00:00:00
S1: Are you leaning into the God given power already inside you, or searching for strength somewhere else? That's our topic today on bold steps.

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S2: Christianity is not changing ourselves from the outside to try to measure up to God. Christianity is allowing God to deposit his divine nature inside of us, and then beginning to live according to that divine nature that we already have. We're not working towards something. We're working from something.

00:00:40
S1: And welcome to Bold Steps with pastor Mark Jobe, president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today we're continuing a lesson about the power and promise we've been given by God. And Mark, it's sad but true that so many Christians today are trying to solve their problems by changing what's around them, rather than tapping into what's already inside them.

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S3: That's right, Wayne. And if we're not careful, we can fall into legalism, moralism, religious practices, or even just self-help. But true Christianity is about the divine nature of God deposited in us at the moment of conversion. And then there's a regeneration that starts from the inside out that does affect our behavior, but it's the inside out, not the outside in.

00:01:31
S1: Let's join Mark Jobe for today's bold steps.

00:01:35
S2: Many of us approach Christianity and we try to change our behavior. We approach. We approach it somewhat like a self-improvement course would be. You can go to Barnes and Noble, you can go to borders, you can go to Walmart, and there's books and books on self-empowerment, self-improvement. You can learn to talk yourself into better, positive thinking. You can read books on how to attract instead of repel people. There are books on how to become a more positive person, how to realize the dreams of your life and and how to change your behavior. How to change from negative to positive. And there's all. There's shelves and shelves of self-improvement books and, and, and how to self-help books. I want you to understand that Christianity helps you and Christianity improves you. But Christianity goes way beyond a self-help process because Christianity is not simply about altering your behavior in order to change your exterior. What Christianity does that no self-help program can do is that Christianity literally has the ability to change the essence of your nature. Let me explain how that happens, so that you may become participant in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. Adam and Eve, when they first were created, tells in the book of Genesis that they were created with the nature. Their nature was not a fallen nature. Their nature was a divine nature. They were engineered and created not to fall, not to sin. They were engineered and created to walk with God. And they walked with God in the garden without any shame. They walked in open communication. They walked in nakedness. They had fruit, and they had everything that they needed there. They had open communication with one another, open communication with God. There was no shame. There was no guilt. There was no blame shifting. There was an innocence that existed there because of their nature. We don't know how long they existed in that state, but there came a time and a place because of our free will and God's desire not to create robots, but to create people after his own image that have the ability to choose. There came a day in which deception set into their system, and they chose to violate God's standard and disobey God. And that day, theologically referred to the fall of man when they disobeyed God by eating of that fruit, everything changed because now that innocent, divine, perfect nature that they had suddenly was converted into a fallen nature. Every human being born after Adam and Eve has been born with the disease, so to speak, of a fallen nature. It is inherited from generation to generation. Cain and Abel were born, and they had the fallen nature. Their children were born and they had the fallen nature down through. Noah and his children were born with the fallen nature. It means that our nature dictates appetite and determines behavior. And because we have a fallen nature, no one has to teach your baby how to be selfish or lie or be proudful or angry. They know naturally, instinctively, as they grow how to be that way. I've never had a parent that came to me and said, pastor, I got a problem. My baby. They're too good. You know, they're four years old and they just never lie. They never cheat. They never say mine. They never argue. They never hit. They're just too good. I think I need to change, I need, I think I need to teach them about the evil side. Never had a parent come to me and tell me that. I've had many a concerned parent come to me and say, pastor, my baby was so precious when they were born. They just looked at me with these big eyes and they cried and I held them. What happened? there? 