Living God's Way in an Ungodly World
In a world that makes up its own rules, it is important for Christians to stay focused on the One who still rules...Jesus Christ. Come and listen to the great Gospel message, learn about the love Jesus Christ has for you, and know what God's word, the Holy Bible, has to say about overcoming the challenges of following Jesus in a world that no longer wants Him.
Living God's Way in an Ungodly World
Living God's Love: Transformed and Redeemed in an Ungodly World
How can living in an ungodly world strengthen your faith rather than diminish it? Join us on this enriching episode of "Living God's Way in an Ungodly World" as we deeply explore the powerful themes of God's love, hope, and our true identity as His children. We begin with a heartfelt discussion on 1 John 3:1-3, unpacking the profound nature of agape love—God's selfless, divine love that sets us apart from the world. Through prayer and reflection, we examine the spiritual transformation that comes with being born again and the unique hope we have as God's children, calling us to live pure lives in anticipation of Christ's return.
Next, we turn to Romans 8:23 and 1 Corinthians 15:49, where we discuss the hope believers have for their future glorified bodies and the redemption from our current sinful state. We delve into the challenges of living a Christ-centered life in a fallen world and the joy found in embracing our dual nature—both carnal and spiritual. Finally, we demystify the process of becoming a child of God, emphasizing the importance of sincere faith and the transformative power of confessing and believing in Jesus Christ. This episode is packed with heartfelt discussions and practical insights that encourage believers to embrace their identity in Christ and live righteously, anchored in the hope and love of our Savior.
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Hello and good day. I am BR Maul and you are listening to Living God's Way in an Ungodly World. Thank you so much for joining me. We are still in the book of 1 John and we are starting chapter 3. So today we'll be going over verses 1, 2, and 3. As usual, I'll read it and then we'll back up and we'll unpack it, but I do hope all is going well for you in your walk with the Lord.
B.R.Maul:We live in a day and age where the world continues to change rapidly it's non-stop and it can be tough, very challenging, as a Christian, to walk with the Lord, to do things the way we are supposed to, because, remember, he is the God, the exact same God that parted the Red Sea. He is the same God that spoke everything into existence. He is the same God that sent the flood that killed and wiped out everything except for eight people and the animals that were put on the ark. We have an amazing God, an amazing creator. He is righteousness and he is love, and he is definitely worth our every fiber of being because he loves us, even though we have messed things up. We, as his creation, brought sin into the world. That was still part of his master plan, but he loves us. How he has the patience, I truly don't know, but he does, and I am certainly glad of it because I know he's needed a lot of patience with me. So let's go ahead.
B.R.Maul:We'll begin Chapter 3, verse 1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him Beloved. Now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is, and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. Lord, I pray for guidance as I teach. Let only your words, not my own, depart from my lips, and, father, open the hearts of those who are listening and help them to hear you speak to them about your Son, and in his name I pray Amen. All right, so let's back up Chapter 3, verse 1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. All right, so what kind of love is this?
B.R.Maul:As we are in the world we see the Hollywood version of love, and that is defined by artists, those who have been in love, those who wish they were in love, those who have been hurt by love, but as people. So the love that we see on TV, the love that we see in movies, that's not this kind of love. No, and I am so grateful that it isn't this kind of love that's being referred to here in God's Word, because that's an emotional love. That's the kind of love where we see somebody, and how he or she makes us feel determines very much so how much we love them, how much we give ourselves to them. It's the kind of love that is measured upon what a person can do. For me it's a self-centered love, but we're talking about agape love and beloved. This is the kind of love that only comes from God, and to understand agape love one needs to be born again. There is no other way around that, because it takes the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Triune God, to counsel, to teach what agape love is all about and to give us that grace needed to empower us to be able to understand it and to be able to receive it and to give it agape love.
B.R.Maul:So when John says behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God, he is calling us his children, which is remarkable because of what we, mankind, have done to him and every single one of us. We are born spiritually dead, so we don't understand him and we are born an enemy of him. How can I say that? Well, I can say that because Jesus said you are either with me or against me. There is no middle ground. There is nobody who can say well, you know, I love Jesus, but I'm not going to really follow him, but at the same time I don't hate him, so I'm not going to fight against him. Nope, there's no middle ground. So, since there's no middle ground, we are either following him we have given our life to him or we're not.
B.R.Maul:And for those who are born again, who their spirit has been awakened by the Holy Spirit, has been given life, well, he calls those individuals his children. So you are a son or a daughter of God Almighty. That's the agape love. Therefore, the world does not know us, john says, because it did not know him. That can be a tough one, beloved. I understand that. I fully believe that every Christian has those in their life that are not born again and do not understand what it is that we live for or, more appropriately said, who it is that we live for. Because the world doesn't get it that we live for, because the world doesn't get it, including those who fill the pews in churches around the world that are in the realm of Christianity. These religions that the members, the people who go to the churches, look a lot like a child of God, but many of them do not understand because they're not born again, so they do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. So John says, therefore, the world does not know us.
