Salvation

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Shalom, grace and peace.

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In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

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My name is Daniel Miller and this is the Notes I Leave podcast.

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Well hello and greetings to you my friend.

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Today I want to follow up our previous episode with you could

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consider it a part B version of the episode, but I'm going to

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title this one Salvation because so much of what I want to continue

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talking about in terms of negativity that I've experienced in

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my life and currently experience in my life is used as a tactic

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of the evil one to question my salvation.

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And I suspect it question it causes other Christians to question

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their salvation as well.

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And so as we recall back to the previous episode, we talked about

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the gospel and I really wanted to emphasize the good news of Jesus Christ.

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The fact that we are all apart from the Lord in our sinful nature

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in and one sin separates us from the Deity of God and damns us to hell.

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With that being said, we have no path through the law back to God.

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And so Christ had to come in the flesh to give us an example of

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what a perfect life look like, pay a price that he shouldn't have

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had to have paid for all of us past, present and future and all

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of our sin past, present and future so that we can be justified.

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And I mentioned last episode just as if I hadn't sinned

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to have access to God in eternity.

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And that's where we take the bad news that we all know that is

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often not portrayed well in churches.

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Realize the good news.

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The good news through a lens of our need for salvation, need for

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a savior, which also isn't often presented well in churches.

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To commit our lives to Christ and reach that period of salvation.

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Salvation is a dividing topic.

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Some believe once saved, always saved.

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Some people believe you can lose your salvation.

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I don't think that that's clearly outlined in scripture, but I

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personally believe that once you're truly saved, you're always saved.

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As a quick rundown of the nuances, someone that perhaps is in

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my camp, if they see someone in church all of a sudden turn away

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from the faith, they would state that that person was never saved

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to begin with and that they were an actor.

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Those that believe that you can lose your salvation would cite

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that as evidence of someone losing their salvation.

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I don't think it's worth dividing over.

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Each person has their own personal experience with the Lord.

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That doesn't mean personal truth.

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God is truth and that's it. Period.

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End of story.

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But we all have our personal relationship, not religion, relationship with God.

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And that intimate relationship.

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We know our heart.

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He knows our heart.

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No one else does.

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And so although I can protect myself in life by observing the

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fruits that other Christians produce, it is not my job as judge.

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And my name reminds me of that.

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Daniel means God is my judge.

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It is not my role to judge others in whether they are saved or

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not saved or they've lost their salvation.

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It is every experience in my life to use it as a reflective mirror,

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a lens back on myself to make sure that I'm removing the log from

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my own eye.

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And so I'm.

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I'm titling this salvation because if you think of the last episode

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as the gospel, and I pray that that sits well with people.

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Well, in a sense that it causes them to act and seek discipleship

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and give their life to Christ and become believers.

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But a lot of religions will focus on conversion and that's it.

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And that's completely inaccurate.

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Jesus didn't tell us to do that.

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In the end of Matthew, in verse, in chapter 28, at the end of

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Matthew 28, he said, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.

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And what discipleship is is coming alongside someone, meeting

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them where they're at, and teaching them about Jesus and teaching

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them about God's Word.

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I just spoke with a man earlier in church today has been discipling

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a dear friend for 10 years.

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That doesn't happen often.

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Normally we convert, normally we disciple for a few months.

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But 10 years, that's incredible.

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And so again, I want to title this salvation because some of the

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things I'm going to talk about, they really pertain to those early

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years of being a Christian, the first, second and third years

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of being a Christian, and the questions we have and the devilish

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attacks we receive that make us think that we were never saved

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to begin with.

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Last time we talked about chosen, oh, I'm not an Israelite, I'm

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not of Jewish descent or lineage, so I'm not good enough, or I'm

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not included no matter what I do.

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And then some people will say, well, if I do enough works, I will

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be good enough.

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Those are all false.

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We're all chosen.

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The Bible tells us that through and through.