18 months old now. I think they may have a demon. Could you pray? Could you cast something out? Because suddenly that little baby has turned into a little monster. Now they say mine and no. And they arch their back and they hit. I don't know where they got it from. It must be their father, pastor, their father's side. Because I know it's not from me. No, no, no, let me tell you where they got it. They got it because they were born with a fallen nature. Their nature instinctively has taught them because it's a flawed nature, a fallen nature. Their nature instinctively teaches them. They have a propensity to fall. Every human being down through Noah, Abraham, down through all generations, were born with a sin nature. Until one day in Bethlehem, the city of David, the fulfillment of a prophecy came about. It had been predicted hundreds of years before that a child would be born and he would be different, that the government would be on his shoulder, that he would be called Emmanuel, that this would be a child that would bring salvation and transformation and change to humanity. And there was something unusual about this child, because this child is referred to in the New Testament as the second Adam. What did the first Adam and the second Adam have in common? The first Adam was created without a sin nature. The second Adam was born without a sin nature. And they called his name Yeshua, which means Jesus. Now, the reason that Jesus had to be born of a virgin and not through the natural sexual intercourse between a man and a woman, is that the. The sin nature was passed down to the seed of man. And if Jesus would have been born through natural process of reproduction, the sin nature would have been part of the nature that he would have been born with. And so the natural process was bypassed in order that a virgin would become impregnated through a supernatural process. And the seed of man would not be what produced. He would be born in the womb of a woman and fully human, but he would not have the sin nature, and therefore he's called the second Adam. Now Jesus lived without the propensity of sin. He was tempted in every way, like you and I are tempted, but he never fell to sin. Why? In part because he was the Messiah of God, in part because he did not have a sin nature inside of him, and he had the power to say no to that because he was the Son of God. The New Testament tells us that Jesus Christ has become the firstborn among many brethren, the firstborn well, who are his brothers and sisters, not physical brothers and sisters, but the same way that Jesus was born and had the divine nature inside of him. So there are people that come after Jesus that become participants of that same divine nature. Are you tracking with me? This is important. Well, the pastor is getting a little theological. Well, you know, sometimes in order to understand life, you have to understand theology, the study of God, that you may be participants of the divine nature. So you and I were born with a fallen nature. How do we become participants of the divine nature? Jesus became the first among many brethren. He opened up the door so that others would be able to experience the divine nature. Jesus referred to it in the New Testament in John chapter three as becoming born again. The first birth is when you're born as a little baby and you're naked and they slap you and you cry. And you're born of flesh and blood. But you had that fallen nature. The second birth is not a birth of flesh, but it's a birth of spirit. And what the second birth does is the second birth introduces the element of the divine nature into your existence, so that now you are born, but not of the old nature. You're born of the new nature. You're born of God and have a new nature inside of you that dwells inside of your spirit. The new nature that has the power to overcome your old fallen nature. So what you have, what you have is you have the battle of the natures. Have you felt it? It's the struggle between the flesh and the spirit. It's the struggle between the carnal and the divine. It's the struggle between the new you and the old you. It's the struggle between the new man and the old man. They battle with one another. They fight with one another. They tear at one Tear's you in this direction, one tears you in that direction. But now you have something that you didn't have before. You have the deposit, the participation of the divine nature inside of you that gives you all that you need to live godly. Now you're no longer a slave to the old sin nature. Oh, you can give in to it all. You can say yes to it, but it no longer commands your life. It no longer dictates how you should live or where you should live, or what you should do. Now you have power and authority to live in a new way. Now you have the ability to say no. Now you have the urge and the desire to live a different way. You have the appetite for godly. You have a desire to live in a different way. It's the divine nature. And it is that divine nature. Listen that helps you escape the corruption in the world caused by your evil desires. It's another way of saying that that divine nature helps you have power and victory over the fallen nature that's inside of you.

00:12:32
S1: You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, and I promise we'll continue our message in just a bit. But first, we want to take a moment to lift up those faithful partners who have joined us in our mission to spread the gospel across the globe, by giving what they can to help support this radio ministry on a monthly basis. Mark, there are precious, bold partners.

00:12:50
S3: Yeah. So if you're one of those bold partners, let me start by saying thank you. And if you've been considering how you may support this ministry, then I would challenge you. Now this would be a great time to say I will also step up and be a bold partner. And um, we are so excited by what God is doing and the doors that he's opened. Some of you have heard that we have partnered with Far East Broadcasting, Transworld Radio, that our ministries that are have a global impact, a international missionary impact. And we've been getting so many responses from people overseas. In fact, here's a message that we received from a bold step listener in Malawi just recently.

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S1: The actual listeners voice.

