Paul Tripp: You see it's not at all inaccurate to say, "Christ is the answer." Sin has deeply damaged each one of us, and it is only Jesus Christ who can restore us to what we were meant to be.

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. Now, here's Paul Tripp.

Paul Tripp: It's an experience that's burned into my brain. I can remember it like it was yesterday. My dad believed in the Protestant work ethic. My dad believed in the dignity of work. My dad was committed to hard work, and he wasn't about to have sons who weren't committed to that as well. And I can remember how nervous and anxious I was.

I had finished my junior year of high school, and my dad sent me out on a job hunt. This wasn't your typical job hunt. Doesn't sound too bad, but here was the deal - he told me I had to dress up in a suit and tie, and he told me that it was my job to stay out that day and every day that would follow from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. until I found a job.

Now, here's the problem. I had no idea how to look for a job. I had no idea what I was qualified to do. I had no idea how to fill out a job application. I had no idea how to successfully sustain a job interview. I did not know how to talk to whomever I was going to talk to when I entered the place of business or even whom I should talk to. I was a nervous wreck that first morning. I just didn't have any idea what I was doing.

My dad told me to be respectful and to be polite, to speak up clearly, and to look people in the face when I talked to them. Armed with that advice, I set out on my job hunt. My stomach was nervous, and my hands were clammy when I filled out that very first job application. Why? Why was I so nervous? Why did I dread that day so much? Because I was doing something that human beings do every day. Do you know what it was?

Music: "Always Asking Questions" by Howard Jones

We all need peace we don't want misery
So many of us won't let ourselves be these things
But we only are confused
We feel stronger as we grow older
But still we feel bemused
Always asking questions
We're always asking questions

Kate Crowley: This is Right Here, Right Now, and we're dealing with the potential that is the Gospel on today's program with Paul Tripp. That's from Paul's series titled, "What in the World Is the Gospel Anyway?" Be sure and let your friends know that they can join Paul here on the radio or via the website. And remember, it's his goal to remind you every day that there really is help in Jesus Christ, right here, right now.

You can look at a complete list of resources available when you go online to paultrippminsitries.org. This includes Paul's book, War Of Words, as well as his most recent blog on current issues. Just visit Paul Tripp, spelled T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org. And now, Paul continues today's important message, "The Gospel Is Your Potential," as Right Here, Right Now continues.

What Made Me So Afraid That Day

Paul Tripp: Do you know what made me so afraid that day? Do you know what made me so deeply nervous and ill at ease? Well, it's something very human, something that I said all of us literally do every day, perhaps, even many times during the day.

Now, I'm sure I've talked to you about this before, but the thing about important things is that they're so important that they bear repeating. This is something we do so often, and we do so instinctively that we don't realize we are doing it.

Now, let me get into the topic this way. I tell people all the time that there's no one more influential in their lives than they are because no one talks to them more than they do. Let me say that again to you: there's no one more influential in your life then you are because no one talks to you more than you do.

Now, you're in a constant conversation with yourself. Fortunately, most of us don't move our lips, and we don't answer aloud, and we don't change positions as if we are actually two people. That'll get you in trouble, people will think you're crazy. But we do talk to ourselves all the time. There's a constant internal conversation that is going on, and what you tell yourself about you has powerful influence on how you deal with what you are facing every day.

And you see a huge piece of that internal conversation has to do with measuring your potential for the tasks that you have been assigned. That's exactly what I'm doing that day; that's exactly what makes me so nervous. I don't think that I have much of a potential to do what my dad has assigned for me that day and to do it successfully.

You're always thinking about the potential you have to successfully deal with the things that are on your plate.

Permit me to give you some examples. The toddler that's holding onto his mama's knee who's just beginning to walk is looking at his daddy six steps across the room; and as he's wobbling there, he's measuring his potential to make it across the room without falling flat on his face.

The kindergartner who's holding tightly on to his mommy's hand is measuring his potential as he faces the first day of organized formal schooling. The teenager, on his way to his first job, is measuring his potential. The man, on his first day as CEO of his firm, is measuring his potential. The wife, worrying about how to have a tough conversation with her husband, is measuring her potential. The teenage girl, thinking about how she'll deal with the pressures of life in the dorm, is measuring her potential. The elderly man, wondering if he has it in him to deal with old age and the diseases that often accompany it, is measuring his potential. The teenager, on his way to his first job, is measuring his potential.

You see, I was nervous on that first day of looking for a job because I was doing what we all do: I was measuring my potential, and in my estimation, I was coming up lacking. This is where the Gospel once more is incredibly practical. It is all about potential.

