Do you realize that God has made you like no other person in the entire world? That He has gifted you and prepared you to do a good work, a specific purpose that no one can fulfill just like you? Today, you'll learn how to discover that.
Stay with me. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge is an international discipleship ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Druey. And in this program, Chip continues his series, Discover Your True Self with a Distinction, really a comparison of two words that's going to change everything about how you think about yourself and how you think about God.
Well, here's the thing, and I'm so excited about this. Once you get clear on how they differ, you'll be free to pursue your life in Christ with a gusto you've never imagined. Well, just before we get started, let me encourage you to try using Chip's message notes while you listen. They're full of scripture references and his detailed outline.
Chip's notes are a quick download when you go to livingontheedge.org and click Listen Now or tap Fill in Notes on the app. Well, Chip's in Ephesians Chapter 2, so if you have a Bible, turn there now and let's jump in. God has solved your problem and my problem. God has solved the problem for whosoever will.
God wants to eradicate and obliterate, not just theologically your guilt, but the experience of guilt and guilty feelings so that you can live a free life. Notice how he did it. This is his provision. This is his solution. Verse 8, for it is by grace that you have been saved. Now, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, notice it is a gift from God. It's not of works. No amount of trying hard, no amount of re-upping, no amount of willpower.
You can't solve this. And the reason is so that no one can boast. Grace, the free, unmerited love of God that put Christ upon the cross after living a perfect life to be your substitute to pay for your sin, to atone. That's what the word means.
He covered it. All that you deserved and I deserved was placed upon Christ and that's why he said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because the Father turned away for the Son in that millisecond because the just condemnation and anger of God was placed on Christ so it shouldn't be on me. And just as I was imputed or given hereditarily the sin of Adam, now I get the imputed righteousness of Christ. That's who you really are.
It's true. Our restoration can only begin, however, when we recognize the full extent of our need. I think so many Christians, even people, I think come here to our church. I think it's a lot of, hey, I want to be a better person. I want my kids to turn out right.
I want a good life and the music's good and you take good care of our kids and the messages are kind of helpful for me to adjust around life and some of them are even inspirational and motivational and, but you've never crossed the line. You're still in control. This is like Jesus helped me so I can have my life the way I want it to figure out what I want to do because I know what's best about being happy.
You haven't received the gift. You don't believe God is who he really is. You still suddenly believe down deep in your heart that if you surrender all, if you say I'm going to follow him, I'm going to go public, I'm going to live out this life that, oh, my lands. Your income will probably go down. He'll probably ask you to do some hard and difficult thing.
Is that what you would do with your kids? His plans are best for you. But you have to reach the sense of your need. It's a gift.
Some of you are just kind of outside of Christ and this is all kind of new and it sounds too good to be true. Remember our series on generosity? I wrote something down and I'm trying to live it out. I'm making progress inch by inch and in that I told you that I long to become known in heaven and on earth an extraordinarily generous person.
Not that anyone would see it but that was my prayer before God. And so this was, I don't know, several weeks ago at Costco and I was checking out. I was by myself picking up some stuff and it was very obvious the couple and small kid behind me were struggling financially. And they were trying to figure out can we put this in or that in and they had a number of things. It was a pretty good little. And so I, you know, like you do, I give my thing, I pay my thing. And I saw it and then I whispered, I said, put theirs on mine.
Okay, just let me take care of that. And the guy heard me. What? I said, no, no, no, no, man. I've just been really, really blessed. I would be so honored if you would let me pay for yours. Just, I mean, just, just, just, you know what?
Just would love to bless you today. No, no, no, man. Hey, no, no, no, no. I said, no, I, I just, would you? Wouldn't let me. Wouldn't let me.
Why would anyone turn down, you know, $125 to $150 worth of groceries? He needed it. I knew he needed it.
I heard him talking with his wife. Why? I can do this myself. I don't need your help. I don't need charity. I, I, I, I, pride, pride, pride.
How in the world could people turn down the gift of salvation? How come? Well, I want the benefits. I want a little help, but I'm going to be in control.
Guess what? That guy got to stay in control. Bless you, buddy. And not only that, he hurt my feelings.
He did. Listen to your laughter as you hurt God's feelings. Are you willing to receive God's best?
Or are you so smart and so wise in yourself that you're going to stay in control? It is by grace that you're saved. Yes, but notice, through faith, the source is 100% grace.
