Confession of Faith: What it really means | Let's Talk Biblical | Episode 15

If you love talking about the Bible as much as I do, then I think you'll really enjoy this show. Welcome to Let's Talk Biblical, the podcast where we dig deep into the heart of scripture, explore timeless truths, and have real conversations about what the Bible says and how it applies to us. My name is Lex and I want to thank you for joining me on today's episode. So grab your Bible, get comfortable, and let's talk biblical. Hey, welcome to Let's Talk Biblical. I am your host, Lex Meyer, and today we're tackling one of the most crucial yet often misunderstood aspects of our walk with God, our confession of faith. Is confessing your faith just about saying a prayer one time at the altar? Or is it something deeper? Something that defines your identity, your obedience, and your eternal destiny? What does it really mean to have believing faith? Is it simply acknowledging that God exists? Is it repeating a sinner's prayer? Or is it biblical faith? or is biblical faith something much deeper? Something that transforms your life and aligns your heart with God's commands. I want to start today with a verse in Romans chapter 10 and it's uh Romans 10:9. It says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved." And some translations say if you confess your with your mouth that Jesus is Lord or that Yeshua is Lord. And so um what we want to talk about is what is this verse actually saying? This verse is often quoted but rarely understood in its full context. Paul isn't teaching easy belieism and he's he's pointing to a lifedefining allegiance to the risen Messiah. There are three parts to this type of faith. The first is the confession. The second is calling Yeshua Lord. And the third is believing with your whole heart. And so I want to break down these three things so that we can get a better idea of what what he's talking about, what this verse means. And so first I want to talk about confession. What does he mean by confess with your mouth? So uh the Greek word confess is homo logo which means to agree with to say the same thing as or to acknowledge openly and publicly. So when we confess that Yeshua is Lord uh we're not simply repeating our word. We're not simply repeating words. We are publicly aligning ourselves with him in our heart, our mind, and our life. In the first century, to confess that Yeshua is Lord was dangerous. It was a radical statement that defied the Roman claim that Caesar is Lord. It could cost you your life. Confession wasn't a private decision. It was a public declaration of loyalty. And now, next, I want to look at the word Lord. And so um the word Lord here in in u in Romans is uh it's the word um uh curios. It's a Greek word. It means Lord. But he's quoting in a little bit. He quotes from the Old Testament. and uh within this context in in chapter 10 and he quotes from the Old Testament and the word used in the Old Testament is very significant. Um and he tells us what it means by saying that Yeshua is Lord. And so um Romans 10:9 is the one we just read. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord or confess with mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. But then we skip down to verse 13. And it says, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Well, this is a quote from um Joel chapter 2 in verse 32. And when we look at the the verse in Joel where it says Lord in English, it says Yahweh in Hebrew. And so Paul is quoting from the Hebrew and quoting from the Old Testament in Joel. And it says, "Whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved." Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. So to say Yeshua is Lord and whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved is uh the equivalent of saying Yeshua is Yahweh. So whoever calls who whoever confesses with their mouth that Yeshua is Yahweh and believes in his heart shall be saved. Um that's that's the context of what's going on here. And this is not unique to Paul's writings. In fact, all of the New Testament writers do the same thing. Anytime they quote the Old Testament in reference to Yeshua being Lord, it's a reference to the word Yahweh in Hebrew. And so, if you look up the word uh look up the verse that they're quoting. So, the New Testament quotes a verse. Go look up the Old Testament verse and where the New Testament calls Yeshua Lord and quoting the Old Testament. Go look up the Old Testament verse. And it's it's Yahweh. Every time it's Yahweh. And so the idea that Yeshua is Lord is presented over and over and over again in the New Testament when the New Testament quotes the Old Testament in reference to Yeshua. Not only that, but the Gospel of John begins by telling us that Yeshua is the word of God and the word is also God. And the word created all things. And so in the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God. All things were created by him and for him and in him was life and that life was light of the world. And then it goes on, you know, in verse 14 it says um and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And so this word of God that created all things is the creator God and he became flesh and dwelt among us. And that is that is the gospel that John is presenting to us is that Yeshua is God incarnate. And this is confirmed in Colossians chapter 1 uh where it says that Yeshua is described as the creator and that he created all things. All things are sustained by him. They're they're created for him and through him and and by him and he holds all things together and and everything that exists exists because of him. That's that's what Colossians presents. And the same thing again in Hebrews chapter 1. And so uh we see that he is the creator over and over again in the New Testament. And so if Yeshua is the creator as the Bible says, then he is God because God is the creator. Likewise, when Thomas touched the hands and sight of Yeshua after the resurrection, Thomas responded by calling him my Lord and my God. This is found in John chapter 20. Let me go and pull that up for you. And uh we'll start in verse 28. And Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God." Okay. Now, listen to what Yeshua says in response. Yeshua doesn't uh he doesn't correct him. He doesn't rebuke him. He uh he actually affirms what he says and he says, "Blessed are those who have the same kind of faith even though they don't touch and don't see." So Yeshua said to him, "Thomas, because you have have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." And so Yeshua is describing the kind of faith that Thomas has. Thomas's faith is that Yeshua is Lord and God. Thomas confessed, "My Lord and my God." And that's the kind of faith that Thomas is confessing. And Yeshua said, "Blessed are you, but even more blessed are those who who believe the same way you do, but they don't uh they're not able to see or touch the way you have." And so he says, "Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet they still believe in the same way he does, believing that he is Lord and God." Okay. So, um we to to have the same kind of confession of faith that Thomas had, we need to also confess that Yeshua is Lord and God. And so, the confession that Yeshua is both Lord and God is described here as the kind of belief we should all have. And it and that's what Yeshua said. That's how he describes it. That is the confession of faith that Yeshua says we need to have. And blessed are we who have not seen who have that kind of confession of faith. And so to confess means we agree with uh and we say the same thing as the scriptures say and that we acknowledge openly and publicly that he is Lord and God. And so Yeshua is Lord meaning that Yeshua is Yahweh the creator God incarnate. And then the third part of this is to believe with your heart. So what does that mean? What does it mean to believe uh with your whole heart? So let's look at the word belief. And most people think that belief is simply a mental agreeing that something is true. But biblical faith is not merely intellectual. Listen to what James says about belief. And this is in James chapter 2. Let me go and pull that up on the screen for you. And we're going to go to verse 19. You believe that there is one God. you do well. Even demons believe and tremble. Okay, so he's saying you do you you do good believe that there's one God, but that's not enough because even the demons believe that. Demons believe in God. They they know he exists. They even tremble before him. But their belief doesn't save them. They don't have saving faith. Why? Because they don't trust, obey, or submit to him. Okay? Demons are in rebellion against God. They have walked away from God. They've turned against