00:13:36
S3: The actual listeners voice.

00:13:39
S4: So when I work, I have also to translate what pastor said to my wife again. So it's like taking in English I give to my family. So this program is not only touching myself alone, but my wife also. We should be like sort of the world light of the world everywhere. We should shine. We should make that place feel better because we are present to that.

00:14:03
S3: Well that's amazing, Richard, thank you for responding. And I love the fact. Wayne, that Richard is listening to the message in English. His wife and child don't speak English, so he's translating the message.

00:14:18
S1: Too, I love it.

00:14:19
S3: Yeah. That's amazing.

00:14:21
S1: And this connection with Richard is only possible because of faithful giving and support by our bold partners. So if you want to help us continue bringing the gospel to new listeners, not only in your own community but across the world, sign up today by becoming a bold partner. By the way, when you choose to give a gift of $30 or more each month, you'll qualify for a 50% discount on all Moody Publishers resources available at Moody publishers.org. Take a look at the website. That's 50% off resources like Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages, or Moody Bible Institute's Bible commentary. Additionally, you'll receive a signed copy of Mark's book unstuck out of Your Cave and Into your call, as well as an exclusive bi weekly email from Mark containing inspiring lessons and videos called the Bold Partner Post. So don't wait. Take that next bold step and sign up to become a bold partner today. Visit bold steps.org. Now let's continue with today's message, all about the power and promises of God here on Bold Steps with Mark job.

00:15:26
S2: Unless you understand that some of you will struggle with the wrong understanding of your salvation and your walk with God. Many people believe that Christianity, like a self-improvement or self-help program, is about you white knuckling it to change your behavior in order to become acceptable to God. So you come to church and you say, I want to be better. I want to change. I want to love more. I want to be more merciful. I want to be a better husband. I, I don't want to do the things I did. And so you say, I'm going to I'm going to work at changing myself. I'm going to work hard at changing myself. Why? I want to be acceptable to God. I want to be pleasing to God. So I'm going to change my old ways and put on new ways. Now that sounds good on the outside, but let me tell you, that is a pathway to death, because there's no one here in this auditorium that has the power to change themselves. You cannot change the outside by will and determination and sustain that change. There has to be an internal nature change, and Christianity is not changing ourselves from the outside to try to measure up to God. Christianity is allowing God to deposit his divine nature inside of us, and then beginning to live according to that divine nature that we already have. We're not working towards something. We're working from something. This is really, really, really important. When that divine nature is inside of you. You have been given all that you need to live godly in Christ Jesus. The moment you come to God, you are a new person. Now you may not live and act like a new person because it takes a while for your outside to catch up to your inside. Well, let me say that again. It takes a while for your outside to catch up with your inside, but you're already a new person. Someone can walk into this auditorium and we've had this happen, and they could walk into this auditorium straight off of a seven day crack cocaine binge. They can walk in smelling hungover. Their eyes dark underneath. Having just come from the crack house. They can walk into this place. And they can respond to the message of God and say to themselves, God, I am so tired of living the way I have lived. I am done with this. They can respond to the message of the gospel that travels via faith. As they say yes to God and bow their knee and accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ and open themselves up in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, comes inside of them and makes them a participant of that divine nature. And it's deposited immediately. It's not progressive. It's not in, in, in, in stages. Immediately their spirit can be transformed and changed and they can walk out of this auditorium with the divine nature already inside of them. They can walk out of this auditorium with a spirit that's different inside of them now. They can still smell like a crack cocaine addict, still think like a crack cocaine addict, still have all the context of a crack cocaine act, the desires of a crack cocaine addict. They can have the urges that are there, but something is different inside of them because now they have been given a divine nature. And although they may not know it now, they have power to say no. They have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They have forgiveness of their sins. As they begin to live and walk, they will begin to realize that they are not who they used to be. Now, it takes a while for the new nature to begin to live itself out in their life because they're still. They still think like an old man, like the old man they were. And it takes a while for them to begin to realize I'm not who I was. I'm different. I have a new nature. I have a new appetite. I have power to say no. They don't know that in the beginning. And that process is called sanctification. Sanctification is the process by which the new self inside of you starts emerging out, so that now your practice and your behavior starts aligning itself with who you really are inside. You want to know who the most miserable people on the face of this earth are. The most miserable people in the face of this earth are the people that have experienced the divine nature inside. They have the new man, the new woman inside of them created in Christ Jesus, but they're still living like they belong to the old nature. Because what happens then. Is that really that's not you? You have a new person inside of you, and you're living like the old person. But that's not really who you are anymore. So now it's not as satisfying as it used to be to go out there and live that way. Because now you may live that way, but inside there's something that doesn't satisfy. There's something that doesn't feel. There's something that feels like this is really not me. But since you're not living the new you, you're not feeling comfortable here because you're under conviction. So if you are born again and the Spirit of God is inside of you, if you're not, if you're living like you're the old person, when you have a new person inside of you, then you will be one miserable dude. And you may come to church and say, well, pastor, I just, I feel miserable. Well, I'm glad you feel miserable. Because for some of you, the fact that you're miserable is evidence of the divine nature.

