Break the maturity barrier and discover lasting happiness in Christ. Rick Hughes explains the two barriers in the Christian life: the salvation barrier Christ removed and the maturity barrier believers must break. Learn the six walls that once separated man from God, the difference between spiritual infancy and maturity, and how daily Bible doctrine under a well-qualified pastor leads to lasting happiness and eternal rewards.
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you’ll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now, your host, Rick Hughes.
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Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes. And for the next few minutes, please stick around. It won’t be long, only 30 minutes of motivation, some inspiration, a whole lot of education this morning. And always, as always, no manipulation because we don’t con you. We’re not trying to sell you anything. We’re not asking you for any money. We just want to give you information, information that should help you verify and identify God’s wonderful plan for your life. And if it does, then you can orient and adjust to the plan if you want to do that. It’s your life. You get one shot at it, you know, not two, not three, just one shot. So I hope you’ll listen. I hope you’ll pay close attention. Our website is rickhughesministries.org, rickhughesministries.org. Much of the information that we have is available there free of charge, including all the books we’ve written. Our latest book is called The Christian Spiritual Life. It deals with what exactly is the spiritual life of the believer. How does he live it? What’s it all about? We also have many of our books read by our announcer, Jack. You can listen to him read the books over the internet. And we have a lot of radio shows that are there. You go to the FLOT line, F-L-O-T, FLOT line on the website, and click on any of the recent radio shows for the last several years. So I’m very grateful for the people that have helped me put that together. It’s not a one-man show. You understand that. We have staff that helps me and associates that work with me, and I’m so very grateful for their help. Most of all, for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the provisions that he makes for us so that we can continue to make these broadcasts available to you. We broadcast in 126 cities across America today, and what’s so amazing about that is On Sunday morning, we start on the east coast and go to the west coast, and calls begin to come in. I’m not a counselor. I’m not here to counsel you and tell you what to do about your marriage. I’m not here to answer all your Bible questions. It’s impossible for me to do that, but I’m here to direct you to a well-qualified pastor. that can do those things for you. I’m here to show you exactly what the Word of God offers you and the mechanics to the spiritual life and also what does it take for you to become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, for you to be saved, what’s necessary. We’re gonna deal with that this morning because we’re gonna talk about the barrier between man and God. You might have never thought about that, but there is a barrier between man and God, and that’s why you can’t reach him on your own. This barrier separates sinful man, that’s you and me, from perfect God. This is why we cannot have a relationship with God, until that barrier is removed. Listen to what Isaiah 64, six says about us, how imperfect we are. Listen, Isaiah 64, six, we are all as an unclean thing and all of our own righteousness, that’s our good deeds, are as a filthy rag and we all do fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. The literal Hebrew word for filthy rag is not a very nice word, so I won’t tell you what it is, but it’s nasty. And so the goodest, nicest, most wonderful thing you can do trying to reach God is nasty. It’s not appealing to him. And because there’s a barrier between you and God. That barrier is found in Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There’s not one person in this world that’s not coming short of the glory of God. This barrier that I’m talking about cannot be removed by our own efforts since all of our righteousness is like a filthy rag, according to the verse I just read in Isaiah 64.6. That means that your moral lifestyle will not remove that barrier. I appreciate that you don’t drink. I appreciate you don’t cuss. I’m glad you’re not going to run dancing everywhere. Dancing, as they say. You’re not watching R-rated movies. You’re being kind to your neighbor. You don’t lie. You don’t speed. But not anything you can do will equal God’s perfect righteousness. You see, the plain truth is that if you went your whole life and only committed one little bitty sin, that would be enough to condemn you to the lake of fire forever. So what could be the solution? As the Roman jailer asked Paul in the book of Romans, what must I do to be saved? Well, there is a word called redemption, redemption. And what happens when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are redeemed from the slave market of sin. Redemption is found in Galatians 3, verse 13, where it says in the New Testament, Galatians 3, 13, Christ has redeemed us, that’s redemption, he’s redeemed us from the curse of the law. being made a curse for us. In other words, he took our place. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. So by taking our place, he redeemed us out of the slave market of sin. This word redemption means the curse of the law is removed, but it’s not limited to just a few individuals. In 1 John 2, 2 it says, and he, that’s Christ, is the propitiation, that’s a big word, I’ll explain it, he is the propitiation for our sins, and listen carefully now, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world, 1 John 2, 2. And Titus 2.11 again, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. So those two verses indicate that the redemption from the law is not limited to just a few people. It’s appeared to all men. When it says that he is our propitiation for our sins, you may wonder what that word propitiation actually means. It means that the act of Christ going to the cross destroyed the barrier between God and man and turned away the wrath of God that was on us because of our sin. Not just for you and me, but for all individuals in the whole world. That’s why we call it unlimited atonement. So we see that all of us are sinners because of what our Lord Jesus Christ suffered on our behalf. Because of that, the justice of God was satisfied, and we, you and me, we’re now free from the penalty of sin by accepting Christ as our Savior. We’ve been redeemed. So where the barrier once stood, Christ now stands, and he’s the door to God, not the barrier. In John 10, 9, and I am the door by me. If any man enters in, he will be saved. He should go in and out and find pasture. So to get to God now, you don’t have to go through the barrier. I’ll explain how it’s been removed in a minute. You have to go through the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the door. If any man wants to go to God, he’s got to come through me. If we consider this barrier that I’m talking about to be made up of different walls, maybe about six different walls, each wall would represent an obstacle between man and God. So let me try to lay out what those walls would consist of. The first thing they consist of is our sin. See, we are born into sin because of Adam’s original sin. Where did I get that from? Well, that’s from Romans 3.23. But now sin is no longer the issue since he, that’s Christ, took the imputation and the adjudication of all sins of every man in the world. So our sins have been paid for already and the issue now becomes what think ye of Christ? And then there’s the penalty of sin, another barrier between God and man. Not only sin, but sin requires a penalty. In Romans 5, 12, wherefore by one man sin entered into the world, that’s Adam, and death by sin, that’s spiritual death, and so death has passed on all men, all men, for all have sinned. As stated, the penalty for sin is death. However, that debt was now paid by what the humanity of Christ provided on that cross. How did he do it? Listen to Colossians 2.14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and he took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. So the penalty of sin has been paid for. The theological word for that is expiation, E-X-P-I-A-T-I-O-N, expiation. And it simply means Christ took away the guilt through the payment of a penalty or the offering of atonement, and he did it for us, for you and for me. Another physical barrier between man and God is physical birth. Because of our physical limitations, we need a new birth, a different birth, if we want to enter the presence of the Lord. Thus we must be, as the Bible says, born again. Born again refers to the new birth, the birth of the dead human spirit being made alive again. You see, being born spiritually dead requires us to be made alive spiritually if we hope to have a relationship with God. How do I know that? Because John 4.24 says God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. So to be born again is called regeneration. Jesus made this very plain while speaking to the Pharisee Nicodemus in John 3.5-6. I’ll read it for you. Jesus answered, verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. A lot of people will tell you that means you have to be baptized. That’s not what it means. Born of the water is physical birth. Water has to be birthed before the baby comes out of the womb. and then born of the spirit is a spiritual birth so maybe you’ve heard me say that unless you’re born twice you will die twice the first birth the water birth is physical birth and the first death follows that in hebrews 9 27 and as it is appointed unto men wants to die but after this the judgment those of us that are getting up in age are recognizing that death is not far away but it’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s a promotion to be face-to-face with the Lord. So it’s appointed unto men once to die, Hebrews 9, 27. That includes you and me, but after this, the judgment. The judgment of all unbelievers, not Christians, but unbelievers, well, that’s found in Revelation 20, verse 11 through 15, especially in verses 14 and 15. It says, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Unless you are regenerated with the second birth, you will be cast into the lake of fire at the judgment seat of Christ. And actually it’s called the great white throne of judgment in Revelation 20, verse 11 through 15. So I want to urge you to consider these words and please make your decision to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. There’s another wall that makes up the barrier between God and man, and we call that relative righteousness. This means that compared to God’s perfect righteousness, perfect righteousness, that our very own righteousness is like a filthy rag, relative righteousness. Thank goodness our Lord’s perfect righteousness is given to us when we get saved. You and I cannot produce perfect righteousness. We can’t, we’re humans, we gotta send nature. But listen to what the Lord Jesus Christ did in 2 Corinthians 5, 21. For God made him the one who knew no sin to be sin for us so that, here’s the purpose clause in the Greek New Testament, so that what? So that we might become the righteousness of God because of him. The only way to equal God’s righteousness is come through the Lord Jesus Christ and have it placed into your account. It’s called