Write that down. But the reception is through faith. This is all of your salvation is a gift, and it is apprehended or received by your action of faith. You trust. You believe. You transfer. God, I need your help.
I'm desperate. My dad came to faith and overcame his guilt when he said, I can't do this, and my insides and my anxiety, and I can only chew so much gum. I bet he went through 1,500 packs of gum the first year. I mean, he wasn't smoking.
He wasn't drinking. He had to do something. I shared the gospel. He started reading the Bible. And I still remember he said, you know, he's a Marine.
I love Marines. He said, Chip, how do you get this Jesus? I said, I didn't know at the time. I was a Christian, but I was uninformed. And I said, I just started reading the Bible, Dad. And so he gets up 5 a.m., reads the Bible for an hour every morning, more than most Christians.
He kept reading through the gospels. He goes, I'm not sure, but it has something to do with faith. I said, Dad, I think it has everything to do with faith.
And my father, big Marine, advanced degrees, this family that on the outside looked good, educated, polite, all the kids do well in school, all the kids do well in athletics, externally, like a lot of you all, we look squeaky clean, and behind it, an alcoholic father, an enabler, a rebellious child, a compliant child, an eating disorder, and a rescuer. And my dad got on his knees at the end of his bed with the four laws, and God has a wonderful plan for my life. And he said, Lord Jesus, I have sinned against you. I've done many things wrong, and I've killed thousands of people. I can't imagine how you could forgive me. But your word says that you died in my place, and so I'm asking you right now, will you forgive me and come into my life right now? And my dad could whip him, not taking drinks, but he could never get rid of his guilt until he trusted Christ.
And then a journey started, an amazing journey, with a lot of ups and a lot of downs. Can I ask you, have you ever trusted Christ? Not just believed it's true, but have you received Jesus as your Savior? And if you haven't, today's the day.
Don't walk out of this room, or don't turn off your video, until you just bow your head and say, am I going to be like the guy at Costco? Or am I going to receive this free gift? The result, no condemnation. No condemnation. Therefore, there is no condemnation, what?
For those who are, underline the little two things, in Christ, Jesus. There's no condemnation. There's no guilt. All your guilt has been paid for.
Now here's the key, here's what you're asking. If there's no condemnation and I don't have any theological guilt, why do I still have guilt feelings? Write two words in your notes. Write the word condemnation and write the word conviction. We could call it, instead of condemnation, you could actually call it guilt, if we were thinking theologically. Let's just go with condemnation. The goal of condemnation, you do something wrong, condemnation says, I am a bad person. The author of condemnation is the enemy.
He's the accuser of the brethren, Revelation 12, 10. The goal of condemnation is to make you feel unworthy, a terrible person, that makes you not want to get around God, not want to pray and not make things right. That's condemnation. That's not from God.
This is usually broad and generic. You're a terrible father, you're a terrible pastor, you're a louse, that's what I hear. Conviction, the author is the Holy Spirit. Conviction is not, I'm a bad person because you're a son or you're a daughter of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Conviction is, I had a bad behavior or a bad thought. I have sinned against God or someone and the Holy Spirit is pointing this very specifically out. Over here, God is, your attitude toward one of your kids of unforgiveness is wrong and that will produce poison in you and destruction in your relationship. Confess it to me, make it right with him. That television show, that site that you logged on, that third glass of wine, that eating that you have, I've already spoke to you about your attitude toward.
It will be very specific, the author is the Holy Spirit. The goal is that you specifically know what happens and the response, if you confess your sins, it just means agree with God. You don't hide, you don't excuse, you don't complain, you don't blame, it's not my fault. You're right, I have a terrible attitude toward my son. You're right, I was harsh with my husband or my wife. You're right, actually, I would call it a white lie but it's a lie.
You're right, I didn't do this at work when I said I did, I lied in the meeting. Will you forgive me? And the Holy Spirit will draw you close to the Father because the goal is to reconnect your fellowship with God. When we mess up in God's family, he doesn't kick us out of the family, he brings it to our attention so he can draw us back close to him so that we can get the very best and become the most Christ-like son or daughter.
Does that make sense? Condemnation, conviction. Now what many of us do, he shows us something, we bury it.
We just bury it. We feel guilty and our warped view of God, you think God's down on you so you don't pray and you don't apologize to your wife or your son and you don't deal with the issue and you push it down and then you push it down. And then because when you have guilt, real guilt, it does something in your soul.
