From being spiritually dead to being made alive in Christ. That's the topic today on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe.
You want to see God's beautiful museum? Look at a life that was dead and now is alive unto God and being transformed. That is God's living artwork. You are it. Oh man. The art museum downtown. Nothing. Nothing compared to the beauty of what God can do.
Well, is it religion that changes you and makes you a better person, or is it something or someone else? Welcome to the program. Mark is the senior pastor of New Life Community Church and the president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today's message is one part of our brand new series called When You Believe Everything Changes. If you've missed any of the messages in this series. You can catch up online at Bold steps org.
And then, while you're online, let me invite you to sign up for Mark's weekly email devotional, The Bold Stepper Weekly. It's free and automatically delivered to your inbox each Monday morning, and I know you won't want to miss Mark's timely and relevant insights. Right now, let's get started with today's bold steps. Here's our teacher, Mark Jobe.
When you genuinely have the spirit. I don't I don't worry because I know you're going to be convicted and empowered and dragged back and taken to the cross and that God is going to work in you, because once you have the spirit, you are sealed unto the day of redemption. You can fight it, but you can't win. You can resist it, but he'll keep coming back. You can grieve him, but you cannot overcome him. You can try to live like you don't have it, but you have it, and you will never be the same once
you have the Holy Spirit inside of you. Because he's there to stay, there to change you there, to transform you there. Sealed unto the day of redemption. It's a powerful thing to be alive unto God. He says, so you were dead, but you have been made alive with Christ. Verse six, And God raised us up with Christ. So not only were you made alive, but you were raised up. Jesus was made alive in the grave, but he raised up and walked again, were made alive spiritually. But now
we're raised up with Christ. We we begin to walk with Christ, live with Christ. He begins to live inside of us. Listen. And by the way, you know, people say, well, Jesus is in me. And technically you're right. I mean, technically you're wrong, but literally you're right. Because really, who lives inside of you is the Holy Spirit that carries with him the essence and the presence of Jesus. Are
you understanding? Technically, who lives inside of you? Really is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, which has the nature of Jesus and the nature of God right inside. But technically, it's the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you that's transforming you. The difference between religion and the message of the gospel is right there. Religion. Most religions teach you that you have to try to change your modify your behavior so that you become a
good person. You become a better person than you are a bad person. It's religious behavior modification. Most religions teach you. Try to be good. Try to be better. Try to improve. Try to be nicer to people. Try to cuss less. Try to give more. Try to be less selfish. And if you do all these things and you really discipline yourself to do these things, then ultimately if you look really, really, really, really hard, then you will be acceptable to God and
you will have made it. That's what religion teaches. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the Bible does not teach that. Some of you aren't sure. Well, what are you saying, pastor? I got to be bad. I mean, I don't understand, I thought I thought I was here to be good, and now you're teaching me that God doesn't teach us to be good. No, no, no, I didn't say that. I didn't say that. God doesn't teach you to be good. Religion teaches you to be good so you can be
acceptable to God. The Bible teaches that once the Holy Spirit is inside of you, you will be good, not because you're trying to be acceptable unto God, but because God is in you. You will be good because you're acceptable to God already. You're working out of the goodness that is in you, not working towards goodness to be accepted. Are you understanding that there's a huge difference? That's why he goes on to say, listen, listen what he says.
Why does he do this? In order that the coming age is verse seven, he may show the incomparable richness of his grace, expressing the kindness of Jesus. This is all so that we can see the goodness of God, so that people can point to you and say, God is good. Look at that person, man. If God can do that in their life, God must be real man. They were a mess. God delights. I think sometimes in getting the messed up. You don't always take the just
the good. I think God says, I'm going to. I'm going to show you what I can do with that person. See that person? Everybody says, oh no. Oh, then we'll never see them. God says watch. God gets those people that are really hard. Turns them around. And people say, wow, I've had it happen a lot. People walk in and say, guess that person's in church. I know that person. They come to church. Well, you knew them. You knew the old self well, they're a new self now. I remember
one time I had led this guy to Christ. He'd come out of prison. I'd mentored him. He used to. He used to lead a prostitution ring and and a gang. And he was an usher. A guy walked into church for the first time. He looked at the usher and he came to me and said, pastor. I said, yeah. He said, I'm new here. You know that guy that you have an usher there? I said, yeah, yeah, I know last time I saw him, he had a sawed off shotgun pointed at my head. I said, well, you
better take a seat then. You know God can change us. He delights in transforming us. No matter who we are, where we've come from, we are not beyond the transforming power of God. It's for the riches of his kindness that he manifests his glory. And verse eight, look what he says. Oh, I wish I could preach this. Listen, verse eight, for it is by grace. What is grace? Not your neighbor next door? No, not what you say before you have a meal. No, grace is the unmerited,
undeserved favor of God. We don't deserve it. We can't earn it. We can't make it happen to us. It's just God choosing to be favorable to us because he chooses to give us favor. That's grace. So listen. It is because God chooses to show us favor that you have been saved. What does it mean to be saved? Saved from the wrath of God. It means to be changed by the Holy Spirit. Saved from a destiny outside of him. It is because of God's favor that you
have been saved. And it's through faith. It's God's grace that saves you. But it comes via believing. You have to believe for it to come to you. It's through faith in believing that it comes to you. But it's God's grace. Listen. And this. Not from yourselves. It is a gift of God. I love that. If you could save yourself, it wouldn't be a gift. It would be a merit. And when you came before God, we'd pin a medal on your chest and said you made it.
