The Key to Liberty - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, June 16. It's really hard to live the Christian life.

In fact, by yourself, it's impossible. Learn why that concept is truly liberating in today's podcast, centering in Galatians chapter two. I want, if you will, to turn to John chapter eight for a moment. And I want us to look at something here in the 31st verse of the eighth chapter of John. Because he tells us something that is very essential if you and I are to be free. And when we talk about liberty and freedom, let me describe what we are talking about. We are talking about liberty and freedom as believers from attempting to live up to the law, live up to rules and regulations made by man, living up to self-imposed expectations that we think God has upon us, which he does not.

So he says in John chapter eight, verse 31, Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. And if you continue in my word, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The only way to be free is to know the truth. And one of the primary reasons so many people are in bondage to all kinds of hang-ups, all kinds of self-imposed expectations, trying to live up to something God never intended us to live up to, the reason we're in bondage is because of our ignorance. We do not know the truth. He says you shall know the truth if you do what? Continue in my word.

And it's very important you see that for the rest of what I'm going to say. It isn't what we do that frees us, it is what the truth does. When you and I are able to accept the truth of God, we become free. Romans chapter six, what does he say? Verse three says, Know ye not that so many of us as who were baptized were baptized into his death, therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in what kind of life?

Whose life? Christ's life. For we have been, if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this that our old man, what you were before you were saved, has been once and for all crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, rendered inoperable no longer has its power, shall henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead, that is to its power is freed from its power so that we no longer listen, we no longer are in bondage to sin. That doesn't mean I've been freed from his presence. It doesn't mean that I can't choose to sin again.

But I do not have to live in bondage to sin because I've been placed in the life of Jesus Christ. He said my old life was crucified with him. And if I've been crucified with him, he says, Nevertheless, I live but now who lives? Christ lives within you.

Listen, if you have been say, Listen, you may act like your own self, but you know whose fault that is, it's your own fault. He says you're not being crucified with Christ. Nevertheless we live, yet not I but Christ liveth within me. Every single believer is has been crucified with Christ.

They say here's our problem. Somebody told us that we were saved by the grace of God. He forgave us for our past sins. Most of us how many of us were taught that when we were saved, God forgave us for our sins. We trust him for our forgiveness. And one of these days we're going to heaven.

But nobody told us he took care of all of it past, present and future. I've heard preachers. I've heard famous evangelists say when you stand in the judgment of God, he's going to cut the movie project on and all of your sins over all your past are going to be seen. The whole world is going to see your wickedness.

You're going to stand before God in his judgment and all the fire and hail and brimstone. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And the rafters just went.

The only problem with this for believers, that's not so. You're not going to see any movies of your past because God says they've been wiped out and you know what? The film has been exposed to light. You take a roll of film out of your camera that you've been treasuring, you take it out in the light and look at it. And then you send it off to be developed and you get it back all right, solid black. No pictures.

Why? Because it was exposed to light. You know what God says to us? That almighty God through his son Jesus Christ exposed all of those negatives to light and we have been freed from it all. No sin can be laid to our account because it was all nailed to the cross, Jesus Christ alone.

Now watch this. When he was crucified, we were crucified. He was buried, we were buried. He arose, we arose. In newness of life, we have newness of life.

2000 years later, you and I have indwelling us the very eternal life of almighty God through Jesus Christ. But now watch what Paul said. Paul said, I tried to live up to the law and I couldn't live up to the law. He said the very law that was there condemned me, ridiculed me, rendered me helpless and absolutely totally guilty before God. But he says Jesus Christ kept how much of the law? All the law. He fulfilled every bit of the law. Watch this.

I could shout at this point. Listen, God nailed all your disobedience, my disobedience, our violation of the law, our failure to keep the law. He nailed all of that upon Jesus Christ who kept the total law, was crucified because of the law.

Therefore what? Listen, God the Father had him crucified in order to vindicate the requirements of the law for mankind, which all mankind failed to keep. Therefore when Jesus Christ went to the cross, he took the punishment for the failure of keeping the law for every single one of us. And friend, when you and I see ourselves having been crucified with him, having been placed in the line of eternal life and he has paid the penalty, that frees us once and for all for ever having to keep the law because he already kept it. He was the penalty and the substitute for all of us who could not keep it and therefore we are no longer required to keep the law. Now the law can make no requirement upon anyone who has already been punished for failing to keep the law. Listen, what was the penalty of failing to keep the law?

Alright, so Jesus Christ the Substitution took the penalty of the law for you and me, therefore we can never be penalized for not keeping the law because the penalty has already been paid that freed us from keeping the law. Now we are not talking about necessarily some ceremonial law and just keeping the Ten Commandments because listen it applies to man-made laws that you and I must live up to to be made acceptable for God. Legalism in the church, don't do this, don't do that, you must do this, you must do the other because if you don't, God's not going to love you and God's going to hold it over you. That's not what the scripture says. Listen, our responsibility as believers is, listen, by faith to receive the life of Jesus Christ and allow him to live his life in and through us day by day, not living up to any expectation but simply abiding and resting and trusting in him.

We're not under bondage. Listen, God doesn't expect anything of you except to fail. He's all, now wait a minute, God's got to expect something of you.

Watch this. If he expected something of you and thought you could do, then what did he say to Paul? Crucify. Now Jesus Christ is living his life within you. Listen, if we could have made it, why did Jesus Christ send the Holy Spirit to live the life in us if we could have made it without it?