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It's not just a New Testament thing, it's included in the Old

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Testament as well.

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But it is better understood when you have seen the entire, the

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entirety of Scripture.

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I often recommend that people start in the New Testament and then

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read the Old Testament because I think things appear and I think

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there's wisdom in that recommendation.

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But if you're dedicated to reading God's word, you're going to

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see it regardless.

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So as we talk about salvation, in the early years of my walk with

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Christ as a Christian, 20, 19, 20, 21, 22, those early years,

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which really weren't that long ago, I would often see a good example

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of a Christian, and I would compare myself to them, as we so often

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do in this social media era.

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It's not that we didn't do it before, but it's much more heightened

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and pronounced now.

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And I would say, well, I'm not doing those things.

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Am I really a Christian?

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I would read certain things in God's Word about the elect and

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those sorts of things and hear teaching on the elect and think,

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maybe I'm not predestined, maybe I have no free will.

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I can talk about free will and predestination.

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Perhaps another time, but I'll sum it up with this.

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I believe it's both.

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I believe from the lens of God, it is predestination.

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He knows all things, past, future, present.

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And I believe from our perspective, it is free will that we do

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have the ability to choose Him.

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And so both of those things, I think can be true.

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And I think it also, like salvation, doesn't need to be a point of division.

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A lot of times we hear people arguing the difference between nature

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and nurture, and I think it's a worthwhile debate to have, and

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I think there's valid points to both sides of it.

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But we would all agree that we are like our parents in some regard.

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We may disagree whether that is a genetic thing or that is a nurturing

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thing that we experience throughout life.

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But for me, I grew up in a very negative home.

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Now, it was largely negative because there was divorce in my house

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at 11 years old, and things were really difficult.

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We were poor.

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My dad worked like crazy to provide for us.

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Best dad you could ever ask for.

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We wouldn't be here today, Me and my siblings wouldn't be here today if.

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If it wasn't for him.

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He took a terrible situation and made the best of it for us, not for him.

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He worked himself to death providing for us.

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But that meant a different lifestyle.

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And the destruction of the nuclear family has led to a lot of

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different lifestyles for a lot of young people that are now adults.

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And it's happened throughout multiple generations.

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And for me personally, raised up in that negative environment

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where it just seemed to be bad luck after bad luck after bad luck,

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I desperately sought opportunities for approval, as so often kids

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do with their parents and grandparents and those sorts of things.

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I even experienced this now as an adult where I try to seek approval

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on things and can be extra sensitive to that.

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I guess I get labeled in that snowflake generation.

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I think that's ridiculous, by the way.

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I don't think that that's a fair label.

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I do think there are people out there that are extra sensitive.

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But when I'm 80 years old, I'm going to be screaming at kids to

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get off my lawn.

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In 600 years, there's going to be 80 year olds screaming at kids

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to get off their lawn.

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Every generation that comes through thinks the generation after

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them is super sensitive, soft, that they have it way too easy.

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We all have that syndrome of I did it this way and that's the

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perfect way to do it.

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And now they have to do it this way. It's.

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It's a symptom of being human.

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So I don't buy into that snowflake generation.

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There are certainly people that have come out of those labeled

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generations that maybe are not contributing to society in the

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best way, and that's probably a nice way to put it.

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But to mark an entire generation is just nonsense.

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But the point is, when I was a kid and even present day, I would

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accomplish something and I would bring it to someone that I respected

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and I would seek their approval.

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Now, to be fair, I probably should have stated and should state,

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now I'm seeking your approval.

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Let's be blunt with it.

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But let me use the analogy of a little child.

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It's like a kindergartner that has this finger painting and he

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comes home and he goes to mom and says, mom, look what I did.

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And the mom looks at the finger painting and says, why did you

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choose that color?

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Or man, you've got giant mitts.

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Could you have got a bigger piece of paper?

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Could be something they perceive to be funny or they're trying

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to be funny.

