Paul Tripp: It's only when you humbly agree with God's diagnosis, it's only when you humbly let the Great Physician tell you what's wrong with you, that you will ever experience lasting, personal, heart, and life-transforming cure.

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. Here now is Paul Tripp.

Paul Tripp: I don't know about you, but I'm very impressed with the skill of diagnosis. I experienced this recently in the injuries of my daughter.

The doctor would come into the room, and he would ask Nicole a series of questions, and then he would squeeze and feel her limbs; he would feel her abdomen, and then he would begin to make very specific and concrete statements about her condition.

I think that diagnosis is really one of the most important skills in the world. Think about it; you simply cannot fix anything until you first know what's wrong with it. That's my problem at home. I am not a very good home repairman because I don't know enough to diagnose things properly.

You know, that is the mysterious ability that your physician has. He can listen to your symptoms; he can take a few tests, and he's able to tell you exactly what's wrong with you and what you need to do to alleviate the problem. That's what your mechanic, your plumber, or your electrician is able to do as well.

The ability of these people to help you is directly tied to their ability to generate accurate diagnosis. And if you're ever going to live as you were meant to live in this fallen world, then you need to know what is wrong and how it can be fixed.

Now where in the world are you going to find that kind of diagnosis? I am deeply persuaded that there are masses of people out there who have something drastically wrong going on in their lives, and they don't know what it is because they tend to do all the wrong things to fix it. The Bible, the Gospel, is the world's most accurate, the world's most reliable diagnostic.

Music: "Planet Telex" by Radiohead

You can force it
But it will not come
You can taste it
But it will not form
You can crush it
But it's always here
You can crush it
But it's always near
Chasing you home saying
Everything is broken
Everyone is broken

Kate Crowley: And you are listening to Right Here, Right Now with Paul Tripp. Don't go away because there is more from the series, "What in the World Is the Gospel Anyway?"

Now, you can learn more about this ministry when you log onto paultrippministries.org. And while you're online, don't forget to read Paul's latest blog. You can also look up other resources designed to help with the incredible grace that God provides. That's paultrippministries.org. And now, here's Paul Tripp with more, Right Here, Right Now.

The Assumption That You Are Like Me

Paul Tripp: Now, let me see if the assumption I'm regularly making on this program is right: that you really are like me. When I'm angry, when I say or do something that's coming out of that anger, I tend to tell myself that I did what I did because of what was outside of me, not because of what was inside of me.

Now, let me explain. I'll say things like, "He makes me so angry." "I wasn't feeling well," or, "You don't know what it's like to live next to these kinds of neighbors," or, "I was at the end of a very long, exhausting day," or, "You'd be angry too if you had to work for my boss every day," or, "You took what I said the wrong way," or, "These kids simply have the ability to drive me crazy," or, "This traffic makes me insane," or, "I don't know why we ever bought this dog; this dog drives me crazy."

Now, notice the theme that runs through every one of these statements. They all say that - I do what I do, and I say what I say because of what is outside of me and not inside of me.

Now, it is a very self-serving diagnostic. I'm able to convince myself that I'm essentially a very good person, troubled by an evil world that I live in. The problem is, in my spiritual blindness, in my blindness to what actually exists inside of me, I'm not a very good self-diagnostician. I don't do that diagnostic work very well. I tell myself that I'm basically okay; I tell myself that I only respond wrongly because of the pressures that are forced on me by the people and situations in my life.

I say this all the time that we are very skilled self-swindlers. We are very good personal defense lawyers. We are able to erect great arguments for our own righteousness.

The problem is that it all sounds very plausible. It sounds plausible because you do live in difficult situations, and you do live with flawed people, and you'll always be able to point to those flaws and those people as an argument for your righteousness.

It sounds plausible, but it's a diagnosis that's not only fatally flawed, it will always keep real change from taking place in your life and my life. Because what I'm actually saying is, "I don't need to change. What needs to change are the people and the circumstances outside of me."

You see, this is why we need the accurate diagnosis that only the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is able to give us. The Gospel is the world's most accurate diagnostic.

Music: "Misled" by Celine Dion

I thought I knew you
Thought that I knew you well
We had a rhythm
But I guess you never can tell
Oh I learned early
Never to ignore the signs
You'll be forgiven
It ain't worth that much to my mind
Lovin' you was so easy
It's hard to say goodbye
But if it's the way it goes
Just a page in my history
Just another one of those mysteries
One more lover that used to be
If you think you're in my head
You've been seriously misled

Admitting You Are Less Than Perfect

Paul Tripp: If you are ready to admit that you don't always say and do the right things, if you're ready to admit that somehow, someway, you are less than a perfect person (if you can't admit that, talk to somebody who lives next to you, and they'll help you to admit it) then you're ready to consider the Gospel's diagnosis of what's wrong with each one of us.