00:22:12
S1: You're listening to Bold Steps, the Bible teaching of Mark job. We'll continue with the third and final part of today's message about the power and promises of God when we come back next week. Before then, though, if you want to revisit or find out more of these daily messages, just visit us online at bold steps.org. While you're there, you can even catch up on other series from Mark and request your own copy of the special resources we're making available this month. Only known as our Bold Step Gift. It's a book by pastor and author Dean Nsara titled The Unsaved Christian. In it, he asked a really powerful question. If you move to another country tomorrow, would your faith have to change? And here's Dean explaining how that question can help expose cultural Christianity.

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S5: If you move to a different country tomorrow and all of a sudden your gospel would change and you had to ask the question, what gospel do I really believe in? And what I mean by that is, if your Christianity, you claim, is no more than just sort of a faith kind of generic faith, a kind of quasi moral American gospel, and by American gospel, I'm not being critical of our country, but I mean more of your faith where you think patriotism equals Christianity or just, you know, kind of a one nation under God, all the things that I love and value. But oftentimes we can think that if we get choked up during God Bless America, it means that we're a Christian. And, and so if I moved to a different country tomorrow and had no framework for any of those kind of things, what faith would I really stand on? Because the gospel transcends every culture and, and every tongue, tribe and nation. So I would hope if somebody moved me tomorrow to a different nation, my faith wouldn't change an inch outside of hoping I'm growing in it, that it's not defined by a place or a location or a culture. It's defined by the scriptures that were written long before America was even an idea. So I hope that people don't get confused by the two. They just kind of think if they're a keep up with the moral Joneses as long as I. You know, think like they seem like I'm good and I do the right thing and I pursue the American dream. And I'm not an atheist, then I'm fine. That's that's pretty troubling.

00:24:12
S1: That's Dean and Sarah. And his book is entitled The Unsaved Christian will send you a copy of this bold step gift today. When you give a gift of any amount to support bold steps, just give us a call at 800 d l Moody, that's (800) 356-6639, or give online at bold steps.org. And as always, you can also send your gift and request the book through the mail. The address is Bold Steps, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois. 606 ten. And did you know you can also connect with us on YouTube? We actually have two channels you can follow on our main channel, Bold Steps. With Markjov, you'll find short 62nd scriptural truths that speak directly into everyday life. Quick moments of encouragement rooted in God's Word that are easy to watch, share and apply. You'll also find extended teaching videos, behind the scenes content, and the Quiet Revival podcast, where pastor Mark explores the quiet but powerful spiritual movement happening among the next generation. And then if you're looking for complete radio programs like the one you heard today, be sure to visit Bold Steps with Markjov programs on YouTube. Both channels are great ways to stay connected and grow in God's Word and share bold steps with others. Well, that's our time for now. I'm Wayne Shepherd, and before you go, be sure to join us this Saturday or Sunday for our sister program, Bold Steps Weekend, or listen at bold steps.org. And then we'll see you back here Monday when Mark continues this lesson on experiencing divine change right here on Bold Steps with Markojo. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a Ministry of Moody Bible Institute.