Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Fear is a paralyzing emotion. So let me ask you,
do you find yourself feeling afraid for your
health and the health of your family? Afraid
for your physical safety? Are you afraid of losing
your job or having enough money to live on? How
do we find security in fearful times? Well, that's
today. Stay with me. You're listening to Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Throughout our
series called The New You, Chip has been walking
us through what God says about who you really
are in Christ, chosen, adopted, redeemed, and
valuable. Today, we come to the next fundamental
truth about your identity, that in Christ, you
are secure. No circumstance, no failure, no fear
can take that away. And remember, if you ever
miss a message in this study, just visit our
website, livingontheedge .org. Well, now here's
Chip Ingram with today's message titled, You
Are Secure. When we look at our life under pressure
and we think about what makes us feel secure,
what makes us feel safe, what makes us feel like
we're in control, how do we learn that? And we're
going to talk today about, I think, something
that's at the root of our being is God is going
to tell you and me that you're secure. On the
front of your notes, pull it out if you will.
I want you to get a deeper understanding of even
the word security. It means you're safe. There's
a firm foundation. It means that there's no outside
force that can come in and remove you, in this
case, from God. And yet we all struggle, don't
we? I don't need a psychologist to tell me that
I'm insecure. It just takes a few circumstances
and it just pops up. But we tend to have very
genuine fears about different things. But I put
four categories in your notes. The first one
is the fear of physical harm or death, or the
fear of being alone, of being rejected, of thinking
I'll never get married, or this marriage is never
going to get better, or the sense that something's
happened for those of us that have kids. And
then our basic insecurities can produce guilt
and condemnation and struggles. So here's the
question I have for you. Where do you tend to
feel insecure or afraid? Over 80 times the Bible
says fear not. Over 30 times it says don't be
afraid. Jesus' last words to the disciples, I
am with you always. I will never ever leave you
or forsake you, the writer of Hebrews says from
God's voice. And yet we struggle. So at the bottom
of your notes, there's a question I'd like you
to do some real pondering. And the pondering
I'd like you to do is, in what or whom do you
seek to find security apart from Christ? We all
do this, right? But identify it. Because I'm
going to tell you, in a fallen world, God is
going to allow some storms to come into your
life, but the goal of the storms will be like
Joseph. I think... Joseph when he was betrayed.
Joseph in prison. Joseph loss of reputation.
Joseph when people forgot him. Each and every
time, if you read that carefully, it says, and
the Lord was with him. And the Lord was with
him. And the Lord was with him. If you can identify
where you tend to put security, because a test
is coming and God wants you to pass the test.
He wants you to know, I'll be with you. I'll
never leave you. I'll never let you down. I am
for you. And down deep in your psyche, a lot
of us don't believe that. So, let me just ask
you, is your security in yourself? I've certainly
had that one. Your brains, your ability, you'll
figure it out. You can make it happen. Is it
in money? Is it family? You know what really
makes everything okay is your family, your wife,
your kids, your husband, all that stuff. And
when that's okay, you're okay. But boy, that
gets… Here's a test. Are you ready for this?
Whatever would get taken away or challenged to
the level it devastates you, that will tell you
where your security is. See, your security is
like a rug. And if it gets pulled out from under
you, it might hurt a little bit. If it devastates
you, you know, my security's in that job. My
security's in me. My security is not in Christ.
So I want you to identify that. And now turn
your notes with me, if you will. And I want to
talk about God's plan to give you a security
that can't change by circumstances or terrorism
or death or abandonment or cancer or rejection
or any fear of punishment. God's answer is in
1 Peter 3, 18. It's a summary of the work of
Jesus. For Christ also died for sins. Put a circle
around the word for, and I'll tell you why. Once
for all. Who is he? The just or the righteous
for the unrighteous or the unjust. What was his
purpose? So that he, Jesus, might bring us to
God. Well, how did he do it? Having been put
to death in the flesh on the cross, but made
alive in the spirit, the resurrection. God so
loved the world. That He sent His one and only
Son, God the Son, that whoever would believe
in Him shouldn't perish but have everlasting
life. God's solution to your security is that
you're valuable. He wants to choose you. He cares
about you. He's redeemed you. And He wants to
reconnect you close to Him so that no one at
any time ever, now or in eternity, can separate
you from Him. So then the question is, what must
I do to experience that security? And the gospel
writer John would say, as many as received him,
Jesus, to them he gave the right or the authority
to become children of God, even to those who
believe in his name. That little word for means
in the place of. Jesus came and he died in the
place of you. All that you deserve and I deserve
because of my sin and rebellion or passive indifference,
God took all of that and he placed that on Christ.