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But as little statements can embed into someone and when those

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statements occur over and over and over again, it kind of lays a foundation.

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So let's say that kid turns 12 years old and now they're trusted

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to mow the lawn.

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And the first time you mow the lawn, it's going to be terrible.

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But you come inside and you're like, dad, dad, look at the lawn

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that I just did.

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Isn't it awesome?

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Were you blindfolded?

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Were you blindfolded the entire time?

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A few weeks later you're helping fix the truck and dad's got oil

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all over him.

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He says, go get the crescent wrench.

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And you come Back with a hammer or a flathead screwdriver, and

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you may not hear the end of that one.

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Some of these things can be harmless.

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Some of these can be pretty detrimental.

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And when you combine them over and over and over again, and when

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at least occasionally, that kid wants just a hug or good job every

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once in a while, you can see where this goes.

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I mentioned this today because a lot of times, and I'm gonna share

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a Mark Twain quote with you later that kind of gets it, a little

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bit of humoristic side of this.

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A lot of times we'll be growing up and we'll hit a period of 16,

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17, 18, we'll start to not want anything to do with our family.

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And then most of us will come back around age 25 to 30, and I

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think we've labeled that as fairly normal.

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But now, as I get older, I see the parent side on that, where

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you are investing into this child for 16, 18 years and now they

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want nothing to do with you.

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And how painful that can be for people.

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And being someone who likes to put the weight on his shoulders

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and say, what is my fault in this?

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How can I control the situation?

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I need to look at how I felt as the child and what I can do in

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preparation to that as an adult, understanding I'm not going to

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do it perfect, but sharing some wisdom along the way.

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So if we look at my teenage years and continually seeking approval

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and oftentimes receiving from various members, it was never one

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member of the family.

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But family grew up kind of like an Asian culture where it was

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very tough and very, very high standards and not a lot of praise.

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With that constant, you could have done this better.

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Like, I get my first job and it's 40 minutes away, and I say,

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grandpa, I got my first job.

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And he says, really?

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You couldn't have found anything that was 10 minutes away.

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So you think you're. Everything's awesome.

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I got this new job.

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I'm gonna finally start making some money and saving some stuff

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and building for a car and building for this and whatever else.

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And it's the one thing you did wrong continually, over and over again.

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Well, that happens.

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It's only human nature for the child not to want anything to do with that.

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Even as adults, if we're constantly getting a negative influx

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of information, we're not going to hang out with those people

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for very long.

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If we are, we are sinking deeper and deeper and deeper into our

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own just troublesome natures and.

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And we get to the point where perhaps we don't even Love ourselves.

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Because everything we hear about ourselves and everything we hear

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in general is from a pessimistic side of things.

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I'm not trying to go off on a tangent to say that, you know, to

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tie in with that snowflake generation, that everything needs to be compliments.

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No, when people do wrong, they need to know that they do wrong.

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But when people do right, they need to know that they do right, too.

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And when people do right, sure, there's constructive criticism,

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but it should be accompanied with, hey, you did 80% of this really good.

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Here's the 20% you didn't do great. Right?

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And a lot of times we give the 20% you didn't do great as the exclusive. Okay? So.

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And we tend to have this happen to us, and then we tend to do

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this to other people.

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So in my 20s, nobody wanted to spend any time with me because

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I was insanely pessimistic, optimistic, and constantly on everybody my fault.

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As an adult, I need to take responsibility for what I did.

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I can sit here and tell you, well, that's the way I was raised,

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and that's truth, but still my responsibility.

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I'm an adult that can make my own decisions.

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And at some point, probably around 20, 19 or a little shy of that,

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as I became a Christian, I realized this is no way to live.

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And if we refer this back to the gospel and something that I said

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last episode, if Jesus Christ paid for my sin on the cross, which

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he did, and I am saved, which I am, and that means eternity in

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heaven with him, regardless of what happens here on earth, which

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I believe it does, what do I have to be upset about?

