I'm sorry I did this. I'm sorry. I was definitely the type where my mom would be like, you know what?
I'm not going to do anything, but I'm really disappointed. And I was like, OK, are you sure? Oh, gosh. And she's like, I just want you to know how much you've let me down and disappointed me. I was like, just to be clear, like no other repercussions.
I was like, I think we're going to be OK. I would rather, please. I would rather you beat me, please. But you're right.
There are those two types of individuals. I didn't think about you and I being juxtaposed that way. But I think you're right. I was like, I think I got away with this one.
That's us. I'm not going to do it again, but I'm definitely going to take this as a W. Which one were you when you were a kid? I was somewhere in the middle.
I would say so. Yeah, I would feel bad about things. I would do wrong. But I was not like super like hyper sensitive about it.
Right, right. You know, not to say that you were hyper all the time. I was.
But I was. But I was I was I was somewhere in the middle. Yeah. So I kind of balance everybody out. A balanced approach.
We represent the extremes. Yeah, I think so. I think so.
I would say, you know, for a person who may feel extreme sense of guilt and shame, maybe we need to talk to you about more about the fact that God loves you and the grace of God. True. Yeah. And this is maybe an example of how all these doctrines relate to each other, because then you bring in that assurance of salvation.
Right. You know, you end up talking about and this is this is why I think, Dr. Shah, you this show is really more important than people think, because we think that these doctrines are separated. There's one doctrine. Here's another doctrine. And you certainly end up talking start off talking about repentance and end up talking about assurance.
Yeah. And they go hand in hand and one ends up affecting the other. And then you have to let the Holy Spirit really do the work he needs to do. And if somebody needs to be moved to tears because of their sin and their disobedience, then I pray that God will not let you rest.
Right. But on the other hand, you're the person who is like prone to feeling bad and prone to feeling unworthy. Maybe you need the assurance of God, you know, not as much the conviction of God, but the assurance of God saying you're loved and yes, you are forgiven.
And yes, Christ has paid the price for all your sin, past, present, future, and that you are accepted by God. So that there's a balance there. And they don't they don't contradict each other. The repentance part of the conviction and the assurance, they don't contradict each other.
They complement each other. Right. You've been doing a series on Romans lately, and we're really looking into salvation.
I'm not necessarily we should go to Romans, but just talking about salvation, if belief and repentance are so central to salvation, why do you think it is that so many people who are genuinely saved misunderstand what repentance is? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
People people do because it has been preached or taught by the church growing up or their pastor or they heard it here and there and in a way that was slanted and it led to a misunderstanding. Yeah. And then it has repercussions because you grow up feeling either extreme sense of guilt or extreme sense of, you know, freedom to do whatever I think both of those things are terrible. True. Now, there's also some other categories there. There are people who are not necessarily assured that their sins are forgiven. They just don't care.
Wow. You know, that's a whole different category. Yeah, that's a good point. That's a good point. They don't care because it's like, yeah, I'll go to church.
Yeah, listen to that. But you know, there are hypocrites in church. So they're not feeling good about maybe maybe as is that what you were, John?
Sort of. I didn't I didn't really feel good about it. I wasn't like a I know I sinned, but I don't care. It was it was more like I know I guess it was just I trust that it's going to be OK. God says that I'm saved.
And I never struggled with losing salvation because I was never taught that that was even on the table. So it was like, yeah, I feel bad about this. I really shouldn't have done that.
But by God's grace, I'm going to try to do better next time. It was never like I need to I need to feel a certain amount of guilt in order to move on. I never really felt that. The guilt that I felt, I think I just felt until I didn't feel it anymore. I don't know.
It was never like a standard. It was like I need to I need to sit in this for a little while until I until I feel like I'm punished. I never I never felt that. Yeah. For me, it was much more of like almost like a penance mindset, like I've done this wrong.
So I have to pay for this. I have to I have to make up this because otherwise God's going to be disappointed in me. He's going to be mad at me. And that was never that was never taught explicitly. But perhaps it was communicated in different teachers that I had along the way. You know, there's a level of disappointment that God has. And that I mean, we were joking about that. But that was the worst possible reality for me as a kid was that someone that I looked up to authority figure was disappointed in me. I mean, seriously, that was that was like, world ending for us. So to think like, you know, God who the one who created me could potentially be disappointed in me.
Oh, man, that was that was heartbreaking. Sometimes sometimes I did. And I think you and I have talked about this.