No way. Listen, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, his ascension to the Father's right hand, he says, I'll send the Holy Spirit to the comforter. He'll be in you with you and upon you. If we could have made it, listen, if we could have made it in this life at all, the Spirit of God would not have come. He came to live and abide within you and me because almighty God knew there was not within us the slightest bit of strength, the slightest bit of potential to living up to any kind of righteousness whatsoever.

Here's a good example. Proof of that is that Peter walked with Jesus three years. At the end of three years, what was Peter doing?

Denying, lying as much a failure after three years as he was before. And it was not until Jesus Christ was crucified, resurrected, went to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit back through the Holy Spirit, Peter became an entirely different man. You know why? Because Peter didn't have it in him to live the Christian life though he had walked and watched and heard the Son of God for three solid years. You know why Jesus Christ has come to live his life and your life and mine? Because, friend, the truth is that we are failures. And I hate to tell you this, but until you come to the place in your spiritual life where you're able to see yourself within yourself as a failure to be what God wants you to be, you are going to miss the exchange life. Now let me tell you the big problem here.

Here's the problem. If a fellow is gifted or talented, now watch this, or really committed to serving the Lord in this church, and is willing to serve and willing to give time and willing to give money, willing to do everything the pastor asks him to do when it comes to service, now please listen to me. Friend, I don't want you to miss this for anything. Listen. Oftentimes that man who is so capable, so talented, so willing to serve, for him to reach the point where he says, me? A failure?

No way. He says, I give more than a tithe. I'm a deacon or I sing in the choir. I'm here on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, take notes on the sermons.

Be sure to get these down. Watch this. Take notes on the sermons. Teach Sunday school. I do all these things. Now you tell me preacher, how can you say that I'm a failure? Notice the things I just mentioned. They were all actions, activities.

Said nothing about what a man is. So I have to ask that dear brother or that dear sister, why are you doing all of these things? Is it because it makes you, listen, to feel more acceptable to God?

You can't be any more accepted than you are. Why do you do these things? Does it make you feel good that you have God's approval? You've already got his approval.

Why do you do these things? Well, do you feel that somehow if you do all of this, that will sort of take care of the things you failed to do? If God sees all the good, he won't see this.

Has nothing to do with it. Here's what I want you to see. The truth is, friend, every single one of us, I within myself am a miserable, flopping failure when it comes to the Christian life. It is only by the grace and the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God, and that's it. Now listen to me carefully. I'm not giving you some preacher talk, and I'm not preaching you a sermon. I'm telling you with all of my heart, and I've been there. And the first time God ever put it to me that I was a failure, you know what I did?

I started telling him all the reasons. I was willing to agree that I had failed many times, and I even was honest enough to list a bunch of those. But when God so clearly said to me, no, you are a failure when it comes to living righteously.

You can't do it. And I want to tell you something. When I saw that, and I was able to not just think about that theologically, but when I was able to say, Lord, with all of my heart, God, you are right.

And when I was willing emotionally and mentally and spiritually to say, Lord, you're right. I am a failure. And the real truth is that old Charles Stanley won't ever really get any better. The truth is, he never has been improved. He won't get any better. He can't get any better. Because you never intended to do what I've tried to do, and that's to improve him.

You want him replaced with somebody else's life. But I want to tell you something. I've read this book every day of my life, with a very few exceptions, since I was 12 years of age.

I've read it. I've prayed. God knows the heart of my soul has been to obey him, and I've disobeyed him many, many, many times, but my heart has been to obey him.

And I could throw all that up to God, none of that counted. When I could perceive in my spirit, God, you are right. I within myself am a failure and could recognize and accept by faith when Jesus Christ was crucified, I was on a cross with him. Now he lives within me, and I don't have to try anymore, impress anybody, live up to any standards.

I don't have to do any of that anymore. It is no longer my trying, but just trusting him to be everything in me he wants to be. Doesn't mean I'm sinless, but I can tell you this, brother, God began to free my spirit, but not until I was persuaded. When I looked at the facts as Jesus showed them to me, not until I could honestly confess, Lord Jesus, you are right. I am a failure as a Christian. And when I saw that and realized that he knew that all along, and all my trying was in vain, and what he wanted me to do is just to allow him to do what he'd been trying to do for 40 some years, he freed me. No longer seeking approval and the applaudments of men, but just resting and trusting in Jesus Christ as my life. Crucifixion, the realization of it, the actuality of it, the faith of it, the recognition of it, the acknowledgement is essential if you and I are going to be free. It is coming to the place of seeing myself and yourself as a spiritual failure within ourselves.

Now listen to me. Isn't the real truth that you are a spiritual failure? I mean, if you strip off your works, strip off all of the things you're depending upon, and there's just you left, isn't the real truth that you're a failure? You don't keep your mind clean all the time. You don't think good thoughts about other folks all the time. Not absolutely deadly honest all the time. Don't always every single solitary little time tell the truth. Don't live for years without being covetous or lustful.

The truth is, friend, we can't. I'm simply saying this to you, that when it comes to living up to the standard of scripture, you're a failure. And when you're able to tell him, Lord, I really am, and I'm accepting your life as my life, and I'm believing you for that, God will begin to free you. And I just want for you what God wants for you.

I'm not telling him you ought to have something else. I'm saying all I want for you is what God wants for you. Freedom and liberty in the Spirit to become the maximum of what God sees as your potential. Thank you for listening to part two of The Key to Liberty. 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.