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What do I have to be negative or pessimistic about?

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So when I'm speaking to my children, certainly I'm a teacher.

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And so even probably still too much to this day, I'm focusing

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on the teaching point, which often correlates with the negative,

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because there's room for improvement.

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But I'm making sure that I love them and I hope I'm doing a good

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job of that.

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So regardless of your age and where you are in that, let's think

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about what is happening to the people around us when we share that information.

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Because we shouldn't be surprised if we raise kids and they want

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nothing to do with us, when 90% of the conversations we had was

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how they screwed up, how they can't do anything right.

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And maybe even the parent doesn't realize that that's the perspective

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of the child.

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And it's easier to just say, snowflake generation than it is to

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actually understand what the kid's going through.

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But maybe a phone call is in store.

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Maybe we need to find out what the kid thought of the whole situation.

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You know, as humans with evolved languages, we are so stupid when

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it comes to communication.

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Every company I've ever worked for lacks in communication.

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Every friend group I've ever had lacks in communication.

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Despite the complexities of all the languages and the tools we

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have, there's always meaning in tone.

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There's always meaning in what you didn't say.

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And when we walk away from a conversation so often we're not walking

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away from the conversation, truly understanding what the other

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person's heart is, is trying to get across.

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And so if the child says, you know, mom, Dad, I don't call you

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very much anymore because I'll never be enough.

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I'll never be enough to make you happy.

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Anything I do, you're going to find something wrong with it.

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Those blunt conversations need to happen because that strikes

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at the heart of the parent and realizing, what have I done?

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What have I done?

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What have I done along the way that has got that across?

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And how can I take ownership now in the present understanding?

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I can't go back in the past to correct that, because that's not

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how I feel.

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Maybe I have a heart issue that I need to look at.

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Let me share with you a stack of verses, if you will, out of First

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Peter, chapter one.

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The verses are three through 16. So there's.

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There's quite a few of them here.

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But it relates to our salvation.

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And for me, growing up in that negative culture, it took verses

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like this to realize, despite what has gone on in my life and

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what continues to go on in my life, and even now, as a Christian,

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what continues to go on in my life?

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I'm saved. I'm saved.

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And my wife was just sharing with me a quote from some of our

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favorite people, the Robertsons.

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They have a podcast called Unashamed, and one of the members on

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it was talking about social media, and he's like, here's my stance

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on social media.

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I have one person that I follow.

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I have zero followers that follow me because I redirect them to follow him.

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And if I ever say anything, I need one like, and that's it.

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And of course, he's referring to the approval of Jesus Christ.

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So sometimes when we have people which.

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So that we can be sympathetic, empathetic ourselves and understand

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they're wretched, sinful people too.

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No person's perfect, right?

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Sometimes we enter into a church or a family.

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And we expect all roses, but we're all really in the same boat

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of having sin that removes us from God.

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But we expect perfection.

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Well, that perfection can only occur in Jesus Christ and only

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has occurred in Jesus Christ.

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So let's focus less on the approval of others, even if they are

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our family members, and the approval of Christ in our life, even

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if that means the people in your life don't understand you.

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Your relationship with Christ, because it's a very personal relationship with Christ.

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I could go on a tangent there.

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I'll pause, because the way it's written in God's Word is better

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than I could ever write it.

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So let me read from 1st Peter, chapter 1, verses 3 through 16

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according

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to his great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living

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hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to

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obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and

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will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected

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by the power of God through faith, for a salvation ready to be

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revealed in the last time.

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In this you greatly rejoice, even though now, for a little while

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if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that

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the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is

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perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result

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in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

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And through him, and through you have excuse me, and though you

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have not seen him, you love him and though you do not see him

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now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy, inexpressible

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and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of our faith, the

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salvation of your souls.

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As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace

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that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking

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to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating.

