Episode 4 - What Must I Do To Be Saved?

Tim 00:00:24 Hey guys, good to be back together again. We've been talking the last couple of weeks about the need for grace. We've talked about how sin entered the world through Adam and Eve in the garden, and we've talked about the law and how, it was given to us. And some people have taken that to mean that this was God's plan to show us how we could become righteous in our, by our own way, by doing things according to this list of rules. But in fact, the law was brought to show that we actually could not in any way, shape or form, make ourselves righteous because we can't keep the law. That's what the law was here for, to show us we couldn't do it. So, I understand now that I have some things I need taken care of if I want to, if I want to have a full relationship with God and, and to have life that I don't have now, and I have that need and I can't do it myself. So, what must I, you know, the old, the age-old question, what, what must I do to be saved? And I'm gonna throw this over to you guys. Ajai, you wanna kick us off on that one? Ajai 00:01:32 Yes. Yeah. Thank you, Tim. Yeah, it's always good to see you guys. yeah, like you said, Tim, you know, we've been talking about, you know, that we all became sinful through Adam sin, and then, you know, there's nothing we could do to save ourselves or become righteous in the eyes of God. And at that point, like God sent his only begotten Son, Lord Jesus, to die for us on the cross. And then He was raised to life by God. Now the question is right, you know, okay, you know, some may ask, Okay, I understand it. I am struggling. I know I need salvation. I know Jesus died on the cross for me. So, what must I do? Right? What is my part to be saved and to take advantage or the benefit of what Lord Jesus did for me? So the first point, you know, I want to address is, you know, most of us, you know, this is one of the greatest, deceptions, I would say that the enemy is using to keep people in darkness and, to keep them from being saved is, you know, even though you know what Jesus did for us, you know, what we are told is, you know, we must earn what Jesus told did for us by the works of the law. Ajai 00:02:40 In other words, you know, by doing some good works, we have to earn what Jesus did for us. So, the good works, you know, range from a variety from the range is very broad. You know, if you hear the average gospel, for example, what you hear is believe, you know, repent of your sins and then believe on Jesus Christ. So, you know, most of us, you know, don't pay attention to that. But you know, repenting of sins is impossible, like we just discussed, right? We are all sinful for a sinner like who is sinful by nature. They cannot repent of it their sins. So, then it becomes a big stumbling block, right, before coming to Christ. Are there are other conditions like, you know, okay, you should stop doing this, you should stop doing that. You should start coming to church. So, there are some big conditions that we cannot do, and there are some small conditions that we think we can do, but the fact of the matter is, you know, we cannot earn what Jesus did for us by the works of the law. And Romans 11:6 clearly says, “If it is by grace, then it is no longer by works otherwise, grace is no longer grace. But if it is by works, it is no longer grace. Otherwise, work is no longer work” so clearly, right, you know, the works and grace are opposite. If it is by grace, it cannot be by works, and if it is by works, it cannot be by grace. So, we cannot really earn what Jesus did for us by the works of the law. Mark 00:04:13 and never the twain shall meet. Ajai 00:04:15 Yeah. Never the twain shall mean. Yeah. So that is one point, you know, I want to make, Tim and Mark. So, I would like to hear your thoughts on this. Mark 00:04:24 That was a very good point. By the way, Ajai. Tim 00:04:27 So I hear some people an objection, they kind of have to all this is, I've done so many bad things in my life. I feel like I need to kind of clean myself up before I come, before I come to God. And we've talked about not being able to be righteous, but that's not even trying to be righteous. That's just trying too not be quite as bad as we were. You know, I mean, it, it's, well, I've done all these things. Maybe if I, maybe if I go a couple of months, my credit score will go higher and I'll be able to <laugh> please God more or whatever, whatever measurement they're using. And the point, think the points you're trying, one of the points you're trying to make in what you just said is, I can't do anything for myself. It's not just, I can't, I can do some and then God will maybe look on me favorably, I cannot do anything. Is that, I mean, is that what I'm hearing, Mark? Mark 00:05:18 Yeah. One thing that comes to my mind is that there's a X amount of people in the world that have addictions. They have physical addictions that they can't get off of under their own power. If there was something you had to do before you came, you can just