him. They've rebelled against him. Okay? They He They know who he is. They They've met him. They've talked to him. They've seen him. They've stood before him, but they reject him. They believe he exists, but they don't obey him. They don't trust him. They don't submit to him. They have rejected his rule, and they've gone a different direction. And so that's why the Bible says that the carnal mind is immity against God because it does not submit to God. Okay? And and so we need to be people who submit to God. That's that's part of what this believing faith is. This trusting faith is that we believe and obey. We trust and obey. And the word in Greek there is piss. And it means to trust and obey. That's that's literally what the word means is to believe and obey. To trust and obey. It is you you're putting action behind your belief. It's not just a mental thing. It's not just mental ascent. It is faith and action. It's trusting him, having loyalty to him, having obedience to him. Um and so let's look at the Hebrew word. Uh the Greek word already says pistace. Um the the Hebrew word is imuna and it means steadfastness, faithfulness, loyalty and trust put to action. And so this this is the kind of faith that Abraham had. And the Bible says that he believed in God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Um and so Abraham didn't just say, "I believe God exists." Abraham o Abraham obeyed God. So, for example, um when God told Abraham to leave his homeland, leave his family, and go on a journey to the place where God would tell him to stop, Abraham didn't just say, "Okay, yeah, I believe you exist, but I think I'm going to stay here." He said, "I believe you exist. I believe uh what you're saying is true. I trust you, and I'm going to obey you and walk this out." That's the kind of faith the Bible is describing is faith that trusts God enough that we we say, "Okay, I'm going to obey. I'm going to do what you say and see where it leads me and just follow you, trusting that you uh you are leading me in the right the right direction." Abraham also God told Abraham, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, the one who you love, and offer him up as a sacrifice on the altar." And Abraham grabbed the wood, grabbed his son, and they started walking. And he said, "And we're going to go up on this mountain, and we're going to have a sacrifice." And he he didn't just believe God exists. He believed what God said. And not only did he believe what God said, he obeyed what God said. He trusted God enough to do what God asked him to do. And he trusted that whatever happens, God's in control. God is going to take care of it. God has my best interest in mind. And so when God told Abraham to take Isaac and sacrifice him, Isaac took a took Abraham took Isaac and he started walking up the mountain to sacrifice him. And he he said everything uh set the wood out and got the the altar ready. And um he was he even lifted the knife. He was about to plunge the knife into Isaac and God stopped him and God told him, "Take the ram instead." And Abraham was, you know, he had the knife ready to go and he was just about to to kill his son in obedience to God, the only son that God promised him, the son that that would be the the the heir of his lineage, the fulfillment of the promise. And he was willing to lay that down on the altar. Um, that's the kind of faith that Abraham had. And it says that it was counted to him for righteousness. And so we go to uh Genesis chapter 15 and we're going to go to verse six. It says, "And he believed the Lord and he accounted it to him for righteousness." Now the Hebrew word used here for belief is the word amman which means to support to trust or to rely on. Okay. So here Abraham is trusting God. He's relying on God. He's depending on God. And that's where we get the word amen also. And so a amen is truly truly or or you know I agree. I agree with what was said. So if somebody prays and you say amen, you're saying I agree to what was prayed. I trust what was prayed. I depend on what was prayed. Um it's an affirmation of trust, not just an intellectual ascent. Okay? It's not an intellectual acknowledgement. It it could also be translated, this verse could also be translated, Abraham trusted God. So how did Abraham trust God? His faith was put into action. He left his homeland to go to the place God told him. And he offered Isaac on the altar, believing and obeying God's instructions, trusting God, trusting that God knew what he was doing. And his actions, his ob actions of obedience was an action of trust, was an action of faith, was an action of obedience, of of belief. And so he was putting his faith in action. That's the kind of faith we are told to have. We're supposed to have faith like Abraham. And Yeshua warns us about people who claim to follow him, even doing things in his name. They call him Lord, but they don't obey his commandments. And so, first I want to look at Matthew 7. And most of you are probably familiar with this. And we're going to start at verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father in heaven. So we see here that they are calling him Lord. So it's not just lip service. It's not just saying he's Lord. They're calling Yeshua Lord, but he says they they don't do the will of my father. Okay? So just because you call him Lord doesn't mean you're going to get in the kingdom. You have to do the will of the father. And he goes on, he says, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name?" And so they say, "Man, we've been we've been working miracles in your name. We have prophesied in your name. We have cast out demons. We've done all kinds of things in your name." Okay? They're calling him Lord. And they're doing works. They're doing good works in his name. Now, listen what he says. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. And so calling him Lord and doing miracles in his name is not enough. You you have to uh obey him. You have to to walk in his commandments. He describes these people as practicing lawlessness. He says, "I don't know them because they're practicing lawlessness. They're they're walking outside the law. They're walking outside the Torah." uh calling him Lord, calling him Lord means we're submitting to his authority and our loyalty and our obedience is to him. Okay? So if you call him Lord and you don't obey him, then you're you're you're just giving him lip service. And so let's look at Luke chapter 6 now and listen to what Yeshua said here. Luke chapter 6 and verse 46. He says, ' But why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not and and not do the things which I say? Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say? To call him Lord requires that we obey his commandments and we obey his instructions. We are we are required to obey him. If we call him Lord, we're saying we are submitting to his authority. We're submitting to his con commandments. We're submitting to his instructions. We are walking in obedience to whatever he says. To call him Lord means I'm your servant. I'm going to obey you. You're my Lord. I'm your servant. That's what you're saying. And and that's the description all of the apostles gave of themselves. When you look at their letters, they'll say Paul, an apostle and a bondervant of Jesus Christ. Uh Peter, a bondervant of Jesus Christ. James, a bondervant of Jesus Christ. They're all saying, "We are serving him. We are his servants. We are following his lead. He is our lord. He is our master. We are his servants. We are here to obey him. That's why we exist is to obey him. So to call him Lord requires that we obey his instructions. Um if we call him Lord and we don't obey him, we are simply paying him lip service. And Matthew 15 uh has something to say about that too. Matthew 15:8 and it says, "These people draw near to me with their mouth and they honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." Okay, so they are they're honoring him with their lips. They're giving him lip service. They're saying he's Lord. They're saying he's God. They they praise him. They worship him. But their heart is far from them. Their heart is far from him. And so, and remember, we're supposed to believe with our whole heart. And so, we confess with our mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and we believe with our heart. And Yeshua says this this type of lip service where they confess with their mouth, but they don't believe with their heart. That's that's the problem. They're just giving him lip service. They're not really honoring him the way they're supposed to. And to honor him the way they're supposed to is is through their obedience. to say he's Lord and then to obey him, to trust him, to be loyal to him, to be