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As he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow,

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it was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves

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but you, in these things which now have been announced to you

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through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit

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sent from heaven things into which angels long to look.

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Therefore prepare your minds for action.

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Keep sober in spirit.

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Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at

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the revelation of Jesus Christ.

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As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts

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which were yours in your ignorance.

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But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also

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in all your behavior, because it is written, you shall be holy

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for I am holy again.

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That was First Peter, chapter one, verses three through 16.

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Couldn't state it better myself.

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I will apologize for stumbling blocks that I have in this episode

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and any others.

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Lord, I ask for forgiveness in that I never want to butcher God's word.

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And it's always fun when you are recording a 30 minute episode

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or more and you get a frog in your throat.

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So I apologize about that as well.

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When you read things like that though, in God's inerrant word,

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it brings a peace.

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And that peace cannot be disrupted unless more negativity is brought

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in to make you question that.

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And that's where the Evil One comes into play.

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He sees us getting proximity or gaining proximity to the Lord

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and he starts to pick at our weaknesses and say, well, you haven't

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really ever believed you were good enough.

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Remember what grandma said?

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Remember what mom said?

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Remember what your mother in law said?

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Remember that marriage you had that didn't work out and what that

-: 25:49

mother in law said.

-: 25:56

All those things as evidence that you're not good enough.

-: 26:01

And like I've said before, I was told a lie by the Evil One.

-: 26:06

No specific person in my life, the evil one told me when I was

-: 26:08

11 years old that my mom left.

-: 26:13

That means she never loved me and that means that no one will

-: 26:14

ever love me.

-: 26:20

For those of you watching the video, I apologize about the bubble

-: 26:24

that just came up because I counted one with my thumb and apparently

-: 26:26

that means thumbs up.

-: 26:27

And so I got a thumbs up bubble.

-: 26:30

That's an inappropriate time to have a thumbs up bubble because

-: 26:33

that's not a good, that's not a good thing. Right.

-: 26:37

So let's go back through those three and we'll get another thumbs

-: 26:42

up bubble here, which is ironic because it's not, but nevertheless,

-: 26:42

here we go.

-: 26:46

Number one, my mom left.

-: 26:48

Is that a truth?

-: 26:51

Yeah, it's truth number two.

-: 26:56

That means she didn't love me. Probably not.

-: 27:00

But could you see how I could fall for that at 11 years old?

-: 27:01

I think that you could.

-: 27:05

Number three, that means nobody will ever love you.

-: 27:08

That's pretty blatant lie right there.

-: 27:11

But could you see how I could fall for it? Probably.

-: 27:14

Only if I fell for one and two would I fall for three.

-: 27:16

You're probably not going to go from one to three.

-: 27:19

You're going to need for two to be established in order for three

-: 27:20

to make any sort of sense.

-: 27:25

And that's how the Evil One works a lot of times is he tells a

-: 27:30

partial truth or perhaps, perhaps Even a truth that isn't telling

-: 27:34

the full story that leads to a partial truth or a partial lie

-: 27:36

that leads to a blatant lie.

-: 27:38

He did it in Genesis 3 with Eve, right?

-: 27:40

You can go back and you can read through Genesis 3.

-: 27:42

Surely you will not die.

-: 27:44

And he goes from there, right?

-: 27:45

Was that technically a lie?

-: 27:47

No, but it wasn't the full truth either.

-: 27:52

And so, thankfully, in maturity, as, as a Christian, I recognize

-: 27:55

those things more and more and more.

-: 28:00

And as I read God's Word and those lies creep in, recognizing

-: 28:03

their nature, God's word stands tall.

-: 28:05

God's word doesn't lie like that.

-: 28:06

God doesn't operate like that.

-: 28:08

Bible tells us God can't lie.

-: 28:10

It's not in his nature.

-: 28:11

He is love.

-: 28:15

And so it makes it easier for us to understand those things.

-: 28:19

So I speak to a few brothers that are out there and they're reading

-: 28:20

through God's Word and they're struggling.