x that whole group of people out in the world. They cannot be saved, right? So obviously, thanks be to God, that is not the truth. One of my favorite sayings is “all Jesus, all the time” within that holds the answer pretty much for everything. Use that as a litmus test for how you know, for your faith. If you're trying to do something trying to clean up. Well, that's not all Jesus is it? Righteousness is li is from first to the la to the last. And I love just saying, how much room does that leave in there for you? If it's from first to last, zero. And what I love about that is first and the last, the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, those are all names for Christ. So, the righteous will live by Christ from first to last, which is one of his names. That leaves no room at all for us to do anything but believe. And that's a pretty special awesome thing in itself too, though, it's a powerful thing. Ajai 00:06:39 Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right. Mark, in fact, Tim, you alluded to this, right? So there are two things, right? One is, you know, trying to earn what Jesus did for us. The other is, you know, like you mentioned, okay, is there anything I need to do to prepare to receive Christ or to qualify myself a little bit to receive Christ? So, the other aspect of this is there is nothing we need to do to qualify ourselves for salvation. This is also like point for, like I said, right, you know, there are people you know, who are trying to pay for what Jesus did for them, right? There are like self-righteous people. People you know, who think they're good enough to earn what Jesus did. But there are other people, right, you know, who are genuinely convinced that they're sinners and they really need salvation. And they are, you know, they're bogged down with their sin and they're in tremendous, weight. The weight of the sin is weighing on them, and they are, in tremendous distress. And the question for them is they ask, “What should I do to be saved”? And then people throw a bunch of conditions at them, right, you know, the very first thing with somebody who is struggling with sin, like Mark mentioned, is right, if someone is struggling with addiction, they, they'll tell us, tell that person, hey, you have to stop that first, then come to Jesus, Right? And if you are not going to church, they tell you, okay, at least you should start coming to church and then receive Jesus. And you should make a commitment to live for Christ. I know you can't do anything now, but you should at least make a commitment to serve Christ, to make Jesus your Lord. Or sometimes, you know, I know you cannot do this, but you should at least be willing to repent of your sins to stop sinning. And even if that is not possible, they say, if you should at least be willing to be made willing. So, there are so many conditions that are thrown at us, but the point is, sinner in, in his sinful state, they cannot do any of this. That means you're basically preventing them from being saved. Even though your intentions are good, you're preventing them from being saved. So, I think all this is addressed by understanding that salvation is offered as a free gift, right? When a friend offers us a gift, what do we do? All we need to do is receive it. We don't qualify ourself. It doesn't matter what kind of outfit I come to receive the gift. It doesn't matter how bad my behavior is by the definition of a gift, right, a gift is something that is given out of free will and generosity of the giver and it doesn't depend on the receiver. So, Salvation Bible clearly says, you know, the wages of sin, is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. It's a gift. And Romans 5:17 says, “If, if one, if by one man's offense, death reigned through the One much more, those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ”. So, understanding that salvation is a gift gives us the understanding that there is nothing we need to do except to believe in the finished work of Jesus and receive the gift of salvation. Tim 00:09:56 If I take nothing else away from what you just said, I'm going to use, you must be willing to be willing to <laugh> just they, they, they'll make anything convoluted. Mark 00:10:06 And if you can't do that, then you need to be willing to be willing to be willing <laugh>. And if you can't do that, then you need to be then. Ajai 00:10:13 Yeah. Tim 00:10:14 And it's so they'll used almost anything to try and put themselves or you into this picture. And it's, and it's, again, it's not about us. Jesus was asked by someone, Master, what, what must I do to be saved? And he said, simply this, “Believe I'm the one who sent me”. Yeah. Believe. Yeah. That's it. And I can't even, I don't even have the strength to believe all that myself all the time. God gives me my belief. Ajai 00:10:37 Yep. Yep. Mark 00:10:39 It seems like so many people, so many Christians and preachers, pastors, people in ministry, and just your regular guy on the street who's a Christian, they just feel this