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Guest (Male): Don't just sit there. Do something. Let's talk about it on Key Life.

Matthew: The deepest message of Jesus and the Bible is the radical grace of God to sinners and sufferers. That's what Key Life is all about. If you're hungry for the hopeful truth that God isn't mad at you, keep listening. Steve Brown is a seminary professor and our teacher on Key Life.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. We're still in our series on the basics of the Christian faith. I'm using as a basis for this, and saying a lot more than was in the book, a book I wrote before many of you were ever born called *Welcome to the Family: A Handbook for Living the Christian Life*. I don't know whether we have any left in our warehouse, but you can call 1-800-KEY-LIFE and ask, and if we do, we'll make it available to you.

To be perfectly honest with you, I've decided to leave out what we're going to talk about today and next week, and that is a Christian's responsibility. When I say a Christian's responsibility, I wince because almost everybody has a tendency to take that responsibility too seriously and think it depends on them and to fall into a works salvation.

The Scripture is clear. Listen to what James 2:14-17 says: "What does it profit, my brothers, if a man says he has faith but not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and lack of daily food, and one of you says to him, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead."

You need to know that Martin Luther said that the book of James was a letter of straw, and it's because of what I just read to you. But when you properly understand it—and it's important that you do—then something really good happens and it will blow you away. If you've been listening to me on this broadcast as we've talked about the basics of the Christian faith, we've been talking primarily about God's free grace given to a sinner who doesn't deserve it.

We have seen that salvation comes by faith and not by anything that you do. We've seen that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, anyone can do which will buy salvation. When you became a Christian, it had nothing to do with your goodness, with your purity, with your lovable qualities, with your niceness. We've seen that your relationship to Christ, once established, has nothing to do with what you do either before or after.

Being saved means trusting in Christ alone. As far as your relationship to Christ is concerned, nothing depends on you. Everything depends on God, who came to you when you couldn't come to Him, who called you by name when you didn't know His name. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing," the Bible says. "It's the gift of God, not because of works, lest any man should boast." That's Ephesians 2:8 and 9. Nothing I'm going to say in this broadcast should be taken to mean that any of what I just said to you is not true.

If you've properly understood the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ, there's a good chance that you have some questions. Why even try to be good enough to please God when you're not justified by pleasing God? Would it not be better to sin more so that grace might abound more? Since we can never be good enough to please God with our goodness, why should we even try? If a man is justified by faith, why bother to be good or pure or obedient or loving or kind or merciful?

One of the most dangerous traps into which a Christian can fall is the trap of assuming that because he or she is saved by faith, it doesn't have to do with anything else. John the Baptist, who certainly could not be described as the most tactful man who ever lived, one time exploded with these words: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits that befit repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham."

Gentiles may translate that sentence: "Bear fruits that befit repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves we are members of the church and our fathers were officers in the church, for I tell you God is able from these stones to rise up church members whose fathers have been church officers. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." Luke 3:7-9.

What are you going to do with that? Let me tell you: nothing. Do you know I'm gooder than I was? I'm better than I was. I love more than I did. I'm kinder than I was. I'm more merciful than I was. I'm more obedient than I was. And you say, "Well, Brown, how did you do that?" I have no idea. I really don't. Luther said, "Love God and do as you please." There's something that happens when you walk with Jesus that changes inside.

The biblical witness tells us what that looks like, but it doesn't tell us how to get there because only God can get there. I wrote a book a long time ago called *Three Free Sins*. The whole book was about one thesis which I believe is biblical and true: the reason Christians don't get better is because they're trying too hard to get better. I really believe that.

If you knew that you were free and loved no matter what you did or what you didn't do, how would you act? What would it do to your heart? What would it change in your life? What about your relationships and your marriage? What about being generous and kind? What about reaching out to the poor? What about sharing your faith with other people? That's not a list of things that every Christian should do after all that Jesus has done for them. It's not even a response of thankfulness for what He's done. It just is.

I'm going to tell you something else, and then that's all I'm going to say about this subject. Listen to me because this is really important: quit worrying about getting better. You're going to get better and you can't help it. If you walk with Christ, things are going to happen in your life. I'm old and I know these things for a fact. If you walk with Christ, stuff starts happening and you don't even know it's happening until your wife says, "Honey, you're a lot nicer than you used to be," until your friend says, "Sam, there's something different about you," until the neighbor says, "I never noticed before, but I kind of like you. There's something in your life that is really different."

Galatians 2:20 says, "I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, but Christ lives in me." Now, that's not a commandment; it's a fact. When you became a Christian, that's what happened to you. You were crucified in Christ. Christ lives in you, and you can't stop it. You can't make it go away. You can't erase it. You can't make it not true because it's an absolute fact. What happens with that is a literal change that begins to take place in your life.

I've been doing this a long time. I want you to know what I just told you is absolutely true. You say, "Well, Brown, you're pretty prideful." No, listen, I have so far to go, you wouldn't believe. But I can look back and I can see God's hand in my life shaping me, making me different, teaching me, making me kinder and more loving and more compassionate. And that's an absolute fact that Jesus does for His own. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew: Thanks, Steve. That'll do it for this week's teaching in our *Welcome to the Family* series. We sure appreciate you being with us on this journey. I mentioned this yesterday, but be sure to swing by keylife.org/family. That's where you can access this entire teaching series anytime you want. Tomorrow is Friday, so you know what that means: time for the nearly world-famous Friday Q&A. It is always an enlightening time with Steve and Pete, so don't miss it.

We've been exploring the biblical truths in Steve's book, *Welcome to the Family*, for close to nine months now. That's crazy, right? Have you read it, though? If not, we have a great opportunity for you because for a gift of $15 or more to Key Life, that book is our gift to you. Just call us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433. You can also email Steve at steve@keylife.org to order that book. Or if you want to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, the book is called *Welcome to the Family*.

Finally, would you join in the work of Key Life by giving? It's pretty easy. You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or if you want, you can do it by text. Just take out your phone and text KeyLife to 28950. That's KeyLife, one word or two, doesn't matter. Text that to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and 4C in Canada, and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.