The Jason DeMars Podcast
The Jason DeMars Podcast
The Life of Christ Part 2
God's call to holiness goes far beyond external rule-following, penetrating to the very core of our character. Drawing from 1 Peter 1:13-17, we discover that true holiness begins as an internal transformation that naturally manifests in our outward behaviors—not the other way around.
The stark contrast between King David and King Saul reveals an essential truth about godliness: it's not about never making mistakes but about how we respond when confronted with our sins. When Nathan confronted David about his adultery and murder, he immediately acknowledged his wrongdoing without excuses. Saul, however, shifted blame to others and worried primarily about maintaining his public image. This fundamental difference explains why, despite David's grievous sins, God memorialized him as having a "perfect heart."
What does this teach us about our own spiritual journey? God judges not just our actions but our hearts' attitudes. When we sin—as we inevitably will—do we make excuses, blame circumstances, minimize our responsibility? Or do we take immediate ownership and seek reconciliation? Our response reveals far more about our spiritual condition than the sin itself.
We often misunderstand God's love as the removal of difficulties, but sometimes His love manifests as confrontation over sin. When God brings conviction, it's not punishment but grace—He could leave us to our devices, which Scripture identifies as His wrath. His confrontation offers opportunity for growth and deeper relationship.
Hebrews 12:14-17 warns about roots of bitterness that spring from unforgiveness. Like toxic plants, these roots not only poison our own spiritual growth but "defile many"—damaging our families, relationships, and faith communities. The solution isn't complicated but requires courage: forgive, take responsibility, and allow the Holy Spirit's unhindered work in our hearts.
How might your spiritual life transform if you stopped waiting for deliverance and instead took the simple steps of obedience God has already revealed? True holiness awaits those willing to humble themselves and deal honestly with what stands between them and God.
And then we'll go to the scriptures. Zoe, it's going to be 1 Peter, 1.13 that we start at. Let's pray, Heavenly Father. We come before you, Lord, and we just want to commit this time to you. We ask that your Holy Spirit would guide us and lead us, Lord, into all truth, Lord, and that you'd reveal yourself to us, Lord, and that you'd speak something into our lives that would cause us to grow in our walk with you. Lord, we commit ourselves to you, we commit this time to you. We just want to step out of the way that you would have your way in Jesus' name, Amen. So, 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 13, and we'll read through 17. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts and your ignorance, but as he which has called you is holy. So be holy in all manner of conversation. That means it speaks of conduct, behavior, Because it is written. Be holy, for I am holy, and if you call on the Father who, without respect, judges according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. May the Lord add the blessing to the reading of his word. Be going into part two of the life of Christ.
Speaker 1:As we often hear this we speak about the life of Christ and we want to have the life of Christ manifested in us, but we also need to speak about what the details are. It's a very, very simplified version to say we just need the Holy Ghost, that's all we need, and when you get there, you've arrived at the end. No, you've arrived at the beginning, and we're even instructed in the scriptures that we need to be transformed. So we need to go through a metamorphosis. By what? By having emotions and sensations and feelings. All those come with life just in general, and the life of the Holy Ghost. But that's not what it is. We're transformed by the renewing of our mind, and so there's a word that needs to go forth to be preached. There's a word that's written in the Scriptures and it needs to be quickened or revealed in our hearts. It needs to bring correction, it needs to be instruction, because at the core of godly living, the model modern world has put it this way god loves you, and that's the gospel that's preached.
Speaker 1:God loves you, so believe in him. Okay, we can all see there's a core truth of that. But if that's how we're presenting it like, why should I love him? Like I got stuff going on here, I don't need to be troubled by just because somebody loves us, Like okay, why does that demand a response? No, you're lost, You're on your way to hell. Why are you lost and on your way to hell?
Speaker 1:Because God is holy and because God is just and there's a day of reckoning that's coming. I mean, that's how Paul preached the gospel when he went to the judge he's going to judge the world by one, by the man that he's appointed, Jesus Christ. He didn't go out and say God is love everyone. God loves you, he wants you to have a good life, he wants you to be happy. God is holy, Right, God is just, and he demands in anyone that's going to live in his home in heaven will also be the same.