Now let me build you the logic of this diagnostic. Let's start first with Luke 6:43-45. Here is what Christ said:

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is recognized by its' own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes or grapes from briars. The good man brings good things out of the goods stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart, for out of overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

What Jesus is saying is that we live out of the heart. Now, let me explain what that means. The Bible divides the human being up into two pieces: the outer man and the inner man. The outer man is your physical self; the inner man is your spiritual self. And that inner man is characterized by many words: mind, emotion, spirit, soul, will, and all of those words are connected, collected by one big basket term, the term 'heart' used in some 960 passages of Scripture.

The heart is the essential you; the heart is the motivational you; the heart is the causal you. Your behavior, your words, and your actions, are controlled by what is in your heart. It's out of the heart that the mouth speaks.

Did you ever say to somebody, "Ooh, I didn't mean to say that"? Well, I've said this to you before. A much more accurate statement would be, "I'm sorry I said what I meant," because if it wasn't in your heart, it wouldn't come out of your mouth.

Now Jesus uses a brilliant physical example for us, very simple, the example of a tree. You know the easiest way to recognize a fruit tree is by its fruit. If you look at an apple tree, you know it's an apple tree because it produces apples. But you instinctively know something else: that that tree must be apple-istic all the way down to its roots; because if it doesn't have apple roots, it won't grow apple fruit.

You'll never plant peach pits and get apples, and in the same way, what's in my heart, in the roots of thoughts and motives in my heart, that will produce the fruit of behavior and its consequences in my life. There is an organic spiritual connection between what's in my heart and what comes out of me in terms of words and actions.

And so the diagnostic of the Gospel is that my deepest problem is not an environmental problem; my deepest problem is a heart problem.

Now, what is that problem? Well, that takes us to another passage of Scripture, it's Romans 1. And I just want to read, for time's sake, one verse there in Romans 1. It says, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator, who is forever praised! Amen."

What's the key question as I examine my heart in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The key question is, "What effectively and functionally rules my heart?"

Now the passage uses the word 'worship' here, and I've stated before to you that worship is a tricky word because typically when we think of worship, we think of a formal, religious, ritualistic service of praise, and teaching, and giving, and those things, and that is a service of worship.

But you've got to hear this - by Biblical definition, worship is first your identity before it ever is your activity. You are a worshiper. What does that mean? It means that something is always ruling your heart, and what rules your heart will exercise inescapable influence over your life and your behavior.

Now the drama of the rulership of the heart is very beautifully and clearly characterized by this passage. It says this, "We tend to exchange," (this is the great exchange in every human being's life.) "...we tend to exchange worship and service of the Creator for worship and service of the creation."

We were meant to get our fundamental identity, and purpose, and meaning from the Creator. The greatest motivational desire in our life was meant to be to please Him, to love Him, to worship Him, to serve Him. We forsake that, and we seek to get our identity, and meaning, and purpose from some aspect of the creation: from achievement, from acceptance, from power, and position and appreciation, and all those things that we go after. And so, rather than serving the Creator, we are enslaved; we are addicted to the creation. Rather than live for God, we live for ourselves.

Now how does that exchange affect everyday life? Well, James lays that out for us beautifully in James 4. He asks this question: Why do we have so many fights and quarrels among us? Why do we have such a hard time getting along? And James says this, "Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?"

Think about this, when a desire for anything in the creation now rules my heart, it will inevitably create conflict in my relationships. You see, because if you're helping me get what I want, I love you; I'm glad that you're in my life; cards and flowers! But if you stand in the way of what I want, I'm spontaneously angry and irritated. I want to get you out of the way!

Hear this heart principle - desire for even a good thing becomes a bad thing when that desire becomes a ruling thing. The diagnostic of the Gospel is my deepest issue, is the issue of worship. My deepest struggle is the struggle of idolatry; it's not just the people in my life; it's not just the circumstances in my life; it's the idolatry of my heart, and II Corinthians 5:15 says that, "Jesus came so that those who live would no longer live for themselves." Jesus came to break the back of that idolatry.

