How The Truth Can Set You Free, Part 7

Welcome to this weekend's In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley. Jesus said, You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Let's hear how the faithful application of God's Word results in a life of liberty that transcends circumstances.

You'll see one when Jesus said, If you abide in my word or continue in my word, then are you true to my disciples and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you or set you free. And you recall we mentioned the fact that there are three categories of attitudes we have to deal with in our life, one of them being insecurity, inferiority, inadequacy. And those three things come all kinds of problems of frustration, worry, doubt, fear, and all the rest. And even though you're saved, know that you're saved, no question in your mind about it. Why is it we do not enjoy living the Christian life with the confidence and assurance and success and triumph that God wants us to have?

So just to refresh your memory for a moment and remind you that there are three truths in the scripture. They encompass all of these problems that you and I have a better attitudes. And that is, first of all, that we have a position in Jesus Christ, a position that does something for us.

For example, a man becomes the president of the United States. He has a position with that position comes tremendous power. When you and I were baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ Jesus, which happened at our salvation experience, with that new position came a whole new perspective. So our position is the first truth, and that is our relationship to Christ.

Secondly, who we are in Jesus Christ. That is, we were brought into this new position. He says this new position, this new relationship also would bring to realization who we are. He says we're his saints.

We're his ambassadors. And we went through a whole series of what God says about who we are in Christ Jesus. And then the third perspective is what we have in him because of this relationship to him. So we're talking about our position, our person and our possessions. Now, when you think about what your position is and who you are, according to what God says and what you and I possess. Now, we're not talking about what we're going to have when we get to heaven. We're talking about what we have here and now, according to the word. When you and I put those three things together, our position, our possession, our personage, that is who we are on the basis of this relationship.

My friend, there is no real legitimate basis for feeling insecure, inferior and inadequate. So here we are on this particular message talking about our possessions in Christ. You recall last time we said we had several possessions. First of all, he said in Ephesians chapter one, he says that God the Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ, has deposited in heaven to our account everything we'll ever need in the face of this earth so long as we'll live. He says, likewise, that you and I have become the joint heirs of the inheritance that God is providing for us. And thirdly, he says not on that, but we have access to this inheritance here and now, not when we get to heaven, but here and now. In 2 Peter chapter one, in these two verses, and these two verses are just loaded about what we are talking about as far as what we have in him. So let's begin with verse one and read down through verse four.

Simon Peter, a bondservant, or slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Now listen, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. For by these, by his own glory and excellence, he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises in order that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now, that may sound like a lot of jargon for just a moment, but I want us to look at those two verses in the light of our security, of our worthiness, and of our adequacy to meet any and every circumstance of life.

So the first thing he says in this passage that you and I possess, listen, that is on the basis of the cross, the baptism of the Holy Spirit of our lives into Christ Jesus, making us one in him and he living within us, we become the children of God. Now he says, one of our possessions as a result of that relationship is this, that you and I have every single thing we will ever need on this earth to live a godly, successful, triumphant, victorious Christian life. Now listen to what he says and the impact of this promise, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. What does it take for you and me to live the Christian life in a way that God desires that we live it, and secondly, in a way that is fulfilling for his purpose for our life? Well, first of all, for me to live that life, I need the truth. He says he's granted to us every single thing we'll need.

Forgiveness, yes, on a daily basis. He says the power of the Holy Spirit in our life, we need that. We need faith, we need understanding, we need truth. Every single thing we need, he says, listen, seeing that by his divine power he has granted to us everything that pertains to life and godliness, that is the living a godly life in Christ Jesus.

I want you to notice two things here. First of all, how did we get it? He says he granted it to us by his divine power. Now the word granted here in the tense it is, in the perfect tense, passive tense, which means that in times past, God executed something.

And having executed in the past, he is continuing in our life what he executed in the past so that, now watch this word. Notice what he says, he says he has granted to us. That word means more than just the fact that he gave it. The word means that a that a large hand of generosity. It was a large hand of generosity that gave to us everything we need, which means that God Almighty himself has given to us not just a little bit, but he says he granted to us. The day we were saved, he placed within us at our disposal everything we would ever need.