And I think there's other people out there. Sometimes I felt like not not not like I felt like I believe, but I don't feel I don't feel the emotions. And I remember like in revivals in my church when everything would would.
There was like a lot of repentance and people were coming down for some reason at revivals, people who never acted this way on Sunday mornings, crying all over the altar, crying, going in the back offices, talking to like church staff. And that never happened for me. And I did start to think, I wonder if this is real. I didn't doubt my salvation, but I was like, why is this not happening for me?
I kind of on one hand, I kind of want it. On the other hand, I feel like I would be embarrassed if that was happening to me. And it just never happened.
I never had that like emotional crying experience. And I think over the years, you and I have talked about it. And I think I mentioned to you, like, I often wonder when that big emotional catharsis is going to come. I thought it would come when my kids were born.
And then it just never came. And I remember you and I talking about it and say, some people don't get them, but you have faith, you have assurance. That is a good thing. Those emotions are a good thing that God gives some people, but it's not a marker of him right. The other thing we need to talk about, because I think it's connected. And if we don't talk about it, then again, we're making the same mistake that people make where they focus more on one side of a doctrine or one part of the issue and they don't focus on the other side, which is belief. Repentance and belief, in a sense, are two sides of the same coin. Belief, the word is pistheion, a Greek verb, which is found about 96 times in the New Testament.
It is found in the epistles as the noun pistis. And the meaning of both the verb form and the noun form are a lot stronger than our English word believe or believe. Like we say, I believe the package is going to come today. It's like, oh, I think it's going to happen. Or I believe it's going to rain today.
I'm not that vested in that, it's just that it might not, maybe we're not carrying an umbrella with you. And that has the idea of, I hope. The Greek has the idea of trust.
So it's like trusting in a life jacket or trusting in a safety harness. That connotation is very important, in my opinion. So belief. So repentance, yes, it needs to happen. And it's still towards God, but it's really kind of more focused on us having a change of mind. So belief is more God-focused, and really it's about us looking to Him to help us with our salvation or help us with life or help us with whatever. It's more God-focused.
Do you feel like some Christians, or do you feel like a majority of Christians focus more on belief because it's quote unquote easier? Like it doesn't require as much from me as long as I believe Jesus. I believe He was real.
I believe He died on the cross. I believe all that stuff. I can get by on belief.
Like I think about the rich young ruler, right? Like I believe everything you're saying. I want to follow you. And he tells him, you have to repent. You have to follow me.
He's like, ah, I'm not willing to do that. I thought it was enough just to believe. Yeah, I don't think that's really ultimately the issue because many people don't want to believe. And if you're talking about belief in the sense of just a, I think God's going to take care of it, then maybe in those situations, yeah, maybe a lot of people do that.
But belief as in trusting Him, belief as in, let's talk about salvation, that trusting in what God has said in His word about my salvation through Christ, His blood on the cross for my sins, I'm trusting Him. Now that's far more than just, I think He's going to take care of it for me. Right.
In that sense, typically, like with the rich young ruler, it's like, hey, I'm bought into what you're selling. Yeah, I'm okay with it. I'm with you.
Yeah, I'm okay with it. But the belief, the trust that we are referring to here, for example, found in John 1.12, but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in His name. This is not just like, I think He's got this. This is more of like they are trusting in His name.
They know that that is the source of our adoption. John 3.16, we know this one, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I mean, you're trusting in Him, in Christ, who was given by the Father for us, so that we would not have to perish. Perish is not being obliterated. Perish means we're going to suffer forever and ever, but I'm trusting Him.
That's no passive, I trust God, I believe in Him. That's stepping out into everything, into like oblivion, knowing that this is my only hope. John 3.36, he who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him.
So this is real stakes. This belief thing is not like, hey, here's how to have a good Christian life. This is... Yeah, you just gotta believe, man. This is your eternity at stake. John 8.24, therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. That's not a... Jesus is not playing around.
Yeah, that's more than just a... I believe. Well, yeah, I believe.
Do you believe? Yeah, I believe. I believe it. Yeah. I believe so.
Kind of like the rich... I believe. I believe.
I believe on my life. There was a... I was watching Ratatouille with the kids the other day, and I think I've said this on the show before.
That's one of my favorite movies of all time. But there's a line in that movie where the chef tells the young man, I can't even remember their names, that... He's like, oh, I'm sorry to hear about your mom. And he goes, oh, no, no, that's fine.