compulsion to add they, you know, they have to do this, they have to do that. You gotta give till it hurts, you know? And, and you'll hear pastors, quote the Old Testament were, were, who was it, I think it was David said, I will give nothing that doesn't cost me something. [Yeah.] It's like somehow, it's this, it's this religious pious [Yeah] feeling that sounds like what religion would be, and yet it's false teaching. And it's basically saying Christ is not enough. [Yeah.] What He did on the cross is not enough. [Yeah.] Even though he said “it is finished as He breathed His last.” I don't know what they think that means it's finished except for Oh yeah, I have to do some more things. Ajai 00:11:41 Yeah. Yeah. Mark, what you're referring to is, you know, we often hear count your cost, right, like the Lord Jesus said. So, the fact of the matter is, you know, Jesus counted the cost, it's not us, and the cost was, you know, His life, and He gave His life for us. So, for us, even if you want to do something, the Bible clearly says, you know, not our sins, but our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. So, if you bring your righteousness as an exchange for salvation, you are giving your filthy rags to Jesus and saying, Lord Jesus, accept my rags, you know, this is a price I'm paying for my salvation. So that's what we are saying. So, there is nothing we need to do, and there's nothing we can do. And salvation is a free gift! Tim 00:12:33 And I want to add to everyone, to anyone, because we, I've said this in a podcast previously, some of the greatest heroes of the Bible did some pretty awful things. There are murderers, there are, people who've, I mean, Paul went after Christians and martyred Christians, I mean, this isn't a, this isn't a certain race of people, this isn't a certain brand of, of individual, this is anybody, no matter their condition. Yes. They can be in, they can be a full out addict. God knows who they are, where they are, [Yeah.] and He wants them. [Yeah.] He'll take them in, [Yeah.] no matter what their condition. Ajai 00:13:16 Good example is, you know the story of the prodigal son, right; so, he went out, he, then he spent everything that he had, like he took from the father, and then he lived a life, right, you know, he lived a very wild life. And all he had to do is come back to the father. There's nothing he needed to do in order to be received. In fact, you know, even as he started speaking right, he prepared his speech and he said, you know, I will say to my father, Father, I have sinned against you and heavens right. And I will just be a servant in your house. But, you know, even as it came back, right, you know, father from far he saw him, right, he did not even wait for the son to come home. He saw him from far off. You know, all the father needed to know, see his son coming back, right, the gesture he made to come back home, that's all the father needed and he ran out of the house and ran to the son. And then son began his speech, right, he said, Father, I have sinned against you, and then father, he didn't even let him finish the speech, and then he said, you know, he embraced him, and he said, you know, bring the best robe. Kill the fatted calf, and then bring the ring and bring the sandals, right? He is immediately received. So, it's like the whole humanity is like that lost son, right, we all were all lost, and we went away from God through Adam, sin, and now through Christ, we are coming back, right, all we needed to tell Father is Father, I want to come back home. That's all we do in salvation. Tim 00:14:55 In the Prodigal son story, he didn't just receive him. He didn't just receive him, you know, I mean, if, you know, a kid of mine had run away and done this and done that and came back, it might be hard for me, [Yeah] [Yeah] to do what he did. He restored his son. [Yep] He became a son again and he, he had the full relationship again. And, you know, I mean, as, as a human, I, I might find that hard for a while, but God, God and this, and then in this story, the prodigal son's father not only just said, Oh, you're back. You're a part of the family. He restored him to where he was before. And I'm sorry, I, Mark, I know you wanna say something, but I cut you off. Mark 00:15:37 I was just gonna say that when you think about every world religion, every world view belief system, as much as many people protest that sin doesn't exist, they're all based on trying to get rid of sin to attain to a higher level somehow to gain acceptance from God. Even if you go to atheists and liberals and secular humanists, they'll say, there's no such thing as biblical sin, but if you don't have the right beliefs, if you're politically incorrect, et cetera, et cetera. The whole world is freaked out by sin. And they're all trying to deal with it in their own way. You know, Buddhism, Islam, Christian religion, Catholicism, Mormonism, Jehovah, if I'm forgetting anybody out there, I don't mean to hurt, to hurt your feelings, but, but there's only one way that just