committed to him. That's the kind of faith he wants. Not ju not just lip service, not just saying, "Hey, I believe." It's not just about saying, "I believe he exists." It's not just about saying, "I believe he was a good man. I believe he walked the earth." Um, it's it's not just believing with our mind, but it's believing with our heart, which means believing with our actions. and we're supposed to believe with our with our heart. And Yeshua says this type of lip service where they just honor him with their mouth but their heart is far from him is not what he wants. Uh the Apostle John said it this way in in 1 John chapter 2 verse 4. Let me pull that up for you. He who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word truly the love of God is perfected in him. And by this we know that we are in him. Okay. So it's we we have to obey him. Um and and actually let me start back in verse three. Uh 1 John 2:3 says, "Now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments." And so it's it's by obeying him. It's by keeping his commandments that we we are showing that we know him, showing that we follow him, showing that we believe in him, showing that he is our master, we are his disciples. This this is crucial. Our confession of faith must be backed by a life of obedience. You can't confess Yeshua as Lord and continue to live in rebellion against his word. That's the same thing the demons did. Remember, James says the demons believe and and they tremble, but the demons don't obey and that's why the demons are saved. The demons rebelled against him. That's why they're demons. They're not angels. They they were angels that left their heavenly abode and rebelled against God and that's why they're called demons. Okay? They they have turned away from God. And so for us to say we believe he exists, we believe he is Lord, but then not to obey him, we're acting like the demons. We're making a confession with our mouth. We're we're saying we mentally agree and and and believe that he exists, but we're deciding to disobey. We're deciding to live in rebellion against his word. That's no different than the demons. And so we can't just be people who confess with our mouth that he's Lord, but then live contrary to what his word says. We have to be people who live according to what his word says. By calling him Lord, we are pledging our obedience and our loyalty to him. How can you call him Lord and not do the things that he says? A biblical confession is about covenant loyalty. It's agreeing with God and demonstrating that agreement through the way we live. A true confession of faith means you're saying amen to everything God says and being obedient to everything he asks you to do. Okay? So again, a amen is is closely associated with the Hebrew word for faith. And to say amen means to say I agree with this. And so when somebody says a prayer and you say amen at the end, you're saying I agree with the prayer that was just prayed. I support the prayer that was just prayed. And so to to have faith in God is to say amen to everything he says. You are obeying what he says. You're agreeing with what he says. You're agreeing with his word and you're saying, "I'm going to live according to that." That's what faith is. So let's put it all together. Let's go back to Romans. Romans 10. Okay. It says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved." If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. Okay? So, we must confess, meaning that we must acknowledge openly and publicly that Yeshua is Lord. meaning that Yeshua is God incarnate. And believe, meaning steadfast, faithful loyalty and trust with your whole heart, not merely lip service, but but following him on obedience, living in obedience, walking in obedience, trusting what he says, and saying amen to what he says, saying, "I agree with his word. I agree with his con instructions. I agree with his commandments." and saying that you believe that God raised him from the dead. So you believe in his resurrection and and you believe that he died for your sins and he rose from the dead and that that you are basing your faith on that that you're walking in obedience to him based on that faith based on that confession that he is Lord. He is God incarnate. He died for your sins and he rose from the dead. And you're going to walk in obedience to him. You're going to walk in uh full assurance of what he says, making him your Lord. confessing that he is the one you are submitting to, confessing that he is the one that you owe your allegiance to, the one that you are loyal to, the one that you um will be steadfast to no matter what. And this is important because the confession of faith is tested in persecution. Okay? Your confession of faith is tested when persecution comes. this confession um is going to be put to the test and how you respond during those trials reveals the true nature of your faith. And so let's turn to Matthew chapter 10 and we're going to go to verse 32. He says, "Therefore, whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my father who is in heaven." And we see this kind of scenario frequently with persecution is persecution comes in and they want you to deny Yeshua. And that's that's something we saw in early Christianity. the first two or 30 hund years of Christianity um when the Roman Empire came in and they persecuted the church and they they had them um you know go to the uh gladiator arena and fight gladiators, fight lions, fight bears. Um they were mauled. They were uh basically crucified in those arenas. They were tortured to death. Some of them were tied to uh stakes and and crucifi crucified on crosses. Uh some of them were burnt uh dipped in tar and and lit on fire and and burnt and and killed that way. Um many cruel, awful, horrible things were done to them trying to get them to deny their faith in Yeshua. Okay? But they they were steadfast in their faith. They believed who he was. They believed what the Bible said about him. They believed what the apostles taught about him. The even the apostles themselves were were become martyrs because of their faith. They died because of their faith in Yeshua and who he was and what he did and believing and obeying what he said. And so it's it wasn't lip service. They weren't just saying, "Oh yeah, I believe him." And then when persecution came, they say, "Oh, no, no, no. I I don't believe that was that was foolish of me to say that." They they were willing to die for their faith. And that's that's the kind of faith he wants is people who say, you know what, no matter what comes my way, I am willing to die for this faith. I believe who he is. I believe what the Bible says about him and I'm willing to obey him and go uh even to the same extent that he did. He died for us. Um I'm willing to drink the same cup that he did, the same confession the disciples made, right? Uh you know, he says, "You're not going to be able to drink of this cup." And he's they said, "We'll we'll drink of the same cup you will." And he says, "Well, yeah, you're going to drink of this cup, but not the same time I am. It'll be later." And what that means is they're going to die for their faith. They're going to die um for believing in him. And it it may come to that with us, too. We may at some point face that type of persecution again where we have to die for our faith or watch a loved one die. Um, we've seen throughout history, um, one things they that they do to torture, uh, Christians is is to say, "I'm going to torture your children. I'm going to torture your wife. I'm going to torture your loved ones until you confess, until you um deny Yeshua. And if you deny him, the the torture stops and you guys can go free. But if you continue to make this confession of faith, we're going to torture them until they're all dead. And they take them one by one and and torture and kill them right in front of you, trying to get you to deny Yeshua. And the kind of faith that he's looking for is people who say, "No matter what, I'm not going to deny who he is." That's the kind of faith we're supposed to have. It's not about lip service. It's about standing firm when it costs you something or when it cost you everything. Okay? when your confession might result in persecution or rejection or even martyrdom. That's the kind of faith we need to have. And in the days ahead, this is the kind of bold, uncompromising confession that's going to separate us, separate the wheat from the tears. Okay? U those who confess Yeshua with their lips but deny him with their lives, they're not going to stand when when the the persecution comes. We we must confess him with our mouth, but also confess him with our life and and our obedience and our allegiance and our loyalty. That's the kind of