imputation. His righteousness is imputed to us We didn’t earn it. We didn’t deserve it. It’s free. It’s a great gift from God. But it is accredited to our account when we accept Christ as our Savior. In Philippians 3.9, and to be found in him, Paul said this, not having my own righteousness. We know Isaiah 64.6 says that’s a filthy rag. not having my own righteousness, which is from the law. In other words, I kept the law and I didn’t sin. I was Mr. Goody Two-Shoes, still a sinner. But the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ and the righteousness which is from God. So the only way that you and I can ever have a relationship with God is through the imputation of the righteousness of Christ given to us when we believe in him. The next wall of the barrier is the character of God. In order for you and for me to be saved, the character of God needed to be satisfied. So God made provisions, he made it, not us, he made provisions for to reconcile us to him by what the Bible calls propitiation. I’ll explain what propitiation is. Listen to 1 John 2, 2. And he himself, that’s Christ, is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the whole world. Propitiation is used in the New Testament to describe the pacifying or the placating or the appeasing of God’s wrath. In other words, our Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was the sacrifice required to satisfy God’s perfect character. Thus, because of this act on the cross, God is now able to offer the grace blessing of salvation to every person anywhere in the world. The final barrier to be overcome is our position in Adam. 1 Corinthians 15, 22 says, “‘For as in Adam all die.'” even so in Christ shall all be made alive. This verse indicates that mankind is born into condemnation and separated from God. Our position in Adam is resolved by our new position in the Lord Jesus Christ. The instant, the very second that you bow your head and you say, Father, I want to receive Christ as my Savior, you are made a new person. In 2 Corinthians 5, 17, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he’s a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. This act is called positional truth. Positional truth. So it doesn’t mean that you change looks. It doesn’t mean your hair now turns blonde instead of brown. It doesn’t mean you now weigh 150 instead of 250. It means that you are new in the spirit. You’ve been spiritually dead. Now you’re made spiritually alive. And now you have a body and a soul and a spirit. Whereas before you accepted Christ as your savior, you had a body, yes. and you had a soul, yes, mentality, volition, consciousness, self-consciousness, but you did not have a human spirit. It was dead, spiritually dead. But once you believed in Christ, the Holy Spirit entered you and made you spiritually alive, and you received the second birth. You were born again. So because of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on that cross, you and I are acquitted by the judicial act of God. Our acquittal is related to the penalty of sin that was placed on Adam. The debt had grievous consequences. So without salvation, we would be doomed forever to eternal judgment and separation from God forever. So thank God our debt has been blotted out forever. So there’s more than one barrier. I would like to mention to you, and that’s the maturity barrier. This concept that I’m talking about refers to you becoming a mature Christian. Excuse me, you cannot afford to remain a baby Christian all of your life while you’re here on this earth, while you’re behind enemy lines. So listen to what the writer says in the Bible. about growing up and becoming spiritually mature. In Hebrews 5, 11 through 14, of whom we have many things to say, and they are hard to be uttered because you are dull of hearing. Now, you might have heard that phone go off behind me. Sorry about that. But this is talking to people that don’t listen when they’re taught the Word of God. I have a lot of things to say, the writer of Hebrews said, but you are dull of hearing. For when the time, he said, you ought to be what? You ought to be teaching others. You now have need that one come back and teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God. And you have become such as a person that needs milk and not strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness. For he’s a baby. Strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. So there are different stages of the Christian life for believers. In my ministry of 50 plus years, I have spoken in hundreds of churches. And unfortunately, many times people come up to me and say, that was a good message, preacher. We enjoyed that message, preacher. And I know right away they didn’t even hear what I said. I spoke over their head. I gave them too much information they weren’t able to digest. And that’s because they haven’t been fed anything. And that’s the question I have to ask you today. Are you hungry? Are you hungry to be fed? You have a barrier. You have to get past that barrier. You have to grow spiritually and pass the maturity barrier, not be a baby Christian forever. What did he say about it? You need a baba, a bottle, and not strong meat. And everyone who uses the bottle is unskillful in the word of righteousness. He’s a baby, but strong meat, that’s clear, strong, lucid Bible teaching belongs to them that are full of age. In my particular church, we study the Bible for about an hour at a time. We go to church and we sit there with a Bible and a notebook and we’re not there for singing, we’re not there for giving testimonies. We’re there to be fed the Bible, the teaching of the word of God by the pastor. Listen, God has designed a wonderful life for you and for me. It’s amazing what he’s designed for us. Part of the blessings that he’s