shines like a beacon. And that's Jesus, because He's completely different than everyone. He doesn't say there's no such thing as sin. But what He does is He gives His life to take care of it, and then says, you know what, I will remember it no more. “Blessed is the man whose sin will never be counted against him”. And I love this one. “Blessed is the one who will never be put to shame”. You will never be shamed over something you did. Tim 00:17:08 Amen. Mark 00:17:09 And that, and I think that's why when Christ said, Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. That's freedom. There it is, and, so few ever find that freedom. I was Chri Christian for over two decades, and free was the last word I would describe the way I was feeling, because I was also under works. I thought that was part of Christianity, it was part of the gospel. It's not, it's part of religion, but it's not part of the true gospel. That's freedom. And that's a nice litmus test. Ask yourself how free you feel. Ask yourself how much guilt you live with, how guilty you feel when you sin. That's the freedom that Christ tied to take us out from under. Cuz it's no way to live and it doesn't work anyway. Ajai 00:17:58 Yeah. So, to clarify Mark and the freedom you're talking about is freedom from guilt first, right. And of course, we also have the freedom from the power of sin as we grow in grace. But the first freedom we have is the freedom from guilt and condemnation, the penalty of sin. And also, you know, once we come to Jesus, right, and you receive him as our Savior, right, all our sins are forgiven, every sin throughout our life is forgiven. And our sins will never come to haunt us, so there is no fear, there's no condemnation, and there is freedom from guilt. You know, having this freedom from guilt and condemnation is the one that catapults our life into living in a life that is victory. Right. victorious life. not coming under the power of sin every time. But I think the order is important. It's important to understand the first freedom we receive is not the freedom from the power of sin, in other words, like we don't stop sinning, but the freedom we receive is the freedom from the guilt, a guilty conscience, and the freedom from fear of death, and the freedom from the fear of condemnation and punishment and a freedom to go to the Father, anytime, right, by the blood of Jesus. There is no separation between us and the Father. Mark 00:19:23 I would add to that, that there may be even one more horse before that cart. And that, that it's a freedom from the law, from the works, from that whole system. [Yeah.] That the world is living by. [Amen.] Cause that's the system that causes us the sin and the death and the pain. [Yep.] And the guilt. [Exactly.] Ajai 00:19:43 Yeah. Yeah. That's right. Tim 00:19:45 I've, I've heard the term used. I mean, if you look at this, all we have to do is believe we don't have to repent. We don't have to straighten up and fly right. We don't have to, you know, follow another whole new set of rules. And I've heard the term used “cheap grace”, you, oh, now you've got grace, you can't help be, you can't be held accountable for anything. You can't, you know, you don't have to be like everybody else and try and do, right, and this, that and the other. And so they call that “cheap grace”. You, oh, you believe, and that's it, that's, well, what's that, you've got, you've gained, you know, what could you possibly have gained from that? Mark 00:20:24 What I would say is on our end, Grace is cheap, in fact, it's free, absolutely free. But on Christ's end, it wasn't cheap at all, was it? He gave everything for that, on our behalf. That's a key phrase right there that Paul uses many times. [Yeah.] Everything He did, He did on our behalf. [Yeah.] He fulfilled all justice, all our sin. It's not like God just said, oh, I'm just gonna sweep that under the carpet. No, because He is a just God, Christ paid for that sin with His life, with beatings, floggings, mockings, insult, a crown of thorns being spit on, [Yeah.] slowly dying on a cross. That's not cheap grace. That was ultimate the most expensive grace ever. Ajai 00:21:12 Yeah. One other point. You know, that's excellent, Mark, you know what you said. We just, discussed, right, you know, we just, said salvation is a gift, right? If your friend gives you an expensive gift, right, just because it is free for you, it doesn't mean the gift is a cheap, you know, if someone, one of your friends who loves you, right, he comes and gives you a Ferrari, you won't call it a cheap gift or cheap grace, right, it's a lavish gift. It's the most expensive gift. So, for us, salvation is free because, you know, it costs Jesus's blood. In fact, that's the most expensive gift that we can ever receive. And and again, like I said, right? You know, if your fa if your friend, comes and offers you a Ferrari as a gift, right, it doesn't make sense, you know, you take out a $2 and pay it to him. [Yeah.] So, in fact, forget about this, right, you, it's not even $2, right, you're