Music: "Winter" by Tori Amos

Snow can wait, I forgot my mittens
Wipe my nose, get my new boots on
I get a little warm in my heart, when I think of winter
I put my hand in my father's glove
I run off where the drifts get deeper
Sleeping beauty trips me with a frown
I hear a voice, "You must learn to stand up for yourself
'Cause I can't always be around"
He says, "When you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
'Cause things are gonna change so fast"
All the white horses are still in bed
I tell you that I'll always want you near
You say that things change, my dear

The Gospel Is Your Potential

Paul Tripp: Now, here's what you need to understand, the Gospel that we've been talking about is not only the world's most important story. It's not only the only way to properly understand your identity. It is not only the world's most accurate diagnostic. The Gospel is also the brightest and most encouraging message of potential that a human being can ever, ever be given.

Now, what is all of this about? You see, sin does something terrible to all of us. Sin robs us of our potential, the potential that we would have had if sin had never ever entered the world. You see this robbing of potential in four very significant and practical areas. Each of these is discussed again and again in the Bible.

First, sin turns me and you into fools. Sin robs us of wisdom. We can be so incredibly foolish. We'll spend ourselves into debt out of the quest for possessions or pleasure. We'll eat ourselves into ill health out of the quest for the pleasure of food.

We'll attach our identity to the acceptance of another person, riding the roller coaster of their responses to us. We'll throw away a lovely wife and family for fifteen minutes of illicit sexual satisfaction. We'll deny the truth and actually believe that we're wiser than God is. Sin reduces all of us to fools.

Second, sin leaves me weak and unable. Sin robs me of my ability to be what I was supposed to be and to do what I was supposed to do. Sin damages my emotion; it distorts my ideas; it reshapes my thinking; it leaves me lame and unable to be what I'm supposed to be and to do what I'm supposed to do.

Thirdly, sin renders me guilty, because I break the laws of God, and so I live a life of hiding, and excusing, and rationalizing, and blaming. I live in the darkness rather than live in the light.

Sin, fourthly, turns me into an addict. Sin is enslaving; it addicts me to people; it addicts me to pleasure; it addicts me to the possessions; it addicts me to power; it addicts me to control; it addicts me to self-righteousness. Sin, by its very nature, is enslaving and addicting.

Sin turns me into a fool; sin leaves me weak and unable; sin renders me guilty; sin turns me into an addict.

Now, think about this. When you are foolish, weak, guilty, and addicted, a bunch of principles, no matter how trustworthy, won't help you. You need something bigger than principles.

Think about this, if all I needed was a set of principles, Jesus would've never had to come and to suffer and die. The cross blows that hope away. So how does God give me back my potential? How does God give me new and bright potential?

Well, He does it the only way that it could ever have been done. He doesn't just give me a set of directions; He doesn't just give me a list of techniques. You've got to hear this. He literally gives me Himself. God's cure for what is wrong inside of me is literally Himself.

Now, you've got to hear how that great writer, the apostle Paul, talks about this in Galatians 2, verse 20. Let me read that one verse for you: "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Let me unpack this passage for you because it's all about potential. Paul starts with a statement of historical, redemptive fact, "I have been crucified with Christ." What is he talking about? He's talking about the fact that in God's plan, if I'm a believer, I was united; I was identified with the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus took names to the cross. That means when Christ died, I died. When Christ rose, I rose to a new life. Now, what does this mean? It means that that sin no longer is my master. That work of Christ breaks the power of sin in my life. I've been united with Christ, crucified with Him.

Second, not only a statement of historical redemptive fact, but a direct declaration of personal, present, redemptive reality, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." What is Paul talking about? He's not talking about that he's physically dead because if he's physically dead, he wouldn't be writing this passage.

What he means is the life force that now energizes me is not me; it's Christ. Christ lives inside of me, the power of Christ now resides inside of me. What an awesome thing that is to think about!

And then he makes a personal confession, "The life I live, I live by faith in the son of God who loves me and gave himself for me." Paul says this, "I'm going to believe that I was crucified with Christ; I'm going to believe that Christ lives inside of me; I'm going to live with the hope and courage that this belief will bring." Jesus is now what energizes the believer and gives him potential.

Jesus gives me wisdom. Jesus is my power. Jesus paid for my forgiveness. Jesus accomplishes my freedom. Now, why is this practical? You see, as you face the difficulties of life in this fallen world, you need to know what your true potential is in Christ. You need to know that as a friend and neighbor. You need to know that as a husband or wife. You need to know that as a parent or child. You need to know that as a worker or as a citizen. You need to know that as a member of the body of Christ. Listen, even in the face of all the things that you face, you have bright potential because literally, Jesus has become your new potential.