But three or four beers or a couple shots or a joint or some shopping or in my case, work, sort of covers it over for just a little while. But you always have to come back and face you. And pretty soon you can live a life where your conscience, that little antenna God has given you to say right or wrong, yes or no, becomes seared and bent. And that's why many, many Christians can literally feel no guilt and yet their finances demonstrate they're in complete disobedience to God. They can feel no guilt and yet be sexually active or logging on to pornography in direct disobedience to God. Here's the problem. That will bring about destruction in your life and your relationships and it will break God's heart. And the whole story of the prodigal son was he's just looking for sons and daughters just to come back. Are you ready for this?
It's amazing the weight that comes off. I blew it. But it can't be a secret. You've got to confess it to God and to someone safe where healing occurs. And then the exciting part is embracing the beauty of God's recreation.
Notice there's another reason. For we've been saved by grace. Well, the reason for you are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in the dance for you to do. Circle the word workmanship. We get our word poem. It's the picture of a tapestry.
It's the picture of an artist or a potter and he's made something magnificent. You now in Christ are not only wanted and secure and valuable and competent. You're beautiful and God says from the foundations of the earth I created you.
And then yes there was disobedience and you were separated from me. Now I've rescued you and so on two counts. One, I made you. Your eye color, your height, your personality. All of that I actually dig it. I love it like I'm the author. And now your inner qualities I see you through my son Jesus. You're beautiful. You're this tapestry that's being woven. And the back side has a lot of knots and there's a lot of problems and there's a lot of struggles.
But I just want the front side is getting more and more and more beautiful and that's what I see. Jot down if you will. You are his masterpiece and then notice you're uniquely gifted and beautiful in your inward character and your outward appearance in God's eyes.
As you go to the back page there's a very specific way for you and me to see ourselves. The top two lies that we believe in this area is that I'm a bad person. My past mistakes and guilty feelings confirm that I'm dirty, ugly and unlovable.
You would be shocked how many people in this room feel that way. I'm a bad person. God I'm a good person in God's eyes who does some occasional bad things. I'm a bad person. I feel ugly. I feel unlovable.
Guess what? When that's the view of you, you talk about problems in every relationship. And people that have been abused emotionally or especially sexually this is how they see themselves.
It's a lie. The second lie is if only I could be as beautiful and talented and morally pure as you fill in the person then I would be happy. So where we go is we compare ourselves to someone else. I feel ugly. I feel dirty. I feel unworthy. But if I look like her, if I could do that, if I could play the violin, if I could play the piano, if I was a CEO, if I made a lot of money, if I, if I, if I, if I.
And then you go down those paths and the saddest people are the ones who achieve. It's like the interview I heard for the quarterback of the Super Bowl. He said everyone thinks when you win the Super Bowl it's going to be this awesome thing.
It never delivers what we thought it would. He said my advantage is as a follower of Christ I knew it wouldn't. But here's the truth you review. My soul, the real me, my physical appearance, my natural talents and my personality in their unchanging aspects.
I mean this isn't saying we can't improve. But my soul, the real me, my physical appearance, I'm not going to get over six foot. I can't change my eye color. I have a personality.
There's strengths to it and weaknesses to it. But in their unchanging aspects are beautiful in God's sight. Are you ready? He is my designer and maker. Why? Listen carefully. You are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. As we close I was trying to figure out how to communicate and process this and I jotted something in my journal that at least maybe will give some of you some hope. And here's after this passage in studying it I wrote I confess Jesus that so very often I think and emote and ponder all of this like some theoretical truth or mathematical equation that you died for my sin and in my place. You rose from the grave. You conquered death, sin and Satan. And now what's true of you is true of me. And by faith I've put my trust in your work on the cross and resurrection.
And indeed all that is 100% true. But the reality that correct doctrine doesn't reach into my heart and the depth of my heart and being and emotions until I grasp afresh you the fully human man with human pain and grief and exhaustion and anguish. It's not God the force.
It's God the person. You voluntarily suffered this pain, emotional nearly a breakdown, relational betrayal, desertion by your closest friends and the worst of all the rejection by your father. And in that moment you allowed all my sin and the sins of everyone else to be placed on you and the anger of the father was justly toward evil.