of public confession that we're supposed to have. And so we we're confessing our loyalty to Yeshua no matter what. Our confession is not simply believing that he's the Messiah. It's a declaration that we are his disciples and we're committed to walk as he walked, obeying his instructions and modeling our life after his. Confession is not a one-time event. It's a lifestyle of alle of of allegiance and obedience. Hebrews chapter 4, let's let's jump over there. Hebrews chapter 4:14 it says, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast to our confession." Okay? We we need to hold on to our confession like a soldier clinging to his banner in the heat of battle. This is not a passive religion. It's active. It's enduring. is faith that that perseveres no matter what. So what does it mean to live by believing faith? It means trusting God's word even when it's unpopular. Walking in obedience when it's hard. Surrendering your will because you know his way is better than your way. Remaining loyal to Yeshua no matter what the culture says or what it costs you. And living a life that reflects your confession. living a life of obedience to him. When you say he is Lord, you live as if he is Lord. You serve him. You obey him. You walk in uh you walk in faith. You walk in obedience to his instructions. Okay. Now, let's jump over to Hebrews 11 because Hebrews 11, you know, it's known as the faith chapter and and it it describes faith and it says, "Now this now now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." Okay, it faith is the substance. It's the foundation of your walk with God. It's not about feelings. It's about confidence in the unseen promises of God expressed through obedience in how we walk it out. Okay, but let's go on and see what Hebrews says. Faith is the substance of things for the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the word the worlds were formed by the word of God. And again, Yeshua is the word of God. So that the things which are seen were not made by things which are visible. By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice. Offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts and through it he being dead still speaks. Okay. So Abel offered a better sacrifice than Isaac than Cain. This is action. By faith he offered By faith he took action. By faith he did something. By faith he offered a better sacrifice. Okay? It's his faith. Faith is described by his actions that he took by faith. Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because God had taken away. For before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God. So, well, how did he please God? He did what was pleasing to God. He did what obey what was uh he obeyed God's will. He walked in accordance to God's instructions. He he walked in a way that pleased God. Uh but without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And so by faith, faith is described as not only believing that exists, but believing that he rewards those who seek him, that he rewards those who who obey him, those who walk according to his ways. Um, faith does the things that please him. By faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of righteousness, which is according to faith. Okay? So Noah, God told him, "Build an ark." And Noah obeyed. Noah built the ark. He'd never seen rain before. He didn't know what God was talking about. He was going to flood the earth. What does that mean? But he obeyed. He walked in obedience. That's what faith is described as. Noah obeyed God. He was warned about the flood that was coming and he prepared. He obeyed. He did what God asked him to do. He built an ark. His faith was put into action by his his obedience. Um verse 6, I'm sorry, verse 8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called out to go to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. And this, we talked about this earlier. He left his homeland. He went to a place he'd never been before in faith. It was faith put into action. That's what that's what belief is. That's what faith is. Is is that you trust God enough to do what he says. Um verse 9, by faith he dwelt in a land in the land of promise as a foreign as in a foreign country dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. So he took his family and lived in a wilderness, lived in tents, waiting for God to fulfill the promise, trusting God. For he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Verse 11, by faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and bore a child when she was past the age because she judged him faithful who had promised. Okay. So, Sarah in her old age bore a son. She had a child, Isaac. She was well past the the age where she could carry a child, but she believed God. God promised them a son. God said it was going to be through Sarah. Abraham and Sarah believed God, and God gave them a son because they believed him, because they trusted him, because they obeyed him. Okay. Verse 12. Therefore from man one man and him as good as dead were born as many as the stars in the of the sky in multitude innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. Abraham was he was 100 years old when Isaac was born. He was an old man and I mean he was he was on he was on his deathbed. He was near the end of his life and he had a son and but it was because of his faith and obedience to God, trusting God and believing what God said, believing the word of God, believing the promises of God. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them a far off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Okay? They they believed God enough that they were willing to die for their faith even not having received the fulfillment of the the promise that God gave them. God told Abraham he would have of children numbering the stars in the sky and the sand and the sea. Abraham died with one son. But he believed God that God was going to give him an inheritance. And that son Isaac had Jacob. And Jacob had the 12 sons of Israel. of the 12 tribes of Israel. And those 12 sons formed the nation. And then that nation was what what planted the seed for Yeshua. And that seed of Yeshua planted the faith of Abraham in all of us. And we are the fulfillment of the promise that God gave Abraham thousands of years ago. But Abraham died not having seen all of this. He hadn't experienced it yet, but he trusted God and believed that that's what God was going to do. Verse 14, for those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And that's that's what Abraham said. He was seeking the homeland that God had provided for him. He was going left his left his home and walked went through the wilderness towards the place that God would provide for him trusting that God was going to do it. And truly verse 14 15 and truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out they would have opportunity to return. Okay but they they could have returned but they didn't because of their faith. Same thing when they left Israel right or when they left Egypt they left Israel left Egypt and they went out into the wilderness seeking the promised land. And some of them wanted to return. They wanted to they wanted to bail. They they gave up hope and they said, "Let's go back to Egypt." We had it good there. That's not the kind of faith God wants. He wants faith that endures and says, you know, I'm going to go through this desert. I'm going to go through this wilderness and I'm going to get to the promised land that God has promised me, believing what God has said. when they got to the the uh the land of of Canaan and they saw the giants, many most of them, almost all of them, all but but Joshua and Caleb, the only two uh of the of the spies that were sent, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who came back and said, "Hey, we can take these guys because God's on our side." The rest of them said, "Man, these guys are giants. We're going to be squashed." Joshua and Caleb had faith to say, "You know what? God's on our side. We can we can do whatever God says we're going to do. God says we can take this land. We're going to take this land. Doesn't matter how big they are. That's faith. Um but now verse 16, but now they desire a better that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Verse 17. Um by faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. We talked about this, right? That he by faith he offered his son. It was an act of faith to obey God. To walk out his faith to to obey is an act of faith. To obey God is an act of faith. That's that's over and over what the Bible is teaching us. And um it says, "Of whom it was called, in Isaac your seed shall be called." Of whom it was said, "In Isaac, your seed shall be called." So he offered up his son. knowing