Paul Tripp: You will never fully enter into the celebration of redemption until you have first humbly faced how comprehensive and pervasive your sin is. What keeps us from real growth and change is not our weakness and sin. What keeps us from growth and change is our delusions of strength and righteousness.

Kate Crowley: Welcome to Right Here, Right Now and today's program from Paul Tripp Ministries. Join us as Paul connects the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life

Wife: We thought our marriage was over. There just didn't seem to be any hope of change.

Husband: We had tried everything. There was so much bad stuff that had gone on over the years; there just didn't seem to be any way out of it.

Wife: We'd try and sit down and talk about our problems, but I was so hurt and Peter was so angry. We never successfully made it through one of those conversations.

Husband: I had made a decision to move out, not because I wanted a divorce, but because I couldn't think of any other way to relieve the tension between us.

Wife: When I heard that, it shook me up so much that I reached out for help.

Husband: You'll never guess where the help came from - the Bible.

Wife: And it's been sitting on the very coffee table that was between us during so many of our fights. But we had no idea how accurately it described what we were going through.

Husband: And we had no idea how clearly it laid out the path from where we were to where we needed to be.

Wife: It's embarrassing to say, but we looked at the Bible for the religious part of our lives. We didn't really think it could heal our marriage.

Husband: It does make me wonder how many people are out there in the same place we were. They have this wonderful manual for their life right there in their hands, and they just don't know what they have.

Music: "You've Got a Friend" by The Brand New Heavies

When you're down and troubled and you need some love and care
And nothing, no, nothing is going right
Close your eyes and think of me and soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest nights
You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am
I'll come running, running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer, or fall.
All you got to do is call and I'll be there, yes I will
You've got a friend

Kate Crowley: Welcome to Right Here, Right Now with Paul Tripp and an encouraging study, "Real Redemption" from the series, "What's So Important About the Bible Anyway?"

Now for a look at how important words can be, Paul has authored a helpful book simply titled, War Of Words. In it, you'll realize the power, blessings, and dangers of our words. This important book is available at our ministry website, paultrippministries.org.

And while you're there, be sure you check out other resources designed to help you live your life in the grace that God provides. Again, that's paultrippministries.org. And now, here's Paul Tripp with more, Right Here, Right Now.

The Bible Can Be an Intimidating Book

Paul Tripp: Now, let's be frank. You know it and I know it. The Bible can be an intimidating book. First, the way it is arranged can be very confusing. It's not arranged in a way that tends to be intuitive to most of us. We're most often sort of confused about how the Bible is laid out and why it's laid out the way it's laid out.

And then you are immediately hit with the cultural and historical settings with which you are unfamiliar. There are huge differences in the way the people of the Bible lived and their language and culture.

And then you have the legal sections like Leviticus with all of its detailed, ceremonial law that can be very confusing. And then you hit the prophets with all those weird and amazing visions and illustrations.

Then you have the dense doctrinal portions like Romans with its dense unpacking of the Gospel. So it's not an easy book to approach for many people, but it is rich and practical and offers you things that you will find nowhere else.

What is it that the Bible offers? Well, we've talked about this. The Bible presents you with a real world - that world that's gritty and honest just like the world you live in. The Bible doesn't pull any punches; it surely doesn't present to us a pristine world. The Bible presents to you real people. They are flawed people just like you and me. They're not plasticine people. They're not noble people who always made the right choice.

The Bible presents you with a real God. He is the real, glorious, sovereign, almighty, all wise God, not like the idols that are made by man's hands. Jeremiah calls them 'scarecrows in a melon patch' - you've got to nail them to a platform so they don't blow over. The Bible welcomes you to real redemption, a real hope of real personal change.

What is it the Bible calls you and me to face? It forces us to face not only the brokenness of the world, but our own brokenness as well. The Bible requires us to look in God's most reliable mirror and not only face the fact that we're flawed, but face the fact that we spend much of our time running after a seemingly endless catalog of God replacements.

The Bible asks us to humbly admit that we, over and over again, ask the creation to do what only the Creator can do. The Bible puts people just like us right smack dab in our faces, people whom we watch replace God with a variety of false gods.

And although we'd like to think that we're not like these people that are in the Bible, the Bible reminds us, yes we are. And in so doing this, the Bible forces us to face the fact that we are people in need of redemption. We are people who are fundamentally unable to help ourselves. We are people in deep need of rescue.

That is why it is so important that the Bible welcomes us to the reality of real redemption. If there's one thing that we need as broken and flawed people, it is real, actual, practical, life-transforming redemption. That's what we need.