-: 28:27

Do the best you can to put on the armor of God and deflect those

-: 28:30

and recognize those lies because they are in fact lies.

-: 28:34

And to those people and others listening, I would say make sure

-: 28:39

you have people discipling you and surround yourself with positive

-: 28:43

people who love God that are pouring into you, not beating you up.

-: 28:50

And if we are the person that's doing the beating, stop and let's

-: 28:51

love each other better.

-: 28:55

This all comes from an application that is the same as last episode.

-: 28:59

God has placed on my heart the good news of Jesus Christ.

-: 29:01

I need to share the gospel more.

-: 29:06

This whole podcast is built as the notes I leave to share things

-: 29:10

for my kids, to share things for you to share things to my future

-: 29:17

self, to have things available long after I'm gone, whenever that might be.

-: 29:22

And what better episodes to have than what I've learned about

-: 29:25

the gospel and what I've learned about salvation.

-: 29:28

So let's not dwell in negativity.

-: 29:32

And again, as I said last time, how can there be any negative?

-: 29:38

If I truly believe that my sins are forgiven and that Jesus Christ

-: 29:44

serves as my advocate so that I'm justified, just as if I never

-: 29:50

ever sinned or ever will sin, how could there be bad news?

-: 29:53

How could I be negative?

-: 29:56

How could I not want to share that with others?

-: 30:00

And for those of you that listening, that perhaps I've shared

-: 30:04

this information with too much. That's why. That's why.

-: 30:12

So as we transition to this Members Only segment, I'd like to

-: 30:17

share with you that Mark Twain quote, ask you a question and sign off.

-: 30:18

Here's the quote.

-: 30:21

When I was a boy of 14.

-: 30:27

My father was so ignorant, I could hardly stand to have the old man around.

-: 30:33

But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old

-: 30:35

man had learned in seven years.

-: 30:38

Obviously there's some comedy there.

-: 30:47

Apologize. Been fighting that frog in my throat for a few minutes

-: 30:50

now, but obviously there's some humor in that.

-: 30:52

I felt the same way.

-: 30:54

Did my dad become more intelligent in seven years? No.

-: 30:57

I became less stupid, essentially.

-: 30:59

And a lot of us go through that.

-: 31:04

And some of this is normal, and some of this is being overbearing

-: 31:06

and pushing people away from us.

-: 31:09

And as parents, those of you that are parents, we need to recognize this.

-: 31:13

So my question for you then is pretty simple.

-: 31:18

How can we be more positive and additive to the walk our brothers

-: 31:19

and sisters are enduring?

-: 31:21

That sounds like a statement.

-: 31:24

More to just people that are our peers, that are our same age.

-: 31:26

But it isn't.

-: 31:29

In heaven, we're all brothers and sisters.

-: 31:34

So my daughter will stand right alongside me as a sister.

-: 31:38

My father will stand right alongside me as a brother.

-: 31:43

So for my brothers and sisters on the earth, there's that thumbs up again.

-: 31:50

How can I be more positive and additive to their walk, not negative

-: 31:52

and removing or detrimental to their walk?

-: 31:53

Why would I do such a thing?

-: 31:55

So how can we do that?

-: 31:59

If you go to biblicalanatomyacademy.com click on podcast Support

-: 32:04

the podcast you can access through our membership the second half

-: 32:05

of each of these episodes.

-: 32:08

With that, I'm going to sign off and then transition to that.

-: 32:10

I love you very much.

-: 32:12

I'd love to pray for you.

-: 32:17

Feel free to email me@danielerebaa.com and my family, and I'd

-: 32:18

love to pray for you.

-: 32:20

And God bless.

-: 32:25

Until next time.

-: 32:27

May the peace of Christ dwell richly in you.

-: 32:33

And may I also express maranantha, which is an Aramaic word translating

-: 32:35

to come, Lord Jesus.