Speaker 1:And so we face a dire circumstance because you and I are not holy. You and I, the condition that we're born in. We have evil there, on the inside of the inside, that's corrupting our very nature and is causing us to sin and is leading us on a path to hell. And so we have to understand that God is holy and he tells us to be holy. And this is the core reason and need actually for the history and the story of redemption is that God made man good but man was corrupted, and so God was going to make a way for man to return back to his original condition and relationship, Because when you're not good, when you're evil, you cannot fellowship with God. God can't even look at evil. He hates evil. And so when we start the gospel from this other direction that the modern world starts it from, it's really just a gospel. It might be good news, but it's not the real good news.
Speaker 1:God does want to heal our spirits. God does want to heal our lives. God does want to deliver us from captivity, from bondage to sin, from the pain of our if we've been hurt or damaged in life. He wants to restore us. But that's the effects of the gospel. People want the effects of the gospel. Without the gospel, they want to go to a church and be told a psychological message that they can be made whole without sacrifice, without blood, without death. Death is required, Not only the death of Jesus Christ, but actually you have to die also. You have to die to that old life and that's part of it. He calls us to be holy, so we need to be holy.
Speaker 1:What does it say in all manner of conversation? What does it mean to be holy? It means to be set aside, to be separate, to be different. One way of saying it is to be sacred. You know, in the Old Testament they gathered together all the gold and silver of Egypt and the brass, the bronze, whatever it was, and they took that and they fashioned it into different items for the tabernacle and those were called in the holy things. These were the holy things. Why were they holy? Because gold is holy, Because, I mean, I think some people would like us to think that but that's not why it was set aside. It was sacred. It wasn't to be used for common things, for normal things, for regular things. It was only to be set aside for the service of God. So when we're called to be holy that's what it's speaking of we are set aside for the service of God. It means more than that.
Speaker 1:Also, If you think about holiness, holiness is part of God being light. God is a consuming fire. Right, God is holy, God is light, God is a consuming fire. So this holiness also speaks of moral perfection. Now we're really sunk. Now we're absolutely sunk because we, even with the Holy Ghost, we cannot achieve moral perfection in this life. I know there's Methodists and holiness doctrines that make you think that a person can achieve moral perfection, but the Bible, speaking of the perfection of the saints, is not speaking of moral perfection. It's speaking of maturity. As long as we're in this mortal body, we will always be in the process of sinning and repenting, and so this call to holiness is something that is not merely external.
Speaker 1:Let's go even a little step further. It's not an external holiness. That's not what God is requiring. He's not merely looking at us and saying look, as long as you look like what the Bible says and follow these exact rules, you're going to be okay. We would like it to be that way. It would be so simple for us, but it would be so perverted. It would be so against. We would make an idol out of those laws. We'd make an idol out of those who maintained those laws, because if there's laws, somebody's got to maintain the laws. So you're going to make an idol out of the preachers. You're going to make an idol out of the preachers. You're going to make an idol out of the deacon back there, Right, it's going to automatically turn into idolatry when it's talking about following specific laws to achieve holiness. That's not what it is. It's an inward work that starts where In the soul and it comes from the inside pushing out. It is not an external force of the church, even of mom and dad, though that's part of it. The word comes from the external, but that word has to go from the external, has to go to the inside of the inside to bring a change. And that is the kind of holiness that God is looking for. It's a holiness that is in the heart.
Speaker 1:You look in the Old Testament, a number of different times, men of God are spoken of and said to have a perfect heart. Well, every one of them. We can point out their faults, we can preach sermons on all of their faults, and yet God looked at their hearts and saw a. He said I see a perfect heart. It isn't a sinless heart, but what is it and I think I mentioned this the last time I spoke David, David, this king was good because he had a heart in him like David. Yet his heart wasn't perfect like David. So God must be judging by a slightly different standard and vision and viewpoint than we're judging by, because none of us would look at David's life and say, man, he had a perfect heart. That hombre was rough, he killed thousands times, tens of thousands of people, he committed adultery and he had the husband murdered and tried to cover it up. So it wasn't even the external behavior that God himself was looking at to declare a man with a perfect heart. What was he looking at? What was the attitude? Saul? Saul is an incredible story to me and you know we have the blessing of hindsight and what God declares over that.