Music: "Wonderful, Merciful Saviour" by Selah

Wonderful, merciful Saviour
Precious Redeemer and Friend
Who would've thought that a Lamb could
Rescue the souls of men
Oh, You rescue the souls of men
Counselor, Comforter, Keeper
Spirit we long to embrace
You offer hope when our hearts have
Hopelessly lost our way
Oh, we've hopelessly lost the way
You are the One that we praise
You are the One we adore
You give the healing and grace
Our hearts always hunger for
Oh, our hearts always hunger for

The Humbling Diagnostic of the Gospel

Paul Tripp: Now here's the humbling diagnostic of the Gospel; no matter how much you've suffered, no matter what you've experienced in the relationships and situations of daily life, no matter where you've lived, what period of time you've lived in, no matter what your address has been and what your family has been like, your greatest problem in life still exists inside of you and not outside of you.

Can I say this in a strong way? "You are your greatest problem!" And when you begin to understand this and accept it, when you humbly submit yourself to the diagnostic of the Gospel, you will begin to reach out with enthusiasm and neediness for the kind of help that only the Lord Jesus Christ is able to give you.

Now, I don't know how much you've thought about this, but you know what the bright and hopeful promise of the coming Messiah is that is talked about as His coming to earth as predicted in the earlier books of the Bible in the Old Testament? The bright, bright exciting promise is a promise of a new heart.

Now, let me explain that to you so you understand it. When the Old Testament writers talk about a new heart, they use a physical example, and it says that the heart of stone is taken out of you, and it's replaced with a heart of flesh.

Now, when the Bible talks about a new heart, it's not talking about a perfected or a perfect heart. It's actually not talking about this. Think of the physical example. What's wrong with a heart of stone? What's wrong with a piece of stone? A piece of stone is not moldable; it's rigid. It's in a fixed shape, and so the Bible says that rigid unchangeable heart is taken out of you when you come to Christ, and it's replaced with a heart of flesh.

A fleshy soft substance is malleable; it's moldable; it can be shaped into a new shape. That's what Jesus Christ came to do in each one of us. It's humbling to admit this, but here's what Jesus Christ came to save each of us from. He came to save us from us!

Oh, you want to think that your biggest problem is outside of you; but the minute you buy into that distorted and false diagnosis, you quit being a consumer after the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ because you think you don't need it. And you're able to argue for your own righteousness; you're able to whisper into your ears self-atoning statements.

Now look, we don't want to repeat the mistake of the medieval monasteries. Their theology was the greatest problems of life are outside of us; if we separate ourselves from the evil of the world, we will create a pure society. And monasteries repeated all the ills of the surrounding culture because monasteries had a fatal flaw--they allowed people in them. And people brought all the struggles of the heart. Listen, your greatest problem is inside of you, not outside of you.

(Music Interlude)

Paul Tripp: So, are you ready? Are you prepared to accept the Gospel's diagnosis of what's wrong with you and your world? Are you prepared? Are you ready, right here, right now, to admit that your greatest problem in life actually resides inside of you and not outside of you?

You see, that diagnosis is very important because here's what happens whenever we do something wrong. The minute you do something wrong, you only have one of two choices: You either admit that what you've done is wrong, and you admit you're wrong, and you place yourself once again under the forgiving mercies of the Lord Jesus Christ. Or, get this; you erect some system of self-justification that makes that wrong acceptable to your conscience.

We're so good at doing that, and when we do that, we quit seeking the help of the Lord Jesus Christ; we quit growing; we get stuck in problems that we'll never solve. You see, it's only when you humbly agree with God's diagnosis, it's only when you humbly let the Great Physician tell you what's wrong with you that you will ever experience lasting, personal, heart, and life transforming cure.

It's only when you agree with God's diagnosis in the Gospel, right here, right now, that you will enthusiastically seek the Gospel's cure right here, right now as well.

Kate Crowley: Paul Tripp with the diagnosis that's sure to work. That's from Paul's series titled, "What in the World Is the Gospel Anyway?" And be sure to join Paul next time for more of Right Here, Right Now.

Paul would like to invite you to visit his website where he has many resources that will help you in your walk with God. And while you're there, be sure to pick up a copy of Paul's book, War of Words.

In it, Paul talks about getting to the heart of communication struggles and learning the blessing of speaking words of grace. That's War of Words. And you can request a copy when you visit paultrippministries.org. That's paul T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org.

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I'm Kate Crowley, and for all of us at Paul Tripp Ministries, remember, in Jesus Christ, there really is help, right here, right now.