And now he says, you are forgiven, but you must
respond. As many as not just intellectually believe,
as many as receive him personally. To them, he
gives the right. Not to be religious, but to
become an actual child of the living God. Jesus
said, behold, I stand at the door and knock of
your heart, my heart. This is the verse I heard
when I trusted Christ, 1972. If any man, if any
woman hears my voice and will open the door of
your heart, the promise, I will come into him.
In the old translation, I will sup with him or
eat with him and he with me. And it's Jesus saying,
I want a relationship. The cross has paid for
your sin. It is a free gift. Now, turn from your
sin in the empty hands of faith. Say, Lord Jesus,
forgive me. Come into my life. Be my Lord. Be
my Savior. And the Spirit of God enters your
human body and you start a new life. In the old
days, people called that, that's what it's called
to be saved or receiving Christ or trusting Christ.
Now, what I want to talk to you about is I'm
guessing a great majority of you sort of have
down what I just talked about. I'm guessing that
those that are watching and those of us that
have been around for a while, it's like, okay,
Chip, thanks. It's very helpful. Like I've known
this since fourth grade or for some of us when
I was 18. But in 1972, knowing very little, having
no idea that there was a personal relationship
with God and I invited Christ into my life. I
want you to go back when you did that. I don't
think the average Christian has any idea what
actually happened. What actually happened that
actually is at the source of all the security
and every challenge that you'll face of all the
fears that we talked about. So, I want to walk
through these. I'll do them quickly. The moment
you receive Christ, if indeed you have, this
happened. You were justified. The word means
it's a legal declaration that all my sins are
forgiven. Past, present, and future. This is
God as the judge. Legally, the gavel comes down.
You're before him. Christ's righteousness, your
sin. He looks at the work of Christ. He says,
all of your sins are forgiven, and the righteousness
of Christ is placed in your account. You are
granted the righteousness of Jesus. You have
a new position as his dearly loved child. Romans
5 .1 says, therefore, having been justified by
faith, We have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. And this peace, it's not just an
emotional peace. It means we were hostile to
God. The word is we have the shalom of God. We
have the wholeness of God. We have the favor
of God. We are now in God's family. In the space
below, I want you to write this down. Are you
ready? God is my father. You might write down,
I am his child. What if you started to believe
that? You know what? What do good fathers do?
What do good parents do? They protect and they
provide. The second thing that happened to you
the moment you received Christ is regeneration.
That means that I'm a new creation in Christ.
I've been given a new nature fully pleasing to
God. It's different from religion. It's different
from morality. It's you become an actual new
person. You're listening to Living on the Edge
with Chip Ingram. Stay with us. We're halfway
through today's message and there's still more
ahead. Today's teaching comes from Chip's powerful
series, The New You, claiming your birthright
as a child of God. Want to go deeper? Each of
these lessons is available online at livingontheedge
.org, along with additional resources and discussion
guides to take you further. Find it all at livingontheedge
.org. Well, now let's get back to Chip's message.
Nicodemus was a very religious rabbi, squeaky
clean morally, and he came at night because he
saw that Jesus was from God, the miracles attested
to it. And in this night meeting, Jesus says
to him in John chapter 3, he answered him and
said, truly, truly, I say to you. Now, this is
a very religious moral man. Unless one is born
again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus
said to him, how can a man be born again when
he's old? He's taking it pretty literally here.
He cannot enter again into his mother's womb
a second time, can he? Jesus answered, truly,
truly I say to you, unless one is born of water,
physical birth, and spirit, spiritual birth,
he can't enter the kingdom of God. That which
is born of the flesh, physical, is flesh. That
which is born of the spirit is spirit. Jesus
taught the most religious, moral man we have
cited in scripture. That when you pray to receive
Jesus and he enters your life, it's a spiritual
birth. You're regenerated. You receive a new
nature. Jot in your notes 2 Corinthians 5, 17.