B.R.Maul:It's much easier to deal with the world at a distance, when it's people we don't know, it's people that we can walk away from because they're not in any way, shape or form a part of our lifestyle, they're not in the same house, they're not in our same family, they're not in the same neighborhood. When we can look at a people and think they don't get it they're very aggressive, for example, or they're very violent Well, it's easier then at that point to accept the fact that they don't know us because they did not know him, and that's Jesus. What's harder is when it's those who are in the same house as we are in the same neighborhood, those that we work alongside, those that we even go to a church and worship alongside, and these can be aunts and uncles, husbands and wives, our children, our parents, our grandparents. Many close friends I mean a friendship after all is often formed because we share like things with that person. Maybe we became friends in school. We like the same topics, we like to learn similar things, or we become friends with somebody that we work with. Well, right away we have something in common because we are at the same job, maybe even doing the same tasks together. So friends often have things in common In that friendship.
B.R.Maul:When it's revealed that one of them is not a born-again believer in Jesus Christ and one is Now, there's suddenly that separation. There is a part of that born-again person that the unbeliever doesn't know, doesn't understand it. And John tells us that. Now, that kind of love when John says behold, what manner of love. If we want to look at that love, one passage that we can look at is John 3.16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. That is the kind of love that you can look at. There is sacrifice in that love.
B.R.Maul:Agape love is the kind of love that gives with no expectations in return. And isn't that very difficult, very hard to do when we are dealing with flesh, when we are dealing with still being in a sinful world, a sinful environment all around us, dealing with our flesh, the sinful part of us, because we have not been glorified. So, since we are not glorified, we are still battling with this broken down body, this broken down flesh, and wanting to appease it. But God so loved the world, that's everybody beloved. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
B.R.Maul:Okay, there is no such thing as the elect in the form of selection, and what I mean by that is any mention of elect refers to those who are following God. They weren't selected, and I know that word sounds really similar elect and being selected. But the elect is those individuals who, with the grace of God, with faith, believes in and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. It is not people who have been selected in that way. Only those people can go to heaven.
B.R.Maul:For God so loved the world, the agape love is he gave his only begotten son. He chose to give his only begotten son, jesus Christ. And Jesus willfully went to the cross to die for our sins, our iniquity. That's love. And the powerful part about this, if you think about that, is he did this knowing that many are still going to reject him.
B.R.Maul:Verse 2, beloved, now we are children of God. Now we are children of God. So, even though we do live in this sinful state, in these sinful bodies, we are now children of God. Take great comfort in this, beloved, that there's no hoops that you need to jump through, there's no tests that you need to take from time to time to make sure that you qualify to be a child of God, that there's no sin that you can commit, that you can do. That is going to tear you apart from the grip of your Heavenly Father Impossible, there is no such thing. That is not biblical. We cannot lose our salvation.
B.R.Maul:You either have salvation, which there are many that look like they have salvation. They look like a child of God, but they don't have salvation. They are not heaven bound. Why? Because they do not know Christ in their heart. They know him in their head. They love the idea of following Jesus. They love going to a church, which, again, we don't go to church, we are the church. I encourage born-again believers to not use that term. I'm going to church. No, you're going to worship. You're going to a service to worship the Lord, but you're not going to church because you are the church. But there are many who go to a church building because they love what it has to offer, but they're still not a child of God.
B.R.Maul:But John saying Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we Now. That's going to be quite the reunion, when we can be in the presence, the physical presence, of Jesus Christ and for all eternity live in God's presence. But right now we are not in those bodies, we are not living in our glorified state. So we're in this transition period and so, no, it hasn't been revealed to us what we're going to be like. We can look back at when Jesus walked the earth, what we have in the scriptures, descriptions of him when he was raised from the dead and he was in his glorified state. So, yes, we have some idea, but it hasn't been revealed to us yet. So, yes, we have some idea, but it hasn't been revealed to us yet, and as being like him. That would be without sin. We're not going to be identical to him. We're not going to look identical, we're not going to act identical. We certainly are not going to be identical with the same powers, because we're not going to be God. Just like we were made in his image, we will be glorified in his image, so in that respect we'll be like him. We will be without sin. Sin will no longer be in the new heaven and the new earth, and our glorified bodies will have no sin. The creation will have no sin amongst it, and so we'll be able to worship him in our glorified state. I'm looking so forward to that, without my pride or insecurities getting in my way. I'll just be able to worship him with all my heart and soul in mind. That's going to be wonderful.
