This episode addresses the motivation behind searching for God. While God honors "crisis" seeking, where He aids us in crisis moments, He intends that all believers become life-long "love"-seekers who hunger and thirst for God Himself. The program addresses the dynamics of how God transforms crisis-seeking to love-seeking, often by making lasting victory over sin and circumstances elusive, requiring persistent seeking after God Himself. This resting in God is discussed based on Ephesians 3:16-19, where progressive abiding in Christ leads to greater capacity for His rule, potentially leading to being "filled up with all the fullness of God." (Eph. 3:19) This quasi beatific vision is based on an intimate knowledge of the love of God where the diligent search for God is rewarded. The episode repeatedly emphasizes that mere crisis searching is unacceptable. Love seeking is the Biblical ideal that culminates in the knowledge of God.
Mercy Triumphs over Judgment..But Only for the Blind
This episode highlights the natural human tendency to substitute God's standard for good works with human ones, mostly centered on outward observance. One of the primary aims of the sermon on the mount (Matthew5-7) is to explode reliance on outward morality divorced from internal embrace of the commandments. The Pharisees were often guilty of emphasizing external observance of the Law without grappling with the heart's penchant for lawlessness. Christ concluded that Pharisees who continued to insist on their own righteousness, maintaining that they were good people, were headed for judgment. (John 9:39) By contrast, those who acknowledge their sick condition and are utterly despondent over any ability to do good--these are candidates for salvation who rest completely on the finished work of Christ.
None Does Good, Not Even One
This episode surveys the Scripture's bleak assessment of human ability to do good. The Biblical standard of "goodness" is perfect consistency with outwardly good works and the heart that produces them. Paul mastered the former, describing himself as "blameless" in outward keeping of the Law (Phil. 3:6), but condemns himself as a law-breaker regarding coveting (Rom. 7:7). His failure to produce good works from a law-abiding heart means that he doesn't meet the standard of goodness. And he extends his assessment of himself to all mankind in Rom 3:12: "there is none who does good, not even one." Christ commented that John the Baptist was the greatest man "born to woman," but insisted those "least in the kingdom of God" were greater than he. John the Baptist, like Paul, excelled in outward manifestations of righteousness, but lacked the regenerate heart essential to producing truly good works, where outwardly "good" works flow from a heart that perfectly loves God and neighbor. Unbelievers consequently cannot produce "good" works since all works ultimately flow from an unbelieving unregenerate heart.
Do Good, But NOT For God’s Sake
Building off of the last program, this episode enumerates several Biblical examples where unbelievers, based on natural endowments, divine influence and/or self-interest, do in fact produce externally good works. God has given all men a natural desire to take care of their children, so "evil" men give "good gifts." (Luke 11:13) God can lay His agenda on the heart of kings, even to the point where they're "anointed" to do His will (Cyrus, Isaiah 45:1) Lastly, the unjust judge in Luke 18:4-5 ended up rendering justice to a destitute widow, just to get put an end to her persistent nagging. Yet none of the above "good" works meets the standard of good works according to God, where outwardly good works flow from pure love of God and neighbor. This episode answers a common query over the possibility of good works, especially among nonbelieving philanthropists.
Don’t Settle for Forgiven
Coming from Hosea 10:11-14, this episode emphasizes the hard work of searching after God after receiving God's righteousness in Christ. Many believers today content themselves with the imputed righteousness of Christ, where God declares them positionally righteous because of the blood of Christ, but don't make their actual condition a priority. Hosea tells us that we need to seek the Lord "until He reigns righteousness" on us. The righteousness here spoken of is actual righteousness where believers reverse bad sowing and plant new seeds of righteousness. Much of the episode addresses hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Mt 5:6), which is only satisfied when our condition matches our position in Christ. This craving for actual righteousness manifests in a life-long searching after God. The outcome of this search is transformation into the image of Christ AT THE SAME TIME we grow in the knowledge of God. We progressively know Christ, who is the Truth, and are made free. (John 8:32, John 14:6) It culminates in the beatific vision, where we are so radically transformed that we see God face to face. (1 John 3:2)
Half Good Ain’t Good Enough
This episode sets the Biblical standard of goodness, where outward manifestations of goodness are consistent with the heart from which they come. Extrinsic goodness flows from intrinsic goodness, and God alone meets that standard. "You [God] are good and do good" declares Psalm 119:68. The test of intrinsic goodness is the great commandments, perfect love of God and neighbor, and Christ Himself noted that no man meets that standard. So the Biblical high standard of good works is the marrying of intrinsic goodness with outward manifestations. Regarding the latter, unbelievers can in fact do externally good works. Christ acknowledged that "evil" men can give "good gifts." (Luke 11:13) Yet this "good work" does not reach the standard of goodness that God deems a "good work," since it emanates from an evil heart.
The Foundation of ‘Goodness’ and ‘Good Works’
On the way to properly answering the question, this initial episode addresses an even more fundamental question: can believers do good works? The answer provided by Scripture is a resounding yes, but the basis from which Christians can do good works is entirely the finished work of Christ. Ephesians 2:10 declares that "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works." Good works stem from being "created in Christ Jesus," which itself is a work that God did in response to faith in Christ, "by grace you have saved through faith." While these verses definitively claim that Christians' good works are founded on God's workmanship in Christ, it says nothing about the possibility of good works for unbelievers, even though this conclusion is strongly implied. The remainder of the episode highlights Scriptures that indicate that "goodness" depends on intrinsic goodness, and only God meets this standard
No Holiness Without the Yoke
This episode mostly focuses on the early stages of sanctification, in which new Christians are faced with the arduous task of reversing bad sowing. Many despair in the process as they discover that modifying their behavior is difficult, if not impossible. But that's the whole point of the yoke. The episode highlights the fact that all spiritual progress in sanctification is predicated on the yoke, our connection with Christ. The yoke softens our heart to the will of God, making sin distasteful. The imperative "break up the fallow ground" presumes already being yoked to Christ, which is the essential component in addressing a hard heart and the strongholds that come from it.
Are You Cooperating with the Yoke?
Coming from Hosea 10:11-14, this episode narrowly deals with the yoke, the means by which Christians yoked to Christ reverse both the effects of bad sewing and bad sewing itself. Christians are connected to Christ with a yoke which acts as the means of sanctification. Both the Son and the Holy Spirit enable believers to "sew with a view to righteousness and reap according to kindness." This sewing involves uprooting bad crops and underlying evil seeds and replanting Life-giving seeds, leading to a harvest of righteousness characterized by God's mercy. CRITICALLY, Christians can choose whether to cooperate with the yoke or not. The episode highlights the consequences of bucking against the yoke and the natural corruption that ensues (Gal 6:8). On the flip side, cooperation with the yoke leads to life and peace.
Not Growing in Jesus? Maybe Eisegesis is the Problem
Expanding on the previous 2 programs from Hosea 10:11-14, this episode highlights a balanced approach to sanctification in which sewing is just as important as reaping. Christianity in America is comparable to the Israelites in Hosea 10, in which the prophet noted that they loved to thresh (the final stage of reaping) but didn't sew with a view to righteousness or break up the fallow ground. This overemphasis on reaping/threshing over sewing has produced a "get-spiritual-quick" landscape that is shallow, superficial and Biblically illiterate over themes and issues not immediately relevant to many Christians. The episode hammers home the problem of eisegesis where both preachers and Christians consistently read into the text based on their threshing mentality, instead of letting the text of Scripture set the agenda. This pervasive tendency in American Christianity highlights an imbalanced approach to sanctification, where believers are anxious to reap without patiently sewing with a view to righteousness.