It says, if any man, any woman is in Christ,
you're a new creation. The old things, notice
this, pass away. Behold, all things. Listen to
the tense of the verb, are becoming new. Ninth
grade biology, right? The little green caterpillar
creates a cocoon and out comes a butterfly. We
call it meta. I love being with such intelligent
people. That's what it's called, right? The DNA
in that green caterpillar and the DNA in that
butterfly are exactly the same. But a metamorphosis
occurs where that butterfly is no longer ugly
and green and crawls. It is beautiful. It gets
a new nature. It gets a new capacity. That's
the physical picture and nature of what happens
when you pray to receive Christ. Are you ready
for this? Write this down. God gave me a new
nature. God made you a new person. Do you believe
that? How many Christians are living with, well,
this is how I grew up and, you know, my dad was
an alcoholic and I've been through this and then
this happened. Now, I'm not saying there aren't
consequences. I'm saying, what if you believed
in the cocoon of metamorphosis and life change
that is the word of God and time and community
and time in his word and your openness and steps
of faith? You have a brand new nature. You can
fly. Stop crawling. We have Christians everywhere
that are still crawling and you're butterflies
because you don't believe you have a new nature.
You've been regenerated. Now it's a journey and
a process. God is my father, number one. Number
two, God made me a new person. And as a result,
guess what? You might jot down, Jesus lives in
me. If something's, that's what it says. Jesus
actually lives inside of you in the person of
the Holy Spirit. The third thing that happens
is reconciliation. That means that although I
was once hostile to God, And alienated from him,
I am now his friend. Paul would write, inspired
by the Holy Spirit in Colossians chapter 1, verse
21 and 22. Although you, speaking to these new
Christians, were formerly alienated and hostile
in mind, engaged in evil deeds. Yet he, Jesus,
has reconciled you in his fleshly body through
his death. Do you see how all these keep coming
back to what happened at the cross? And when
what happens at the cross gets received by faith,
and then this journey from your head to your
heart where you actually not just know about
it, but you know it, you digest it, you absorb
it, you believe it, becomes a part of your life
focus and how you see God, see the world, and
see yourself. In order to present you, this is
how he presented you, holy and blameless beyond
reproach. Some of you have been through the very
painful experience of irreconcilable differences,
either in business, in a marriage. You know what
the word reconcile means? It means two people
that weren't getting along. In our case, we were
enemies of God. We were hostile to God. The one
who made us, it was either passive indifference.
I don't care about God. Or actual rebellion.
Don't any of you tell me what to do, even though
you made me. And it's, you become friends. Would
you write this down? God is my friend. Now, what
if this started itching its way? Maybe at least
get down to the collarbone. God is my father.
God made me a new person. God is my friend. What
do friends do? Okay, this is not a trick question.
There's not something like, oh, I hope I get
this one right. What do you do with your friends?
You hang out. You enjoy each other. You get to
know each other. You do things you both enjoy.
Real friends, you can share the good stuff and
they're not jealous, they're happy for you. You
can share the bad stuff and oh man, and they'll
even help you. You can even share the deep, ugly
stuff and they don't judge you, but they also
don't let you stay the same. What if you actually
could believe that God is not down on you? He's
your friend. He can take whatever you want to
share. He wants to hang out. This isn't, I'm
not religious. I'm going to church regularly.
I need to read the Bible. I need to pray. Probably
need to pray longer. I need to give some money.
Am I okay now? That's how some people live. How
about this? Come unto me, all of you that are
stressed out and heavy laden in labor and just
overwhelmed with life. And I will give you rest.
Take my yoke. Let's do life together. I'm meek,
power under control, lowly of heart. And I want
to help you get through this life and I will
never leave you or forsake you. You have been
justified. You have been regenerated. You have
been reconciled. And then I love this next one.
It's a big word. Propitiation. It means that
Jesus satisfied the just wrath of God by his
death on the cross. And therefore, Jesus took
all my punishment forever. Let me say that again.
Jesus took all your punishment forever. Jesus
took all of my punishment forever. First John
chapter four. Verses 9 through 11. By this the
love of God was manifested or made known to us
that God sent his only begotten son into the
world. Why? So that we might live. Well, how?
Through him. In this is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to
be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if
God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Now, you need to understand that God has emotions.
He's a person. He's one essence, three distinct
persons. He has feelings and emotions and a mind
and a will, and we're made in his image. And
there's something that makes him very, very angry.
