Telling the Truth

Guest (Male) 1: There’s nothing good enough you can do to earn your way into heaven. Nothing but the forgiveness, love, and grace of God. Today, Stuart Briscoe shares more of his series, "The Gospel." He'll begin in just a moment.

If you've been feeling overwhelmed lately, like your mind just won't slow down, you're not alone. A lot of people today are carrying anxiety, uncertainty, and questions. They don't know where to take them. That's why "Telling the Truth" is sharing biblical teaching in digital spaces, so people can encounter God's truth right in those moments, right where they are.

As we approach the end of the financial year, your support is critical to keep this ministry going. Right now, your gifts will be doubled through an $82,000 matching grant, helping reach more people searching for peace and direction. And as our thanks, we’ll send you Stuart Briscoe's book, "A Piece of My Mind," a resource designed to help you experience God's steady pace when life feels unsettled. Call 262-788-4648 to have your gift doubled by the match or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Stuart with the message, "What Does Saving Faith Look Like?"

Stuart Briscoe: Blessed is the man whose sins are covered. This is a different word. If transgression is insisting on doing what I’m forbidden to do, sin is failing to do what I’m required to do. You do see the difference, don't you? Transgression insists on doing what I'm forbidden to do. The Ten Commandments, if you want to go to that little succinct statement of the law, says quite on a number of occasions, "Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not."

And there's something in the human heart that very often says, "Oh, yes, I shall. Oh, yes, I shall. And I shall do it with impunity, and I will get away with it." And God says, "No, no. Your only hope is that I will cover them. I will send them away." Now, then, if transgression is doing what I'm forbidden to do, sin is failing to do what I'm told to do. What am I told to do? "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and mind and soul and strength." Oops, haven't done it. Or, by the way, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Oh, wow, haven't done it. What's that? Sin.

Now, if I'm going to be justified by my works, then we've got to reckon with transgressions—insisting on doing what I'm forbidden to do—and sins—failing to do what I was required to do. And God says, "All right, let's add it all up." And He said it comes considerably short of the standard I require. Your only hope is that I will send away your transgressions and cover over your sin.

Not only that, there's a third word here. He says, "And blessed is the man whose iniquities the Lord will never reckon to his account." What is iniquity? Iniquity is perverting or polluting what is beautiful and pure. That's iniquity. Taking what is beautiful, taking what is pure, and fouling it up. Listen, listen. What have we done to love? We've turned it into lust. What have we done with honesty? What have we done with integrity? What have we done with the institution of marriage? What have we done with parenting? What have we done? It's iniquitous.

All right, if I'm going to be justified by my works, I'm going to have to account for these transgressions—doing what I was told not to do; sins—failing to do what I was told to do; and iniquity—where I've taken what is beautiful and pure and pristine and fouled it up. I've got to account for all that, and I'm saying, "Here, God, add it all up. How am I doing?" And He said, "Not good enough. Your only hope is if I forgive your trespasses, cover your sins, and no longer credit your iniquities to your account."

Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him. Listen to this: Salvation is not the result of your good works being credited. Salvation is the result of your sin not being credited. Salvation is not your good works being credited; salvation is sin not being credited. It's not my assets being counted by God and found sufficient. It is my debts being canceled that brings me salvation. It's not about your assets being credited; it's about your debts being canceled.

And how is that going to happen? It is going to happen when God, in His grace, offers you what you could never earn yourself. It's not of works; it's by faith. Abraham, Paul goes on to point out, was credited with righteousness 430 years before the Law of Moses was given. So, the principle of being justified by faith predates the idea of works through the law by 430 years. And Paul clinches his argument, and therefore he says, it's not a matter of keeping the law. Long before that ever came into anybody's minds, it was a matter of coming in faith to a gracious God and receiving what He offered by faith.

Now, Paul basically says, let me go back to Abraham. Let me tell you a little bit about Abraham's faith. Let me read to you: "As it is written, this is verse 17, I have made you a father of many nations." That's what God said to Abraham. "I have made you a father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed, and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, so shall your offspring be." We read about this in Genesis chapter 15.

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was about 100 years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God. That's a bit of a mouthful. Let me just remind you. God had promised to Abraham, "You will be the father of many nations, and all the nations of the world will be blessed through you."

Well, Abraham has a little word with God one day, and he says, "God, about me being the father of many nations." "Yes." "I'm about a hundred." "Yes." "And I don't have any children, God. Don't know if you've noticed this. You gave me this big, big promise you'll be the father of many nations. But God, I'm about a hundred, and I don't have any children. Oh, and God, there's another thing. Sarah is pushing a hundred, too, and she has been sterile. She has not been able to have a baby ever. So God, we've got a problem here."