that the promise would come through his son. Verse 19, concluding that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from which he also received him in a figurative sense. So Abraham believed even if he killed Isaac, God could raise Isaac from the dead and still fulfill his promise. And so he wasn't afraid to kill Isaac because he believed he had faith that God could raise the dead. That's the kind of faith we're supposed to have. is is believing that God raised Yeshua from the dead is the same faith that says God can raise us from the dead. And so it's about the resurrection and about God's ability to bring forth life from the dead. For by faith a Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob when he was dying blessed each of his sons each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped leaning on the top of his staff. By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones. Okay? So, he he believed that they would leave Egypt. And he told him what to do with it, his bones when they left. He said, "I'm not going to be around to see it. I'm going to be dead and gone, but take my bones with you and here's what you're supposed to do with them." Because he believed the promises of God. By faith, Moses when he was born was hidden three months by his parents. Okay? His parents his parents had faith and that's why they hid Moses in a basket. They took action. Okay? They didn't just say, "Well, God's going to do it. Let's wait and see what happens." They took action. They believed. They trusted. They obeyed. They they put him in in the basket and they said, "God is in control. We're going to trust what he tells us to do." Um because they saw he was a beautiful child and we're not afraid of the king's command. Okay? So their faith in God made them not afraid of Pharaoh. That's something important. We we need to have faith in God that makes us not afraid of governments and and rulers and leaders to say, "I don't care what they think they're going to do. I believe in God. I trust in God and I'm going to obey him no matter what they say." Faith that says, "I'm going to walk in obedience to God no matter what. no matter what the consequences, no matter what anyone else tells me that my faith is I'm going to obey God. And so if they come along and they they try to force you uh to break one of God's commandments, you you have to have the faith that says I'm going to obey God and you know do to me what you will. Uh that's the kind of thing that happened in the past when Antiochus Epiphanies desecrated the temple. He tried to force the Jews to eat pork. Some of the Jews went along with it. They said, "You know what? We're going to eat this pork. We're going to eat this pig in order to appease Antiochus and to please him so that he doesn't kill us." But other Jews said, "You know what? We're not going to do that. We're going to obey God. And I don't care what Antichus says. I don't care what he does. He can kill us. He can tort us. He can kill our children. He can torture them. I'm not going to disobey God. I'm going to be faithful to God no matter what." That's the kind of faith we're supposed to have. And so they had faith in God and were not afraid of the king's command. Uh by faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing to rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasure of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure of Egypt. for he looked to the reward. Okay? And that's the kind of faith we need to have as we say, I don't care what this world has to offer. I don't care about the the pleasures of sin. I don't care about the pleasures of this life. I don't care about the riches of this world. I I want an an an eternal inheritance. I want um I want to be pleasing to God. I want to please him and to come into his kingdom because his kingdom is way better than anything this world has to offer. That's the kind of faith we need to have. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Okay, so he forsook Egypt. The Bible says we're to to have nothing to do with the world, to forsake the world. Um to be in the world but not of the world. and to walk with our allegiance to the kingdom of God, not to the kings of this world. And so he he wasn't afraid of the king. He wasn't afraid of the wrath of the king. He feared God, not not earthly rulers. And we need to be the same way. We need to fear God only and not what man can do to us. Um as as Yeshua said, fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. Don't don't fear those who can just destroy your body. That's the kind of faith we need to have. Faith that says, "You know what? You can destroy my body, but you can't destroy my soul. Uh my soul belongs to God, and he can raise me up in the last day. He can resurrect my body. He can resurrect my soul. He can give me a new body, and I will walk with him in his kingdom." That's the kind of faith we need to have. By faith, he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. Okay? By faith they obeyed by keeping Passover. By faith they took the blood of the lamb. They slaughtered a lamb and they took the blood and they painted on the durpost. That was an act of faith. That was an act of obedience. And that obedience showed their faith. That obedience showed that they trusted God by obeying him. And it was because of their act that they were saved. Okay? It wasn't just those who um mentally acknowledge God would be saved. It's those who took action and painted their doorposts with the blood. Those are the ones who were saved. They had to put their faith to action. They had to obey. They had to do what he asked them to do. Okay? That's how they were saved. And so those who had the blood on the doorpost were saved from the the death plague. Those who did not have the blood on the doorpost were killed. The firstborn was was killed. whether they were Egyptian or Israelite. If they didn't put blood on the doors, they were killed. And so it was the act of faith by by obeying God and putting the blood on the doorpost that saved them. Okay? But they had to put their faith to action. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea on by dry land. Whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. They had to believe and trust that God was going to uh keep the waters held back while they crossed over because you know they they crossing they see these walls of water on both sides. They could have been afraid and they they they might have been afraid but they had to trust God that God is going to hold the waters back until they got to the other side. And it's because they had faith to trust God to cross over that they were able to get to the other side. They could have said, "No, no, no. That's that's too risky. What if that water crashes? What if that water comes down? Just because it's it's being held back right now doesn't mean it's going to be held back forever. They had to have faith to cross and to say, "God is going to God is going to keep that water held back until I get to the other side safely." That's why they were able to cross because they trusted and they walked in obedience. They walked it out. They stepped into that dry river that that dry river bank, seeing the walls of of water on both sides. and they walked across trusting that God was going to keep that water held back. They had to put their faith to the test by faith. Verse 30, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. They had to obey. God said to walk around the city seven times, you know, one time every day for seven days and then seven times the seventh day and then blow trumpets and shout and they did it. It didn't make sense. Why is, you know, they they could have said, you know, that doesn't make sense. Why why why are we going to walk around this city? Why not just attack the gates? Why walk around it? Why walk around it for seven days? They walk around the first day. Nothing happens. They could have said, "You know what? That that seems silly. Why did we do that?" But no, they they said, "You know what? God told us to do this. Let's do it." So, they walked around the second day. Well, nothing happened. They could have again said, "Well, that was silly. Why' we do that? But they they trusted God and they said, "God told us to do this. Let's keep doing it." They walked around the third day and the fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day, seventh day, and seven day seven, they're supposed to walk around seven times. So they walked around seven times. And the last time he says, "Blow the trumpets and shout." So they walk around the seventh time blowing the trumpets and shouting. And then the walls fell down. But it's because they obeyed. Because they trusted God enough to obey him. That's why the walls fell. It wasn't because they said, "Okay, yeah, we believe in God, but we're not going to do what he says." If they If they'd have said that, the walls wouldn't have fall. They said, "Yeah, we trust God. We believe in God. We acknowledge he's God, but we're not we're not going to walk around that city. That's silly." They're going to laugh at us. They're going to they're going to call us names. They're going to think something's wrong with us. What is walking around a city going to do for us anyway? How is that going to accomplish anything? What we need to do is take up our swords and attack that. That's not faith. That's doing things your way. Faith is doing things God's way. Faith is obeying God and doing what he says to do, how he says to do it, when he says to do it, in the way he says to do it. That is that is faith. That is the way the Bible is describing faith. Okay? By faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace. So this this harlot, the prostitute, right? She she trusted God and she walked in obedience to God and his instructions that came through God's people. Because she had faith, she was saved. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barack and Samson and Jeffna and David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, and stopped the mouths of lions. Okay, again, these are actions. They subdued kingdoms by faith. They subdued kingdoms by faith. They took action and obeyed God. They did what he asked them to do. Um, they worked righteousness. It's about doing what is right. They worked righteousness. They obeyed. Their faith was put into action by obedience. They obtained promises. Okay? They they obtained what God had said they were going to do because they obeyed, because they believed, because they trusted him. They stopped the mouths of lions. Think about D uh Daniel in the lion's den, right? Uh he trusted that God was not going to let those lions eat him. And so, he allowed himself to be cast in the lion's den. He defied the commands of the king and that's what put him in the lion's den. And he knew that was that was the destination. He knew if he defied the king, he was going to be thrown in with lions. But he trusted God and he obeyed God and ended up in the lion's den because he obeyed God. But he knew that God would would take care of it. He trusted that God would do uh that God would keep him safe, that God would protect him. And even, you know, if you look in in Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo, same thing, right? They would not bow down to the idol. They would not worship the idol. And they and what they said was, "Even if our God does not save us, we still won't bow." And so, they said, "We're going to obey God no matter what. Even if he doesn't save us, we're still not going to bow to you. We're still not going to bow to your your idol." And the same kind of scenario is going to be set in in the last days that the the Antichrist and the beast is going to set up an idol, some sort of an image of worship, and they're going to force everyone to worship that image. They're going to tell everyone, you you're supposed to bow down. You're supposed to worship this. We need to have the same kind of faith that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had. They say, "You know what? No matter what happens, whatever you do to us, it doesn't matter because our God uh is more important to us than than obeying you. We're going to obey our God, not you. We're going to walk in obedience to our God, not in obedience to you and your image. Okay? So, it's who who has your allegiance? That's what faith is about is where is your allegiance? Is your allegiance to God or is your allegiance to something else, someone else? Um they quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valu valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Okay, again, this is action. They're this is they're describing faith. Says they had faith and they're giving all these actions, all these um things they did, their obedience, the way they walked it out. Women received their dead raised to life. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, sawn, were tempted, were slain by the sword, were uh they wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. Okay? The world was not worthy of them because the world doesn't know the faith that they had. They had faith in God to endure no matter whatever the world threw at them. They were able to endure that because they had faith in God. They trusted God. They obeyed God. And these having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive the promise. God having provided something better for us that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Now, this is talking about the future resurrection that together we're going to be made perfect with them. If if we have the same faith that Abraham had, if we have the same faith that David and Daniel had, we have the same faith that the prophets had, if we have the same faith that Moses had, same faith that Abel had, we had the same faith that Noah had, we have their kind of faith that obeys God no matter what, uh we're going to receive that promise with them. They will not be paid made perfect apart from us and we will not be made perfect apart from them. We will be part of the resurrection with Abraham. We will be part of the same resurrection with Noah. We will be part of the same resurrection with Abel. We'll be made part of the same resurrection with Daniel and David and all the prophets. Okay? But we have to have the same kind of faith they had. And their faith was put into action. Their faith trusted God and obeyed him. And that's the kind of faith we're supposed to have. Okay? So, in closing and and then we'll get some uh a few questions. Do you truly confess Yeshua as Lord? Okay, it's not just lip service. Do you confess him with your life, with your actions, with your obedience, with your allegiance? Are you a bondervant of Yeshua? Can you say, "He is my Lord and I am his servant?" Because if you're his servant, you will do what he says. You will obey him. You will live a life in obedience to him. Okay? It's not just with your lips. It's not just saying calling him Lord, but it's doing what he asked you to do. Remember, many will call call him Lord that many will say to him, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and done many works in your name and cast out demons in your name? He says, I don't know you because you don't do the will of my father. I don't know you because you're workers of lawlessness. Okay? We we don't want to be those kind of people. We don't want to just give him lip service. We we don't want to say Lord, call him Lord and not do what he says. We want to call him Lord and be obedient to him. Be be faithful servants to him. That's what we're supposed to be by calling him Lord. We're saying, "I am your faithful servant. I will obey you. I will do what you say and no matter what the cost to me, even if it cost me my life, my life, even if it cost me everything I have, I will obey you." That's the kind of faith we're supposed to have. It's not just at church. But it's in your workplace. It's in your home. And it's in everyday decisions that you make. Our confession of faith is not just something you say. It's something you live out. It's your allegiance to the King of Kings. A confession of faith is the covenant identity. Okay? It it's it's about who we are. It's where our allegiance is. is is our loyalty is to him. He is our king. He is our ruler. He is our god. He is our savior. He is our messiah. And we are faithful to him. We are loyal to him. We are going to obey him no matter what the cost. Every aspect of our life. That's the kind of faith that we're supposed to have. And Yeshua said, "When the son of man returns, will he find faith on the earth?" He's he's worried that he's not going to find this kind of faith. He's worried that we won't have that kind of faith when he returns. And that's the kind of faith we have to have when he returns because we're going to be faced by all kinds of trials and persecutions and tribulations. We have to have faith that will endure those things. And so, let's be people who our confession is real and is rooted in scripture and is lived out in our obedience and unwavering no matter what the cost. That's the kind of faith that we're supposed to have. Okay. Now, uh let's go ahead and jump into some of the questions. Hey friends, if you've been enjoying the show and you want to help keep the conversation going, then we'd love your support. Let's Talk Biblical is a listenerupported podcast and we couldn't do this without you. Your support helps keep this show running. For more information about how you can