That's fine. She believed in heaven, so she's covered after life-wise. And I love that line. It's kind of sad, but at the same time, I think so many people resonate like, I remember me and my believe in heaven. It's like she believes that heaven exists. She believes even that God is real, so we're good. That's the level of belief that demons and fallen angels have.
That's not even fair. That's a great point, by the way. That's right.
There's a great point. That's James 2.19. Yeah. That should not be the benchmark. Right.
It talks about, you believe in God, you do well. Even the demons believe in shutter. Right. You're on the same level as demons. Right.
You don't want to be there. Let's set the standard a little higher. And it's not like, really, really believe. It's not just that the intensity with which you're doing it.
It's the intent with which you're doing it. It's not like Disney believing. Like, I do believe in fairies. I do.
I do. You remember the Peter Pan, where they had to believe in the fairies when they came back? And just know, when we come to repentance, is the Holy Spirit. That's right.
That's right. When it comes to belief, again, that's also the Holy Spirit. He's the one who opens our eyes, and now we have a choice to make. Are we going to place our trust in Him, or are we going to reject Him? Some people falsely think that faith is also a gift. It is a gift to the believer, but to the unbeliever, the eyes have been opened, and the choice is left in our hands.
We have to decide. So there's an actionable step. There's something that you do.
Oh, 100%. And it's not that you're contributing to your salvation. It's not that. It's not that you are buying, you are choosing to accept what's been done. Right. And then people make that into works, and it's like, okay, now you're taking it way beyond, and this is why we get into a mess. Yeah.
Don't do that. I agree. I think even the simplest way, where it's like, if you say, hey, I'm going to do this for you, and I trust you, I'm not doing it with you. I'm just trusting that you're going to be through your work.
Or let's use the example from Christmastime. I'm giving you a gift. It's a wonderful, beautiful gift. I'm giving it to you. What are you going to do? Are you going to receive it? Are you going to accept it and open it? Or are you going to just look at me? Or are you going to throw it away?
What are you going to do? I'm going to accept it and open it and receive it. So how much did you pay for that gift?
I didn't pay squat. But you accepted it. That's paying. Yeah. You accepted it.
So you are responsible for getting yourself that gift. No. Yeah. You see, that's where people need to understand that. Don't extend the idea of salvation is totally God's work to the fact that you are accepting it. That's right. Then we become ridiculous.
You carry any analogy too far, it breaks down. So also here, that acceptance is something that the Holy Spirit has opened your eyes. And here, I believe he opens the eyes of every person that choose to not obey. I was 100%. And one of the ways I think you really helped me with my faith life, which is a really weird kind of tangential way, but it actually really helped me is in 2019, we went to Israel for the first time. I'd never been on a plane in my life. And I was freaking out before I got on the plane. But it was that freaking out where it's like, I don't want to say anything because everyone else is excited.
And if I start telling people how scared I am, it's going to bring the excitement down. But Dr. Shaw knew that I was afraid to get on the plane. So he was like, how are you feeling? And we were about to take off from RDU. And I was like, I'm not going to lie.
I'm nervous. And he was like, just trust the pilot. He was like, every single day you trust that when you go through that stoplight, you're not going to get rammed. Every single day when you drink water out of the tap, you trust you're not going to get a disease.
You live your life trusting in all sorts of things outside of your control. And weirdly, it helped. And I remember when that plane took off and it was that initial like tensing up. But seeing that we were in the air and I was like, yeah, this is fine. And I never was afraid again. And I remember that analogy, anytime I start to be afraid that I'm like outside of my control, I'm like, no, I have faith every single day of my life in very mundane things. And God has always brought us through.
That's a great point. Yeah. So good.
So good. I can't remember the name of the, was it Jennifer the Rodan? I'm trying to remember her name.
Jennifer M. Jennifer M. Jennifer, thank you for writing in. And that sparked a great discussion on faith and on repentance and what it truly is. I think so many times we're taught either explicitly or implicitly the wrong things about repentance. You need to feel a certain level of sorrow.
And Dr. Shaw, if I'm hearing you correctly, I think usually your answer is live your life somewhere in the middle. You don't constantly have to be feeling guilt over your sin, but also you should not be taking the grace of God for granted. There's a healthy amount of feeling, I guess. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Right. That's been helpful for me. And I pray that it's helpful for you listeners as well. Make sure you guys join us tomorrow.
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