It's called evil. But his anger isn't like our
kind of anger that flies off the handle or just
is capricious and, you know, he's going to blow
up one day. John Stott writes, about propitiation.
And it says, the reason why propitiation is necessary
is that sin arouses God's wrath or anger. This
doesn't mean that he's likely to fly off the
handle at the most trivial provocation, still
less that he ever loses his temper for no apparent
reason at all. For there is nothing capricious
or arbitrary about the holy God, nor is he ever
malicious or spiteful or vindictive. His anger
is neither mysterious nor irrational. It is never
unpredictable but always predictable because
it is provoked by evil and evil alone. The wrath
of God is his steady, unrelenting, unremitting,
uncompromising antagonism to evil in all of its
forms and all of its manifestations. I'm listening
to The Life of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas right
now. And I'm in the section where the most horrific
things were done to the Poles and the Jews that
it's even hard to hear of gassing people and
going into villages and just indiscriminately
lining everyone up and killing them and then
dancing on their bodies. The human heart in the
right circumstances is desperately wicked. What
you need to understand, when Jesus was hanging
on the cross and crying out, my God, my God,
why have you forsaken me? It's in that moment
that the just wrath of God took the punishment
you deserve and I deserve and all people of all
time deserve and he placed it on Christ and he
who knew no sin became sin for us that we might
become the righteousness of God. And in that
single moment, all the punishment of all time
was on Christ. You're listening to Living on
the Edge and a message titled You Are Secure.
Part of our series called The New You, Claiming
Your Birthright as a Child of God. This series
is just getting started, but already the truths
are stacking up. Chosen, adopted, redeemed, valuable,
and now secure. These are the unshakable realities
of what happened the moment you placed your faith
in Christ. And if you want to keep building on
that foundation, Chip's brand new devotional,
Growing Deeper in Christ, a 365 -day journey
to true discipleship, was designed to walk alongside
you every step of the way. It follows Jesus'
own pattern of discipleship, drawn from 10 books
Chip has written over the years, each day, just
a few minutes in Scripture, and one simple step
of obedience, letting these truths move from
the pages of your Bible into the fabric of your
everyday life. If you've never given to this
ministry before, or if you'd like to join us
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Make your first gift or sign up as a monthly
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Just search for Living on the Edge wherever you
listen to podcasts and subscribe today. Well,
now here's Chip. As we wrap up today's program,
I have to tell you, I love the conversation that
Jesus had with Nicodemus. Jesus didn't shame
him for not asking his questions in public. You
know, he had a quiet, personal, profound conversation,
and he loved Nicodemus. And what I also like
about this is Nicodemus knew. I mean, he was
a theologian. He had major portions of the Old
Testament memorized. I mean, he knew his theology,
and yet he didn't get how that theology connected
to real life and real relationship with God.
And I find that really encouraging because...
That's often the case with me and I think with
many Christians. You know, as I taught today,
I taught about justification. And some of the
words I used and some of you might be going,
wow, man, this is kind of heavy. Justification,
regeneration, propitiation. Man, this guy's using
a lot of theological words. But here's what I
want to tell you. It is the meaning of those
words that if you're a follower of Christ and
you prayed to receive him, these things are true
of you. And here's what I want you to get. Justification.
I walk through what that means. That's a legal
term where God the Father has declared you righteous
in His sight forever, not because of anything
you've done or I've done, but because of Christ's
work in your place applied to you. And you know
what that means? It means God is your Father.
You're a part of the family. And then I talked
about regeneration as I talked about Nicodemus
and you have to be born again. That's a big word,
but here's all that it means. It means that you're
a new creation. The old you, the person you were
before you trusted Christ, died, and Christ now
lives in you. Your personality is the same, your
body looks the same, but you're a completely
new creation. Do you believe that? Are you experiencing
that? In our next program, I'm going to walk
through five very specific things that happened
to you when you trusted Christ. And I will tell
you, when you begin to believe these, You talk
about security. You talk about feeling safe.
You talk about being the kind of person that
can walk into a room and walk through life without
fear. It's because you know you're a son, you're
a daughter of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings
who has promised to protect you and love you
and keep you for himself no matter what. I hope
you'll join me. I'm Dave Drewy, inviting you
back next time when Chip Ingram continues our
study on the new you here on Living on the Edge.
Today's program is produced and sponsored by
Living on the Edge.