B.R.Maul:Now, romans 8, verse 23,. That reads Not only that, but we also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. So the Apostle Paul is referencing just what I was talking about that we ourselves groan in ourselves, our spirits that are alive. We are anticipating our glorified bodies. We are anticipating an environment with no sin. But we're not there yet, and that's why we have aches and pains, that's why we live the way we do in this broken world, because this is all part of God's master plan. It's the way it is. This is all part of God's master plan. It's the way it is. So, whether you like it or not, that's just the way things are. Now there's parts of this process I don't like going through. But as long as we lean against God, we lean against his word, we have his promises and he gets us through it. He says eagerly, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. So the adoption then he's referring to is the fact that when we are born again, we are adopted into God's family and we are waiting for that adoption to be completed and the redemption of our body. We can also reference 1 Corinthians 15, verse 49.
B.R.Maul:And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. So borne the image to have it upon us. That's B-O-R-N-E, so past tense. As we have borne the image of the man of dust. Who's the man of dust? Adam. Because Adam sinned. We are all born into sin and we have or hold his image, the man of dust, so the carnal man. But the good news is we shall also bear so that's yet to come the image of the heavenly man, man being capital M because that's referring to Jesus. So we currently have borne the image and also bear the image, and there's like this transition period I don't even really know how to describe it, but kind of like a hybrid. Right, we got the carnal part of ourselves which we have not gotten rid of, even though our spirits those of us who are born again are alive and well and we are thirsting to know more of our Heavenly Father. We are awaiting, we are groaning and waiting to be home, to our heavenly home, because we are sojourners here. We are in this world but we are no longer of this world, so we don't call it home.
B.R.Maul:I'm sure there are many of you who can relate with not fitting into the world around you. The more that we walk with our Heavenly Father, the more we are spending that time in His Word and praying to Him and being around other brothers and sisters in the faith and drinking in all of that. The more we do that, the more we grow spiritually and less of the world sticks to us. The opposite of that is, the more that we hang around with the worldly and we try to live like them. We try to fit in with them, whether it's our family, friends that we grew up with, whatever it might be. But trying to fit into this world just doesn't work.
B.R.Maul:I find it very difficult to enjoy things that I once used to enjoy and a lot of my friends from the past they don't understand that and really they're not my friends anymore. They really want nothing to do with me because I'm not fun to them. And being a Christian is wonderful, it's awesome and it's very fun. It's got this wholesome fun to it, being a Christian Walking with the Lord. There's no pain. That goes with the enjoyment and the fun, because there's no lying, there's no cheating. It's just growing with him and there's so much to learn. I'm sure, beloved many of you can relate to that. There's so much in his word. There's so much growing to do and things to understand. And as we continue to go through life, we go through small trials and big trials and we experience life here in this fallen world and every time we get through something because we have put our trust in our Heavenly Father and we don't lean on our understanding, but we lean on Him as we change and grow. There's this remarkable transformation that takes place and that transformation, I argue, is far more adventurous, far more fun than anything I used to do worldly.
B.R.Maul:And then verse 3, and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. So of course that everyone who has this hope is referring to the born-again believers, all those who are born again, and they have this hope in him. That's in Jesus. And that's this remarkable biblical hope. That isn't a boy do I hope I have some pizza for dinner. I hope the weather is going to be nice tomorrow because I have things I'd like to do Now.
B.R.Maul:That's a hope that could be let down. We could be let down by that hope, but the hope that we have in Christ, that's a different kind of hope. In this kind of hope, it is a certain hope. It will happen and we look to that hope because that's what gets us through difficult times, that's what gets us through pain and suffering and misery is the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. We know the time is coming. That's the hope.
B.R.Maul:So everyone who has this hope in Jesus purifies himself, just as he, jesus, is pure. Okay, what does that mean? It means we want to be like our Savior. We want to be like Jesus Savior. We want to be like Jesus and Jesus is pure. We don't want to live in this state that has pain in it and suffering, and so when we do everything possible to walk with the Lord, we pray to our Heavenly Father and we lean on His understanding and we look to that hope that we have in Jesus Christ, when we decide to do what is righteous because it honors our Father in heaven, when we live a life that we're not cheating and lying, we're not coveting, when we live a life where we are content with what we have and not sit and wish we had more.