Guest (Male) 1: True saving faith is dependent on you accepting the forgiveness and sacrifice of a loving, loving God. There's no better good news than that, and Stuart Briscoe tells us much more in a moment. There's a growing hunger for truth in our world today, and more people than ever are searching for real answers. That's why, as "Telling the Truth" prepares to close out another financial year, your support matters so much. Your support helps take the trusted teaching of Stuart and Jill Briscoe and place it into digital spaces where people are already looking for hope.

And right now, an $82,000 matching grant will double your gift, expanding that reach even further in the months ahead. When you give, we'll say thanks by sending you "A Piece of My Mind," a powerful resource from Stuart that shows you how to experience God's perfect peace, even in uncertain and challenging times. So call today to request your copy when you have your gift doubled by the match: 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4648, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org.

For many, our smartphones have become our social connection, but we want to help you make a spiritual connection with the "Telling the Truth" mobile app. You can listen to daily programs, engage in Bible reading plans, journal, and share your thoughts and prayers on the community wall. Get the "Telling the Truth" app through your app store or log on to tellingthetruth.org/mobile-app. Remember, you can also give to support "Telling the Truth" on our mobile app. Now, let's go back to Stuart for more of "What Does Saving Faith Look Like?"

Stuart Briscoe: God said, "What's the problem?" "God, I just explained to you. You have promised that I will be the father of many nations. I'm about a hundred. My wife has not been able to have a baby all this time—we've tried and tried and tried. It doesn't work. And she's about a hundred. We are childless. How in the world can I be the father of many nations? What's going to happen is this: because I don't have any issue myself, it's all going to go to my servant, or one of my slaves, Eliezer of Damascus. That can't be." And God says, "What's your problem, Abraham?"

Abraham is wondering how in earth to get it across to God that they've got a problem here. But then he remembers something. He remembers two things that he's learned about God. Do you know what he learned about God? He's learned about God that God is the one who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. God has said, "You will be the father of many nations." Abraham said, "I can't be because I'm not the first one, and I'm a hundred, my wife's about a hundred, and we've had no children." And He said, "I understand that, Abraham, but what you've got to understand is this: I have promised you, and I specialize in bringing life out of deadness."

Not only that, I have promised you, and I specialize in bringing things that do not exist into existence. And suddenly, the light dawns for Abraham. "Oh, God. I'm telling you that my body is as good as dead, and my dear little Sarah here, with all due respect, so is her body as good as dead. And our chances of having children are zero to nil. But you've promised that we will, and I guess you can promise a promise like that because you're the one who brings life out of deadness. So our deadness could be the arena in which your life could be manifest. Is that what you're saying?" And God says, "Yes."

"God, against all the evidence that I can muster, I'm going to do something outrageous. I'm going to trust you. I'm going to trust you." And God says, "Good. Good. I'll credit righteousness to you. You haven't earned it; it's just in my grace I'll give it to you." "But God, what about Sarah? What about Sarah?" "Oh, yes. What's the problem with Sarah?" "Sarah's womb does not have the capacity to reproduce, God." "Yes, what's the problem?" "The problem is, how am I going to do it if she has a womb that is incapable of reproducing?"

"Oh, I see. Well, what have you learned about me?" "I've learned two things about you, God. Number one: you bring life out of deadness. And number two: you call things into existence that do not exist." "Right." "Oh, I just got it. God, I just got it. What you're really saying is this: that Sarah's womb, with all due respect to Sarah—very nice lady, beautiful, beautiful woman, pushing a hundred and absolutely gorgeous still, don't know how she does it, but she does. But her womb, that's the problem. Her womb is the problem. It doesn't have the capacity to reproduce a child."

"But you specialize in saying the word and bringing something out of nothing. Right?" "Yeah." "So, in actual fact, her inability to reproduce a child is the ideal environment in which you can be God. Right?" "Right." "God, I believe you. I'll trust you." Because he had a problem, he had to go to his wife next. Just imagine him going to his wife and saying, "Guess what? You won't believe this. You won't believe this. We're going to have a baby." And she says, "You silly old thing. You have been out in the sun too long."

And he said, "No. No, no, no. I haven't been out in the sun. In fact, God took me out in the dead of night, and He made me look into the sky, and He said, 'Count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sands of the desert.' And Sarah, I believe Him." "Why do you believe Him?" "Because I know He's the God who brings life out of deadness and brings something out of nothing by the word of His power. I believe God." And God says, "And you will have righteousness credited to you. And your sins and iniquities I will remember no more."

That's how it works. How's your faith? How's your faith in the promise of God? Here's the promise of God. It is simply this: Whosoever will may come. Whosoever will may come. And I'll tell you why it's a whosoever: because, you see, it isn't limited to those who kept the law. Nobody has. But it isn't limited to them. It's nothing to do with us doing the works of the law. It's everything to do with God being gracious and us believing what He promises. Whosoever. Doesn't matter how consistently you've transgressed.