He says he granted to us, that is a wide bountiful generous hand from God, gave to us everything we would ever need in order to live success of the Christian life. Now it's one thing to have it, it's something else to be told that I have it. It's something else to know how to put it into action.

It's something else to claim it for myself. It's something else to execute it in my daily life. But God says he has given to us every single thing we will ever need to live a godly life in Christ Jesus.

If God allows or puts up places or whatever you want to say, you remember this, he has done that only after he has placed at our disposal that which we need to live victorious of the Christian life. Let me show you what that means. What he's saying is this, that God has given to us every single thing we need to live a godly life in him. That came through our knowledge, our saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And he says that God appealed to us in this manner.

That when you were saved, God made his appeal to you through his own glory and excellence. And here's what that means, that God makes his appeal to lost men today, not on the basis of hell, fire and damnation. But he says, I'm appealing to you to give me your life. I'm appealing that you will respond to my gift of goodness and grace you. He says, I'm appealing to you on the basis of my love and goodness and mercy and generosity. I'm appealing you on the basis that I am God and you need to be saved. I'm appealing on the basis that you can become the person you that I have equipped you to be. And so he says, I make my appeal to you on the fact that I'm willing to accept you as a sinner as you are. I'm willing to accept you, redeem you, reconcile you. I'm willing to make you a brand new creation.

That's God's appeal. Listen, how can you turn down, my friend, when Almighty God is saying to you, I'm willing to accept you just like you are. I'm willing to change you step by step. I'm willing to move into your life and forgive you of your sins. I'm going to take you right where you are in your self condemnation, in your rejection, your inadequacy, your inferiority, your sense of insecurity, your sense of worthlessness that you don't belong.

Everything that is as you absolutely clouded and smothered and choking the very life out of you. God says, look, don't try to correct anything. I'll take you just the way you are. If you're willing to accept, ask me to forgive you, willing to accept me as your Savior, Lord, willing to yield your life to me. I'll turn your life around and make you a new creature.

Let me ask you a question. What do you have to lose, my friend? When God Almighty has offered all of that and he says he's offered it on the basis of grace. That is, there isn't anything you can do to pay for it, to merit it, work for it, nothing you can do but by faith, bend your stubborn rebellious will and say, Lord Jesus, not my will, but thine be done. And you see so many people who say, well, I would become a Christian, but I know I can't live it. What he says in this passage is that Almighty God, when you are saved, you are equipped with everything it will ever take to live it victoriously.

But you need to be informed about what you have. You need to be taught about how to get this into your life, executed in your life on a daily practical basis. Verse four, something else he says we have because of this relationship to him. For by these, that is his glory and excellence, his appeal and what that appeal has brought our salvation. He has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises in order that by them, you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that's in this world by lust. Now, listen, he says he's granted to you that is out of these mighty hands of God, out of these mighty omnipotent hands of his, he says that he's reached out to you and he said, there, there's everything you will ever need to live the Christian life godly, successfully, triumphantly, everything you'll ever need in these godly, omnipotent, all-sufficient, ever adequate hands of Almighty God. Now, let me ask you a question.

If that's true, what in the world are you worried about? In other words, he says he's already granted. Now, watch this, for by these he has granted to us his precious promises.

Now, watch this. He didn't say you're going to get his promise. He didn't say you're going to have a promise.

He says that in times past, Almighty God executed something. God Almighty granted to you and me in the past, every single promise that our Almighty God in his omniscience could come up with, he has granted that to us. Having executed that, all of them have been available to us from the moment we've been saved. He didn't say you're going to get a promise. He said they're already yours.

They have already been deposited to your account. Listen, for by these he has granted to us, now watch this, two words. He didn't say God's promises. He said magnificent, precious promises. Now, precious means, watch, precious means, and you see, Peter didn't write this.