Music: "We Worship You"

Lord you are good and your mercies endureth forever
Lord you are good and your mercies endureth forever
Lord you are good and your mercies endureth forever
Lord you are good and your mercies endureth forever
Lord you are good and your mercies endureth forever
Lord you are good and your mercies endureth forever
People from every nation and tongue
From generation to generation
We worship you hallelujah hallelujah
We worship you for who you are
For you are
For you are
For you are good
We worship you hallelujah hallelujah
We worship you for who you are
For you are
For you are
For you are good

Living Out of Your Potential as God's Child

Paul Tripp: Are you living out of that amazing potential that could be yours or that is yours as a child of God? Have you faced the fact that sin does a horrible thing to you? It robs you of your potential to be what you are supposed to be and to do what you're supposed to do, as you were created by God. Are you beginning to discover a need for God that you never knew you had? And are you beginning to be excited about the potential that's yours in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ?

It was sad for me to sit with this couple. I was hurt by the hurt they would throw at one another. They could barely speak a civil word to one another. Yeah, they both professed to be people of faith, but you wouldn't know it from watching their marriage.

The years of denial, the years of avoidance, the years of anger and bitterness had had a toll on them. They spoke to one another with a constant sneer on their faces and an incessant sarcasm in their voices.

If the truth could be known, they had probably hated one another and loathed the fact that they had wasted so many years in one another's company for a very long time. He really did want out, and she really did want to make him pay.

Everything they did and said to one another was foolish. All of their reactions to one another exposed how weak and vulnerable they both were. Much of the blame that they threw at one another was just another way of covering their own guilt. And they both were addicted to power and control. They both were enslaved to being first and being right.

I sat there, and I couldn't help but think that there was a point in time when they must've adored one another. There was a point in time when they couldn't wait to be in one another's presence. There was a point in time when there was a sweetness in their eyes and a tenderness in their words. There was a time when they wouldn't have been able to believe that they would be the kind of adversaries that they now were.

I sat across from them and I thought, Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can explain what has gone wrong in this marriage, and only Christ could provide the cure for what they are going through."

You couldn't look at this couple and actually believe that a few communication hints and a list of conflict resolution skills were going to restore this marriage. You would have to conclude that the problems they were dealing with were heart-deep, and only the potential that they have in Christ would be sturdy enough to help them deal with what they were now facing.

(Music Interlude)

Paul Tripp: So what does this couple need to know and to grasp and to live out of? Well, they need to know the Gospel. They need to know that the Gospel is a story. It's the one story that can explain the sad story of their marriage. They need to know that the Gospel is an identity. Now, they can live out of an amazing new identity and that the identities of creature and sinner and sufferer and child will give them new purpose and new direction.

They need to understand that the Gospel is a diagnostic. It is the work of the Great Physician to bring the most accurate diagnosis ever of what has gone wrong in this broken relationship. They need to understand that the Gospel is all about new potential. They need the Gospel!

You see, it's not at all inaccurate to say, "Christ is the answer!" You see, this really is much more than a cliché; it is the central message of the Gospel. What is that message? Sin has deeply damaged each one of us, and it is only Jesus Christ who can restore us to what we were meant to be.

He is the chief actor in the Bible's great drama of creation, fall, restoration, and destiny. In Him, I am given a whole new identity. His word is the mirror that I can look into and see myself accurately. His presence living in me is what gives me new potential. In Jesus Christ, I really do find all that I need, right here, right now.

Kate Crowley: Some encouraging words from Paul Tripp and his current series, "What in the World Is the Gospel Anyway?" here on Right Here, Right Now.

And Paul would like to invite you to learn more about today's topic by visiting his website at paultrippministries.org. And while you are there, you can check out many resources that will help you realize the good news found in God's Word.

One item that we'd like to point out is Paul's book called, War of Words. In this book, Paul takes a look at the power of right and wrong communication and the steps you can take to speak words of healing and grace; that's War of Words. Just go to paultrippministries.org, all one word, Paul Tripp, spelled T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org.

And you can listen to any of these programs again or sign up for the daily podcast, all available from our website. By the way, CD copies of today's broadcast are available for only five dollars. You can order today's lesson and other materials dealing with subjects like marriage and parenting on video, audio, and print at paultrippministries.org, or when you call us at 1-800-551-6595. That's toll-free: 800-551-6595.

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Tomorrow, Paul will share more words of hope and healing. I'm Kate Crowley, and for all of us at Paul Tripp Ministries, we want to remind you that, in Jesus Christ, there really is help right here, right now.