WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:05.280 Today we see one of the most decisive moments in the entire early church. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:09.359 The question on the table is simple, but it cuts to the core. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:11.759 What actually saves you? 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:17.440 And Peter stands up and says it with clarity that leaves no room for confusion. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:29.839 We believe that we are saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus, not through the law, not through human effort, not through carrying a religious burden that no one has ever been able to carry. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:30.800 Grace. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:34.240 And notice how he frames it. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:43.600 Why are you putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:45.920 This is a devastating line. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:01:00.320 If you're honest enough to let it land, because there's a subtle temptation in every serious believer, especially those who care deeply about the faith, to slowly turn Christianity into a system of pressure. 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:05.680 Do more, try harder, be better, fix yourself, prove yourself. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:10.319 It starts to feel very heavy and very draining. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:17.840 Not because God is asking too much, but because we are trying to carry something we were never meant to carry alone. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:26.239 Peter's saying, if salvation is grace, then stop rebuilding a system that depends on your strength. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:35.920 Now here's where you have to, now here is where you have to be very precise because Jesus immediately says this in the gospel. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:40.799 He says, if you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love. 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:42.480 So which is it? 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:44.959 Grace or commandments? 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:48.640 This is where people get it wrong in both directions. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.640 Some hear grace and think it means nothing is required. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:59.040 Others hear commandments and turn the whole thing into moral pleasure, moral pressure. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:03.599 Jesus holds both together, but in the right order. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.680 As the Father loves me, so I also love you. 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:09.680 Remain in my love. 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:12.000 We need to start there. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:21.680 You are loved first, not after you fix yourself, not after you've proven yourself, not after you get everything together first. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:26.719 Then, if you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:32.319 Obedience is not how you earn love, it's how you stay within it. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:35.680 That's a completely different posture. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:40.000 This is not a performance, this is a relationship. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:44.479 Jesus is not saying, obey me so that I will love you. 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:47.039 He's saying, I already love you. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:51.680 Now live in a way that keeps you connected to my love. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:55.840 And then he says something almost too beautiful to ignore. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:02.879 I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:06.719 Not partial, not occasional, but complete. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:09.840 But here's the uncomfortable truth. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:13.280 Most people do not associate obedience with joy. 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:17.520 They associate with restriction, with limitation, with loss. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:20.639 And that tells you something important. 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:26.639 It means we're still thinking like servants, not sons and daughters. 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:31.120 A servant obeys out of fear or obligation. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:37.360 A son or daughter obeys because he or she trusts the one who loves them. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:45.919 Jesus obeys the Father completely, and he is the most alive, the most free, the most joyful person who has ever lived. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:48.159 This is not a coincidence. 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:51.520 So here's a question that exposes everything today. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:59.280 Are you trying to live the Christian life as a burden to carry or as a love to remain in? 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:05.759 Because if it's a burden, you will eventually burn out or start cutting corners. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:12.319 But if it is love, real love, then obedience stops feeling like pressure and starts becoming clarity. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:23.839 You begin to see that his commandments are not there to limit your life, but to protect it, to direct it, to keep you within the very love you're looking for. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:29.120 Grace is not opposed to effort, it's opposed to earning. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:38.079 And once you stop trying to earn that love, once you stop trying to earn what has already been given to you, something shifts. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:39.839 The weight lifts. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:47.120 So, my brothers and sisters, for the first time you begin to understand what Jesus is actually wants for you. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:53.680 Not obedience, just complete trust and live in that joy that He wants to give you. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:54.639 Amen.