B.R.Maul:All of this is a process of purifying. So we are purifying ourself. It doesn't mean we have the power. This isn't the same thing as sanctification. We are justified. As soon as one is born again, their sins are justified. As soon as one is born again, their sins are justified, they are paid for. It's a one and done, and then the process of sanctification begins. Sanctifying, that's the process of God, the Father, making you his adopted son or daughter to be in the image of his beloved son, jesus. So he sanctifies us as we read his word, as we come together with brothers and sisters in faith, as we walk the path of righteousness and stay away from evil. He sanctifies us, but many of those decisions that we make, we make with the help of the Holy Spirit and in that process of sanctification that is purifying ourself. Does that make sense? The sanctification is what God does to us, but what John is saying here that everyone who has this hope in Jesus in him purifies himself. Those are the decisions that we make. That's the process each and every time. You decide you know what? I'm not going to watch that movie with all the sex and all the gore in it. Well, you just decided to purify yourself. Because you make that decision to do what's right.
B.R.Maul:Now we're told in the book of Psalms I believe it's 103, it might be 103.12, but I shall place no wicked thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those that turn aside. It shall not cling to me. So we don't sit and gawk at all this artwork, all this work, all this behavior that the world continues to do. We don't put it before our eyes, we don't sit and watch it. Instead, we purify ourself and we put in front of our eyes images that glorify our Heavenly Father. We read stories that are good for us, we talk in such a way that is healthy, we don't slander, we don't swear and cuss, and I'm one of those that you can't tell me that it can't be done. Oh, everybody swears and cusses. Yes, but we have the ability, with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, beloved, to change such ways.
B.R.Maul:I used to swear a lot when I was younger. In fact, I thought it was a staple of becoming a man that the more creative I could get with my cussing and swearing, the better of a man that I was. But that is something that, when I turned away from my sin, I turned to my Lord and laid down my life at his feet and said it's yours. That was one of the first things that he took from me. Is that desire and in a short time period, replaced it with disgust when I hear myself or others cuss and swear. So, yes, everyone who has this hope in him, jesus purifies himself. It's a process, it's an effort, and you must take that effort upon yourself, and it's something you decide to do each and every day, because John says, just as he, jesus is pure, is pure.
B.R.Maul:My mother tells a story of her being out with some family and singing karaoke, or karaoke, however you want to pronounce it. So a lot of people were there and having fun and somebody close to my mother went up on the stage and sang some songs or a song. Some songs or a song that was vulgar and very inappropriate for someone who calls himself a Christian. Looking back I can see that's a time in my mom's life that she started realizing doing this kind of stuff just isn't healthy. And then she shares the question that she asked because people were ridiculing, mocking my mother for saying that was very inappropriate. But she asked those at the table pointing at an empty chair would you have sang that song if your priest or pastor was there? And then she asked what about if Jesus was sitting there? Now the priest or pastor, that doesn't really seem to have as much weight as it used to because unfortunately many have gone woke.
B.R.Maul:But I think of that image of Jesus sitting in a chair in a room and if I'm talking a certain way, behaving in a certain way or watching something, would I do it if he was sitting right next to me, because he is pure and that's a good way to kind of measure beloved. If your answer is no, I wouldn't do that, I wouldn't act that way or I wouldn't watch that then don't do it. Stop it, purify yourself. Well, that's enough for today. You are welcome to go to my website, that's brmaulcom. You can click on contact and get a hold of me. I'd love to hear from you If you have any questions or comments.
B.R.Maul:Whatever Christ is doing in your life, if there's anything of God's word that, to you, just doesn't make sense, whatever it might be, I am here for you and I love you so much. To all my brothers and sisters keep up the good fight. Keep reading our Father's word each and every day, pray to him, talk to him daily, get together with other brothers and sisters beloved every week and worship him. Remember you are the church. You don't need to go to church because you are the church. Go to a building and if that building's got a title on it such and such church, well so be it. But you are the church.
B.R.Maul:If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, well, my prayer is that you would take this very moment now ask yourself why? Why are you not following the one person, the man, god, that loves you so much that he hung on the cross and, over 2,000 years ago, bled and his perfect blood paid for your sins? If you accept that gift because it is a gift and you must accept it and there is no special formula there is nothing that you have to do to continue being a child of God. You don't have to go to church to take communion. You don't have to confess to somebody else in cloth. You don't have to do anything to remain a child of God.
B.R.Maul:But to become a child of God, romans 10 tells us that with the mouth, one confesses the Lord Jesus and with the heart, believe that the Father has raised him from the dead. So what does that mean? Any kind of prayer that means you talk to the Lord. It could be anything such as Father God. I have no idea what to expect to be your child, but I know that I am filled with sin. I need a Savior and I know that Jesus lived that perfect life and I believe that he did that for me. Forgive me of my sins, accept me as your child. Something as simple as that. There's no magic prayer. You just have to mean it in your heart and if you have, also get a hold of me, let me know that you've prayed that that you're born again, and I would love to answer any questions you have. I'll get you whatever material that I can direct you towards to help you with your walk. And until next time, god bless, thank you.