It doesn't matter how frequently you have failed to do what you're required to do. It doesn't matter how much guilt you have in your mind about all the iniquitous things that you've done and all the things that you've spoiled. You cannot outweigh them. You can't do it and finish up perfect. But God gave Jesus to die for you as a propitiation for your sins, and now freely offers you righteousness credited to you and all your sins carried away, blotted out, not credited to your account.

You say, "Sounds too easy to me." All right, tell me a better way. Tell me a better way. People say, "Well, if it's just a case of believing Jesus and believing God that He will not credit your sins to your account and credit righteousness to you, that means I can just say, 'I'm sorry, Lord. Forgive me, save me, save me,' and then go out and live the same old way." No, no, no. You see, this is how it works: grace appropriated by faith leads to humble gratitude. And the result is that whether you live or whether you die, you know you are the Lord's.

And between living and dying, you have one overriding concern from now on: out of gratitude for grace received, you live seeking to please the Lord. Not to earn your salvation, but to thank Him for what He offers you by grace.

Guest (Male) 1: You've been listening to Stuart Briscoe, part of the teaching team that makes up "Telling the Truth." He'll be right back to answer a few questions about God's forgiveness and promises, so stay tuned. What if your generosity today helped place biblical truth in front of someone at the exact moment they needed it most? That's what's happening every day through "Telling the Truth." Through social media, our "Telling the Truth" website, and other digital platforms, people are encountering God's word, many for the very first time right where they are.

And more people than ever are searching for the kind of peace that can only be found through life in Christ. That's why, as we approach the end of the financial year, it's so important that we finish strong because your support can help us reach even more people with biblical truth in the coming year. The great news is that a group of generous friends has offered an $82,000 matching grant, doubling your gift to expand the outreach even further in the months ahead.

Now is a powerful time for you to step in and help keep God's word going out to the people who need it most. And as our thanks, we'll send you Stuart Briscoe's book, "A Piece of My Mind," to help you experience the peace of God in whatever you're facing today. Just call 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4648, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org.

Jill Briscoe: Stuart joins us now to answer a few questions about saving faith. Stuart, how does God cancel our debts?

Stuart Briscoe: The Scriptures really have difficulty explaining to us the wonders of what it is that God has done for sinful people like you and me. And the various pictures that are used are very helpful, but they have their limits as well. So for instance, when we talk about God canceling our debts, it's almost as if God is a businessman that we have done business with Him, we've finished up way, way, way over our heads in debt, and God has graciously assumed the debt Himself and has wiped it out and we are free. Well, that is a valid metaphor for forgiveness.

Another one that Scripture uses is very dramatic. It says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our sins from us." Well, we now know that there is such a thing as the International Dateline, but in the days of Scripture, this was a very graphic image. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and there's a huge gap in between. That's how far God has canceled our debts, has removed our sins. And there's another one I like. It says that God has placed our sins in the depths of the sea. And one old preacher said, "Not only has He done that, He's put up a sign which says 'No Fishing.'"

Jill Briscoe: Stuart, how does faith in the promises of God impact your everyday?

Stuart Briscoe: Scripture has an awful lot to say about the role of faith in the life of a human being. The reality is that we are utterly dependent human beings, and all of us, by the very fact that we are dependent, have to live on the basis of faith. When you got up this morning, it was because the alarm clock was ringing. You looked at it, you were nine-tenths asleep, but you believed it. You rolled out of bed and you put your weight on the floorboards, and you trusted yourself to them and you didn't check once.

You went down and you ate the food in the packet because you believed that it was healthy food. You got in your car and you started driving, and you got a green light so you went straight through without looking the other way, assuming that the other way would have a red light and the people seeing it would stop. You live by faith. Okay, now if that's how we live our life normally, just look at the issue. It's not that you have faith—you do. It's what you put your faith in.

And if you believe in God who has raised the dead, then you trust Him. Not all the other things that you're trusting naturally, automatically, but you trust God who has raised up Christ from the dead. And you say, "I got problems, and they're not even close to the problem that God had when He had to raise Jesus from the dead."

Guest (Male) 1: Before we go, here's something important to remember: your support this month can help "Telling the Truth" reach even more people in the coming year. Right now, your gift will be doubled through an $82,000 matching grant, helping extend biblical teaching to people around the world through digital platforms. And as our thanks, we'd love to send you Stuart Briscoe's book, "A Piece of My Mind," to encourage you with the promise of God's peace.

So please request your copy when you call 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4648, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. We're glad you listened in today. Come back next time for more truth from God's Word from Stuart and Jill Briscoe. Experience life here on "Telling the Truth."