Speaker 1:But what if we didn't? What if you just presented? What if I told you a story about a man. God told him to go and kill everyone, animals, and destroy everything. All right, and he went, and he did that, mostly Right. He went and he obeyed. Up to a certain point he killed all the people. Well, he saved the king alive. You know he's going to make a spectacle of him. He was going to mock him. You know he was going to use him as a spectacle. And he saved some of the animals, because you have military men, you got to feed them. So let's save some of those animals, and let's I mean in other cases we could fly upon the spoil. I mean, if you defeat an enemy, why not take their stuff? I mean it makes sense, right.
Speaker 1:And then you have another guy. We'll tell you about he cheated on his wife. Another guy will tell you about he cheated on his wife and then he realized that he got her pregnant and he's got to cover it up. So what does he do? He goes and he murders this woman's husband. All right, now I want you to judge. Who would you choose out of these two people? As a man, as a human being, you definitely you'd always choose the guy that mostly obeyed God. That's the human judgment.
Speaker 1:But what did God say? What was God's choice? What was God's prayer? We all know he told Saul you have rejected the word of the Lord, so God has rejected you. But that wasn't the first statement. That was the first statement was a confrontation. What is the? What is the sound of the sheep? Have you obeyed the word of the Lord? Yep, I obeyed the word of the Lord. That is the place where he manifested a messed up heart. That is the very place of failure for Saul. You say no, it was when he went. And he didn't kill everyone. It started there, sure, but what was Saul's attitude when confronted by the prophet? No, I did it, I absolutely did it. What's the bleeding of the sheep and the mooing of the cows? Oh well, the people.
Speaker 1:What did he do? He didn't blame himself. He didn't take personal responsibility for the sin that he committed. He put it on another person. It's their fault. Well, you're the king. You have to take responsibility. You're the dad in the home. You take responsibility. You're the one that was responsible for them. Don't say your kid was the problem. You failed to lead your home, Saul. You failed to lead over your responsibility.
Speaker 1:And what did he do at the end, when he was finally confronted and told the kingdom has been ripped away from you and be given to someone that's better than you Harsh words, what did he say? Yeah, I've sinned, but only honor me now, before the people. So what was Saul manifesting? His concern wasn't with his relationship with God. His concern was what? The image that he had externally before the people, eternally before the people. Don't let my image be marred in front of the people. What was David? I mean, you really can't make up much worse that story about what someone would do. He violated everything that is sacred and holy. And God came and told us, told a parable, and David got angry and said I'm going to kill that guy. And what are the next famous words?
Speaker 1:To me, this is the confrontation of the ages, because we're confronted with the same problem and the same issue and the same thing, Different sins, different issues, different things in life. But what is our initial response? I did my best. I mean, you know, look, it's difficult. I went most of the way If it wasn't for these other people. You know, I tried, but those people are problems. No, David didn't say that. Our problems. No, David didn't say that.
Speaker 1:David, instantaneously, when he was told he was the man, he was the murderer, he was the thief, Instantaneously, it wasn't boy. I mean, I'm the king, I could kill the prophet. There was no hesitation in David. I yea, I have sinned against the Lord and the Lord only. And what was God's answer? David took responsibility for his actions immediately and he admitted his fault instantaneously when he was confronted. And what was God's response? Fear not, you'll not die. I've pardoned your sin, but you're going to pay for it. You're going to reap what you sow Right, and so, even though David did reap what he sowed through the rest of his life, he had horrible problems within his family. I mean problem after problem. Even so, even despite all that, God's memoriam of David was he had a perfect heart.