He penned what God wrote and put it in his mind to write. God said on the basis of his judgment, this isn't man's judgment, this is God's judgment, on the basis of divine judgment, on the basis of omniscience, knowing everything, God says those promises are tremendous in value. He says not only that, and the word he uses here for magnificent is tremendous.

The Greek word is megas. So he didn't say that God's just given you and me some promises. He said he has, listen, what did he say? That these great mighty hands have given to us, now watch the full meaning, have given to us already in the past, they are in our present possession here and now, and that word granted means in our present possession, no strings attached. It's a work of grace. In God's almighty omnipotent hands, he has reached out to you and me and he has given to us, we have on our account every single promise in this book and he says they are magnificent promises. That is, listen, it's like God's capsules and they are megadoses of God's grace.

That's what he's saying. Every single promise is a megadose of God's grace toward you and me. And if you deserve any of them, not a one. Any of you ever seen a promise of God that came up short?

No. Any of you ever seen a situation, a problem, a heartache, a burden that God was not more than sufficient? And many of us have been through deep, deep, deep trials and heartaches in our lives?

Has God's remedy ever come up short? He says they are megadoses. They are magnificent, magnificent megadoses, mega capsules of God's grace. Listen, and they are what?

They are designed and fitted and programmed just to meet your particular need at that time. And what I'm saying to you is that all of us have every single promise God's ever given. We have it. He says he's already given it to us. In the past tense, he says perfect passage. He gave it to us. He executed.

We have it now. And it is God's purpose to so work in your life and my life that our life is an ongoing experience of doing what? Continuously claiming the promises of God, claiming his health, claiming his healing, claiming his wisdom, claiming his direction.

How can I use that? How can you claim all that? Because, you see, here's the problem. Here's what God wants us to do. He wants us to look at his word. So what does he do? He wants us to take every need we have and stack it against the word.

Well, here's what he said. For by these he has granted to us his precious, magnificent megadoses of grace in order that what? By them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that's in the world by lust. So he says there's a third thing that you and I have. And the third thing we have in this passage is that you and I have victory over sin in this life. Listen, he says now by these magnificent promises, one of those promises is my forgiveness and salvation, my forgiveness on a daily basis and all the rest that goes with that. He says that we might become partakers.

That means a sharer. It's the same word in the Greek of koinonia, which is fellowship. That in fellowshipping with him, listen, here's the key. In fellowshipping with him, what? In fellowshipping with him, we escape the overwhelming defeat by corruption, which is the result of lust. So he says it is in our fellowship. Now listen, when you and I are fellowshipping with him, we're talking with him, listening to him, claiming his promises in the word, seeking to know him better, it is in our fellowship with him that we find the way out when temptation comes. It is in our fellowship that we understand more of what he's like as God quietly reveals himself. And so oftentimes, so simply, he can tell us the most precious, beautiful truths.

And we're just being quiet, listening to him, focusing on a promise. God knew that you and I all of our life would need not his assistance, but his very life. And you see what he's saying in this passage is this. He says, I've already given you everything you'll ever need to live a godly life. Secondly, he says, every promise in the book's mine, and I've given it to you with my great large hands of grace and love and mercy. He says, I have already given to you every single promise, valuable, precious, magnificent promises given by God.

And he says, they're yours. And as you exercise these promises, he says, you'll be able to escape the slimy, slick, tar-like, gluey, molasses-like, carnality and fleshliness that's all over this world. He says, you'll be able to live your life in the grace of God, in the power of God, in the peace of God, in the purity of God, in the prosperity of God.

How? Just resting on what he's already provided. You see, that's why the believer's life is a walk. It's a walk in grace. It's a walk in spirit. It's a walk in faith.

It's a walk in love. And friend, I don't know who you are or where you are, but I can tell you this. Until you discover by faith what I'm talking about, you're going to spend your life and wonder what's missing, and I can tell you what's missing.

Jesus Christ and all that comes with having him as your Savior, your Lord, your Master, and your life. Thank you for listening to part seven of How the Truth Can Set You Free. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.