support this ministry, visit unlearnthees.com. And thank you so much for being a part of Let's Talk Biblical. Now that we've explored the depths of today's topic, it's time to hear from you. Welcome to the Q&A portion of the show where you can ask questions about today's topic. So, post your questions in the chat and let's talk biblical. All right, I'm looking through the chat here and I'm actually trying to find a question. I don't see any. Um, here's a good comment. Those who attempt to save their lives will lose it, but those who give their lives for the gospel and God's kingdom will save their life. Absolutely true. Um let's see. When Christ returns on a cloud and says, "Come up here to the two witnesses," then you will want to be part of that ministry of the summer harvest. Uh, okay. I I don't that's not a question. Um, uh, let's see. Okay, here's a question. Tracy uh thinking kingdom thoughts says, "How can you explain to those who would say that this is legalism?" Great question. Um so legalism is trying to earn salvation. Legalism is saying I've got to do certain things in order to um appease God's wrath. And so, um, legalism is saying, uh, we must do these things so that God will give us favor and grace. We must do these things so that God will um, save us. It's it's it's the idea that our righteousness somehow earns us favor from God. That's what legalism is, is saying, "I've I've earned this. I deserve this. Um, I've done all the I've done all these good things, so I deserve your salvation. Um, that's the opposite of what I'm saying. The opposite of what the Bible's saying. What the Bible's saying is God has freely given us the gift of salvation and we freely give our allegiance to him in loving response. And so, he laid down his life for us and we lay down our life for him. um we say, you know, we we love you. We appreciate what what you've done for us. And our loving response to him is we want to obey and and to do what pleases him, not to earn our salvation. Uh but to say, you know, we don't deserve salvation. We didn't we can't do anything to deserve it. Our our righteousness is a filthy rag. Our righteousness is worthless. And no matter how good we are, no matter how much good we do, no matter how obedient we are, we're still not good enough. And we're still worthless and we still deserve death. We still uh don't deserve salvation. Even in at our best, we don't deserve salvation. And acknowledging and understanding that, but saying, "I'm going to obey anyway." And and saying, "He is good to us, and we obey because we love him. We obey because uh he is good to us. We obey because he first loved us. We love him because he first loved us. And the way we show love to him is through our our obedience. Um that's that's kind of the difference. Um so I'm not I'm not seeing any other questions. I'm going to give just a minute more to see if any other pop up. Um but uh let's see. Is there anything else I can say about legalism? Legal legalism also is looking for legal loopholes. And so like the Pharisees, for example, um they would look for loopholes. And they would say things like, "Well, I know the Bible says not to to um commit adultery, but I'm not committing adultery. I'm just looking lustfully at this woman." Well, Yeshua came in behind them and said, "If you look lustfully at a woman, you've already committed adultery with her in your heart." The legal loophole is saying, "Well, I haven't technically committed adultery. I I haven't slept with a woman. All I'm doing is is looking at her and lusting after her." Okay, that that's the legal loophole, right? That's what they're looking for. Some kind of legal loophole to say, "Technically, I haven't broken the commandment. The commandment is not to commit adultery. I haven't technically committed adultery. uh your said, "Well, if you lusted after in your heart, you have um and so that legal loophole is legal legalism as well." Um and so legalism has to do with u being very strict with uh your observance and understanding of the commandments as well. So, um, you know, again, you've heard it said, "Do not murder." But I tell you, do not be angry with your brother in your heart. And that that anger in your heart towards your brother is murderous. You're you're committing murder in your heart. You're you're wanting evil for him. You're wanting death for him. You're wanting him to suffer. That's you're murdering him in your heart. Even if you don't take the action, even if you do nothing to him, you have murdered him in your heart. He says, "I don't want that from my people. I want me my people to um to have pure hearts." And so, um, we've got to be people who not only walk in obedience to the commandments, but also walk in obedience to the spirit of the law. Okay? And so when Yeshua was saying uh the letter kills but the spirit gives life. You know when the Bible says letter kills, the spirit gives life. It's it's it's this idea that the spirit of the laws need to be upheld. And so the letter of the law is do not commit adultery. The spirit of the law is don't even lust. The letter of the law is do not murder. The spirit of the law is don't even be angry. Um and so you know we've got to be people who uphold not just the letter of the law but also the spirit of the law. and and be willing to um to walk in obedience to that. And walking in obedience to the spirit of the law is is a step further beyond just the letter. Um being legalistic is just walking according to the letter. Just saying, "Okay, this is what it says. I'm going to do exactly this. Nothing more, nothing less." That's being legalistic. The spirit of the law has more grace, but the spirit of law also has more um stringency. It has more lenience, but also has more stringency. And so um the the spirit of the law fluctuates a little bit more than the letter. The letter of the letter is rigid. The spirit of the law has a little more fluctuation to it. And so, um, you know, some of the things Yeshua criticized the Pharisees about, uh, was he says, you know, you you tithe of mint and, uh, herbs and and cumin and things like that, but you ignore justice and righteousness. He says, you should have done both. do do the the tithing of the the the herbs in your herb garden, but also do the the righteousness and the justice and and things like that and helping the the poor and the needy. And so he says, you you did the letter. You tithed of your your mint and your your your anis and your cumin and and your rue and and the things in your garden and that was good and you're supposed to do that. But you got to do more than that. You also need to seek out righteousness and justice and and helping those who are um in need and those who are weak. And that's why he says um you know when I was uh poor uh and hungry you gave me food. When I was naked you clothed me. When I was in prison you visited me. When I was sick uh you you cared for me. And they said when did we do these things? He said when you did it to the least of these you did it to me. And so we have to have that same mindset that helping others in need and and going the extra mile and doing the the things that are um necessary for life and helping others, that's the spirit of the law. Okay? And so we've got to be willing to to walk in obedience to them. Walk in obedience to the spirit of the law and not just the letter. Um, okay. This one says, "What advice do you give to someone who's been through a lot of spiritual abuse and is dealing with a lot of confusion about what is true?" Um, my advice to you is um be cautious that um that you're obeying the word of God and not not what men tell you. And that's easier said than done. U because people people twist the word. And so you've got to you've got to be careful that you're not being led astray. Um and I understand that um there's a lot of people in in this world both people in in leadership and and people lay people who um they have said and done things that are hurtful and they've damaged relationships and they have uh hurt people's walk with the Lord. But your walk is not based on that person. your walk is based on your relationship with the Lord and um you need to seek him and seek seek him through his word and the through the truth of his word and um not let what other people have said and done stop you from uh hinder you in your walk with the Lord. Don't let them separate you from the Lord. Um, and so be faithful to to him and knowing that men will let you down. Every all we're we're human. We are all prone to make mistakes. And so some of the church hurt you felt may not be intentional. It may have been people uh who who had good meaning, good intentions, and meant well, but they they messed up. They made a mistake. They they're flawed. We