Speaker 1:Can you think about that for a second? It's not so much the problem of your sin that makes you unholy Sure, it does. But once you have the Holy Ghost, God settles that. It isn't the problem that you sin. The problem is how do you respond when you do sin, Because we're all going to sin, little ones and big ones. But number one is is your heart to want to do it?
Speaker 1:Number two is is how do you respond when you do do it and you're confronted over it? And many times we're not even confronted by people, though we are. Sometimes, Many times, we're confronted by the Holy Spirit. And how do we handle it? Well, you know, look, Lord, I did most of it. I came up most of the way. That's not going to work To God.
Speaker 1:That is just like rejecting the word of the Lord. It's part and parcel with that. I've come, I did my best, but Gideon hindered me, or whatever, whatever Any of us. You can blame your kids, blame another person, blame the pastor, blame this one, blame that one. God doesn't want that. He actually hates that. He considers it rejecting the word.
Speaker 1:He comes and confronts you over your sin. What is that? What is he expressing to you? When he confronts you over your sin? He could just leave you completely alone, like the rest of the world. He could leave you to your own devices and say I leave you to your devices. That's God's wrath. Actually, when he leaves you just to go on sinning and go on sinning and go on sinning. That is the departure of the grace of God from you.
Speaker 1:So what is it when we're confronted over our sin? That's the love of God expressed to us. The love of God isn't removing all troubles from your life. That's not the love of God. We think that's what the love of God is, but it's not. That's because our minds are so perverted that we think. You know, the Bible says God is nice and in him is no meanness at all. God is not nice and the fruit of the Spirit is not niceness. And it never says love is nice. It says love is kind. That's different than being nice. It says love is kind. That's different than being nice. You know, he's a lamb, yes, but he's also a lion, right. And so God is going to be sure to confront us over our sin, and how are we going to respond to him? I think that's my goodness.
Speaker 1:I went nowhere near my notes, All right. So that's the first part that we went through. God is holy, so be holy in all manner of conduct, because it is written be holy, for I am holy. And it says that if you call on the Father who, without respect of persons, judges according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. God is looking, and he's both judging and discerning our works.
Speaker 1:And, of course, for believers, it's not that we're going to be condemned over our works, but what is it it's? We'll receive our reward based upon our works. You know, it says some are saved, though, as by fire, right their works. They built wood, hay and stubble, and their works are burnt up. And then some build gold or some precious stones, and the fire will try it and actually purify their works, right?
Speaker 1:And so when we look at this, I guess there's one thing we can say and this ties in what I'm going to start to get into next is. There's one thing that we actually have control over, and that's if we forgive other people. If we don't forgive, then God won't forgive us. So in that way you control your eternal destination. God won't lose a one. That's predestinated seed. But so then we have to flip that on its head is then those who are his predestinated seed will forgive. Right, but you can be in a position where you, you know you don't forgive, and then you get the fruit of a lack of forgiveness in your life.
Speaker 1:Hebrews, chapter 12, 14 through 17. We'll just get a little bit into this next portion of my notes. Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. Let me pause before I go back to verse 14, Zoe.
Speaker 1:So again we're talking about holiness, and we understand under the gospel of Jesus Christ, that holiness is something that God is creating within us. It's a condition of the heart, right, it's an inward work that he does within us that then permeates to the rest of our being, and sanctification. That sanctification is like the action verb of holiness or holy, and so you know. The Bible says we're saved through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. So a part of our salvation experience is an ongoing process of sanctification. So that is not bringing forth merely external holiness. Anyone can be a parrot and parrot what the outward works of real holiness is. That's not what we're talking about. There's an inward thing that happens that manifests itself outwardly, and so that's what God is doing with us.
Speaker 1:So if you're saved truly saved, scriptural salvation the result in your life is a process of cleansing and sanctification, and without that we're not going to heaven to see the Lord. We'll meet him at the great white throne judgment in condemnation, not in salvation. So a necessary part of the salvation process is him creating holiness within us. We have to be made fit in order to see him, right, Without which no man shall see the Lord. So without peace, without living a life of peace, manifesting a life of peace, not manifesting a life of chaos, a life of peace not manifesting a life of chaos, right, Manifesting a life of peace and holiness, we won't see the Lord. So it's like it's giving us.