giving your kids dirty diapers in exchange. That's what we are trying to offer, our righteousnesses, our filthy rags. So we cannot give anything in return Mark 00:22:33 That's just a great illustration there. It's Christmas time, someone hands you present, you don't pull out your wallet and say, Let's see, what can I, what can I, what do I need? Let me take care of this. How much do I owe you? That's what people that are trying to add works [Yeah.] to the gift of grace of salvation, that's what they're trying to do. And it's really an insult when you think about it. Ajai 00:22:54 It is an insult. Yeah. Tim 00:22:57 So another issue is there are people that look at other people and say well, he doesn't dress right. He doesn't smell good, he smokes. He's doing this, that and the other. I don't do all those things and I'm trying to live the life that I think God expects me to live, blah, blah, blah. you know, how come, how come he doesn't have to do the same things I'm doing? I mean, really, they, there are pe especially in churches today, I hate to say, but there are people that just judge one another so harshly based on really I think their self point of view of what they think others should look like and act like and be like. And yet these people have, have received the grace of God at their salvation and they can't seem to give it to others because they think they've, they they can't, they don't earn it, or don't, I mean, I see this a lot. It's, I I, I know I'm where I'm trying to head with this Mark, but I think you had a, had some ideas you wanted to share on, how, how grace is even better for those who need it more or something like that. Am I right? Mark 00:24:06 Yeah. I, I don't wanna brush with broad strokes, but I would say for people that are like that, odds are before they came to Christ, they were already like that. And they just brought that and fitted in to what they think Christianity is. They haven't been blown away by the truth of what Jesus did. They haven't been transformed by contemplating the glory of the cross by just thinking about what He did and the kind of love that that must have cost. I don't know. I just, I I I find it personally hard to believe that someone just loved other, other people, wasn't judgmental, became a Christian. Now everybody's doing it wrong. I think we bring a lot of our stuff with us sometimes and we mold that into what our belief system on Christianity is. If we are people that really low self-esteem, well, that, that may not just disappear until we come into the full understanding and knowledge that we might be transformed to that. And, you know, we're all, we all got something somewhere in our lives, you know? [Yeah.] Just because we become a Christian doesn't mean at Lord come into my life, boom, everything is gone. Somethings may be gone immediately, but it's like that, analogy of yeast working through a batch of dough. It works its way in. It doesn't like immediately turn the dough into whatever yeast does. I'm not sure what yeast does, makes the dough rise. Rising is something, and I feel like the Christian with the spirit that is reflecting on the cross and walking with Christ and keeping his eyes on him, their rising. When I look back at my life and, you know, I can't take credit for it, but sometimes before I came to Grace, I used to constantly take my own inventory. I would write a list out of all the bad things I'm still doing, and then write a list 10 years ago. And as long as the list of bad things has gone down a little bit since then, I would say, oh, thank you Lord, look how much you're doing in my life, life, where the Lord wants to take that list, crumple it up and throw it in the fire. But I just, I haven't had that thought in years, but I used to do that when I felt down and guilty, which I did most of the time, I could say to myself, well, you know what, I'm better than I was 10 years ago. I'm better than I was 20 years ago. And if I hadn't come to Christ, who knows what I'd be doing now. Or even I'm better than that guy over there. Sorry, Ajai, go ahead. Oh, you're referring to Ajai? Tim No, <laugh>. Ajai 00:26:52 No. Yeah. Tim, you know, with regards to the self-righteous Christians who are thinking that, you know, they had some good works that they could, you know, use or offer up, you know, as an exchange for their salvation or, you know, judging others who are worse than them. You know, it kind of makes me wonder, right, you know, what kind of gospel they heard when they were saved. So sometimes a gospel is, you know, forsake your sins and come to Christ. So, I think if you dig deeper, you know, maybe their attitude is, okay, I have forsaken all this, and then I cleaned up my life and then, you know, I became a Christian. What did you do to become a Christian? I think that's a question. So, I think that's where, you know, some of the pride will come from. And some of them, you know, to be honest, you know, we also need to, I wonder if they are really saved or they're thinking, you know, just by doing