are all flawed humans. And we can't trust each other that we're going to be perfect because we're not. None of us are perfect. Even the best of us is not perfect. And they're going to make mistakes and they're they're going to let you down. They're going to disappoint you. Um they're going to fail you. But God is faithful. And so even when man fails you, trust that God is faithful. Even when when man hurts you, trust that God does not. Even when man disappoints you, trust that God does not. Um we have to be willing to uh endure the failings of each other and knowing that we're we're all going to fall short at some point. We're all going to make mistakes and be willing to forgive each other. That's important, too. You have to be willing to forgive your brothers when they hurt you and when they wrong you. Um, you know, Yeshua was hanging on the cross and he said, "Father, forgive them. They do not know what they do." We need to have the same kind of um grace that he had that we're willing to forgive each other when we are wronged. And so, if if someone in church hurts you, forgive them. and be willing to say, you know what, they they messed up. Whether it was intentional or whether it was a mistake, it doesn't even matter. They messed up, but I forgive them. And I'm willing I'm willing to forgive them because Yeshua is willing to forgive me when I mess up, and I need to follow his example. And his example was to forgive um to forgive others. And you know, Peter asked him, "How many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me?" He says, you know, should I forgive him seven times? And Yeshua said, "No, 70 * 7." And you know, it's not it's not a strict 49, right? 7* I'm sorry, uh four was 70 * 7. What is 70 * 7? I just went blank. I should know that. 70 * 7 490, not 49. 490. So, is it a strict 490 times that we forgive somebody? No. It's not like, well, I got to 491. Too late. I can't forgive you anymore. That's not what he's talking about. He's saying, you know, it should be a number that you you're not going to be able to track. Um, you you shouldn't even try to track it. It's not, you know, well, I I forgive you seven times. Seven is my limit. I'm done. It's 70 * 7, meaning it's it's some large number you're not even supposed to be able to track try to track. You can't Well, let's see. There's uh there's 10 times. Let me see. Uh 20 uh you know, you lose track at some point. How many times should I forgive you? So many times that you can't even track it. That's that's really what he's saying. How could you track 490 times? You can't. That's that's that's that's exhaustive. That's that's it's beyond our ability to keep track of that record. Um even if you you document it, put it made made a word document and you document every single time, you know, you're going to eventually be exhausted by trying to track it. It's going to wear you out trying to track how many times you've forgiven that person. The idea is you just keep forgiving. However many times you want God to forgive you, that's how many times you got to forgive each other. And that's what you should have said. He said, "If you want to be forgiven by God, you need to forgive your brother." And so, we've got to have that kind of forgiveness for each other. Even when they hurt you, even when they do you wrong, even when they really, really mess up. Um whether it was intentional or accidental, whether they meant to hurt you or not, you've got to be willing to forgive them. And until you can forgive them, you're going to deal with that hurt. And so that hurt is is going to be there until you forgive. And so you may be feeling spiritual abuse, spiritual hurt. And you may have good reason. It may be justified. Maybe they really did something bad. But you're not going to you're not going to escape that until you learn to forgive. You've got to forgive that. And remember that God has forgiven you for way worse. You deserve death. You deserve the same kind of punishment Yeshua received on the cross. You deserve to be whipped and beaten and sped on and a crown of thorns shoved on your head and stabbed in the side and and pierced through the hands and feet and hung on a cross. You deserve a brutal death for for your sins and so does everyone. We all deserve that kind of brutal death for our sin because sin is awful. And sin is why people hurt you. Sin is why you have church hurt in your life because they sinned. But you have to forgive their sin the same way that God forgives your sin. You have to be willing to forgive. If you can't forgive, you're going to be held captive. You're going to be a prisoner to that hurt. And so, you have to forgive if you want freedom from that hurt. Um and if you want to be able to to move on and and to um live a life that God wants you to live, you have to be able to forgive. And so whether they intentionally hurt you or whether they accidentally hurt you, they they sinned, they messed up, they fell short, but you need to forgive them, and you need to move on and get past that hurt and let God heal that hurt and walk in newness of life, walk in freedom. And that freedom comes from forgiveness. So you've got to you've got to do that. Um, okay. Does God listen to your prayer to our prayers? I've been told that only God listens to the prayers of the actual saved. Okay. So, um, there are a couple different ways to look at this. Um, so the Bible says that the prayers of the unrighteous, the prayers of the wicked are not heard by God. Um and it says that those who uh Proverbs says that those who um will not listen to the Torah, those who will not listen to the the commandments of God, their prayer is an abomination to God. And so God doesn't listen to their prayers because they're not listening to his word. They're not obeying his word. Um and uh John in the gospel in the I'm sorry the epistle first John he says that God hears our prayer because we walk in obedience to him and we do what is pleasing in his sight and that's why he hears our prayer. And so our obedience our faith our faith put in action is our obedience. Right? and by walking in righteousness, by walking in faith, by walking in obedience to God, that is why he why he is uh listens to our prayers. But when we're walking in rebellion against him, he has no reason to listen to our prayers. Uh we are not listening to him, we're not obeying him, we're not doing what he asks. So why should he listen to us and do what we ask? But when we walk in obedience to him, then he is more inclined to say, you know what, this this person listens to me. this person obeys. This person follows my instructions. And so I'm willing to listen to him and and to to see what he has to say, to see what she has to say and to listen to them and and answer their prayers because we are walking in obedience to him. And so that's um that's kind of the the model that the Bible presents. If we don't listen to God, why should he listen to us? Same thing if if we don't forgive each other, why should he forgive us? It's it's this uh you reap what you sow kind of mentality. If you are um sowing rebellion and disobedience and sin, you're not going to you're not going to reap um God's answer to prayer. Why would he answer your prayers if you're walking in obedience in disobedience and rebellion? He has no reason to listen to you. U but if you are walking in obedience to God and listening to him and following him and and walking in his will, um why would he why would he not listen to your prayers? Why would he not answer your prayers? And so that's kind of the idea that the Bible presents u is that God hears our prayers when we listen to him and we obey his word and walk according to his word. All right. Um let me go ahead and tell you about next week. So next week we're going to be talking about disciplehip. So join us next week as we dive into a topic that is absolutely essential to every believer and that's the topic of disciplehip. What does it really mean to be a disciple of Yeshua? Is it just attending church? Or is there something deeper? Something that requires total commitment, radical obedience, and a transformed life? Next week, we're going to we're going to strip away the religious traditions and get back to the biblical model of disciplehip, the kind that turns the world upside down. If we're not making disciples, we're not doing what Yeshua commanded. So, join us next week as we talk about the topic of disciplehip. Thanks. Thank you for joining me on Let's Talk Biblical. If you enjoyed this episode, then share it with your friends and keep the conversation going. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss anything, and I look forward to chatting with you again next week. Until next time, keep talking biblical. Shalom.