Music: "Heaven Help Us All" by William Galison & Madeleine Peyroux

Heaven help the child who never had a home,
Heaven help the girl who walks the streets alone
Heaven help the roses when the bombs begin to fall,
Heaven help us all
Heaven help the poor man if he struggles one more day,
Heaven help the rich man if he turns his back away
Heaven help the man who kicks the man who's got to crawl,
Heaven help us all
Heaven help us all, Heaven help us all, help us all
Heaven help us, Lord; hear our call when we call
Heaven help us all

False Systems of Redemption

Paul Tripp: I don't know if you've noticed it, but the world is full of false systems of redemption, false promises of redemption. You know, I don't know if you've thought about this, but if you go to the 'Self-Help' section of your local Barnes & Noble or Borders bookstore, there'll be a whole raft of books about how you can change your life inside and out.

Now, here's the interesting thing about those books. There'll be a whole new set of those books in six months. You know why? Because they don't work! Government, education, philosophy, sociology, psychology, all somehow, someway, carry in them the promise of redemption of some sort. Yet, none of them can deliver because no human system is able to redeem.

A system can educate; that system can motivate; it can help you see a little bit better, but it can't redeem. And if these institutions could have dealt with the comprehensive and devastating results of sin, now think about this, Jesus would have never have had to come. He came to earth to suffer and die for one reason alone - because that was what was needed! There simply was no other way.

The Bible invites me to the hope that can only be found in the Redeemer. I need more than help; I need rescue! I need someone to do for me what I could not do for myself. You see, when you're in a helpless situation, you can't be educated out of it; you must be rescued out of it.

You see, what you and I grapple with most, and this is very humbling to admit, is not the evil outside of us, but the evil inside of us. If there is no help and no hope for what is inside of me, then there is no way that I will ever properly deal with what is inside of me.

There are two Biblical passages that powerfully depict our crying need for real redemption. Listen first to what Genesis says: "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." (Genesis 6:5)

Wow! What a statement! Let me read it for you again so the words really have time to sink into your brain and into your heart, "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."

Now you have to understand that sin is about something more fundamental than doing what is wrong or failing to do what is right. One of our problems is that we tend to have a behavioristic definition of sin. This verse points you in a different direction.

Sin dyes (d-y-e-s) every cell of the heart and twists everything we do toward evil. We all want to believe that we are better than this, but we are not. We want to hold onto the fantasy of the pure and untainted intention. We want to think that our gossip was really a prayer request. We want to think that it was not ugly self-absorption, but physical tiredness that made us irritable. We want to think that it was zeal for the truth, not self-righteousness and impatience that caused us to speak loudly and sharply.

Now think with me for a minute; what does Genesis 6 do? It does something very significant. It does something that's desperately needed. It does something that you and I literally need every day of our existence. Genesis 6 cuts into our hearts as if it's God's great scalpel and reveals the sin at the depth of every thought, intention, or action.

If this is true then, if this is true of me, if this is who I actually am, if my problem is more an inside problem than an outside problem, then you can't educate, coach, motivate, or intimidate me out of my problem.

You cannot exercise enough power to squelch its effects. You can't come up with enough creative techniques to help me rise above it. If this really is my problem, if sin is really what I deal with, and if it's the kind of thing that's described there in Genesis 6, then without divine help, I'm riddled with the cancer, and my prognosis is death.

Anything that cannot eradicate this cancer within me then is powerless to help me. If you are willing to humbly look in this mirror, if you are humbly willing to say, "Genesis 6 describes me too," then you'll realize that you are a person in deep need of help.

Last week, you did selfish things. Last week, you had moments of self-righteousness. Last week, you let your mind wander into lust. Last week, you argued with someone simply because you wanted to be right. Last week, you demanded to be served while failing to serve. Last week, you stretched the truth and resisted hearing the truth.

Last week, you spoke unkind words, and you thought impure thoughts. Last week, you judged someone in a way you would not want to be judged yourself. Last week, you found more pleasure in some physical thing than you did in spiritual provisions that God has made for you. Last week, you loved yourself in some way more than you loved the people in your life.

Last week, you and I once more demonstrated, because I've done all these things too, that we are people in great need of the continuing, redemptive grace of God. I wish that I could say, "I am the exception." I wish that you were the exception, but we are not. These things are true of all of us, and so they're true of me as well. We need redemption!