some Christian works, going to church and, cleaning up their life are not committing any of the big sins that are, you know, that we think are big sins, you know, they're kind of holy. And those kind of people might even think, you know, they don't even need Christ, right, they became a Christian by all the good things they did. So, there might be that category of people also who are judging others, but the salvation message is clear, right, you know, salvation is about forgiveness of sins and who receives, who needs the forgiveness of sins, it's sinners. So, unless somebody's convinced that they're sinners and that they need Christ, really, you know, there is no difference. You may have some big sins, some may have small sins according to world standards, but everyone is a sinner, and unless we are convinced and we are humbled to the point that we cannot save ourselves, you know, Christ makes, doesn't make much sense. So, I think for sinners who are convinced that they're sinners and truly dependent on the grace of Christ for salvation, I think that, judging others, I think it, may not, you know, come into play. Mark 00:29:01 And, and, and when I think about it, these things we're talking about right now are not the end. They're means to the end. The grace is a means to the end. Jesus Himself is the end for us, [Yeah.] it's what we're trying to get to. We want to see Him. We want to know Him. We want Him in our life. And that's why I always found it very telling that when the Apostle Paul prayed for Christians, almost every time somewhere in those prayers, there was some him asking for God to send His spirit, the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so they might know Him better. And then I think of Jesus teaching the crowds when he said, on that day, many will come to me and say, “Lord, Lord, didn't we heal? Didn't we drive out demons? Didn't we prophesy in your name”? These are all pinnacle works, I mean, not just, you know, it's nice to serve at a soup kitchen, but these people are doing miracles in the name of Christ. And he says, “Depart from me. I never knew you”. There's that word again, knowing, knew, knowledge of, of Christ, that's the end. And that's what changes us. Tim 00:30:16 Ajai, I know people can't see this cuz we're doing an audio podcast, but you have a very pensive look on your face. <laugh> Ajai 00:30:23 <laugh>. No, no, no. I'm just listening. I'm just Mark 00:30:27 Listening here. Who's watching the basketball game? He's got tv, Tim 00:30:30 <laugh>. Mark 00:30:32 He's a basketball fanatic now. Tim 00:30:34 So, the point I guess we come back to is what must I do to be saved? I'm, I, I can't do anything to be saved. Yeah. I simply receive this gift. Ajai 00:30:44 Yeah, yeah. So, to just to summarize, you know, that, answer to that question, Tim, what must I do to be saved? You know, we are saved by simply believing in Jesus and in his death burial and resurrection for us. Everyone who simply believes that Jesus shed His precious blood to wash away their sins and that He died and rose again for them will receive forgiveness of sin, the gift of righteousness, the gift of eternal life, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and they're placed in Jesus, and Jesus Himself comes to live in them. They become the children of God. They're delivered from hell and the kingdom of darkness and are transitioned to the kingdom of God. As soon as they end their life on this earth, they're received into heaven to live with Jesus forever and forever. Their sins are removed from them as far as east is from the west. God will never remember their sins again. They can walk in closeness with God as their heavenly Father. There is so much included in our salvation. I think this is what we'll be talking about. And that is a reason, you know, Hebrews calls this salvation so great as salvation. So, there is so much we get for free, but all we need to do is simply believe that Jesus died and rose again for, for us. To quote a couple of scriptures, right, in Romans chapter 4, it says, “Now to him that works is a reward, not record of grace, but of death. But to him that does not work, but believe on him that justifies, ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness”. And in Acts chapter 13, this is a recorded sermon of Paul himself, he preaching to the Jews and the Gentiles, he says, “Therefore, let it be known unto your brethren that through this man is preached unto the forgiveness of sins. And by Him, everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses”. And in Acts 10 43 says to him, “All the prophets witness that through His name, whoever believes in Him, will receive the remission of sins”. And finally, you know, we know this is a famous word about salvation “That if you confess the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness. And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, “Whoever believes on him will not be put to shame” like Mark mentioned, right? So, we will never be put to shame. God will receive us simply