Speaker 1:Here are the qualifications for you to see the Lord. Would you wish to see the Lord. Brother Chris, Okay, Follow peace with all men and holiness. This is what you must do. We understand it's an inward work, but this is showing the inward work done in your soul is going to produce this. In order to see the Lord, you have to have these things being manifested in your life. Not by your own efforts, not by your own deeds, not an external, but the internal work that God has done will produce this in your life. All right, so then go to 15 again, Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who, for one morsel of meat, sold his birthright. For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. All right. So root of bitterness.
Speaker 1:I guess it's going to be tough to get very far into this, but we'll just lay a little foundation for next week, Lord willing. So, a root of bitterness. We think about this. There has to be a seed planted. You don't just get a random root anywhere, and it depends on what kind of plant you're thinking of. You know, if you plant a potato or sweet potato, you know the seed looks a lot like a root, so let's put it that way.
Speaker 1:But if we're going to look at it in this direction is to have a root of bitterness. There has to be some form of seed planted there. So there has to be a seed that would produce a root that is bitter. And so you know, perhaps there's a seed planted and it's laying there dormant. But once the right conditions are met because it's not just a seed you know some of the soil here in Beaufort you plant a seed and it don't do a whole lot. You got to get some, you got to get the right conditions there.
Speaker 1:And when the right conditions are met, that is when you see that seed that's planted begin to take root and begin to grow and begin to grow, and so a bitter fruit comes from a seed and a bitter root. So the type of ground affects it, true, but there's many different types of bitter plants and bitter roots. We understand that there's good seed and there's bad seed, there's wheat and there's weeds. Think of it that way there's good fruit and there's bitter fruit. And so, looking at bitter fruit I mean we can just simplify it because I'm going to have to close shortly but looking at a root of bitterness, there has to be a seed of unforgiveness there in the heart and that will produce a root of bitterness.
Speaker 1:And it says when that root of bitterness springs up, it not only troubles you, right, but it actually can defile many people around you. So you know, it's like it's the same idea that an inward something on the inside right, If you plant the right thing on the inside, what will happen? The right thing will be manifested on the outside. But if there's a wrong thing planted on the inside, what will happen? The right thing will be manifested on the outside, but if there's a wrong thing planted on the inside, that's going to produce the wrong kind of life. And you know, let's just put it this way we as Christians can find ourselves that Paul isn't writing this to heathens, Paul isn't writing this to total unbelievers, he's writing this to the Hebrews, so people that purport to believe the word of God. And so we as believers can get in this condition as well, where there's the wrong kind of seed, that we've refused to forgive other people or we refuse to own our faults and from that then springs out all kinds of roots of bitterness. And it not only gives you trouble, right? I mean think of the emotional pain, the mental pain and the fact that you're literally blocking your own spiritual growth because of it. But then, because you're doing that to yourself, if you're a dad, what's happening to your wife? Then what's happening to your children? You know what's happening then from there. First, they're the first impact. Then what's happening to the people you're in fellowship with, it will go out and absolutely bring defilement and hinder spiritual growth for everybody around you. And I have to quit there.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your word. We pray, Lord, that it would penetrate deep in our hearts, Lord, that it would come to a place that we would realize, Lord, if there's something there that's hindering us. That we would take our own action, that we would take our own steps. That the word says to do. Lord, Many times we wait for deliverance, when the fact is that deliverance is waiting for us because there's just simple steps that we need to take. Lord. That we would humble our own pride and just deal with whatever it is that we're going through. Lord, that we would humble our own pride and just deal with whatever it is that we're going through, Lord, that the Holy Spirit would no longer be hindered in our lives. We pray, Lord, that you'd anoint each one, you'd be with each one. Today, we ask in Jesus' name.