They didn't because you were good and they were bad. And you would say, praise me. Glory to me. I made it. When it's a gift, all you can say is glory to God.
You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. We're pausing the program for a moment to remind you that if you would like to take advantage of the tools and resources we have available to help you grow in your study of the word, we'd love for you to go online to our website and explore its bold steps. You'll find books and past programs, even ask Mark a question, which I'm going to do right now through a listener. Mark, if you're ready for this.
I'm ready.
It comes from Karen in South Florida who listens. Pastor Mark, you were speaking about heaven and hell in your afterlife series, and you mentioned there was no such thing as soul sleep, as some people believe. I always believed in soul sleep, as the Bible said, those who died in Christ will be raised first, as it says in Thessalonians. Why would Paul say that the dead in Christ will rise first when the trumpet blows? If that's not the case, I'm
sure Paul knew exactly what he was saying. So please clarify your position that you spoke about refuting soul sleep. Thank you. She says.
Yeah, thank you, Karen, for asking that question. And it's a common area of confusion. So let me try to just explain as quickly as I can. So first of all, let me say that the term soul sleep or soul death does not occur in the Bible. People holding to the position of soul sleep or soul death are called mortalist. The confusion arises around the term that's used in several parts of the Bible, where death is referred to as sleeping. Uh,
for example, in First Corinthians chapter 15, it says. Then he appears to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep or in First Corinthians 1129 it says, for those who eat or drink without discerning the body of Christ, eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why some among you are weak and sick, and a number of them have fallen asleep. In First Thessalonians, for we believe
that Jesus died and rose again. And so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep with him. So people read that and they think, okay, well, when I die, I go into some sort of unconscious slumber called soul sleep. However, there are other places in Scripture that make it very clear that the moment that we die, we go to the presence of Jesus.
Praise God!
So the term sleep is not referring to what actually happens. Our soul doesn't fall asleep. It's a way of referring to death for the believer. Death is just that we're going to wake up again. Oftentimes in Scripture, instead of saying death for the believer. It talks about the believer sleeping because we will wake up again. It's not permanent, but second Corinthians chapter five. Listen to this. Karen. This
is really good. It tells us that Paul is writing and it says, therefore, being always of good courage and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be with the Lord. King James says, absent from
the body, present with the Lord. Philippians chapter one, verse 21 and 22 also says, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is much better than to remain in the flesh. Jesus, when he died on the cross, said, you will be in Paradise with me today.
So good one.
Karen. To make a long answer shorter, simply this for a believer that knows Jesus. When we die, you don't go into this long slumber. You go directly into the presence of Jesus.
And isn't it great that we have God's promise? Huh?
Yes. I'm not looking forward to some big long nap of years. I'm looking forward to go straight into the presence of Jesus.
I'm with you, Mark, I really am. Okay, let's continue today's message now. Thank you for that answer, Mark. Mark is going to tell us now about the biggest lies about religion.
Glory to his goodness. Glory to his mercy. Because if I had to try to do it on my own, I would have failed. Listen, the Bible says all our good works are as dirty rags before him. Listen, I believe that sometimes religion has done more damage than good. Because one of the biggest lies of religion is this. Hear me. This is really, really important. One of the biggest lies of religion is this one of the biggest lies that many religion teaches us is that our good
works will make us right before God. God says it is by grace that you are saved, not by works, so that you can't boast. Listen to me well. You do not become right with God because of your works. You do works because you're right with God. Let me say that again. You do not get right with God because of good works. You do good works because you are right with God. You get right with God by simply responding to the gift that he's given you. Not by working so hard that the scale of the good
works outweighs the scale of the bad works. You will never be good enough for God. Never. You can never be holy enough for him. His standard is perfection, and you and I miserably fail his standard. If there were a way to get to God through our works, Jesus would have never come. If there were a way for us to meet the standard of perfection and earn our way into glory, Jesus would have never died. Jesus came
and died because there was no other way. Someone had to pay the price because you and I could not be good enough. And to try to earn our way to God through good works is to insult the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. It's to spit in the face of God and say, I think I can pay this price. I think I can pay the debt. You can't pay the debt. I can't pay the debt. It was paid for us on the cross of Calvary through the blood of Jesus Christ. All I can do
is receive it. You say, well, pastor, that seems too easy. Oh, no, it's not easy. It's free. But it's not cheap. Oh it's free. God's salvation is a gift. It says it's not by works so that no one can boast. It's free. What God requires in exchange for your life. God says you want it. Give me your life and I'll give it to you. You want the gift? Then give me your life. So I'll be Lord of your life. That's what it means to be Lord, master of your life.