Not just the principle or the philosophy but real evil in each one of us. And you did all that to bring Chip Ingram one human being made in your image, fallen, insecure, fearful, guilty and completely unworthy into a safe, secure, eternal relationship of incomprehensible love and acceptance. Filled now with purpose and power and gifts and to think that my older brother the Lord Jesus says without any shame, he's my friend. I confess so often I fail to remotely grasp this new life and the reality of this process but even when I faintly begin to even get a glimpse, it births some overwhelming gratitude and I have this compelling desire to obey you and to honor you because of your love, not because of my guilt. And I want to love others more and more and treat them the way you do regardless of how they look or what they've done or what they believe. Please enlighten me further that the eyes of my heart might know you Jesus better and better and better as you are and as a result I might see myself more and more as you see me.
It's a journey, folks. You don't have to live a guilt-ridden life. You're not guilty anymore. Will you bow your head and let me pray for you? Holy, holy Father, I'd ask you in this moment for those who have not received Christ and accepted your gifts that in their seat or on their screen or as they're listening driving somewhere at some time that in this very moment they would turn to you with all their heart and in desperation admit their need, confess their sin and ask you to come into their life right now and forgive them and purpose by your power and your grace to walk with you. And Lord, I pray that you would allow the fact that there is no more guilt for those that are in Christ Jesus to sink in like never before. In Jesus' name, amen. For those of you who just prayed with me, all of heaven is rejoicing right now because you have passed from the kingdom of darkness into God's kingdom of light. Your eternity with God and everyone in heaven is a done deal. Your eternal life begins right now. Yes, you have a lot to learn and maturity is a journey, but I want you to know that right now because of the blood of Jesus Christ and you placing your faith in what He has done that you are now His child. It's the reason Jesus came.
It's the reason He lived His life before us and showed us what the Father was like and died in your place and my place to pay for our sin and rose from the dead to prove that it's true. And for others, this is not the first time the Lord has really spoken to you, but you keep resisting. You keep getting up to that line and you know deep in your heart, this is what I need to do. And then you think of all the implications of what people would think and what might have to change and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And internally, you say something like, well, maybe I'll do it later or I'm sure I'll do it later. And in action is saying to God, no, thank you. Let me read a passage from the book of Acts says, God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man that He has appointed speaking of Jesus.
So let me encourage you on this day to seriously ponder your life. And here's a prayer. Just say to God, God, I want to believe, reveal yourself to me in a way that I can understand, and then have your eyes open.
Pursue Him, be open. God will answer that prayer. He's always looking for people that are honest and sincere.
He promises, seek me and you'll find me if you search for me with all your heart. If you prayed with Chip, I hope you'll take a minute and call us at 1-888-333-6003. We'd love to hear your story and get a free resource into your hands that'll help you understand the significance of your decision and then give you a couple of next steps on your journey. That same resource is available if you tap special offers on the app or go to the new believers tab on our website, livingontheedge.org. We just want to help you get started and say welcome to the family. We know Chip, over the course of this series, we've been inviting listeners to join us for the new daily discipleship study.
Well, could you tell us a little bit more about what that involves and why you're doing it? Well, Dave, it was what we learned from the COVID-19 crisis, and I invited people that if no one had ever personally discipled them, that I would meet with them individually. We would open the Bible together. We would learn to study it, hear God's voice, journal, process life together, and I would meet with them one-on-one. We had thousands and thousands of people do it, and they told us no one has ever done this with me. That's what I'm going to do again this fall, but the focus is going to be on Ephesians chapters 1, 2, and 3, where God makes it very clear this is who you are in Christ.
What I've learned over the years is that we struggle with our identity in Christ, and yet power, our value, our spiritual gifts, our focus for the future, our purpose is all rooted in grasping and understanding who we are in Christ. I'm inviting people to do that with me. We're going to begin this fall. I believe it's September 14th, and if people will commit to do it, I will give them the book Discover Your True Self so that after we get done studying, they can continue to grow and actually grasp this is who God made me to be.
It's revolutionary. I hope you'll join us. Well, that was a lot of information, so grab a pen if you can, and I'll run over the details of this great offer. Beginning September 14th, Chip's going to sit down with you to do a brand-new daily discipleship study. Each session will only be about 10 minutes long, and over the course of this series, he'll walk you through the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians. As an added bonus, if you'll commit to doing the entire study and register by September 7th, he'll send you his new book, Discover Your True Self, absolutely free. Now to sign up for daily discipleship with Chip, just visit us online at livingontheedge.org. For more information, give us a call at 1-888-333-6003. Well, I hope you'll join us again next time, and until then, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.
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