Music: "You Are" by The Katinas

I'm tryin' Lord; I'm cryin' out to You
Hear me when I say, "I really need you today"
I'm weary, Lord; I'm tryin' to do my best
But I fail so many times ... I hope to climb
You promise rest when we lay our burdens down
So I'm throwin' all my troubles and my problems to the ground
You are the Lord of our life; You are my strength at all times
There is nothin' I would be because You are here
You are my refuge and hope, quench my thirsty soul
Be alive in my heart, Father, I praise you
Lord, I praise You

Hebrews 1:3 Alongside Genesis 6

Paul Tripp: But there's another passage of the Bible that must be placed right alongside Genesis 6. It is found in Hebrews 1:3. Here it is:

The son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

With these three words, three little words in the English language, the writer of Hebrews captures the utter completeness and absoluteness of what Jesus has done for us. These three words: "He sat down."

Jesus did everything that was needed to deal with every one of sin's effects. And so Jesus was able to do what the Old Testament priests could never do. Here it is - stop! The Old Testament priest couldn't stop. They were called to sacrifice for the ongoing sins of God's people. Exhausted and knee-deep in blood, they offered sacrifice, after sacrifice, after sacrifice, day, after day, after day.

You know, if we viewed the scene, we'd find the scene nauseating. It wasn't just daily sacrifices, but dozens of daily, and weekly, and seasonal sacrifices offered according to the religious calendar. Thousands of animals would be slaughtered every year, but it was never enough. Before one layer of blood dried, more was sprinkled. The stench of burning flesh never abated. The sacrificial labor was never permitted to stop. They sacrificed, and sacrificed, and sacrificed, and sacrificed, and sacrificed, and sacrificed!

Why? Because, the power of sin was never broken, and the penalty of sin was never completely paid for.

So it's a wonderful and amazing thing to read that after Jesus did His work, He sat down. The only reason, as the final priest, that He could've sat down is that He had done everything that needed to be done with every aspect of your sin and mine. He sat down because He had provided full and complete redemption.

Now, you've got to put these two verses together, and you will begin to understand the magnitude and practicality of your need for redemption and the magnitude of practicality of the redemption that could only be supplied by Christ Jesus.

Here are the two passages: "Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time" - and - "After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down."

Here it is: in the Biblical story of redemption, the sadness of the totality of our depravity kisses the celebration of the totality of God's provision. Our deep need is met by His comprehensive provision. God is satisfied; Christ has sat down; there's hope for us. His provision is every bit as deep as our problem. There is hope right here, right now.

(Music Interlude)

Paul Tripp: So what is the conclusion of all that we've thought about today? It means that you and I can be the saddest and most celebrant people on earth at the very same time. We are sad because we've looked into the mirror of the Word of God, and we've had to admit how deep and pervasive the damage of sin is in our hearts and lives.

But, on the other hand, we celebrate because the Bible presents to us that Jesus has done everything that needed to be done so that sin would be defeated in our lives, so that change and growth would actually be a possibility for us.

Now what do you need to do? You will never enter into the celebration of redemption until you have first humbly faced how comprehensive and pervasive your sin is. You need to hear me say that again: you will never fully enter in to the celebration of redemption until you have first humbly faced how comprehensive and pervasive your sin is.

What keeps us from real growth and change is not our weakness and sin. No, what keeps us from growth and change is our delusions of strength and righteousness. When you're convinced you're strong and when you're convinced you're righteous, then you don't seek the help that can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible presents you with real redemption because it wants to convince you that that's exactly what you need, and you do. And we can celebrate that Christ has sat down; His work is complete; there is hope for us no matter how bad the struggle seems to be.

Kate Crowley: "Real Redemption," an encouraging look at the power of words from Paul Tripp on Right Here, Right Now. There is still more from Paul's series, "What's Important About the Bible Anyway?" Be sure and invite a friend to listen tomorrow. You can also hear this lesson online when you visit Paul's website.

Now if you'd like your words to make a positive impact on others to build up rather than tear down, then why not pick up a copy of the book, War Of Words? In this writing, Paul examines the impact of practicing godly speech. That's War Of Words.

Log on to paultrippministries.org. That's all one word, Paul Tripp, spelled T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org. And while you're there, be sure you check out what Paul has to say from his most recent blog. Again, that's paultrippministries.org.

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Tomorrow, more from the series, "What's So Important About the Bible Anyway?" Tell a friend and join us then. I'm Kate Crowley, and on behalf of Paul Tripp Ministries, I want to remind you that, in Jesus Christ, there really is help right here, right now.