And I will come into your life, and I will rule your life and run your life, and you will die to yourself. And you will live unto me, and I will make you a new person. But the old person is gone. We had a baptism in our 1015 service. The old person gone buried new person alive in Jesus. You can't earn it and you can't deserve it. But it's not cheap. Oh, never, never, never mistake the freeness of the gospel for cheapness of the gospel. Never mistake
the two. Some people think it's too easy. It's. I can pray a prayer. No, no, no, it's not just a prayer. It's a yielding of your life. It's a giving of your soul. It's a giving up of ownership and control and saying, you now manage my life. You are Lord, come inside of me. Be Lord, change me. I am your follower. You are my Lord. I die to myself and I live to you. That, my friends, is the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! So let me close with this verse ten. The last
verse here. For we are God's workmanship. Now this word workmanship is an interesting word. It's translated in the ancient Greek poema, poema which where is. It's where we get the word poem from. We are God's. Handiwork. We are God's poem. We are God's. Hey, here's a better one. We are God's work of art. We, you and I. We are God's work of art. You want to see God as it's at its best. Look at a life that has been changed and redeemed and turned around and you see the art of God. You want to see
God's beautiful museum? Look at a life that was dead and now is alive unto God. And being transformed, that is God's living artwork. You are it. Oh, I look around this place and it makes me want to bless the name of God. I look around this place and I say, God, you are so creative. I look around this place and I say, whoa, are you powerful? God. I look around this place and I say, God, you are amazing. What? What makes me think he's so amazing? Because I've seen God at work. I've seen what we
were and what we are now. I've seen what God can do in living people. I've seen the artwork of God. And it's beautiful. It's amazing. Zien. Oh, man. The art museum downtown. Nothing. Picasso. Yeah. Nothing compared to the beauty of what God can do. We are God's artwork. Created in Christ Jesus. He's taken Jesus to mold and shape his artwork. And why has he created us? This is a living walking artwork, and he's created us to do
good works. He just told us before that we can't earn salvation by good works, but now he's telling us that he's created us to do good works. Why? Because he's in us. He lives in us. He's created us. He's engineered us, designed us to do good. That's part of how he has engineered and created us via his Holy Spirit. Listen. Created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. God has already laid out a plan prepared in advance
the good works that you are to do. He's got a purpose. I say this all the time. God has a purpose and a plan for your life, and it's a good purpose and it's a good plan. You say, well, I don't know where I'm going. Oh, you don't know, but God does. Well, I don't know what I'm doing. Hey, God does though. He's working all things together for his purpose. God works everything together for the good of those that love him. Oh, I don't know. My life seems like
a mess. That's right. Love God. Stay focused. God is putting the pieces together to turn it out to something good. That's how God works for his good pleasure.
Yeah. So there. You heard it. Working it out for his good pleasure. Some of you are making a decision to follow Christ because you've never surrendered. So you're not aware that God has a plan to put your life together. I'd like to pray with you. If you've never surrendered your life to Christ, because I believe that God is speaking to some people right now. So wherever you're at, would you just bow with me for a moment? If you are ready to surrender and pray this prayer. Dear God,
my life's a mess. I don't see a way forward. But I bring my mess to you. I believe that you can save me, change me, heal me, restore me. And so I surrender this mess to you. I ask that you would wash me. Cleanse me. I turn away from the way that I've been living. And I turn to you. And I choose to follow you today with the limited understanding that I have. But I surrender myself to you. Thank you, Jesus, that you died on a cross. Thank you that you can wash me and cleanse me
and make me a new person. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, I would love to direct you to our website. Bold steps and click on the link called My Next Step. You have further explanation about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and we'd love to send you a booklet that helps get you started in your walk with God. And remember, find a church to plug into that's preaching the word.
All right, thank you Mark. Again, go to the website and use the Pull down Connect tab. When you click my next step in Faith there you'll find a video that Mark put together that will help you grow in your faith. And when you sign up to learn more, We'll also send you a personal letter from Mark and a New Testament Bible and the latest edition of our newsletter, today in the Word. Once again, you'll find this and so much more at Bold Steps on our home page.
You can also check out our brand new Bold Step gift, a book we really want to send to every parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or mentor of young boys. So let me ask you, do the boys in your life believe they're too young to make a difference? Are they convinced that reading the Bible isn't for them? These are just two of the dangerous lies tackled in lies. Boys believe the book is
written by parents of four boys. This engaging resource helps young men separate truth from fiction in a way that captures their imagination and speaks to their hearts through engaging story of adventure and discovery. This bold step gift equips boys to recognize lies and stand firm in God's truth. So reach out today and request a copy of Lies Boys believe when you give a gift of any amount to support bold steps, just call 800 D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639.
Or give online at bird-stamps.org or through the mail by writing to us at bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. Well, thanks for joining us today. If you enjoy the teaching of pastor Mark, you'll love his weekly devotional, The Bold Stepper Weekly. It's a free resource designed to kick start your week in God's Word with biblical truth, to help guide your life and deepen your faith.
Sign up for The Bold Stepper weekly at Bold Steps. Well, tomorrow, Mark explains how we can tear down the walls we've built and start living a life that's more pleasing to the Lord. The message comes from our series called When You Believe Everything Changes. You'll hear it Thursday here on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.