given to us is imputed to us when we crack that maturity barrier. One of those blessings is what’s called perfect happiness. It’s part of the flood line of your soul. So if you are one of those few precious souls who are actually hunger and thirsting after righteousness, happiness awaits you. Where did I get that one? Matthew 5, 6. Happiness belongs to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. The English word for happiness is the word blessed, but the Greek word for blessed is makarios, which means happiness. happy are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. That word blessed again is the Greek word for happiness. So anybody who hungers for Bible doctrine, the word of God, learn the scriptures, will not only be filled and satisfied, but will be happy in the eating and in the satisfaction which comes from the digestion of what they ate. It’s a lot better to eat a steak than to have a bottle of milk. And that’s what we’re saying here. Can I ask you, what do you eat? Do you still drink milk or are you on steak? Are you being fed the word of God? Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness? Is that why you’re listening to this radio show? Many people write to me and tell me those very words. I’ve been going to church a long time, they say, but I’ve never heard it taught like this before. I never learned this much before. I’m very grateful that I’m able to give you that information, but again, I’m not your pastor. I’m just here to point you to a great pastor, somewhere you can learn the Word of God under a well-qualified man, because God has designed a wonderful life for you, both in time and eternity. Part of that blessing is imputed to you when you crack that maturity barrier. Not the barrier of salvation barrier, not that one, but the maturity barrier. And one of those blessings is perfect happiness. I’m so happy for you if you will do that. Anybody who hungers for the word of God will be filled and satisfied as I told you. So in Colossians 1.27, the Bible says, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this ministry among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Once you crack that maturity barrier, once you get out of the first grade, once you start growing, the indwelling of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life becomes a personal reality. You begin to understand what it means to be Christ-like. to live by the mind of Christ, to replicate Christ by your living and your thinking. And then crowns are given to believers who break the maturity barrier. Did you realize that? The crown of righteousness is found in 2 Timothy 4, 7, and 8. It’s given to the mature people that eat steak using that metaphor. Listen to what’s in 2 Timothy 4, 7, and 8. Here it is. Pay attention. For I have fought a good fight. I finished my course. I kept the faith. Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but to all of those whose love is appearing. Do you have a crown of righteousness laid up for you? I hope you do. The choice is yours. But remember, the first barrier, God took care of that one through the work of Christ on the cross. The second barrier, well, that’s up to you. You got to take care of that one because you’ve got to grow spiritually and become the man or the woman God intended you to be. So if you’re going to crack that maturity barrier, you’re going to have to have some consistent positive volition, not just sporadic studying the Bible, consistently, daily feeding on the Word of God. And it will require you to be filled with the Holy Spirit every day as long as you can and know you’re going to sin, but you can recover from your sin by using Rebound, 1 John 1.9. If you’re going to crack the maturity barrier, you’ve got to learn and use God’s problem-solving devices. And you’re going to be required to pass momentum testing. And if you want to crack the maturity barrier, you’re going to have to get under the ministry of a well-qualified pastor who can teach you the word of God. Not you trying to teach yourself what the Bible says. Unfortunately, very few believers are ever taught that spiritual maturity and spirituality are two different things. You are spiritual when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit and carnal when you’re controlled by your flesh. But on the other hand, spiritual maturity requires consistent growth by means of the teaching of Scripture and the application of what you’ve learned to your life on a daily basis. We call it LAG, L-A-G, LAG. That stands for learn, apply, and glorify. The critical issue is do you apply what you’ve learned because if you don’t, then you’re simply just auditing Bible class at your church. Mature believers go through spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and eventually spiritual maturity. Spiritual self-esteem is being aware of who you are and what’s going on in the protocol plan of God. Spiritual autonomy means that you are content as an individual. And spiritual maturity means that you glorify God to the maximum by passing evidence testing. Therefore, the believer who’s spiritually mature, that’s the objective for all of us. That’s the purpose for all the commands of scripture related to time. And it’s the only way to glorify Jesus Christ in this life. And it’s the basis for all rewards, both temporal and eternal. The maturity barrier. The salvation barrier. Two different barriers you have to crack. One God did, the other you do. So I hope you’re listening. I hope you’re paying attention. I hope you’ll come back next week at the same time. Until then, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatline.
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Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you’d like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.