by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ we are saved. Mark 00:33:39 There's a word that came up in my mind here, and this week we had a thread going, the three of us discussing the word repentance. And Ajai pointed this out a while back after doing some research, probably using his, computer concordance or search engine, that nowhere in the New Testament does it say repent of your sins, and then we started a conversation on what the word repent means, and the church over the centuries has just got in this has just got this meaning so wrong. The original word for repent was the Greek word metanoya, which meant to change your mind. And the, the actual syllables of that, of that word meta means re and the noya means think, so, it literally means when you break it down to its raw form to rethink, to rethink your worldview, to rethink who Christ is, to rethink. When Christ came to the Jews saying, “Repent for the kingdom of God is near”, He's saying, rethink the way you're trying to gain acceptance from God. Rethink that you're trying to perfectly fulfill all these rules. And people have just put this connotation on it that it's all about sin, that we need to grieve over our sin in sack cloth and ash is shedding tears I'm so bad. I'm so bad. That's not it at all. And I think that repent is part of the answer of when Tim said “So, what must I do believe and receive”? Well, before you believe and receive, you need to rethink. You need to turn, you need to change your mind about, and to me that was just it really plays in with who I am because I really just feel that thinking and reflecting and pondering and chewing on things as part of one of the main ways that God made us in His image. And it's the main thing we need. If we didn't have the ability to think or to ponder or reflect on, we could never come to know God. Ajai 00:35:58 Yeah, that's a great point, Mark. You know, in fact, you know, there are a few things that, we need to rethink about salvation, right, you know, the, in fact, in a, in Isaiah 55 says, right, you know, “My thoughts are higher than your thoughts”, right, God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So, in our thinking, we think that, you know, we need to have some good works, right, based on that, you know, we think we'll be saved. But the Bible says, you know, that's not true. You just have to believe, you know, that is the one. So, there are a few things that we need to rethink about in, Hebrew chapter 6, it says, right, you know, “repentance from your dead works”. So, the first thing you know, we need to repent of is from our dead works, you know, thinking that our works can save us. You know, that is a thing we need to rethink. And the other thing is, you know, some people think that, you know, they're good, right, there is no problem with them, and they're doing perfectly okay. They don't need, there's no problem with them, so, the other thing we need to rethink is, you know, realization that we are sinners. And one other thing that we need to repent of is Bible says, you know, repentance towards God and faith towards our law, Jesus Christ. So, repentance towards God is, you know, many people think, you know, God is angry God, God is out there to get them. You know, God is out there to punish them, right, God is the one who is causing all the evil in their lives, so we need to rethink, you know, what we think of God as well. So, God is not angry at us, in fact, God is not coming to punish us, in fact sent His only Son to save us. You know, that is one area, you know, we need to rethink. So, we also need to rethink the love of God. So, when we understand all this right, you know, when we understand that God loves us and there's nothing for me to do, but simply receive, right, you know, that's when we are prepared, to receive the gift of salvation. Mark 00:37:58 That's a great point. And all I think that all these pastors, preachers, small group leaders, Christians that are constantly telling the world, other believers, you need to repent. They need to repent of that definition of repent. They need to re rethink their definition of what repent means, cause [Yeah. Yeah.] they're way off. [Yeah.] And that should be freeing for a lot of people that have been thinking that way. And hopefully now they're gonna rethink that. Ajai 00:38:29 Yeah. Tim 00:38:31 Well, our fondest hope is that if you're listening and you've never made the decision to believe and receive that you will. And if you have questions or wanna know more, we're available. Feel free to reach out to us. Guys, really good discussion tonight. Appreciate you and I know that over the next well, however long we go with this podcast, we're gonna be talking way more about what it is it means to just receive and what now that we've made that decision to receive, what do we have to do? And don't answer that <laugh> I'll, spoiler alert, nothing, but we'll, we'll talk more later. Guys, have a great night, and everyone who's listening, we we're praying for you. And feel free to contact us.